Introduction: Downton Abbey Cut Silhoutte Greetings Card
More by the author:
About: I studied Maths and Computing, worked in an Operation Research department, retrained as a civil engineer, worked on site for some major projects. I'm learning to be a structural engineer at the moment! I've al…
To go along with my Butterfly Frame gift (https://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Butterfly-Dragonfly-Frame-Cut-Stencil-Art/), I thought I better make a card. My wife likes Downton Abbey, and I like buildings, so I decided to make a card using their building.
You could use this principle for any building.
You can make this as a card for any occasion; valentines, birthday, anything.
It takes more time than money to make!
Date Made: Feb 2014
Approx Cost: £1
Approx Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
You could use this principle for any building.
You can make this as a card for any occasion; valentines, birthday, anything.
It takes more time than money to make!
Date Made: Feb 2014
Approx Cost: £1
Approx Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Step 1: What You Need
Materials You Need
* Card or Thick Paper (Ideally A4 and coloured on one side only)
* An Envelope the correct size for your card
Tools You Need
* Computer/Printer
* Sharp Knife/Scissors
* A ruler for getting straight cuts (or a guillotine)
* Card or Thick Paper (Ideally A4 and coloured on one side only)
* An Envelope the correct size for your card
Tools You Need
* Computer/Printer
* Sharp Knife/Scissors
* A ruler for getting straight cuts (or a guillotine)
Step 2: Design Your Template
You can do this by hand, or you can get a bit more technical.
You could do this in any program such as paintshop etc, it is just that I am familiar with Autocad.
First I googled for an image of the abbey building.
Next I inserted the image as a background into Autocad.
I then effectively traced it with lines!
Afterwards deleting the original image.
I had to simplify the building slightly due to the lack of resolution in the image but also to make it possible to cut out by hand! Picking a simpler building would make the process easier!
I wanted to end up with the cut lines only - this way my design could be used with an electronic cutter, however I left one dotted line as a fold line which would have to be taken in to account if you were going to use one.
(my Autocad file can be found later on if you wish to use/edit it)
You could do this in any program such as paintshop etc, it is just that I am familiar with Autocad.
First I googled for an image of the abbey building.
Next I inserted the image as a background into Autocad.
I then effectively traced it with lines!
Afterwards deleting the original image.
I had to simplify the building slightly due to the lack of resolution in the image but also to make it possible to cut out by hand! Picking a simpler building would make the process easier!
I wanted to end up with the cut lines only - this way my design could be used with an electronic cutter, however I left one dotted line as a fold line which would have to be taken in to account if you were going to use one.
(my Autocad file can be found later on if you wish to use/edit it)
Step 3: Print / Convert
Make sure that you print to the right scale. Print to PDF to control the size easily.
Although you could scale this to be any size you wanted, I designed this to be a 127mm x 178mm card. (You could trim 13mm off the side if you wanted it to be a 114x178 card.)
I have attached the pdf for my template. This should be printed on A4.
Print on to paper at 1:1 or 100% scale.
If you are going to use an electronic cutter, convert to the correct file type for your machine.
I have attached the dwg for my template.
Although you could scale this to be any size you wanted, I designed this to be a 127mm x 178mm card. (You could trim 13mm off the side if you wanted it to be a 114x178 card.)
I have attached the pdf for my template. This should be printed on A4.
Print on to paper at 1:1 or 100% scale.
If you are going to use an electronic cutter, convert to the correct file type for your machine.
I have attached the dwg for my template.
Step 4: Cut Out
As I mentioned before, this could be done automatically with an electronic cutter, but for those of us without one, we can follow the template with a sharp knife.
So put your template on top of the card/paper (best to tape this down so that it doesn't move) then cut through with your knife. Make sure that you have something underneath so you don't damage your worktop!
If you are using single sided coloured card, make sure you are cutting on the right side. Remember the underside will be your background colour.
I cut the windows first, so that there was a good solid background to cut against - leaving the roof tll later so that the delicate parts didn't rip.
I then cut the roof, and finally cut the card to size.
I had to turn the card over and finish some cuts from the other side, to make sure they were all good/complete.
So put your template on top of the card/paper (best to tape this down so that it doesn't move) then cut through with your knife. Make sure that you have something underneath so you don't damage your worktop!
If you are using single sided coloured card, make sure you are cutting on the right side. Remember the underside will be your background colour.
I cut the windows first, so that there was a good solid background to cut against - leaving the roof tll later so that the delicate parts didn't rip.
I then cut the roof, and finally cut the card to size.
I had to turn the card over and finish some cuts from the other side, to make sure they were all good/complete.
Step 5: Fold in Half
Simply fold in half. I used the back of the knife to score the fold line first to ensure a straight fold.
Step 6: Write & Send
Write your message, and send!