FREE SVG Cut File for SCAL: Label 1 (MaggieSVGs)

I made this card this week for a young man who is battling some cancer.  I wanted to send an encouraging card, and I wanted it to be simple in design.

The paper seemed perfect to convey what I wanted to say, and the Christopher Reeves “JustRight Stampers” sentiment was wonderful:  “Once you choose HOPE, anything’s possible.”  The stamped frame is also from JustRite stampers.

The matting elements were made with SVG label cut files I created using SCAL and my Cricut.  The top circle was cut and embossed with circle nestability dies.

Okay, so I’m going to try to share a file that goes with this card.  I know you all are as excited as I am that I made something and get to share it if you own Cricut and use SCAL software to cut things (rather than cartidges, which is much more expensive).

Here goes…free cut file.  Click, download, open with SCAL, cut!

CREATE!  Yay!

(Somebody be so kind as to let me know if it worked?!)

All images and free files are copyrighted. Any free files downloaded are not to be shared or posted on other sites or forums.  Please refer people to my site, so they can download the file.

Winter Snow Scene Card

This is a winter scene card I made for our elderly neighbors.  It was a little late for Christmas, but snow was still in the air, so I thought a snow scene might be nice.  The Liquid Applique makes beautiful snow.

The window was cut out and embossed with Labels 1 Nestabilities.  The corners are from a Nestabilities set as well.  I’ll have to look up the set, I am not sure what set they go with at the moment!

Sentiment inside:  JustRight Stampers

Making Bulk Assembly Line Style Christmas Cards

TIME FRAME:

This year, I started my Christmas cards in the fall.   It worked out a lot better and kept the mess out of my holidays.  Highly recommend if you need a lot of cards.  I need about 150 cards (huge family!)

MY GOALS:

I made some decisions based on last year’s card-making:

1. Avoid layers/mats/ribbon bows
2. Avoid two- step cut/embossing.  As pretty as nestabilities are, the layering took too much time and I had trouble finding matching product by the end to go with my colored images.
3. Use as little tape as possible (even at $1 tape rolls, I ate them up last year, think $30-$50.)
4. Imagine a streamlined design, yet one that allows modification to battle boredom.

MY FIRST STEP:

This fall, I first came up with a way to create a nesting point on the page.  I laid an Oval nestability on the card to emboss a focal area without cutting, without gluing, without matting.  Wow, that cut a lot of steps and still looked elegant.

Second, I found a couple “branch” stamps.  The final one was bought on the buy/sell/trade forum at splitcoaststampers.com.  I’ve had great experiences buying used stamps there.  The other branch came with a papertreyink set from a”Take a Bough” puchases at the BST at splitcoaststampers.com as well with ornaments included.  I may do “Ornaments2”  for  my cards next year?  LOL

This year, I borrowed a slim EK success ornament punch from a lady in our scrapping group.  It punched all three ornaments at one time!  I had a little trouble with it sticking at one point, but punches some wax paper through it and it did fine after that.  Changing up the papers helped provide a bit of variety without totally having different sets of cards.  After doing a few card versions last year, I rather liked doing  just one main version this year so that I knew what people were referring to when they commented on it.

I used mighty Dollar popdots instead of tape on some of the cards to add dimension.

On the solid ornaments, I used a gold pen or gold ink and tiny stamps to decorate the ornaments.  My favorite tiny stamps were from a Nativity set I had on hand.  I can’t determine the manufacturer from the slip sheet, but there is a SSC081, C. STM 2006 on it.  the star came from it.

I used JustRite Stamps on the inside for the sentiment, and a family signature stamp I had custom made from ebay for gifts and cards (best investment I’ve made in a while, and only about $10).

For the second batch, I ran out of punched ornaments and used a cut file for ornaments using SCAL software and my Cricut–worked great.

Supplies:

Cards from Hobby Lobby, with 40% off coupon or on sale…collect throughout the year.  Bulk cards on in sets of 50, I think.  I used both white or ivory to match the papers I had handy.

Papers:  Core-dinations Wine cardstock, the cover sheet for $1 paper (punched), and other random paper.

Tape: $1 dotliners (my favorite tape of all time, by Elmer’s.  I can no longer find it at this price.)

“Frost” Shimmer Spritz on some cards (very expensive, but I got it for my birthday from a friend.  I’ve since added water and eyeshadow and it’s still spraying.  It doesn’t go far, but added a nice snowy effect.  I added an oval shield around the spraying area, which made a cool inset of snow.)

Thanks for stopping by!

Fall Pumpkin Card Using Cricut and SCAL

I wanted to update and let you know some things I’m cutting with my Cricut lately using SCAL, or Sure Cuts a Lot Software in conjunction with my Cricut.  “SCAL” is software which allows you to cut “.svg” files available for share free on the internet, any True Type Fonts (abbreviated TTF in the file names), OR many .jpg photo files!   Wow.  I know.  It’s just nuts.  You only need the cartridge that came with your machine inserted into it, and a connection to your computer…and they walk you through all that easy peasy!

To make this card with my Cricut and SCAL, I downloaded this cut file from Cheeky Magpie called “Filigree Pumpkin“.  I opened it using “import SVG” function in my Sure Cuts a Lot software, then sized it to the size of a card.  I then cut the filigree portion using Core-Dinations cardstock (my fav!), and cut a “blackout shadow” of the pumpkin for the orange background.  Then, I just matted, used some corner punches and a Martha Stewart punch, and finished it off with a JustRite sentiment, Nestability slide, ribbon, and gems!  I wanted a little more dimension to the flourishes on the pumpkin, so I traced with a gold gel pen.

I am loving my Cricut for holiday times!  I can’t wait to post some more of my projects for the holidays to share with you.  If you are interested in learning more about SCAL, be sure to check out the links here or  in the sidebar for their website. I hope you liked the card, and thanks for looking!

PS…I challenge you to do a web search for any holiday image in your mind you may want to cut and search for “svg cut file [name of your image]”.  See what will be available to you immediately to cut!

Font Addict Alert

There’s a sale going on this week at ScrapNFonts…all fonts are $1.

It’s so good a sale I’ve filtered my list three times, lost my shopping carts twice taking so long to pare down and decide.  Finally narrowed it down to $20.  ($60 normally).

I justified more fonts because I’m NOT buying Cricut cartridges…$30-$60 per font!

I found this weekend that my daughter’s cheap, short little gel pens work in my Cricut.  I’m stocked.  I made a really pretty card and envelope for an 80th birthday yesterday.  I was so proud of how elegant it turned out.

I put in the envelope and let it write her name on the envelope in silver.  It was so pretty.  Nope…no picture, I was running late as it was!

BE INSPIRED!  CREATE!  ENCOURAGE!  SHARE!  SMILE!

Summer Owl Card

I’m loving cute owls right now.  This was a just a very simple card I made for my daughter one night cause I needed to write her a special note.  Do you make cards for your kids?  A very fun way to communicate. I love olive-y green and blues together this summer…it’s my color combo of the season!

Material List: SCAL program for Cricut (see sidebar link) to cut Fonts DB Woodsy (Owl and limb) & DB Cupcake (journaling spot).  They were first outlined with a brown Cricut Marker, then cut using shadow feature, and filled using Prisma Alcohol Based Markers.  OTHER:  RicRac (Sewing Notions Section).  Jewels (Oriental Trading Catalog). American Traditional Designs Cardstock.

This weekend, we’ve taken it easy with grilling, random chores (still involving clean up from the ice storm), and just simplifying so that we can be together.  It rained the 4th here, we are looking forward to fireworks tonight!

Have a great 4th of July!  What’s your favorite sale event?  There are several scrapbooking events, but I’ve only taken time to shop at ScrapNFonts…it was easy to do without getting out of the house and the savings were incredible (you can still shop until the 5th).  I love instant gratification.

Girl’s Birthday Card

Wow, the last few weeks have been crazy with a birthday party for Red, getting Father’s Days celebrated early, and going to our kid’s first time to the beach!  We had a great time…we had several photo shoots and mainly just a lot of resting and keeping up with the schedule.  Summer is too short to be tied to the computer too much!

Thought I’d take a second while my computer is processing to post a card I made last month for a birthday party my daughter went to.

I used the “Pottery Barn” font for this, and several other dingbats to create the flowers.  I think I used a DB font for the flowers on this card, perhaps a DB Christmas font for the oval.  I “welded” the sentiment to the oval so that it all cut together–that way I didn’t have to glue individual letters onto the card. I just ran it all through my larger Zyron.

A fun project to watch the Cricut cut.

It REALLY shines!

My husband said, “Gee, I think it needs more glitter!”

I had to touch up a spot with glue about that time to get it to stick down, to which he said, “Um, I was just kidding!”

I just laughed at him.

The party was a luau theme, so the sentiment seemed perfect.  We enjoyed making her something special to keep.

Group Hug!

I’m not sure, but I think the girls were having a good time!  Oh, to be 10 again!

ScorIt: First Project

This was my first project with the Scor-it Mini which is perfect for card making.  You can check out www.scorit.com (no “e” in score or  you’ll get to an entirely different site!) There, you can view other projects and videos.

The nice thing is that it has a hinge type score which makes a beautiful score line for actually making your own cards from card stock.  And, I learned something…even the pre-scored cards I buy cheap at Wal*Mart?  I’ve not been getting a great line when I fold them BECAUSE I’ve been folding them backwards!  Some with this…You actually fold it AGAINST what appears to be the natural fold.  The diagrams on their site make this more clear than I am able!

I can see a lot of benefit to a 12X12 ScoreIt in making these diagonals I’ve admired on other people’s cards, but the card size is still nice and handy.

Below are the stores in Kentucky that carry Scor-it Products if you are interested, or you can search online to find them and order.

Fort Mitchell	Creative Stamper	859-344-0700
Louisville	Archiver’s Scrapbooking Store	502-425-5395
Louisville	Arvey Paper Store	502-584-5343
Louisville	XPEDX Paper Store $023	502-584-5343
Mayfield	Bluegrass Publishing	270-251-3600
Redmond	Rubber Soul	425-882-3333
Shawnee	The Scrapbook Page Online	913-383-1552
Whitesburg	Mountain of Scraps	606-633-8005

Two Easter Layouts

Okay, so Designer Digitals was having this rocking contest where you could win an iPod nanochromatic.  Seeing as how I left mine in the last hotel room we were in, or dropped it somewhere over spring break in Nashville, I was thinking I was bound for this contest.

I worked on it some this morning, taking a break from life, and wanting to scrap some Easter photos.

However, having finished, I realized the contest was over already.

I hate it when that happens!

On the up-side, there were some really great layouts to see.

I started with blocking, then decided to try some photo-merging (above).

Only one of the photos is used twice, so I think I can switch it out and have a two page layout ready for print?   I’ll try to do that while files are open!

It was sunny, so it was easier to let her “look around at things” than to look up…her eyes hurt too much for that.  But the sun made her dress glow, so I didn’t want to waste a pretty, clear day!

I’ll have to print and 8X8, but I can mount that on another layout for a 12X12 book if I want.

Products Used from www.designerdigitals.com

Ali Edward’s Frames/KPertiet_WingedClusters-4

and free download:  FadedSwirlStar

Daylily Card

Color blending card I’ve tried with my Bic markers.  The card stock is red, for some reason it came out as a hyper hot pink here! The copic blender did a good of of blending where I wanted it to (I’ll try to post an example somewhere of a before and after using it).  I wanted some clear shadow lines, so it wasn’t necessary for me to get rid of all lines, but it did soften them where I wanted.

I had some trouble with the black paper, you can’t really see the texture from this angle, I’ll post another:

I had to alter the color for you to see the texture of the black (the sky was so gray here today it was hard to get indoor photos!)  Anyway, my cardstock wasn’t colored all the way through, so when I embossed it, it “broke through” the paper.  I just rubbed over those placed with black chalk, then sprayed “fixative” (for me, hairspray) on it to help set it.

I also found that the brads touched up well with a white pen…they were a big older and my new MM setter sort of gave them a hard way to go!

Bic Markers As Copic Colors

I’ve had the same experience as blogger “Spike” in not wanting to duplicate my BICs with Copics– starting out using a few Copics in greys and skin tones.  He’s made a list that gets the BIC colors close to references for Copics.  Very cool idea/list!  Thanks for your work, and for sharing!

He has had compliments on his match-work, so I have all faith it’s pretty true.  I plan to print it so that I can see if I have something close to what Copics users are using in BICs.  In his words:

The colour chart is subject to my eye matching the colours best I could. I took a piece of simply smooth cardstock with the Bics swatched on it and drew lines of copic colours beside it…if it matched, wahoo! These are in no particular order: (Bic-Copic)

Forest Green – G17
Key Lime – between YG07 and YG09
Margarita Green – YG13
Tranquil Teal – darker than BG11
Deep Sea Blue – B69
Blue Skies Blue – FB2
Oceanview Blue – B93
Hot Aqua – BG07
Yellow Blaze – Y08
Lemon Bliss – Y11
Woodsy Brown – E39
Fandango Pink – RV06
Playful Purple – B79
Polynesian Purple – between V15 and V17
Peach Parfait – E93
Sunset Orange – R05
Rambunctious Red – R08
Pink Flamingo – RV23

Why I Make Cards…[Whew]

This project was AN EMERGENCY!

We’ve been in the basement for a while due to a tornado warning…one of my favorite reasons to be able to make fun cards…it seems we ALWAYS have a reason to be short “the traditional gift” for the kid’s birthday parties, and Boy Wonder was due at one, pronto!

We’ve had little guests here all day–no way I was getting to the store:

The Hub took over the frying of the sausage and eggs while I ran to the craft room to “work my magic” (oh, how I love it when he talks to me like that).

Font:  a superhero font of some kind using SCAL (Sure Cuts a Lot plus the Cricut cutter).

I had some cardstock scraps on my desk and cut strips to fit the card.

I used a new Studio G party stamp pack in Nashville ($1 bin at Michaels) for all the stamping on the blue and khaki strips.

I love metal on teen boys cards, so I grabbed a metal black clip from the last bins at a CKC Convention I went to several years ago.

INSIDE CARD:

The stamp was mall for inside the card, so I added color blocking.   For the blue, I just laid the inkpad down onto the card, then added a black strip.  The white pen is my favorite Signo uniball.  I actually ordered several overseas from ebay.

So, we all pooled family cash, and Boy Wonder was out the door with a gift…

{whew}.

Whimsical Bird Card (SCAL + Cricut Instructions)

I love the birdies popular in scrapbooking right now!

I cut this little birdy out using the “dbwoodsy font” + Sure Cuts a Lot (or “SCAL” software–click here for my explanation and review of SCAL, or here to purchase).  I think I bought this font at a scrapbooking font site for $2–lots of great stuff in it.  I’ll have to add that link in when I find it.  It is eluding me at the moment.

I cut the bird it out three times to get the yellow beak and blue wing (no waste, I can mix and match the pieces for three birds with the leftover pieces.)

“Get Well Soon” is in the font “Fabulous 50s Normal” available for free at www.fontspace.com.

THE PROCESS:

I opened Sure Cuts a Lot, then “welded” all the word boxes together so that they would cut in one cut wherever they overlapped (or where I moved text to overlap them–each letter can be moved over another with your mouse, so it’s very easy to do).

WELDING:

The clear advantages of welding things are

• perfectly aligned text on a straight line
  
• one Xyron run or glue process instead of each letter
• a very customized look

I even welded the red birdie to the text!

OTHER ELEMENTS:

Textured cardstock using a Cuttlebug embossing folder.

Scalloped card using “SCAL” (Sure Cuts a Lot) and my Cricut.  I’m still perfecting that scalloped card process–when I do, I’ll write instructions!

Not seen here:  I even cut out the recipients name and put it out the outside of the card.  Who doesn’t love to see their name personalized on a card?

Lots of fun, and fun to deliver…

Click Logo below (or in the sidebar) to Buy SCAL (I’m an affiliate and get a piece of change for my effort if you buy from here…doesn’t cost you anything more, and I’ve looked up a coupon code to even save you 10%!):

Click here for More Info found on the Sure Cuts A Lot Site!

Comparing Scrapbook Die Cutting Systems: Slice, Wizard, Cuttlebug, Cricut, (Coluzzle)

I’ve been comparing die cutting machine since I don’t have any at all for cutting shapes and letters.  It is a lot more expensive to buy a ton of punches than to invest in one of these, so I’m in the market for one.  Here’s what I’ve been finding, for anyone interested in comparing die-cutting machines.

The cheapest Slice (click to see video)I could find was about $109.00 tonight here.  The other day I saw one in a special deal where you got a pre-order free cartidge that would ship in February. The Slice is very cool.  But, I often craft while watching TV with the fam, and it might be too loud for me (note that in the video, they voice-over the sound…it cuts into a glass matte, so it is going to make a razor against glass sound–search other videos on youTube to hear that).  I think another possible con for me might be the need for a sticky surface  I like using my cutting surface fully for several products, all the time–I am imagining a hairball of all sorts of paper getting stuck on my cutting mat.   I’m also not sure I’d want to go all the way through the digital screens to find each letter I needed.  But, I love the font selectionsand it just looks so darn fun to play with!  LOVE how up to date the cartridges and fonts are, and the variety of alpha sizes for each letter on one cartridge as it’s electronic.

The Wizard, an all metal, very sturdy die cutting machine, creates GREAT embossing with it’s like 500 or 5000 pounds of pressure…I can’t remember, but has a loud ratchety sound when you push the level up and down to feed the plates through (again, interferes with card making while TV watching, or crafting after The Hub is in bed (often, when I’m hitting a creative surge). I craft in the guest room right next to our bedroom and right next to the TV room.  This same company also makes the wonderful “Nestabilities” dies which greatly reduce the cost of punches for frequently used stacks geometric and scalloped shapes.  Their dies look best in the Wizard, but people say they also get great results with the Cuttlebug (next), once they learn the correct “sandwich” to use without breaking their Cuttlebug “B plate” (replacement cost approx. $7 for 2).  I would love to have this one if it were easily to store, lighter weight, and didn’t make the noise.

The Cuttlebug is raved on scrapbooking forums as a compact, handy, low- cost die-cutting machine that will accept any manufacturer’s dies.  Drawback (as with all manual die cut machines)…letters have to be done individually and projects that may require repeat cutting would take a while.  Dies only come in the size of the die (as compared to the Cricut or Slice where multiple sizes can be acheived).  A plus is that you can use tiny scraps of paper and just place them over letters without having to pre-cut paper with any precision, AND it’s a simple approach requiring no computer.

The Cuttlebug embosses as well, (though I’ve read not to the very sharp extent that the Wizard does, still very pleasing results for users). The Cuttlebug also embosses it’s own nice Provocraft brand “A2 folders” (which is the size of a small card).  The Wizard will emboss these folders as well.  They are called “folders” because the card sort of sandwiches between the positive and negative imprints of the embossed design, the the machine smashes in the image as you roll it through.  (I found that applying pressure using a Pampered Chef mini muffin wooden tool works pretty well also with these  folders if you don’t have a Cuttlebug, especially if you spritz the paper with alcohol mist first for a stronger imprint).

The cheapest Cuttlebug I could find in my comparisons online was $39.99  at Custom Crops.  If you order today and place an order above $100.00, you get free shipping with their code posted on the home page. This machine is currently compatible with all dies on the market, simply by changing the plate thickness “sandwich”.  You can look up those “recipes” online in scrapbooking forums.  Just the fact that every person I know who has one uses words like:  “I LOVE my bug…once you have one, you will love it and not regret it” is a selling point.

I would personally have this machine simple to use with nestability dies.  I love cards done with these.  I have been working on my collection and have my family buy me sets for Christmas each year.  It try to wait a year to avoid the “new die” markups.  There are machines now like the “bug” that allow for even larger dies.  I probably won’t upgrade, but know some friends who love this flexibility.

The Cricut, another electronic cutter, allows operation without a computer using font cartridges, or you can hook it up to a computer with a program called SCAL (acronym for “Sure Cuts a Lot” at $75.00).  SCAL is a third-party software program unaffiliated with Provocraft (makers of the Cricut) that will allow you to cut any font on your computer, or any .svg file.  Here’s a link that gives you “all the details” on SCAL in conjunction with the free downloadable program, Inkscape, which converts your font layouts to an .svg file needed by SCAL.  SCAL has a WYSIWYG editor so that you can see what the machine will cut, eliminating the need for the package sold by Provocraft. (Cricut Design Studio or something like that, also about $70.00-$75 at Wal*mart).  I’m told you can update any drivers with older free trials of this program, but they are getting hard to find…Provocraft is trying to block the sale of this product as their company doesn’t own it.  I personally would not buy the Cricut without the ability to cut my own fonts…they should just get on board with the program or something.  I love SCAL.

This is a good video showing the settings on the Cricut machine keypad and how to adjust them for papers from a thin vellum to a thicker cardstock.

The “personal” sized Cricut also called “mini” will cut 6″X12″ paper, perhaps 6X24 if you CUT A 12×24 mat and get creative with it.  If you have already the EK Success Cuterpede paper trimmer, you know how easy it is to cut 6″X12″ cuts by swinging out the side extension arm which gives you a perfect 6″ guide.  The best price I’ve found for this machine new online with one standard cartridge post black Friday sales was at Custom Crops for $119.00.  They promise to ship within 2-4 days and free shipping with purchases over $100 with a code from their home page.   I considered one with no cartridge since I want to hook it to a spare computer, but if I want to use it at crops, thought it would be nice to have at least the one “traveling font” (I’ve also since read that you need at least one cartridge to make SCAL work…don’t know if this is backed up by science or not).  That is the case.

The Cricut “Expression” is also available this year on their site for $219 which will cut 12X12 papers.  I didn’t think I’d need this size, but have seen wall applications using vinyl where I can see the benefit of a larger size…for, say a family wall Monogram with a big circle around it.  I think I can design around that for now, though using quotes or words rather than large objects.  (I have since upgraded to the Expression.  Prices have come down on black Friday sales.  I think I got mine at Wal*Mart this year [2010] for $180 with two free cartridges.  I’ve also seen them on ebay with four cartridge packages for about that much.)

The pluses for the Cricut are:  if you need to cut out duplicates, you just tell it to cut again without having to cut shapes or letters out over and over as with a traditional die machine.  Also, you can cut any dingbat on your system with the upgrades discussed above.  The negative is, is doesn’t emboss, which is something I’m really into for cards right now.

The Coluzzle:  This isn’t really a “die cutting” machine per se, but it is, then again.  You take a specially made knife with a swivel blade and run it around thin, plastic templates to create your shape.  I personally own and love this system for it’s lightweight and compact storage and portability.  It is harder to do alphas and the ones I do have are HUGE.  I love that about them…then again, not much flexibility.  I have continued to add to my Coluzzle system, however, even as I look at other systems simply due to it’s usefulness in addition to other systems.  I like the basic shapes best and love them…use them all the time.  I use them a lot of Sunday School projects, or to mass cut images for cards if I have time to work while we are traveling.  It cuts very well in my lap and is lightweight for travel.

Useage:  currently, I love to use it to cut two size shapes and follow the pattern of the smaller shape to create a scallop on the larger with my decorative scissors.  I am using a lot of my decorative scissors in this way for cards…I think the results are very beautiful and clean, simple…and a lot of fun:

I actually cut four coluzzle ovals for this card, cutting one down with scissors.

Also, I often use it in my 2nd grade Sunday School class–the kids love to watch me do them.  For portability and ease of storage and use…I love this product.

Negative:  cutting the leftover areas where channels end is a bit tricky.  I often need to do cleanup with scissors.  I bought a Creative Memories Oval Cutter off ebay this Christmas for clean edges on my ovals and circles, such as in trimming actual photos.  I love that with my Coluzzle, I can just lay the necessary mat over my work space and cut, whereas with my CM trimmers, I’ve got to have a cutting mat.  I tend to keep a dirty work surface, so all that to say, there are times I prefer to use both.

Ali Project: Wednesday