Circus Images cut with Cricut and Blown-up Life Size

Yesterday I shared with you a .mtc and .svg file of a circus elephant balancing on a ball.  Today, I wanted to show you what we did with him.  We created large cutouts using plywood to decorate our carnival with Circus animals and performers.  To do this, I cut out the shapes with my cricut as large as I could on a 12x12 mat.  We then took those shapes and used an overhead projector to trace the images much larger onto plywood.  We then used a saw to cut them out, we painted them and volia - great circus images decorating our school for our week long Greatest Webbfest on Earth celebration!  The stars on the balls were cut using vinyl with my cricut. These pictures show the elephant I shared yesterday blown up and painted.  We also used a lot of the images from the Lite Carousel Cartridge from PC.  We created clowns, Lions, a Lion Tamer, Dancing Bears, a Circus train, a Circus Tent, a canon, popcorn boxes, ticket booth, large tickets, and more!  Everybody loved them!  Thanks for stopping by.  Please feel free to leave a comment with any questions and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Can You Say Circus?!? Circus Elephant on Ball - MTC or .svg File

Hello.  Welcome to the Circus!  I have been busy at my children's school the past few weeks helping make decorations for our annual carnival fund raiser "Webbfest" that we do each year.  This year's theme was the Greatest Webbfest on Earth and was based on the Circus.  I will show you several things that I did to help the decorations committee.  This is the first one.  This is from a coloring page we found simply by doing a google search for free circus coloring pages.  I then used my Make the Cut software to pull it in and create a cut file for use with my Cricut machine.  I have then used my MTC software to export it out as an .svg file for use by those who may use other software and/or cutters.  (I took that .svg file and broke it apart in Inkscape and that is the file I am sharing here).

Isn't he cute?!  If you would like my MTC file you can download it here.  If you would like the .svg file, you can download it here.  Sorry, but you cannot use .mtc or .svg files with Design Studio (DS) or the Gypsy. However, I will be showing you some cute things we made with the PC cartridge, Carousel, as well.  I bought that cartridge specifically for us to use with our Carnival this year.  Money well spent as we did LOTS of things with it.  However, they really wanted an elephant on the ball like this one and there wasn't one on the cartridge.  So, I quickly found this one and made the file and cut him out for them.  They were amazed how easy it was to do!
Just a quick note:  If you have been considering purchasing MTC, you might want to do so this week.  A new and improved version of MTC is coming within the next few weeks and if you already own MTC, there is never a charge to upgrade.  However, there are some significant new features that are being added as well as support for use with at least one other cutter and I suspect (have no actual knowledge of it however) that there might be a price increase coming with these new improved features.  The software will still be worth the money with the new features being added BUT why pay more if you don't have too?

To find out more about Make the Cut go to their website here: http://www.make-the-cut.com/
Note:  I am not affiliated with MTC and I do not get any money for others purchasing it.  I am just a happy user who knows what all you can do with it and that even more is coming very soon.  MTC and SCAL both are why I still have my Cricuts and didn't buy another cutter because they let me truly create as I want! However, since I still have my Cricuts, Gpsy, and DS I still buy cartridges thus a win-win for me and PC!

Backpack Box

 A few months ago, Lariea posted on the "Make The Cut Forum" about these cute little backpack boxes that she had made. CaseysAngel(Christy) then went and found the pattern and directions on the Splitcoaststampers website. They were created and posted by Mary Arima on that site.  Her blog is "PaperJoy".  I couldn't resist making one.  Actually, my plan was to make several as treat bags for my DD's volleyball team.  However, they were a bit "fiddly"  LOL and I decided there was no way I was making that many (it would have been more than 20 as she plays both JV and varsity!!) so this is a "one of a kind"!

However, it wasn't nearly as "fiddly" as it could have been. Thanks to Rachellann ID #714, on the Make The Cut Forums who made a .mtc cut file for this pattern.  It is an awesome pattern that includes both the cut lines and then the score lines.  Just close the layer (close the eyeball) with the score lines when you cut it out, then close the layer with the cut lines and open the layer with the score lines, change the pressure to light and the blade depth to about 1 or 2 and "cut" the score lines.  It won't actually cut them all the way through but will allow you to score and fold as needed.  You can find Rachellann's .mtc file for this on the Make the Cut Forum here.  You will have to scroll down through the thread a little ways to find it.  You wil also see Lareia's picture of the cute ones that she made at the beginning of that thread.  As a result, I don't have any cut files to share here.  Just a picture of the one I made and the links to the patterns and directions as provided above.  

I also found a .svg file for the same or similiar type file here on cricutcraftyclare's blog. She indicates that she got her original file from Nancy who had created the file in DS from the splitcoaststamper's directions and template.  Nancy doesn't have the DS cut file on her blog but she does say that you could contact her if you wanted one of her files.  You can find Nancy's post on these backpacks on her blog here at Nancy's Craft Spot. Finally, I also found a post of a .svg file with or without the scorelines on the SCAL forum.  It was posted by dchiu1 and can be found here. So, hopefully between these multiple sites, you should be able to find a cut file that will work for you no matter what cut file or software that you use. Thanks for stopping by.

Embossed Paper Birds - Project from JoAnn's

This project came from one of those free project sheets from JoAnn's. You can find the complete project information here at JoAnn's website. You will also find a better picture of the final project there as well.  I took the pdf file provided and created a cut file for use with my electronic cutter.  You can download the embossed paper bird .mtc cut file for use with Make The Cut here.  You can download the embossed paper bird .svg file for use with other software and cutters here.  Be sure to download the PDF file for assembly directions from JoAnn's site here. I used cuttlebug embossing folders to emboss the flower (dots) and the bird.

Totally Totebag

PLEASE NOTE:  Make the Cut (.mtc) Download link is now Fixed.  Thanks for those who let me know!


A friend asked me if I could create a file for cutting with our electronic cutters based on the "Totally Totebag" instructions and pattern posted on the Splitcoaststampers.com website by Leigh O'Brien.  You can find Leigh's directions and information on thte Splitcoasterstamper's site here.  You can also find it on Leigh's blog  "Sunflowerstudio" along with more cute ideas and projects. I have only made a "rough draft" of the totebag to make sure that it cut out properly.  To see more (and prettier) photos of assembled projects check the splitcoasstampers site here. Thanks Leigh for sharing.

You can download my .mtc cut file for use with Make The Cut here. (FIXED THANKS!) You can download my .svg file for use with other software packages or cutters here.  (Note:  You cannot use these files with either PC's Gypsy or Design Studio (DS) but you can use it with a cricut machine if you have Make the Cut or SCAL).
The finished bag measures: heigh:t 2 3/4",  width: 3 3/4", and the depth: 1 1/2".  It is just right for a gift card holder or a little snack or small treat. Thanks for stopping by.

Flap Card

I was browsing around the other day on Splitcoaststampers.com and ran across this cute "Flap Card" created by Rose Ann Reynolds.  This is a simple tri-fold card that makes a small card or can serve as a cute gift card holder. You can find the Tutorial with the directions and pattern on the splitcoaststampers site here.
You can also go check out  Rose Ann's blog, "Paper Delightz," with other cute ideas and projects created by her.

I made my "flap cards" into Halloween cards.  I have made them into gift card holders and plan to put $5 McDonald Gift Cards in them for my children and my nieces and nephews. To use as a gift card holder you can either use a kraft knife to cut "slits" into a couple of corners of the mat inside to hold the gift card (use the card to position where the slits need to be placed), or simply put some repositionable glue on the back of the gift card, or make a pocket out of the inside mat (you may need to cut that down a little to create the pocket and still be able to see the gift card).  The finished size of the card is 4.25" tall by 3.5" wide.  Just the right size for a gift card holder.

Download the .Flap Card mtc file for Make The Cut here.  Download the Flap Card .svg file here. Note that my .mtc file has information and notes available under the Notes Bar.  Sadly, I cannot add "notes" to the .svg file.  So I will note here that I have added two "flaps" for the "flap" should you wish to add mats and decorative paper to the front flap of the card.  It then has 1 smaller mat overlaying decorative paper to the larger mats that are there to cut and use on the outside and inside of the card as used on Rose Ann's sample pics in her Tutorial.  Thanks for stopping by.  Would love to see what you do with my files!

Spartan Head

I have previously shared this Spartan Head a long time ago as a .scut file.  I have converted it into a Make the Cut file (.mtc).  My children's school's mascot is the Spartan's so it gets a lot of use around my house!  I took one of their logos and converted it into a cut file.  Hope someone else can get some use out of it.

Download the Spartan Head .mtc file here.  Download the Spartan Head .svg file.

As always, I would love to see what you do with any of my files.  Thanks for stopping by.

Jack-O-Lantern Basket

This is a quick and easy project using your electronic cutters and a small basket.  I am not sharing any cut files as it would be easy to recreate my idea but the sizing will vary based upon the basket used.  Leave a comment with your e-mail address should you have questions.

Measure the "circle" of your basket and cut a circle out of orange vinyl to fit the lid of the basket.  cut around any hinges that may be on the top of the lid (mine had a leather strap that I used to be the "stem").  Apply the orange circle to the top of your lid.  Then cut out the jack-o-lantern's face from black vinyl.  You could use Pumpkin Carvings cart from PC or use the dbjackopatterns from Lettering Delights to creat a .svg or .mtc file or any other place you can find "jack-o-lantern" faces.