Bunny Card

Good morning.  I wanted to share a card that I recently made.  I picked up the Spring, 2011, Issue 28 of the Paper Creations magazine recently at the store.  In the magazine, on page 22 there was an article entitled, "Bunny Card" which was designed by Maricel Fabi.  It was this really cute Bunny Card for which they provided a pattern pullout to trace and cut by hand. Now, anybody who knows me knows that I HATE to cut with scissors.  (I think this is because I am left handed and, when I was little, all scissors were made for right handed people.  It wasn't until modern times that they made left handed scissors or ones that didn't matter which hand you used!  LOL  You won't understand what a problem this is UNLESS you are left handed OR you are right handed and have tried to cut using left handed scissors!!  LOL)  This is what I got my electronic die cut machine and my Make The Cut software for!!!!



The pattern for the full card was too big to lay out on my regular size all-in-one printer with flatbed scanner so I simply scanned in 1/2 of the card.  I then copied the image, flipped it, moved it to overlap properly, and welded the two pieces together to make my card base.  I then scanned in or created the extra pieces and parts like the vest, the bowtie, and the nose.  Their pattern didn't include the flower and stem so I created those along with extra arms and legs in case I wanted to pop those areas and add extra dimension.

Then I cut out the card using my electronic die cut machine and made a cute Spring Bunny Card to send to someone in my family!!  Now, I can easily create as many of these bunny cards that I want quickly and easily (and it doesn't matter what kind of scissors I have!  LOL) Well, I couldn't stop there.  I thought hmmmmmm. . . . . . I'm not sure I like the card folding in 1/2 at his feet, so I then recreated the file so that he was welded together at the top at his ears.  I think I like that better as it opens the way most people expect a card to open.  But now, within just a few minutes of my time, I have two card bases from which I can choose!  THEN I thought, well, he might be cute on a regular card base so I made him a single image that I can now make any size I want and add to other cards.


This is the "Print and Cut" Bunny

Then I thought - well hmmmmmmm. . . . . . . I think he would be really cute if I made him into a "Print and Cut" file - I bet that I could do that really easy.  So I created a pink polka dot texture that I added to the "inner ear" parts I had created and a multi-colored striped texture that I added to his vest.  I found paper I had in my stash to get these "textures" from and scanned them into my computer and made texture files from them.  I then created a "full bow tie" with basic shapes and added a purple color to it.  I then made his body gray and added his mouth and his eyes to my MTC file so that they would "print".  I then printed the bunny out on my printer (I also added separate feet and hands to "pop" dot to give it some added dimension) and then cut him and the extra pieces with my Cougar (I could also have cut him with my Expression but the Cougar was the one plugged in!).  I then used Marker to ink the edges to give it some more dimension and chalked his cheeks.  Otherwise, its all printed!  IF I had a bigger printer (One that would print 12x12 say) I could have printed him out as a card.  Since I just have a regular 8 1/2 x 11 printer I printed just the single bunny.  HOWEVER, he could be glued on to the top of a card base.  He can also be resized easily.

Since the file I created was from a pattern in a magazine, I can't share it with you here even though I would like to.  HOWEVER,  I wanted to share all of this information with you to show you what YOU can do with a pattern, your die cut machine, your printer  and scanner and Make The Cut software and a little imagination!  Just IMAGINE!!! LOL

As always, thanks for stopping by.  Please let me know if you have any questions on how I did any of this or if I can help you out with anything. You can pick up a copy of this magazine on news stands.  You can also go to the magazine's website here: http://www.papercreationsmag.com/. There you can see some of what is in their current issue, back issues and free projects and ideas.  I am not affiliated with the magazine at all but like to give full contact information when I use something from a source.  Thanks.

Diaper Card

My friend Margaret asked me to create a Diaper card for her several weeks ago.  I created the base card but wanted to use it to show my friends how easy it is to add a "texture" fill to it to basically create your own card with different "textures" or "background images".  For example, since this was a "Diaper Card" that you would use for a new baby - you might want to make one for a girl or for a boy - pink or blue - or if the sex is unknown - green, yellow, purple, etc.  You could find a "baby print" that you lik and "cut it out" of that paper, easy peasy.  However, what if I only had the paper in pink and it was for a boy.  Or, I couldn't find any baby paper that I liked in my stash.  You could create your own "texture" or find one online and use it to fill your image and then cut it out. If I have paper I want to use but its the wrong color, I can scan it in- change the color with a graphics program and add that as texture to my MTC file before cutting.

The pictures show the base card I originally created and cut out in white cardstock.  Then the other pictures show where I scanned in paper I had and made texture files out of them.  I then used those texture files to fill the image, print it on my printer, and then cut it out (spot on I might add!) with my MTC software and my Cougar cutter.  Notice how the "print" on the diapers is different!

Since I scanned in my "texture" from paper I had, I cannot share those "textures" with you.  However,  you can create your own very easily.  If you need help, in how to do that, check out Nelda's Tutorial she shared regarding "How to Convert Lettering Delights Paper to Seamless Texture for use in MTC".

 Click here to go to Nelda's Tutorial on her Blog.  Scanning your own paper in would work similiarly. You can also create your own textures, backgrounds using a graphics program or google for free textures.  Just remember that Andy (creator of MTC recommends texture sizes of around 256x256) so not to bog down your computer and memory.

You can download my .mtc file for the Diaper Cards (2 sizes) here.

You can download my .svg file for the Diaper Card here (it is only 1 size).

As always - thanks for stopping by.  Feel free to leave a comment if any questions.  Would love to see what you do with any of my files.  (If I keep asking - maybe you will come back and share!  LOL)

Answers to Some Recent Questions

Hello. I wanted to stop and answer some questions I have recently gotten.

The first one was regarding my flower pot cards that I recently shared.  As I noted when I shared it, this file was created directly in Make The Cut and thus I only shared a .mtc file at that time.  I have had a couple of requests from people who do not have MTC but could use the file if it was in .svg format.  I'm sorry, but right now I have not created this file as an .svg file.  There are a variety of reasons for this.  One being that even though I own both MTC and SCAL2 - I pretty much only use my MTC software anymore for a variety of reasons. The second being time.  It takes times to convert the file and test the cuts and make sure everything works like it should before sharing the file.  I NEVER share a file unless I have test cut it myself to make sure that it works as it is intended.  As a result, I haven't had time to convert the file to an .svg file.  I'm not saying that I won't - but right now I don't have time, sorry!  Remember, you can get a free download of Make The Cut software and try it before you buy. (It will cut watermarks into your cuts until you purchase the license). I'm not an affiliate but think it is great and highly recommend it to anyone looking for software to use with electronic die cut machines.   Not only can it be used with Cricut machines, but it can be used with a variety of other cutters and that list continues to grow all the time.  Plus, I think it is more user friendly and easier for most people to learn and the developer is the one pushing the envelope with others trying to keep up. As a result, most of the files I share will probably usually be the .mtc file if that is where I created it.

Second - Dr. Seuss 1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish files.  I regularly get requests for these files.  I only made them available for download for a limited period of time.  However, I am always happy to e-mail them to you for your PERSONAL USE only.  Leave me a comment requesting the file AND you MUST include your e-mail address (I will not publish the comment).  I can't send the files to you unless I have your email address.  Also, please note if you want the .mtc or .svg file types.  It may take some time for me to get back to you as I don't always check the blog for comments everyday.  However, I will also say that I have e-mailed this file to a large number of people in the past several months and no one even bothers to send back a quick note saying - thanks - got it so I'm left wondering if they went through.  I'm going out of my way to share these files with people and would appreciate an acknowledgement that you did in fact get them!  It's not really hard to do a quick reply to my email people!!  I simply want to know that you did get them.  Of course, if you also actually use them I would like to see what you did with them sometime!! Thanks!  I have had several more requests for these recently as Dr. Seuss' birthday is coming up in March I gather and will be sending most of those out to those people today.  HOWEVER, I have had 1 request from a Melissa who DID NOT provide an email address.  If you are Melissa looking for my 1 Fish Files please leave me a comment with your email address so  I can forward them on to you.