Some Basic Information About My Site and My Files:

First a note about my files:



All my files are for personal use. I do not charge for any files I create. I share them here for others to use for personal use only. Please do not use them to submit for contests, etc. without getting my permission first. Please give credit where credit is due. I will try to do the same. This means I will try to identify where I got an item or a project if I didn't create it myself and there is an identifable source. Sometimes however I use basic clipart or coloring pages. You may however share these files with others for their personal use (you may not charge for them - you may pass them on for free) or you may point them here to my blog to get the files themselves. If a download file is available, it will appear at the bottom of the post and will be in a different color text.



PLEASE NOTE: I reside in the USA where we use the MM/DD/YYYY date format on computers (and in everything else we do!) If you are outside the USA where they use the DD/MM/YYYY date format on computers, you MAY experience an "Unhandled exception" error when you try to open one of my Cricut DS files. It is an error related to the date format. An easy fix is available at SusanBlueRobot's Blog. Susan has a simple HexEdit program and directions which will allow you to alter the date so you can use the files. Note: This is only an issue if the save date of the file is after the 12th of the month! It is also only an issue with DS files. I have never seen this issue with MTC or SCAL.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Tom Cruise by paperkutz

Good evening.  My cervical disc fusion went well and I am on the mend.  It has been a month now and I have finally felt up to spending some time in my craft room. Still some time required on the mending so things around here will still be slow for a while.

While I haven't recently created any files personally to share, I did want to share this with all of you that use MTC, SCAL or other software with your electronic cutters.  If you have ever been on the MTC forums you may have seen paperkutz share some celebrity "portraits" cut from layered paper.  They are truly awesome works of art.  Many people on that forum had asked for him to share his methodology and experience so they could learn how to do such projects (most want to do family members).  I am happy to say that he has finally found the time to sit down and work on sharing that information.  He has started a blog where he will be posting files to try and then tutorials on how he does it so we can all learn how to do it too!  He shared a 6 layer cut file of Tom Cruise that he created to show us how it works. It is actually fairly easy to cut this file as it does not have many small intricate pieces and therefore goes together fairly easily.  I didn't have the correct 6 colors of paper he recommended (you really can use 6 any monochromatic shades of any color) but thought it was a decent job for a novice.  Here is the "portrait" I cut and assembled using paperkutz' file and instructions:


You can find out more about paperkutz and his technique and tutorials (and get this cut file of Tom) by visiting his blog here:  http://paperkutzstudio.wordpress.com/

His plan is to post another cut file of a different celebrity by the end of this week and then in the following weeks go through how to pick your own photo, how to posterize it and turn it into a cut file.  After his tutorials are done, he is going to have a mini-contest for you to create your own files based on his tutorials that you have completed!  So be sure and stop by his site for all the details.  I'm very excited that he will be sharing his knowledge and expertise as I would love to use this process to create portraits of my family.  

I'm so excited about this that I wanted you to see more of his actual work (its not all on his blog at the moment) so here are links to his other celebrity portraits that he has done and shared on the MTC forum:  (There are no cut files shared for these - just his awesome end products to inspire you and show you why I am so excited to learn his techniques!)













I hope to have some more things I have actually done to share soon.  I'm still trying to figure out what to do about a new blog.  I need to do a new one and drop the "cricut" name from it as I don't want to get in any trouble by using it.  As always, thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Happy Summer!

Just wanted to make a quick post to let everyone know that I haven't forgotten my blog.  Life gets in the way sometimes.  LOL  Family comes first and then I had to have a cervical fusion at the end of June.  This wasn't unexpected - had been fighting it for more than 2 years now.  Finally gave in and took care of it.  I am on the mend now and hope to be crafting again more regularly soon.  One of my fist orders of business is probably to redo or start a new blog for sharing.  I will update here if and when that happens.  Have a great summer and as always, thanks for stopping by and for understanding.