New Features in Make the Cut and a New Lettering Delights Card Using them

Wow, can't believe it's been more than 2 months since I posted anything here on my blog!  End of Sept., really?!  Guess there was too much volleyball and football going on in my life the last few months!

I have actually been doing some crafting and playing with the new features that have recently been added to the Make the Cut software.  However, I just haven't had time to sit down and take pictures, write the info. up and get it posted on my blog.  Too little time and I'd rather spend it crafting I guess!  It does take a LOT of time to keep up a blog and to all of those who manage to do it EVERY DAY or several times a week, I salute you, your hard work and dedication!

Here is the project card that I wanted to share with you. One of the newer features in the Make the Cut software (MTC) is the ability to access Lettering Delights cutting files (LD) directly from within your MTC software!  One of LD's more recent files set is called "All Season's Pop-up Cards".  Well, there is some "cute" stuff there but the pop-up cards themselves are a little plain and boring without any "color" to them (at least to me!).  Here's a picture of what the plain card looks like:

Cute little snowman with a friend and the snowflakes yes?  However, what if you could make the snowman and the bird really "pop" off the page - that would be better don't you think?  I did!  So this is what I made using several of the new features in MTC version 4.0.+!

Now, which card would you rather send out or receive in the mail?  I know I'd rather have the "color"!

So now, you probably want to know how I did that!  It's actually a lot easier then it's going to sound!  I'm not going to give a full tutorial or step by step, nor do I feel that I can share photos or screen shots of the process because the file is a purchased one from Lettering Delights.  However, if you are comfortable with MTC and some of its newer features you should be able to follow along with the "concept" as I do my best to "explain" what I did.  It would be helpful if you have some basic knowledge of MTC and its newest features in order to fully understand what I have done.

First, you would need to purchase and download one of the Lettering Delight's Popup files like this one or find another one from somewhere else (there are some out there for free as well!).  This snowman card came from LD's "All Season's Pop-up Cards" and is "Card 2" in that collection.

Once I had the base card downloaded onto my MTC mat, I created a new page in that same MTC file and copied and pasted in place the card base to the new page to work with that copy.  (Simply redownloading to that page would work also.)  I kept the first page to cut "as is" for my card base to which to adhere my "Print and Cut" file once it was completed. (Note: This card base is actually the "insert" that you would need to add to the inside of a card base you create.)  Now you are ready to "break the file" to create your "Print and Cut".

Select the card base, go to Edit-->--->Shape Magic---->Break

This will break the card into different "parts and pieces".  One of the first things I did was to select the snowflakes and snow "dots" all together, and "join" them back together as a group (edit ---> shape magic ----> join) so they are treated as "one" object, take them to their own layer, and then hide that layer so that they are out of the way.  (One reason I "join" them back together is so that when I want to work with them, move them around, etc.  I only have to click on one and it selects the entire group!)

I then took the other different "parts and pieces" of the snowman to their own layers and colored them.  I selected the snowman's eyes and mouth (again, did a "join" so they stay together as one "object") - took them to their own layer ('selection to new layer") and made their color "black" (I took them together because I was coloring both the eyes and mouth black.  If I wanted them different colors, I would have take the eyes to one layer and the mouth to its own layer).  I then selected the nose, took it to its own layer, and made it orange.  Finally, I "joined" the buttons to keep them together, took them to their own layer and colored them red.  Once I had all of these objects moved to their own layers and colored as desired, I hid those layers to keep them out of the way while I worked on the remaining parts I needed.

Next I did a little work on the bird. I will be bringing the entire (already) colored bird back in from the Lettering Delight's file a little later (No need to reinvent the wheel!) so I just need to get rid of the bird's eye and wing. There are two ways I could do that.  I selected the bird's wing and eye along with the body and "welded" (edit---->shape magic ----> weld) the bird's eye and wing to the base so that those "holes" are gone and it is one solid piece for cutting later.  I could also have deleted the wing and the eye from this part of the card but it would have and left the "holes" in the base and these would have still been cut out.  The way I did it with the welding, it is one solid piece now.

Now to complete the work, we need to do some "node editing." To do "node editing" you have to be using the newest version of MTC, version 4.0.+.  We need to use MTC's new node editing features to get the Snowman recognized as a "whole" snowman and to remove his stick arms from the body and make them into separate parts.  Right now he has "pieces" (cut lines) missing from his head and side where he is "attached" to the card base. We want to be able to cut the snowman out on his own and to color his stick arms brown.

Open the Node editing menu in MTC 4.0.+ (found on the left top corner of your MTC mat).  Click on the Bezier Curve tool, notice that you can now see the "nodes" blue dots at the end of lines (you may need to zoom in to see better). Left click on the top node on the left top side of the snowman's head, then go down to the bottom left side node and right click on the node there.  This will  add a line to the snowman and close off the left side of his head.  Repeat this on the right side of the Snowman's head.  This will make his head "whole" and ready to cut all the way around.

Now, before we do the same thing to the sides of his body, we need to cut off his stick arms and close the finger tips and end of the arms so that we can take them to their own layer and color them brown.  Using the knife slicing tool (probably a really good idea to zoom in closer here), go just above the top of the left stick arm where it joins the body, click, hold and drag it down to below where the bottom part of the stick joins the body and then release, this will cut the arm away from the body.  It is probably in two pieces, the top and bottom parts of the stick, select both pieces, move them a little way away from the body to help with the node work. (If you don't, you may end up rejoining them to the body accidentially!)  Again select the Bezier Curve tool and use it to close the "gap" or "missing line" on his middle finger tip and at the end of the stick (see instructions above on using this tool to close the sides of the head).  If done correctly, the "stick" will become whole and change color.  Now do the same to the stick arm on the right side.  Use the Knife/slicing tool to cut the stick off the body and then use the Bezier Curve tool to close the lines on the finger and at the end of the stick. You know have to "closed" stick arms!

Now use the Bezier Curve tool to close the "gaps" or add the "missing line" to the left and right sides of the snowman's body the same way you did the head and the stick arms.  Take the snowman's body to it's own layer and color it "white".  Move the stick arms back into place next to the snowman's body, take them to their own layer and color them brown. You will also then need to "copy" and then "paste in place" the snowman's arms onto the same layer with the snowman's body and then "weld" them to the body so that you have the correct shape to "cut" once you have him printed.  Welding should make them one piece with the body and make sure it is all still white.

At this point you can open and close layers as needed and use the node editing tools as desired to modify, correct lines as needed (making sure finger tip or head is more "curved" for example).

At this point, it's a good idea to make sure that all the different "layers" or "parts and pieces" are in the correct order for the best print and cut and make sure that they are not closed or hidden if needed for the print and cut..  (For example, the eyes, nose, mouth, and button layers should all be "above" the snowman's body layer so that they are "on top" and showing properly when printing.)

Once that is all done, you can then go back to the Lettering Delight's Files and download the "bird" from the "All Season's Pop-up Cards" collection.  Put it on its own layer, place it and size it correctly so that it is sitting on top of the snowman's head as needed.  You are now ready to do your printing. (If  you are just printing, the different parts and pieces of the bird do not have to be on their own layers since they are already colored differently and stay that way when you bring them in from LD's file.)

Couple of notes regarding printing.  First, you need to make sure that you only have the layers showing that you want included in the printing (in this instance, the bird and the snowman along with his eyes, nose, mouth, buttons and arms). Be sure you have closed any other layers not needed for printing.  Second, you need to decide if you just want the "fill" only or the "fill and outline" to show when you print and make any changes needed there.  On mine, both were showing so I have the lines around his nose, etc.  You can also use the "print preview" to see what is going to print.  Since the snowman himself is "white" with no outline showing, you won't see his body since "white" does not show on print preview.  (If you feel the need to verify that he's really there you can change his body to another color besides white before doing the preview - just remember to change it back to white if you want a white snowman!)

To print a file for a "Print and Cut" - first make sure that you have checked your printing options needed from within the MTC software.  Go to File ---->print options and select or deselect options as needed.  For example you will need to make sure that "print registration marks are checked" but the "use silhouette sd" is marked only if you are using that cutter.  Decide on printer outlines or not, etc.  Once done, click ok and print.

Once you have your printed page, follow the proper method needed to do a "print and cut" for your cutter of choice.  I have both a Silhouette SD and an 18" Cougar machine so how I do a print and cut with each of those machines varies.  (Note: If you have never done a 'print and cut" with your cutter before, you may need to first calibrate your machine before doing a "print and cut" to ensure your cutting is aligned properly with your image.)

One important step to remember at this point is to CLOSE any and all LAYERS that you DO NOT WANT TO CUT!  For example, we only want to cut the "outline" of the snowman with the bird on his head so that is the only layer we would have showing.  We would close the colored bird, along with the snowman's eyes, nose, mouth, buttons, and arms along with the card base. (If we forget to close those layers, they will "cut" and you will not have an orange nose, red buttons, etc!)

Once you have your "print and cut" printed and cut out, you are ready to adhere it to your inside "pop-up base".  Cut out the original "card base" from the Lettering Delights file.  Adhere your "print and cut" to the Snowman and then apply the entire base to a base card being careful not to adhere the parts of the snowman that "pop-up".  (Note:  I always remove or hide the layer with the scored/fold lines because I don't like the little "slits" it puts in the card.  This is a personal preference.)

Now you have a cute "colored" pop-up to send out to your family and friends!

Couple of other quick notes, if you want to vary the card size, you need to put the card base on the same page on its own layer - have ALL layers showing, "select all" and resize so that you resize all together and in proportion!You can also now use this file to "paper piece" the snowman if desired as well.  You would just cut out the different parts and pieces as needed.  This would be great or adding a little "dimension" to a project.  You could also use the "print and cut" as a stand alone object (like on the front of the card) and can resize him as needed, etc.  Use your imagination and have fun!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope my basic "instructions" are helpful to you in making other simple files have a little more "pop".  Please feel free to leave a message should you have any questions or comments.  I tried to make sure I covered all the steps but I may have missed something or not explained it well enough!  I hope to share some more projects with you soon that I have been working on.  In the meantime, if I don't get back soon - Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all and a Happy New Year too!  LOL!!

Bunny Card With Files to Share

Well, I liked the bunny card I posted yesterday so much that I REALLY wanted to share it with people.  SO, I decided to create my own bunny card using basic shapes in my Make The Cut Software.  Although this file was inspired by the previous Bunny Card that I shared yesterday from a pattern in the Spring, 2011 edition of Paper Creations magazine (Issue 28) designed by Maricel Fabi, this one I created from basic shapes in MTC.  Isn't it amazing what you can do by welding a few circles, ovals, triangles, etc. together!  If you look closely, you can see that difference in my bunny's ears, the paws, the nose, the vest, and his overall basic shape.

So, if you thought, "shoot, I would have really liked to have had that pattern" yesterday - now you can have one almost like it but one that I feel comfortable sharing here.  I have included in the Make The Cut file both a welded shape for the card joined and folded at the ears as well as a single bunny shape for use on other projects. There are two files for svg users.  One is for the card its self and the "accessory" parts.  There is a second one for the single bunny shape with paws and feet only. Thanks to Maricel for her inspiration.

I used the "swiss dots" embossing folder to emboss the inner ears on this one.  I didn't add "buttons" to the vest, I created a vest with the "buttons" cut out.(My file contains both vests, one with the circles cut out and one plain.) I pop dotted the nose and the paw holding the flower.  My sample card appears to have his left arm (paw)  "bent" behind him but there is an extra arm to add on that side if desired. This card used 15mm goggle eyes with lashes.  Yesterday's card the eyes were 10mm.  I had previously tried 10mm size with lashes when I made my first one but didn't like it for some reason.  I do think with the larger eyes it works.

Please let me know if you enjoyed my file and let me see what you do with it.  I also think he would be cute made into a "she" bunny (add some lace to the bottom of the vest and make a dress and add a bow to an ear) or holding an Easter Egg or an Easter Basket.  Just use your imagination!

You can Download my Make the Cut file of the Bunny Card here.

You can Download a SVG file of the Bunny Card here.

You can Download a SVG file of just the single Bunny Shape here.

Thanks for stopping by!

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)

Flowers Anyone? - Flowerpot Pocket or Slider Card

Yea, it is Finally Friday.  I have been under the weather all week and didn't make it into my craft room at all.  Didn't get much of anything done beyond the absolute have to's!!

As a result, I haven't gotten anything on the blog in a while either.  I had high hopes to do a better blogging job in the new year!  Not yet it would seem though!  LOL  I don't know if I will ever be an everyday blogger.  At least not while I still have children to drive from here to there!  LOL

I created these two files several weeks ago.  I got the pictures made and the files ready to share, just hadn't set down to get them actually posted on the blog.  These are my own personal files I have created from scratch using the Make the Cut software.  However, the IDEA is not mine.  I have seen diferent versions of these types of cards in a variety of places before.  BUT, what I had not seen was one where the card its self could actually stand up so that it could be displayed to look like what it is, a pot of flowers.  So, first I created the base card and then I modified the bottom of the base so that it could be "folded"  so that it would "stand" up.  I like it.  I hope you do too.  You can use it for a variety of sentiments, Get Well, Sympathy, Happy Birthday, etc. - anything where you might want to send someone some flowers!!

Both files will fit in a 5x7 envelope if you place your flowers properly!!  Use as many flowers as you want.  I have 3 on one card and 4 on the other it looks like. I added dimension to the circles with the swiss dots cuttlebug folder and inked the raised dots by swiping the ink pad across them gently.

You can put a piece of ribbon and a tag around your "pot" if you want, ink it,  or decorate the pot its self- use your imagination.

To create the regular "flat" fowerpot card - fold the base or "pot" in the center of the pot so that it is equal on both sides. Then fold the tops down and score at 1" on each side to create the lip or the rim of the pot. You can adhere the lip or rim of the pot to the pot or not to hold it down more flat (use glue dot, double stick tape, etc).

To create the Standing Flower pot card so that the receiver can stand it up like an actual pot of flowers, create a mountain fold in the center of the base pot so that it is equal on both sides, THEN score at the 1/2 inch on EACH side of the center fold and make these scores valley folds.

PLEASE NOTE:  the smaller STANDING file has had more "depth" added to the pot to allow for these extra folds to allow it to stand up.  You will not get the correct dimensions if you try this with the larger file.

I hope all of this makes sense. This is one of the reasons I hadn't yet posted the file.  I wanted to do detailed directions.  I'm not sure these are great, but hopefully everyone will understand them!!  LOL  If not, leave me a note and I will try to do a better job.

I am only sharing this in the Make the Cut (.mtc) file format as that is how I created my files to begin with.  The files have a couple of pages to them.  One page has a variety of different "flowers" I created using basic shapes.  Then I layered them to create my flowers. Since It's been a couple of weeks since I created the files, I don't recall what all is in them to tell you the truth!  LOL

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 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! As you can see from my blog - I don't have lots of time on my hands right now with 2 soon to be HS aged students and their sports!  LOL  Which is why I don't get to share a lot on my blog and it took weeks to get just the MTC file posted here!  Thanks for asking though and I do promise that it is on my to do list so check back by sometime and see if I ever get a chance to convert the file and test it to share. 

I would love to see any that you make and hear what you did with them.  Thanks for stopping by.

Download the Larger Flat Flowerpot Card here.

Download the Smaller but Standing Flowerpot Card here.

Circus Party Invitation or Card

"Closed Card" with pullout tab

Regular Card with no tab

Sorry.  Circus Week was interrupted by a trip out of town to our State's High School Volleyball Tournament last week with my DD and her team. They came in 3rd!  Not what they hoped for, but still a great showing!!  Then I have been trying to catch up on being gone for most of the week last week! Now club VB tryouts have begun and DS has finished football and Basketball has begun!

Anyway back to the Circus one more time!  LOL  One of the ladies at our school saw the circus decorations we made for our carnival and said "hey" I could use those for my son's birthday party and make it a circus theme and save lots of money!  However, to do that, she wanted a circus tent invitation to send out and asked for my help in creating one for her to use.

Open Card with Tent Insert

Since I already had the Carousel Lite Cartridge, I whipped her up a couple of ideas to pick from.  Both used the circus tent from the cartridge but one opened up completely like a regular card and one was sealed all the way around except for the very bottom. I refer to it as the "Closed Card."  I added a tab place at the bottom (using the George Cartridge circle) to pull out the "insert".  I think you can see this in the pictures.  Then, I gave her the choice of creating a "tent" insert or a ticket to put the party information on.  She elected to use the ticket and the tent invite that was closed but pulled out from the bottom. 

Open Card with Ticket Insert

I think they turned out really cute and she was pleased with her options. 

So, as not to let them sit around unused on my computer I am sharing my files here. SInce I used PC's Carousel Lite cartridges I only have files for Design Studio and the Gypsy available here at this time.  If you really like this idea but don't have either Design Studio, a Gypsy and/or the Carousel Cartridge,  I am sure that you can google circus tent and find some clipart to use to create a .svg for use with Make the Cut (MTC) or with Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) or whatever software and/or cutter you might have.  You can also easily create a "ticket" by cutting out a rectangle and using a small circle punch on each of the four corners (cut a half circle on each corner).  I haven't had time to try to find another circus tent image and create either a .mtc or .svg file myself sorry!



Download the Circus Tent Card/Invitation .cut file for DS using the Carousel Lite and George Cartridge.

Download the Circus Tent Card/Invitation .gypsy file for Gypsy using the Carousel Lite and George Carts.

Note: George was used to create half circle needed for thumb pull out tab.  Any circle can be used.


This shows Fold and Glue Lines



The file contains multiple pages, the first page cuts 2 red bases with the thumb tab, the second page cuts 4 of the white stripe overlays, the third page cuts 2 of the tent insert card, the fourth page cuts 4 of the ticket inserts, and the 5th page cuts 1 red base without the thumb tab for a traditional card that opens completely.  To create the pull out card simple fold in the middle of the card lining up all sides.  Then add a thin strip of glue or double stick tape to the top and right side of the card leaving the bottom open to pull out the insert.

This shows "Closed Card" with Tent Pullout



"Closed Card" with Ticket Pullout



Please feel free to leave me a comment especially if you have any questions on my files.  If you do have a question, please leave me an e-mail address to contact you at.  I will remove your address before publishing the comment.  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!

Manly Card - Vest for Dad - .svg and .mtc files for use with Cricut

Hello. I was looking back through my huge stack of "ideas" and ran across a project that I had been working on a while back.  I decided to finish it up and put it out here to share with the Cricut and blogging world.  I found the original pattern in a February 2008 edition of Paper Crafts magazine (page 60) entitled Vest Card. You can find the magazine's website at  http://www.papercraftsmag.com/index.html. (Unfortunately, the website no longer goes back to that edition!)  The article notes that the design was courtesy of Tinkering Ink & Mainly Stamps.  I believe Tinkering Ink's website address is: http://www.tinkeringink.com/ (but I didn't find anything there related to this Vest Card.)  I have seen other "vest" cards in the past, but this is where I got my pattern from.

First, I copied and cut out the pattern provided in the magazine.  I then enlarged it and scanned it.  I usually scan it in and save it in a graphics format like .jpeg or .png and then import that into Inkscape to get an .svg file.  I then take the .svg file and import it into either Make the Cut ("MTC") or Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL). 

There really aren't any "directions" to prvide. Once you cut out the card from a patterned cardstock, you simply fold the card at the middle of the arm holes so that the points of the bottom of the vest line up.  The "flat" side of the vest (as opposed to the pointed side) is the outside overlapping flap.  The .svg file does not have the "pocket" and the "hankie".  I created those and imported them directly into MTC from the scanner.  Glue the "hankie" to the backside of the "pocket" and then glue the pocket onto the front left side of the Vest.  You can then create "buttons" or add real buttons to the right front side of the Vest.  I created buttons with a small hole punch and glued them onto the card front. Then used a marker to make button holes.

You can download the Vest Card .svg file here.  If you have the latest version of the Make the Cut (MTC) software (not the beta 2.x version) you can download the Vest Card .mtc file here.  The MTC file is sized correctly and has the pocket and the hankie cuts as well. As always, let me know if you have any problems with any of my files and I would love to see what you create with any of them!  Thanks for stopping by.

Rheba's Notecard Organizer Box - ah la Cricut Bug

Here's a photo of the notecard/organizer box that Rheba made.  She added a cricut bug head to her's.  She is going to use it to store her beautiful cards in when she makes them!  Didn't she do a fabulous job! You can get a .cut file for this box/container in the post below.  Let us see what you do with yours.  Thanks again to everyone whois responsbile for me getting this file so I could make a .cut file from it!

Gingerbread House - Card or Gift Card Holder - .gypsy or .cut files available - George Cartridge Used

Hello.  Hope everyone in the US had a great Thanksgiving.  We did.  We had 28-30 people to our house to eat on Thanksgiving.  That means I spent all the earlier part of the week cleaning my house!  LOL  Then about half of them were back on Friday for leftovers!!  So - I just finally got around to posting this today!

Here is the "GingerBread" House Card that I made last week.  I found it while perusing an old copy of  a PaperCrafts magazine. It was in the November, 2007 edition on page 45 entitled, "So Good You Could Eat It" and was designed by Valerie Pingree.  When I saw it I thought - "hmm . . . . that is cute and would be very easy to do in Design Studio and/or the Gypsy."  I designed my original file on my Gypsy with the George cartridge.  I used the Gypsy so I could "group" and easily resize if needed.  I used the George cartridge for two reasons.  First, like BugBytes - I think my Gypsy Wanderings shapes are wonky for some reason - at least they look that way on my screeen!!  Then, I wanted to be able to share this file with people who didn't have the Gypsy but did have Design Studio so I went with George.  If you don't have George, you can use the template option on the Gypsy to recreate the file using another cartridge with basic shapes you do have. DS doesn't have the "template" option but you can still recreate it in DS with another cartridge simply by using another "page" and the preview mode to allow you to do the same thing like the template mode on the Gypsy. You can also leave me a comment if you need help recreating this file with another cartridge on either the Gypsy or DS and can't do it yourself and I will be happy to try and help you.

Both files, the .gypsy and the .cut, have 2 pages.  The first page is the house card base.  Cut it out in any brown or tan cardstock that you want.  You will want it to be fairly heavy cardstock.  Once cut, fold the left and right "flaps" in to overlap the card base.The 2nd page is the "snow scallop" for the bottom of the card and then the 2 roof scallops.  Note that the circles are welded together but the rectangles are not welded to the circles.  This is correct as you simply want the rectangle to cut the circles so that they are "flat" on that side for placement on the roof line or the base of the card.  The first scallop is only 4 circles - this is for the "snow" on the base of the card.  Once you have it - cut it in half to put half on the bottom of one "flap" of the card and the other half on the other flap of the card so that you can still open the card. The other two longer "scallops" are for the roof "shingles".  They overlap on the peak of the rooftop.  I used stickles for the red "dots" on the roof line.  You could also add small circle cuts to each circle (without welding) and they would cut the "dots" out.  You cold then add paper to the back to get a different color "dot".

The file doesn't include any other "decorations".  The candy "circles" in the middle of my roof is cut from paper I had and then stickled.  I also stickled the snow and roof shingles.  I used my crop-a-dile to add two eyelets on the "flaps" to run the ribbon through.  The ribbon is some I had in my stash.  Create and decorate as you would any Gingerbread house - the limits are your imagination.

To simply use this as a card, write your greeting inside. You could add a small piece of colored cardstock inside to write on if you wanted a little more color inside.  If you want to use it as a "gift card" holder, you can either simply add a little repostitionable glue to the back of your gift card and place it inside on the card base or cut some "slits" for the corners of the gift card to slide into.  I think I am going to use it for my niece who is moving to NC to her first real job and apt. just before Christmas.  As always, I love to read comments and see what people do with my files.  I'm happy to answer any questions as well.  Hope everyone has a Joyous Holiday Season!

You can download the .cut file using George for Design Studio or you can download the .gypsy file using George on the Gypsy.

DazyCutr's Corner - Cards made with MS Punches

Welcome to DazyCutr's Corner! Rheba a.k.a. DazyCutr on the Cricut MB is going to share my blog. She will post her beautiful card creations here as often as she wants. I'll encourage her to post other things too!! Here is her first sharing with us. They are cards made with MS Punches. She learned this technique from Becca at AmazingGrace. You can find Becca's website here http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/. Becca refers to these as "circle frames". This first card was created using a MS around the page punch, fall leaves. To create this frame I cut a circle 3 3/4", and using Becca's directions I marked the back of the card stock in 1/8th sections. I used the corner punch from the set and went around the circle. I really like the look of this.

The cornucopia is cut from Speaking of Fall @ 1 3/4". The pumpkins, apple and cherry are part of the cut. I added glaze to them

"Give Thanks" is cut from Don Juan @ 1/2".

I used the border and corner punch for the background paper.

This is a real fun technique with endless possibilities. I have created a few more.

This second card was made using the MS cupcake punch. I had to make the circle a little bigger for this one, 4" The cupcakes around the circle are punched out and what you are seeing is the background paper through the cupcake cut out. In the center is the actual punch. I added a little glaze to them and doodled the edges.

The scalloped circle is from Mini Monos.

Happy Birthday is a stamp.

Here are some additional cards made with this technique. One has deer and one has snowmen. The "winter" is from Stretch Your Imagination, "Season's Greetinngs is from Don Juan. The tree is a cricut cut but can't recall which cartridge! Anyone care to guess?!! The snowman head and hat are from Speaking of Winter.

These last two pictures are not very clear, but you can click on all of the pictures for a larger image.

Eyeore Card with DS and Any Cricut - Pooh & Friends Cartridge & George

Here is an Eyeore card that I made back around the end of March for my sister's birthday.  I love the Mouse.  She loves Eyeore.  We were out of town (at Disney I believe!) on her birthday so we "missed" it.  I made this as a birthday card for her and on the inside I put - "we missed your birthday - hope it was happy" or something like that. 

Well, I've had the .cut file since then but forgot to take a picture of the card to share with all of you.  I finally got around to cutting a new one so I could take a picture!  I've left the inside blank at the moment so I could "adapt" it to any need like another missed birthday, an illness, an apology, etc. 

I have files for both the smaller bugs and the Expression.  You will need the Pooh and Friends cartridge and George.  The rectangle used to join Eyeore's head for the base and the bottom of the card are from George but could easily be replaced by ones from another cartridge if you don't have our friend George.  I used the Pooh Font for the words "oh bother" so you could easily redo that with another font you had. I used the shadow of Eyeore to make the card base, then cut the full head and then the "pieces" and layered them.  See your Pooh & Friends handbook if needed in figuring out the layering.

Download the Eyeore Card .cut file for the Smaller bugs here.

Download the Eyeore Card .cut file for the Expression here.

DS File by GJ now available for Witche's Shoe Card Previously Posted

Hello.  Just a quick note to let you know that I was contacted by GJ on the Cricut MB asking if it was okay for her to remake the Witch's shoe card that I had made as .svg and .scut files and previously posted.  I said sure, I would love for her to do that for our DS using friends.  So she did and has kindly agreed to let me post it here on my blog for those who wish to download it.  Both GJ and I have cut the file and it works great.  Here is a picture of GJ's card.

You can follow this link to see my original post and to find GJ's DS .cut file that she has kindly shared.  Thanks GJ!

http://meflickcricutandmore.blogspot.com/2009/08/happy-halloween-witchy-footwear-card.html

NOTE:  On GJ's card she has used the "hide contour feature".  Her first page with the card tells you what should be "hidden".  Make sure these are "hidden" before you go to cut the file.  You will probably have to "hide" them again in the file.  I did.  Nothing GJ did wrong - just one of those "bugs" in the software - a hidden contour doesn't always stay hidden!

Some Simple and Quick Birthday Cards

My DD and I made a lot of simple cards that we gave to my mother-in-law at Christmas for her to use to send out to friends and family. She recently mentioned that she needed "more" birthday ones as she had sent out the last one! LOL So, I went to work making some quick and simple cards. I used card bases that I had previously purchased. Some were plain white, others had a design already on the front that I "added" to. Here are a few samples of some of those cards.

The first card used a plain white base, cut a piece of "dotted paper" to fit and applied to the front of the card. Then added a cupcake cut from A Child's Year to it and used stickles on the cupcake and around the edge of the dotted paper. Inside it says "Happy Birthday Cupcake."

The second card also used a plain white base, cut a piece of paper with different types of ice cream (including a popcicle on it, used a marker to "outline" the edges (Be careful when you do this - I used one that "bled" through to the inside top of the card and so I then used an inside liner paper to cover that up!). The popcicle cut was cut from the Doodlecharms cartridge (I think!). I added some marker around its edges and some stickles to it. The small blue oval was cut out for the "saying" I wanted on the front which is "how old would you be if you didn't know how old you were." I lked that as most of us remember having popcicles as children. Inside it simply says Happy Birthday.

The third card had "birthday" grettings all over the front of the card already. So, I simply added the silhouette cut of 3 children playing together from A Child's Year cartridge to the front of the card and inside again used the stamp that said "how old would you be if you didn't know how old you were."

3 simple but quick birthday cards. Hope someone likes them! I do these "simple" because I figure they are "looked at" and then tossed so I don't put a lot of work into them!

Happy Halloween - Witchy Footwear Card for SCAL 2 OR NOW File for DS too!

Hello. We have 2 month until Halloween. "Witch" means its time to be making those Halloween cards!! I had purchased the Sept/Oct 2009 copy of PaperCrafting Magazine. It has several cute card ideas in it. One is a "Witchy Footwear Card" designed by Kim Hughes.

I liked the card but of course wanted to be able to cut out multiple of the cards with my Cricut. So, with the help of my scanner, computer, Inkscape and SCAL 2, I downloaded the pattern for the Witches Boot, created an .svg file with Inkscape and imported it into SCAL 2. Since the "card" requires a "front and back" to it and the pattern only had 1 side of 1 boot, I had to copy it and then flip it and then attempt to weld it. Well for some reason, I couldn't get SCAL or SCAL 2 to weld the two boots together!! Grrrrrr!!! I do know how to weld - it wasn't working!! Still haven't figured out why!!


Well - not to be thrawted by a computer and software, I simple cut 2 of the shapes out, taped them together in the correct position and rescanned it into my computer as 1 object! Then again, coverted it into an .svg file and IMPORTED it into SCAL 2! Success!!! There is more then one way to skin a cat you know!! LOL I used a $1 stamp from Studio G that says "Best Witches" inside the card.


I used SCAL 2 because I wanted 2 pages. The first page has the card base and the second page a "liner" for inside the card since I was cutting the base in black cardstock! I did try to open this .scut file in the first version of SCAL just to see what would happen - nothing happens - you just get a blank page. So, you will need to have SCAL 2 to open and cut this file. It also appears that there is nothing to distinguish the file names of files created in SCAL 1 and/or SCAL 2. Both types of files end in .scut alone. If I am wrong on this can someone let me know? Thanks! This may cause problems for some since SCAL 1 wouldn't open my SCAL 2 file. As a result, I will always try to remember to tell you which version of SCAL I have used. I may come back and add a SCAL 1 version but you really don't need me to, simply take the .svg file and IMPORT (not open) it into SCAL 1. Remember to IMPORT the Shoe CARD if you want the card base!


I thought about adding the "hole punches" for the ribbon "shoe lace" but didn't because I was also using a liner inside the card. That would be a nightmare to try and line up before you cut and put the card base and liner together. So, I didn't add those to the file. However, you could add them to the front base IF you were not going to use the liner inside the card.



You can download the single Witches Shoe .svg file here. You can download the Witches Shoe CARD .svg file here. Or you can download the Witches Shoe CARD .scut file for SCAL 2 here.

UPDATE: 9/11/09 - GJ from the Cricut MB contacted me and asked if I would mind if she attempted to create this card in DS for those Cricut users with DS but not SCAL.  I told her I'd be happy for her to do that.  I also told her she was a better woman then me to do so because I had taken the "easy way out" by doing this with SCAL to start with.  I love DS but I don't have the patience to do complicated things with it, especially without a "group all" feature and some other basic graphic features that it is missing.  Anyway . . .

GJ has created a DS .cut file of a similiar witch's shoe card for all our DS friends!  Thank you GJ for doing so and sharing it.  Since GJ does not yet have a blog she said she was willing for me to post it here on mine to share with all of you.  Here is a picture of her card she made: 

You can Download GJ's Witch's Shoe Card .cut file here.

Thanks GJ.  To see more of GJ's work you can go to the Cricut MB and check out her gallery there. 

Card Making with DazyCutr

Hello. I hope to start posting regularly within the week! I'm sorry I have been neglectful of my blog. However, with the lack of comments it doesn't seem as if anyone has been missing it! LOL Today I went over to DazyCutr's (Rheba) from the Cricut Messageboard's house. We worked on a Winter card design while it was almost 90 degrees outside! Did seem to help cool things off! LOL Rheba always has wonderful ideas for cards. I think we make a great team - she's the creative genius and I'm her technical help! LOL She and I had both just gotten the A Child's Year cartridge this past week. We had held off for a while convincing ourselves we didn't need it! But at AC Moore's sale prices, we decided that maybe we did. LOL I got mine because our ACM did not have any of the new cartridges that I went seeking other then From My Kitchen. Still waiting on the other 3. So, we used the little girl with the snowman cut from A Child's Year, used core black paper backed with blue, the Cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder, and then sanded the dots for the blue to show through. We then used the Martha Stewart Tree border punch and a snowman border stamp Rheba had to create the bottom image. I used green ink on the tree line and prisma pencils on the lineup of snowmen and the red heart and cardinal to help them "pop" off the card. The saying, "there's no business like "snow business"" was also a stamp that Rheba had. The whole "card" design was Rheba's layout, I just "implemented" my version of it! LOL Thank you Rheba! You may make a true card designer of me yet!

Nothing to share other then the card that Rheba designed and I put together! Remember, if you click on the picture it will open it in a bigger window so you can see the picture better.