Graduation Cap Card or Gift Card Holder - Locker Talk Cartridge Used

Here is a "graduation cap" card that I made using Design Studio (DS). Due to its size, you will need the Expression machine and the 12x12 mat. It uses the Locker Talk cartridge. I took the "easy way" out by using this cartridge since it already had the Graduation Cap cutout. You can use the card as a simple "card" or you could use it as a gift card holder (it is big enough as you can see to slip a gift card in). If you want to use as a gift card holder just add slits or hand cut slits for the corners of the gift card or use piece of double sided tape or a dab of repostionable glue on the back of the gift card to attach to the inside. You can fold the card so that the tassle is either on the left or the right which ever way you prefer. Also, I hand cut the tassle off the back side of the card in my pics but you don't have too you could leave the back tassle on the card if you want. (You have to hand cut it off because there is no way to hide it in DS to cut without it because it is one image with the cap!) :( I've had this idea "dancing" around in my head for weeks, just hadn't had time to lay it out and try it until now! Let me know if you do anything with the .cut file. I like to see what others do with my files! DOWNLOAD the Graduation Cap Card .cut file.

Mother's Day Cards - No .cut files

Well, when I went to download a project from my camera I discovered that I had taken pictures of the mother's day cards I had made for my Mom and my Mother-in-law. (I usually forget to take the pictures because I'm usually making cards at the last minute!) So, I thought I would share them. The purple one was given to my Mom. It has a House Mouse Stamp I had colored with Prisma Colored Pencils using Gamosol and then put it on the card back around Valentine's day I think! Then it just set there waiting for me to figure out "who" / "what" it was for! Found the Happy Mother's Day on the Wild Card cartridge and used it to "finish" off my card! Anyone else ever do that? Make part of something and then it has to "sit" until your mind figures out the rest! The other card for my mother-in-law was similar. It had to "jell" a little while before it was used. I used a .cut file from Laurinda on the Cricut Messageboard to cut the card base with the lace look and the slits to run the ribbon through. Then I left it sitting again for weeks trying to decide what to make it into. I originally thought I would use it to make a sympathy card (which I still haven't gotten done) but thought different once I had the pink inner lining paper. Then I thought it would make a cute baby card but didn't have a need for that so it laid on my table for weeks. Then, I finally put it together for Mother's Day. My mother-in-law loves flowers thus the flower on the card. Anyway, they turned out pretty good I think. Now, if I can just remember to ink/chalk my cutouts BEFORE I PASTE them down on a card!!! LOL Thanks for looking.

Hello. Well, not a lot for me to share right now. Still haven't been able to get into the craft room. However, I hated not sharing anything in so long so thought I'd share another .svg file for those who have SCAL. It should come in handy with those of you who like to swim and dive in the summer time. You can download the swim mask , snorkel and flipper .svg file here. Stick with me! I hope to have more to share sooner then later! Thanks for stopping by!

Missing In Action - I'm still here

Just wanted to post a note to apologize for being MIA (Missing in Action)!!! The past two weeks have not been my own! We are in the final count down to the end of school (tomorrow at noon!) so lots of end of school things going on requiring my attention. Then my niece graduated from college, baseball games, volleyball tournaments, braces on one child, off the other (the past two days!) - - - well, you get the picture. I haven't even had time to be in the craft room but to get faxes off the printer!!! I'll be back soon I promise. )Hopefully this weekend!) Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy the pictures taken from my back deck!

More Yudu

My DS, 12, has a school project later this week. He has been working on it with a group of classmates. They have a "Euro-Fair" at school. Each group of students has a country that they are responsible for researching and presenting on. His was England. We used my Yudu for him to make t-shirts for his group. I found an black and white image of "Big Ben" and the "Tower Bridge" to use for the shirts. We used a font of the computer to print the word "England" and "Euro-Fair 2009". We tried white t-shirts with black ink and red t-shirts with white ink. We liked the white shirts with the black ink best. The white ink seemed to "fade" on the red shirt. (This picture was taken right after we finished the shirts, it continued to "fade" so it looked more gray then white). I also found the Plantin for the shirt way too sticky and the one shirt we did that we "stuck down" this way seemed to get stretched out of shape. The rest we just taped down without using the "sticky" side of the plantin (we just left the white cover on it). This was a very "detailed" design and on the whole, they turned out great.

More .svg Files to share - wine bottle, champagne glass, chocolate kiss, breast cancer ribbon and Statute of Liberty

Here are some .svg files to share with you. These cannot be used with Design Studio (DS) but may be IMPORTED into SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) and then cut with your Cricuts. Download the Champagne Glass. Download the Wine Bottle, Download the Chocolate Kiss, Download the Breast Cancer Ribbon, Download the Statute of Liberty. Note: The "size" of the objects here doesn't matter. You may easily resize any of these to any size that you can cut with your Cricuts. You are limited only by the size your machine will cut.

See Tammy's beautiful breast cancer hope card that she made with the breast cancer ribbon here:
http://ncscrapaddict.blogspot.com/2010/10/hope.html

Thanks for sharing Tammy.  Check out all of Tammy's beautiful work on her blog.

What is a .cut file, a .scut file and a .svg file and what does it matter?

I see a lot of confusion on the Cricut MB about .cut, .scut and .svg files and what they are used for. I will see if I can give a brief explanation that will help you understand. First, Provocraft (PC) created a software for use with your cricuts that is called Design Studio (DS). DS allows you to create new images/objects by using images/objects from those that are on PC's cricut cartridges that you purchase. You do this usually by joining them (welding them together to cut as one new object). You can not "draw" your own objects with DS. You can only use objects from the cartridges. It is also important to note here that you can DESIGN or CREATE objects with ANY cartridge that PC has out and that is loaded in your DS software (note: PC is slow to update the software so it is possible that a cartridge may be out for a little while before it is available for use in the DS software). HOWEVER, you can only CUT the designs you create IF you OWN (or can borrow from a friend) the cartridges used. When you create a file using the DS software and save it, it creates a file name with an extension of .cut. A .cut file can only be used with DS software. It cannot be used with SCAL (Sure Cuts a Lot). Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) software is not a PC product. It was created by Craft Edge to be used with your Cricut machines. You do not have to have DS software to use SCAL. However, you do need to have the most recent "firmware" version on your cricut to use SCAL, and in order to get your firmware updated, you must use the DS software to do that. However, you can download the trial version of DS from PC's Cricut website in order to update your firmware. SCAL was created so that you could use any true type fonts, dingbats and .svg files you might have on your computer to create objects to cut with your Cricut machines. SCAL DOES NOT allow you to use objects from the Cricut cartridges and it CANNOT use the .cut files created by the DS software. When you create a file in the SCAL software and save it, it creates a file name with an extension of .scut. A .scut file can only be used with the SCAL software. It cannot be used with the DS software. However, SCAL can also IMPORT a .svg file (scalable vector graphic). A .svg file is a file extension for some graphics programs. I am not sure what all graphics programs give you the ability to save as an .svg file. I use Inkscape which is a free program available on the Internet. I believe that Illustrator also allows you to save to a .svg file. With an .svg file, the objects are treated as a 2 dimensional "shape" and thus are more easily resized without any distortion of the image. Text is also treated as an "object" or "shape" when it is in a .svg file. Design Studio (DS) CANNOT import or use in any way a .svg file. However, SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) can IMPORT any .svg file that you can find or create! This means that you can "draw" your own images and cut them with your cricut. If I have a picture or object that I would like to create and cut out with my Cricut, then I simply get it into my computer in some way (draw it, download it from the internet, scan it into my computer) and then IMPORT the image into Inkscape and then with a few simple steps in Inkscape, I can have a .svg file to IMPORT into SCAL and cut with my Cricuts. For example, if you have a stamped image that you would like to create and cut out with your cricut; you can stamp the image, scan it into your computer as a .jpeg, .gif, .tiff or other graphics file, IMPORT that file into Inkscape, do a few steps in Inkscape to create the "parts" and "pieces" you need, and then save it as an .svg file. You then open SCAL and IMPORT that .svg file into it and then "cut" with your Cricut. So now your stamp collection can be used in more ways! The picture posted is an example of a stamped image that I used to make a "die cut" using this method and cut with my Cricut. Sorry, can't share the .scut file for this image. Just posted to show you what the end result looked like! So to recap: .cut files - created and used only with Design Studio (DS) .scut files - created and used only with Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) .svg files - created with a graphics program like Inkscape - can be used with SCAL by importing it; cannot be used with DS. You can scan an image in, draw it on your computer, or download it from the internet. Any file that you can get into your computer you can make into an .svg image with a little work. Hope this helps someone to better understand these file types and what they can be used with.

Bear - .svg or SCAL File

Here is a bear for use with SCAL. Download the Bear .svg file here. (Remember, .svg files have to be IMPORTED into SCAL. ) Or, you can download the Bear .scut file (this is the file after it has already been imported into SCAL and then saved. You would "open" a .scut file with SCAL.)