tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19015762543988541102024-03-13T14:27:54.725-04:00Crazy Cricut CutzSharing my obsession...I mean, here I discuss my personal techniques and tips for using the Cricut, Design Studio, SCAL, and Inkscape.
NEW!!! At the bottom of this blog's main page, you'll see a link to SCALHints LIVE Video Chatroom! If you see video playing, then click the link and come join the fun! We'll have live demonstrations and lots of talk about Cricut (and other things!). Even if you don't see video, come visit the room anyway, because there might be a lively chat going on!Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-71327720195275961932010-03-03T04:18:00.002-05:002010-03-03T04:25:43.184-05:00TODAY ONLY 3-3-10 TIL 3AM EST 3-4-10Once again, Giveawayoftheday.com is giving some very useful software away today only. It must be installed before the giveaway ends, too! I have no control over this, it's simply the way their site works.The name of the program is Magic Collage and you can read more about it here. If you go to the Giveawayoftheday page and read the first review, by Ashraf, you can find out much more about it. He Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-47555884705158673072010-02-22T22:52:00.004-05:002010-02-23T00:04:18.049-05:00Big Lots UpdateI've been so busy lately that I haven't even thought of updating my blog - so sorry! But I have been doing one of my favorite pastimes in the meantime, namely looking for craft items in unusual places...in one of my favorite places for this, Big Lots.They've gotten a couple of new items in stock that I feel will work nicely with the Cricut. One is a textured faux cork material that comes on a Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-323579501814849312010-01-29T23:36:00.003-05:002010-01-29T23:47:33.399-05:00More About StorageI've been thinking about the massive storage on GoogleDocs. Dan was kind enough to comment on my last post about this and informed me that they give you about a gig of space for your files. Very generous, and yet not enough for the amount of files we all collect for SCAL! Still, if you are a designer like Dan, this is a wonderful solution to host the files you're donating!Maybe this would be a Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-37860495836238542992010-01-28T21:39:00.008-05:002010-01-28T23:09:39.769-05:00ATTN GEEKS: I Learn So Much From Dan99Dan99 is one of the reasons I was able to understand how to run the wonderful program known as Sure Cuts A Lot. The man has a fantastic blog, with many easy to understand videos explaining SCAL, how Inkscape works and how it works with SCAL, and some great tips on how to manipulate files we want to convert to a form SCAL understands. The poor man has been missing online for some time due to a Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-32046188854424298612010-01-25T21:59:00.010-05:002010-01-26T13:43:45.480-05:00I came up with a new type of file for Sure Cuts A Lot that I've never seen before. It took quite a bit of doing to get it to work (I have to thank the extraordinarily talented Penny Duncan for figuring out what was wrong with the original!), and I wanted to show it to you tonight because I've been so excited about the entire concept! I love spinners and have a few hanging around the yard, but Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-58211729208470229392010-01-12T19:47:00.008-05:002010-01-12T21:32:55.083-05:00Valentine's Day ProjectI recently asked on one of my Yahoo groups where to buy iron-on vinyl. Kay from Clever Someday gave me several names and I ended up choosing Specialty Graphics Supply. I was very impressed with the speed of delivery, especially during the holidays! It only took seven days from the time I ordered it to delivery. I ordered late on the 1st, a Friday night of a holiday weekend. Their packing list Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-9611859311655150862010-01-12T01:06:00.007-05:002010-01-12T03:49:12.538-05:00Blocks on the BrainI have to post about the blocks I made for several people as Christmas gifts. I know it's late but I couldn't get some of the pictures til now. Some reading this may already know most of what I'm going to say about the blocks because I'm copying some of this directly from a few posts I made on our group - but I'd like to post all the details here for posterity! I used blocks I got from Michael's Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-32676112116924196922010-01-04T19:32:00.003-05:002010-01-04T19:45:33.086-05:00GAOTD Today ONLY 1-4-10 3AM ESTGiveaway of the day has another cool giveaway today, and this one I tried before reporting it here! Apparently they're running a special series of giveaways this week for the new year of their greatest hits! I check their site daily and have it as one of my homepages! The program today is called Inpaint and it removes things you don't want in a photo. I have a picture I got from the Cricut Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-41193180784371887982010-01-02T19:56:00.006-05:002010-01-02T22:31:30.208-05:00Craft necessities where you least expect them!I love finding supplies for my crafting stash in places when I'm not really looking for anything. I think Big Lots is my favorite place for that! I've gotten so many things there far cheaper than Michaels or Joanns carries it for. I went there especially today to buy some paper adhesive they're selling for $2 that's normally twice that at the big box craft stores. I heard about it thanks to my Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-57738754789099375732010-01-02T04:29:00.001-05:002010-01-02T04:33:22.159-05:00Today ONLY 1/2/10: Greeting Card BuilderGiveaway of the Day - free licensed software daily. Today: Greeting Card Builder Greeting Card Builder is an extremely easy-to-use digital greeting card software which was specifically designed to create stunning photo greeting cards. Only available today, 1/2/10 until 3am EST. After reading some other folks reviews, this may not be the best program out there, but what do you WANT for FREE??? :) Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-24060607818885695332009-12-31T01:21:00.002-05:002009-12-31T01:27:52.569-05:00HAPPY NEW DECADE!!!I just wanted to wish all my group and blog friends a happy new year. We have all had so many bad things happen to us in the last decade, that I for one am quite happy to see it go! I wish and pray that the coming year and years bring us all a lasting peace and prosperity. Have a wonderful and safe New Year...stay home, only amateurs go out on New Years Eve! Be a professional and live to see whatKarmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-91772709414740920272009-12-29T16:43:00.007-05:002009-12-29T18:04:51.308-05:00TODAY ONLY!!! 12-29-2009Giveaway of the day has free software every day. I like to post when I feel that it might be useful for my readers, and today is no exception! (I would've posted this earlier but I'm still setting up my new computer!)The software for today helps you recover lost or intentionally deleted photos, from your computer OR your memory cards! It may not be something you'll use every day but if you've Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-11825762905793170172009-12-09T22:47:00.003-05:002009-12-09T23:24:15.010-05:00Drilling Glass Blocks - SAFETY WARNING!I know a few people have been drilling the blocks they've found at various home improvement stores to use for the Cricut and vinyl and such. A word about safety: The glass blocks you buy at the H.I. stores are tempered glass. That means they've been hardened and are not like drilling regular glass. It means they CAN shatter or break in the wrong place, or send a sliver into your eye! So please Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-48924922620342276592009-12-09T04:22:00.004-05:002009-12-09T04:31:20.122-05:00FREE Program - Today only! 12-9-9Giveaway of the Day has another cool download for today only. If you do webcasting or use a webcam, with Skype, for instance, they're giving away a program to allow you to record your desktop to your webcam, known as screencasting. If you like to do video tutorials or webcasting, this program is free! Visit the page here.Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-44451676444415101272009-12-08T03:28:00.007-05:002009-12-08T03:45:04.018-05:00New ONLINE Martha Stewart Photo Tool!At the risk of losing all my followers, I have more Martha to talk about! :) She has such great free resources, though! Here's a link to a video about how to make the reindeer popup card that I've mentioned several times on this blog. I cut it by hand EIGHT times using her template a couple of years ago - even though I had the baby Cricut AND Design Studio! At the time, I wasn't aware people wereKarmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-67703668224896718702009-12-04T05:14:00.002-05:002009-12-04T05:21:19.502-05:00TODAY ONLY!!! (12-4-9)Giveaway of the Day is giving away Picture Collage Maker Pro, for today only. I haven't tried it yet but if you like to scrapbook and do layouts, this sounds like a great program...the price is right, anyway! It also does calendars and the like. Get it here. Some commenters said there aren't many templates built into the program, but they also said you can download more from the 'net. Sounds Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-17409754063276492982009-11-26T02:35:00.011-05:002009-11-26T04:45:18.784-05:00Happy Thanksgiving! (and more Martha)I have quite a lot to be thankful for. I have a happy life, a great husband, a job (although it's been extremely slow...I'm self employed and that makes me feel good!), my health (mostly!) and some fantastic people in my life whom I love dearly. I am blessed and try to remember it every day. But I'd like to thank YOU and let you know how much I appreciate my faithful readers and followers, and Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-44291569717308457412009-11-17T22:37:00.005-05:002009-11-18T00:14:44.498-05:00M&Ms, or Martha S and Michael'sI live in Florida, which means that we don't get ANYTHING new until the rest of the country has had it for several months! So I may be somewhat behind the times on the many new items Martha has at Michaels. If you already know about them, skip this post! But, judging from either M's website, they must be VERY new, because I couldn't find some of the items I'm discussing in this post. DISCLAIMER: Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-89469015805129507572009-11-16T23:15:00.007-05:002009-11-17T01:14:47.647-05:00Like Bad Karma I'm hard to get rid of!Ok, after fiddling with my computer for weeks and nearly booting it out the window once Windows finally corrupted so badly it wouldn't turn on, then finding out disk 2 of my restore disks was bad (NOT what you want to discover AFTER the hard drive is formatted!), I nearly gave up and decided that I was going to have to get a new computer for my upcoming birthday...BUT I have a couple of wonderfulKarmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-76138910418205688232009-10-29T21:51:00.010-04:002009-10-29T23:18:32.514-04:00Sorry for the long absence (again!)I'm having computer problems. I think my hd is going and I'm still trying to back up all my Cricut stuff in between crashes! Thanks for your patience! If you haven't explored this blog much (I gotta hurry before it crashes again!) look around and if you haven't already seen it, make sure you check out my original "stained glass" lampshades! Oh, and my VERY inexpensive faux acrylic technique(s) Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-7763548128701563662009-10-10T23:14:00.006-04:002009-10-10T23:46:10.982-04:00NEW VIDEO/AUDIO/TEXT Chatroom for ScalHints Yahoo GroupRecently, with the permission of the group owner, Penny Duncan of the fantastic Penny Duncan Creations, I set up a new video/audio/text chatroom available to anyone who would like to learn about SCAL, or some of the techniques involved in transforming images to use for your Cricut Expression! The address is http://www.justin.tv/scalhints. Please come and visit! There are still still a few bugs toKarmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-23998954680689556142009-10-03T22:19:00.007-04:002009-10-03T23:08:47.352-04:00Halloween Silhouette ideas from MarthaMartha Stewart has the best templates! Fortunately for us lazy folks, we can use Inkscape with SCAL and the Cricut to trace PDFs and save ourselves some cutting! Especially if you are having a party and need more than one kind of decoration. Since we've spent the big bucks for the machine, why should we spend more buying pre made decorations?? One easy decoration involves rat and mice silhouettesKarmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-12345648144801453572009-09-23T02:12:00.006-04:002009-09-23T04:45:23.108-04:00An Early Birthday Present for me and More Fun with LaminatingI was so happy to get an email from an admin on the Cricut messageboard, telling me that I won one of the Cricut Celebrates 100 - Winter Woodland cartridges in week two! In case you hadn't heard, Cricut is picking out 100 winners in celebrating of their 100th cartridge, WW. They're choosing 20 winners each week for 5 weeks, so make sure you go enter every remaining week! :) It's on the Cricut Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-8780699282444309582009-09-20T23:41:00.005-04:002009-09-21T04:49:34.628-04:00Free Fonts and Clip Art And a Free Slideshow MakerI was reading an article about free MS Office substitutes and ran across one called Oxygen Office. Kay, from Clever Someday (on my bloglist!) and I were working on a collaboration on a post about the Word Art feature some time ago, before life got so crazy for both of us! Word Art allows you to create text in many shapes and styles, (including circles and vertical text), and the results can be Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901576254398854110.post-83078729150836263642009-09-17T17:00:00.006-04:002009-09-17T20:43:24.956-04:00NEW TECHNIQUE ClarificationApparently, my long-winded self can churn out a gazillion word post and STILL leave people wondering what the heck I'm talking about! :) After re-re-reading it from the point of view of someone not used to the Cricut or SCAL, I don't blame them, as I think I left out a step or two.So here's a few clarifications, including what the new technique actually IS. Hehe.My angel wing books in the Karmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172375551559071900noreply@blogger.com2