ATTN GEEKS: I Learn So Much From Dan99

Dan99 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 horrible illness in his family, and my heart goes out to him. Although he doesnt know me from Adam (or Eve!), I and many others on our Yahoo groups feel as if we know him, as we've all benefitted from his kindness and talents in sharing his ART online. So we've all been saying prayers for him in all the months he's been dealing with his mother's illness...

Even though he's going through such an awful time, he's still found time to make files to share, and has a free file he's sharing this week. I always look at his blog when I can because there's so much to learn (and he has a lovely accented speaking voice, which definitely adds to the whole presentation! :) and I love the graphics he designs....anyway, he happened to mention that he was storing his documents differently, and as I went to the download site, I realized I had seen it before....GoogleDocs.

I don't actually remember doing anything @ that specific site, but there it is, undeniably in my own saved folder....a file named "my circular text". I instantly know what that is, and approximately when it was made...Last year Kay from Clever Someday and I were talking about making WordArt text and I did some expermenting, and this apparently was one of them.

I have a Gmail account with Google and use it frequently with the Yahoo groups I'm on, because it does a wonderful job of filtering incoming messages into "conversations" that I can sort according to my needs. And I use Blogger to make this blog that you're reading, which is another Google company. And now I've got access to GoogleDocs, which is rather new to me! Even though it's been sitting on top of my Gmail window...forever, apparently! Since I saw long ago that Dan was hosting his files with them, I assumed that he was paying for the hosting. Then, in looking at his file, I see that I've created a file with them, too. And I've certainly never given them any money!

Bear with me, I promise this is going to pay off big time for us SCAL/SVG creator geeks!!! :)

So I somehow I got on a page showing me new features that GoogleDocs has, and one of them is being able to upload files in any format, which apparently you couldn't, before. So I start wondering about storage, because I'm always thinking about backing up my saved .svgs and where to put them safely. And I start thinking that maybe this is the place to do it...? So I started looking into storage limits and how big a file can be uploaded, etc, etc. It seems it will not only allow you to store your files there, but to host them, as Dan has done. WOW, that is fantastic! They talk about uploading your files into a "cloud" so that is definitely allowed...! They limit your storage by the number of files, apparently - not the size so much, although there ARE limits, they are well under what most svgs are...do you know how many svgs we could save there??? :)

But this STILL isn't the cool part! :) (Although if you don't design your own files you may not be as interested as us geeks!) :)

Another new feature they have is some kind of update for the drawing portion of GoogleDocs. So I started playing around in the program, and I see that it has premade shapes available, along with text and some other cool features. And then I clicked a button and I got an option that said "Download as" and a couple of choices...one of which is....

wait for it.....

SVG!!!!!!!

WHEW, I'm drained!!! Hehehe. Just kidding. But I was so excited at the implications of this for you, dear reader! And more importantly, our SCAL and MTC programs...:)

Unfortunately, it seems as if it needs a bit of tweaking to work completely perfectly with Scal. BUT I had at least one shape that translated perfectly, and there are several built into the drawing tool.

There is a lot more testing to do on this cool feature, and I know a few of you out there will want to make your own discoveries (Yes, I'm talking to you, Kay!), so let me give you the basics:

You have to have a Google account, for certain. Free, of course. And as I mentioned before, if you don't use Gmail to organize your groups mail, you don't know how much easier it will make your life! But that's beside the point! But that's how I found how to get to GoogleDocs, you will have it easier. I clicked My Account, and was introduced to all the options Google has given us. What a great company, to do it all for free! The address is http://docs.google.com/.

Once in your folders, on the upper left side, you'll see Create New. Click it, then click Document. I have my new windows set to open in a new tab, so that's what I get, but I'm pretty sure you'll get a new window. Click Insert, then Drawing.

When you do, a window opens on top of the document text window, seen below. Also seen below, click on the Shapes button (next to the white arrow in the picture) and voila! Look at all the shapes available to us!

You'll notice there are many other tools, including a line tool and what I suspect is a node tool, apparently new in this version of GoogleDocs. Below, you can see I've chosen a nice banner type shape, and then clicked Edit, Download as, and SVG is there!

I did save this file and although I didn't cut it, it looks perfect in the SCAL window. I tried adding some text to it, and it did NOT look perfect, hehe. So as I said, it needs some tweaking, and definitely some more experimentation...does it weld, for instance??

I can't test it right now, but I wanted to spread the word about this incredible tool for us SCAL designers! If you make anything using this technique, or learn some new techniques or tips, please share!

Oh, and see how much Dan99 has to teach us? Even if he doesn't realize it? LOL!

Thanks for looking! Now, go cut something! :)

I 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 they're quite expensive for the larger metal ones. Well, I decided to try to make my own, using SCAL and my Expression, and it came out just as I wanted it to! See what I mean by "spinner" in the photo below! (It's actually a little bent out of shape, I held one of the petals back while holding it up so you could see the face better.)

This project requires a stiffer kind of paper. I used laminated vellum, left over from my angel wing album and subsequent experiments using laminated sheets in the Cricut. I should've used a couple more layers of laminate, I think, as it is a tiny bit flimsy, and it didn't hold the creases as well as I would've liked. But since this one will be used indoors it doesn't matter too much. And I can always make more! :)

As you may be able to tell from the photo below, it's quite transparent, with the vellum inside. And shiny, too, which really adds to the effect. That's what I love about the metal one I have outside...as it spins, each layer shines in turn, seeming to grow in size. You can see what I mean at the bottom, where you'll find my little video, showing my laminated creation and also my metal one!

Below you'll see a closeup of the sun spinner I created. I love the detail on the eyes and mouth, although it's a bit difficult to see here. I see that I left a tiny piece of plastic in his eye, oops! I emphasized the details by taking a blunt tool and bending the laminate back a bit. The detail lines came out quite finely in the .scut file, especially with a smaller cut like this one, so I decided to open them up a bit to let the light shine through.

The really beautiful feature of this file is that it can be mailed to someone flat, and they can bend the 'petals' (for lack of a better word!) back into shape. I could've used a tiny bit of tape to hold the largest ones on mine in place, but a sturdy paper wouldn't require it. I love the shine the laminate gives it! (In the photos above it looks a little splotchy in places, that is from some small clumps of glitter in between the sheets of laminate. I also used alcohol inks and some may be the silver mixative, which is a bit opaque.) I can also see using a shiny two sided paper to make these, or just gluing two shiny sheets together back to back after they've been cut out (one reversed).

The photo below shows the spinner laying flat on a sheet of paper. I added one of my larger polymer clay cabechons to the bottom of it for demonstration purposes because it was very windy outside when I was taking the video, and it needed the weight. But it is a perfect place to add some bling and more danglies for some added pizzazz! You can see a bit of the shine on the laminate near the bottom, it was quite sunny on my table when I took the photo!

And now we come to the small video I made this afternoon, showing my little sun blowing around next to it's metal big brother under a tree in my backyard. (Mine is the blue one on the left, of course.) The metal one is bigger but sitting further back on the tree they're dangling from.

Keep in mind that I used an 8.5" x 11" sheet of laminated paper to make this. It could easily be made larger with other paper. I don't know if there would be any interest, but I've put so much time into this project that I'd have to charge for this one if anyone wants it - only a dollar, though! It will keep DH a little quieter bout the cost of my sCraproom collection...I wouldn't ask for anything normally, except there's been a lot of grumbling lately...! Theoretically, it will keep him quiet, at least!

I have added a Paypal button for this item in the upper right of the page. Not sure how to put it in this post! Just click the link if you would like to buy a copy securely through Paypal! You don't even need to have an actual Paypal account, I don't believe, to use it. Feel free to contact me if you have any problems!!!

At any rate, let me know what you think! As always, thanks for looking and come back...after you go cut something! :)

Valentine's Day Project

I 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 shows they sent it Monday the 4th and I got it Thursday the 7th. Great!

I originally just wanted to buy a 5 yard length of iron-on black to make some shirts with my logo on them that I wear as a uniform. I've used up the small amount I had on my husband's shirts...I'll have more about his later, and about mine when I finally make them! I need red as well to make mine, although I have some...in browsing the Specialty Graphics site I saw that there was a clearance on HotFix metallic film. It is sold by the foot and I bought 3' for just under $7. It was a little too bright and shiny to use to make my shirts, but the red inspired me to make a Valentine's project. The entire project was made with SCAL1 using two different free fonts.

The first photo below shows the beautiful metallic foil looking red I ordered, along with the direction sheet they included. WOW, love that shine - like a mirror!

Iron-on has to be cut in reverse. Below is the wrong side of the vinyl, showing the white heat activated adhesive. It's cut with this side up. I haven't weeded yet.

Below is the front side, which is face down on the mat while cutting. There is a slightly sticky clear layer face down on top of the red shiny part - when the piece is weeded the stickiness helps hold it in place while you iron. I've started weeding where you see the white mat showing through the lines in the upper lip. I got the lips from a free font called Princess BV Regular, and the horse and heart I cut on the same sheet are from the wonderfully talented Paulo. (I HOPE they're both his, I have them labelled on my computer as though they are! correct me if they aren't!)

Isn't that vinyl gorgeous??

I want to mention here that I'm very picky about my scraps! I cut regular vinyl (on its backing) using my MS snowflake punch and made inserts for my glass blocks (See previous post!) placing the resulting cutouts randomly on the vellum. I haven't tried this vinyl with a punch yet and it seems a little thicker than regular vinyl but I intend to try to use these beautiful scraps in the same way! So before weeding these, I do a lot of trimming close to the cutout to save the scraps intact, clear, tacky backing and all. I've also saved my weeded scraps although I don't know what I can do with them...I've saved the clear tacky layer from what I've ironed on so far, as well, to use with the tiny scraps! Cheap cheap cheap!

I love the way the lips have that rounded, full look...see them weeded, below. The font I used for the text is also free, called Brock Script Regular. This wall quote goes well with the lips, on a Valentines nightshirt project, no? :)

And here it is, ironed on a black sweatshirt. I'm sorry that it doesn't LOOK black, but I guess it's the lighting. I hope you enjoyed this quick look at my vinyl experiment! I'm quite happy with the results, although I don't have a heat press and did this with an old fashioned iron and a Silpat silicone sheet! The Hot Fix vinyl proved to be not only gorgeous, but easy to weed and also to iron on. I just hope it holds up well in the wash! Thanks for looking, now go cut something! :)