TODAY ONLY 3-3-10 TIL 3AM EST 3-4-10

Once 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 gives wonderful reviews of the giveaways there, as well as naming other similar free programs, in case you don't like GAOTD's offering! Hope this program is useful for some of you! Now, go cut something! :)

Big Lots Update

I'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 roll, like wallpaper. It's a little thicker than vinyl or contact paper, but I think it will cut wonderfully on the Cricut. I just haven't had a chance to pull out the Cricut and try it! It says its self adhesive and repositionable, not to mention water-resistant!

The other item I found is sold as shelf liner, but is a beautiful, rich furry self-adhesive brown faux suede! I love it and I'm positive it will cut nicely...and having adhesive backing built in is a huge plus! It also says its water-resistant, and since its original purpose is shelf liner, I'm sure it is....but it IS a fabric.

You can see the pictures of both rolls below, complete with the Big Lot price tags. The textured cork roll is 18" x four FEET. The suede look-alike is 12" by 5 feet....quite a bargain for each, in my opinion! The picture is a little light - they are both a lot darker in person.

Other than that, I've been trying to get my organization going but I've been working so hard that I haven't had a chance to do much. But when I do, I'll post it here! Thanks for reading and for checking back! I'm not going to say anything yet, but I'll have some new info VERY soon!

More About Storage

I'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 good storage solution: Gmail gives you 7 gigs of space, give or take (I now have over 13000 group emails that I refuse to delete because they're more than likely full of svgs! yet Gmail says I'm only using 21% of my storage). But Yahoo's email is UNLIMITED. So why not email yourself the files you collect at one of those addresses? You can set up an account specifically to store files in...Yahoo does allow more than one email acct per person, and has more domains than just yahoo.com. And with Gmail's filters and search tools, you can even sort them into categories, kind of...or find the file you're looking for. And if you fill up the Gmail account, why couldn't you just start an additional one???

Additionally, if you email them to yourself, you can make notes about the designer's name, the blog address and anything else you might want to remember about the file...

Just another one of my crazy ideas! :) Now, go cut something!

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! :)

Blocks on the Brain

I 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 because they were pre-drilled and I could use a 40% off coupon on them! I heard over Christmas that Lowe's (a hardware store) carries these blocks at a reduced price as Christmas nears, and they have them in colors! I went there and they did know what I was talking about but - they were gone. I looked at the regular blocks they carry on the shelf (some are special order) while one of the sales-guys was still there and said I didn't think I'd bother trying to drill it to add lights, as some on our group have done! (They were much cheaper undrilled, but a lot of times they're tempered glass, which is much touchier and more difficult to drill.)

I have talked about it on the groups (I belong to several and I'm not sure which!) and mentioned spade-type bits I bought @ Harbor Freight (an incredibly cheap place to buy tool-type stuff...I got my rolling cart with expanding telescoping handle for my Expression there for about $15) and he said not to use the plain spade type glass drill bit to drill the building supply type of block...they'll take 30 mins a block IF they work w/o BREAKING your block....He said to use one that has a sort of sandpaper texture to the surface. Carbide? I believe...said they cut through in just a few mins...I couldn't find a picture of what he showed me online but it looked kind of like a cone with metallic sandpaper on the sides.

A good method (if you decide to drill your own) is to make a dam - a ring around the spot you want to drill - out of plumbers putty and fill it with water before you drill. When the water leaks in, you've broken through the block! Someone on my group had the idea of using a Dremel to polish the cut edges...I can never think of good uses for it!

I like the pre-drilled blocks, though. Much simpler, safer, too! The ones at Ms have a large hole and a few adapters included that you can change according to use - as a bank, instead of a light, for instance. But for my purposes, I use the large hole adapter and that's all. I put a ribbon around the edge of the block and flowers in the large hole adapter.

Some on the group mentioned trying to etch the glass blocks. Glass blocks don't etch well because they're usually tempered, especially the ones from the hardware stores. 60 seconds that I've heard is recommended is not long enough to etch tougher glass like the tempered kind, btw! I usually keep the stuff on at least half an hour...on anything I etch, unless it's very delicate. Make sure you put it on quite thickly when you're applying it. Etching cream is reusable, btw, so scrape any that's left over back into the jar, using an old credit card, for instance. That stuff is expensive!

I use the system of taping clear plastic sheets on each side and then slipping my designs behind it, adhered to vellum. It makes the blocks much more versatile. The vellum allows the light to peek through while it covers the lighting string and the vinyl is opaque enough to stand out like a silhouette. (I LOVE vinyl although it can be finicky. FAR easier to cut than paper, in my opinion, and looks so professional. Keeping debris from under it is my biggest problem. And HAIR.) But this method (clear plastic/vellum) makes the blocks ready to display for any season, not just Christmas! It also gives you an inexpensive gift to give year-round - I'll probably make more inserts for the ones I've given out recently over the year. BTW....I love using COLORED lights in them, too, not just the plain white, as you'll see below!
First, here is a shot of some of the inserts I made for them.

I admit it, I'm a cheapskate! I like to try to use the vinyl that was intended AND its negative, if possible! You can see it on the "Birthday Blessings" insert above. Since I designed the blocks to be two sided, they can put one sheet on each side on their special day. I did it with the Adore Him inserts, too. Below you can see some of the inserts on my own block that I just found re-stocked @ Michael's! I just love the colored lights!

This is the negative of the one above! It took patience to get them apart in one piece!

You have seen the Merry Christmoose in a previous post, but you didn't see it lit up!

This is the one I sent my aunt and uncle. My aunt's name is Joy, hence the insert and the metal doodad with the floral arrangement. You can see some of the other inserts tucked in behind that one, since the vellum is see-through. I got the wreath from someone on my group and combined it with the Joy from someone else. I loved how it turned out!

I made them this parrot I got from Mamaw's Legacy since they have a beautiful bird named Leo. Then they have something to show in the block year round!


Now I have to get busy designing a few special requests...But I have another blog post already lined up pertaining to Valentine's Day...check back soon! Now, stop looking and go cut something! :)

GAOTD Today ONLY 1-4-10 3AM EST

Giveaway 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 msgboard of some cookies dusted with confectioners sugar. The pattern on each cookie was done with a Cricut stencil cut from that snowflake cartridge. Anyway, after I downloaded and activated the program (I used open instead of save but some folks might need to run this program as administrator for it to install correctly), I opened this photo and drew a box around one of the cookies....and it completely disappeared when I hit the play button! It was nearly seamless but I could see having to monkey around with the settings a bit to get an acceptable result. I love it, though! Sometimes we crafters have a need to remove a problem from a photo, and this tool will definitely help, so give it a try! It might make your life a lot easier when dealing with certain pictures and SCAL1, 2 or MTC! It's free, for today ONLY until 3am EST. Now go cut something! :)

Craft 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 Yahoo! groups! Thanks, ladies!

While I was there, I got a pre-cut DCWV vinyl wall saying that was marked down to $3 - half price - on after-Christmas clearance. "WELCOME" in large red lettering, all caps, and "the season of wonder" in a nice green script. I'll figure out something I can put it on for next Christmas...BY next Christmas, hehe. I don't really want to put it up and then remove it after one season...that's kind of wasteful and not green! So I have to think of a surface I can put it on...like one of those ornate metal plaques in the Cricut commercial...now where to find THAT???

They also had a big can of spray adhesive, probably meant for some kinda "manly" thing, near the hardware and adhesives section. This is not for respraying Cricut mats! I use my spray adhesive for adhering very delicate cuts securely. It was only $5 for a very large can. Now for a brief word on safety: Do use it outside, and always wear breathing and eye protection, especially if you are adapting something to use with crafting and it's not normally used in that fashion! And be aware that it's probably not acid safe, if you need to worry about that.

In that same section of BL, I've gotten this beautiful silver metallic tape that I've used for crafts, which is meant for HVAC, but looks and acts like metal, great for embossing. I saw a project once on HGTV where the lady used thick thread underneath heavy-duty aluminum foil in shapes and burnished it down, and then filled it with glass paint. It is called cold cloisonne, and you can see the example I'm talking about here. My heavy duty tape can be used just like that on a plain narrow frame, for instance.

Another great thing to find there are craft books. I have bought several recently for as little as a dollar that have great stamping and cardmaking ideas. I don't know where I put them right now or I'd tell you more! I know one is by Anna Griffin (Griffith?), who used to design a lot of items @ Michaels.

They also had a great treasure trove of Martha Stewart stuff, but most of the good stuff is gone now. :) Probably bought by yours truly! I heard they had Cricut carts over Christmas, but I missed those!

I also got some awesome Christmas cards marked down today, some pretty pop up ones that I figure I can embellish and/or personalize next year. I also purchased one of those As-seen-on-TV Craft Lite cutters there a few months ago, (which they still carry) for $10. It's probably not the most accurate cutter in the world (I prefer the Memory Makers one I got on BF if I need accuracy!) but I like the light feature and the multiple blades...even though all of the wavy ones look alike to me! (Speaking of cutters, anyone seen the Genesis cutters? The cheapest one they make is several hundred dollars!!!! I can't imagine ever getting that, I'm far too cheap! ;) They are no longer on a several year waiting list, though!

Then, @ Target today, I saw in their stationary/invitation section that they're carrying stationary for letterpressing. Lindsey at the Frugal Crafter has a fantastic method for using the Cricut and a Big shot to make your own letterpress stationary, click here to find out more. Here is part two. I would think finding the right paper would be a little difficult, but there it is, right @ Tar-zhay as we call it. (It has to be sort of "fluffy" to take an imprint.)

The coolest thing I saw at Target today was their line of vinyl wall decorations. Some had bling included, like a whole sheet of rhinestones to adorn it after its on the wall, and most were not just one color but screen printed. I loved several of the ones at my local SuperTarget and you can see the clock I loved at the bottom of this page. WOW, take a look at the other 6 pages on that link...you'll see the ones I saw and MANY more...a lot of inspiration there! LOVE that Hip in a Hurry stuff!

Another great source can be your local thrift stores and yard sales! I've recently been told about cassette tape holders...some of them are perfect to hold your ink pads. I don't think you can find those anywhere BUT a yard sale or thrift store, these days! Others told me about using over the door see-through shoe organizers to hold punches....another great idea.

That's all I can think of for now, although I'm always running across ideas like this. Since I got my big bug and SCAL, I'm always looking everywhere for inspiration! I had to restrain myself from taking a quick cameraphone shot of the pretty snowflakes they had hanging around Target over the holiday season to adapt with SCAL, for instance! So what ideas have YOU run across? If you have any to pass along, please feel free to leave a comment!

I was supposed to do a blog post about the glass blocks I made for my friends over Christmas but I got side tracked by my deals today! I'll have to appease by showing a picture of them for now!

The moose is from Mamaw's Legacy, but the lettering is my own idea! Same with the cat, (which I believe is also from that site, although I'm not positive right this second), who wishes he had some bird! LOL, reminds me of the Blues Brothers! Rubbah beeskeet, anyone! :) (I am dating myself here!) The artwork there is wonderful, and there are many free svg's there, so go check it out! I love the parrot and cut that one out for my uncles block, as well!

I have a lot more to say about these blocks, but this post is long enough! I'm stopping here, but not before I tell you how the vinyl is not directly on the block - it's on sheets of vellum, which is interchangeable because it slips in behind clear plastic which is simply taped to BOTH sides of the block, so you can put a different pattern on each side. (The clear plastic is some left over from my previous posts about my laminated faux acrylic angel wings - check out the keywords at the bottom of this page!) It's why they look so shiny in the photo! That way you can place the block in a window and passersby will see a design, too. Okay, I told you, now I'm really stopping! :D

Thanks for reading, now go cut something!

Today ONLY 1/2/10: Greeting Card Builder

Giveaway 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??? :) Maybe you can get a couple of images for cutting from it, at least! Happy crafting!

HAPPY 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 what 2010 holds in store for us! :)

TODAY ONLY!!! 12-29-2009

Giveaway 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 ever lost an important photo, you know the value of this program! I've liked all the Wondershare programs I've tried from GAOTD, too. I hope you find this useful!

UPDATE: Forgot to mention that their giveaways are available til 3am EST, FYI! ;)

Drilling 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 follow some common sense tips:

Wear eye protection! Can't emphasize this enough.

Use a drill bit made especially for glass. If you are lucky enough to have a Harbor Freight near you, they have glass bit sets for less than $20. A whole set! (They also carry a great rolling telescoping-handled bag to carry the Expression in for about $20, also, if you didn't know!)

A good method for drilling: use plumbers putty to make a dam around the area you're drilling. Keep it filled with water. Keeping water in the dam keeps the drill bit cool and will help chips stay put instead of flying around. Go slowly! Once you've broken through, the water will go inside the block...it's how you know you've gotten in!

Most of all, be careful! It's far better - safer, and faster to purchase the blocks pre-drilled! The one I purchased at Michael's was about $6 after the coupon, and has several inserts for different uses...like inserting lights, or making a bank. But if you're making a lot of them as gifts and are determined to use the home improvement type of block, the glass-drilling kit is well worth the investment...just be aware that not all blocks are created equal! Happy cutt...uhm, drilling!

FREE Program - Today only! 12-9-9

Giveaway 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.

New 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 were designing their own things with DS and (mostly) George. I finally got on the Cricut messageboard and discovered that, and attempted to recreate the reindeer card last Christmas with DS. I didn't end up cutting any since I'd already sent it out for Christmas before. Here's a link to the DS screenshot. You can look at Martha's template and decide for yourself how close I got it. It was kind of a fun challenge to create the antlers using just the carts I had at the time.

BUT enter SCAL...who needs to "design" anything when you can just transfer a PDF template of it or import a .jpg (via Inkscape) to SCAL? I don't think anyone who reads this blog doesn't know what SCAL is but juuuust in case....SCAL is Sure Cuts A Lot and is put out by Craftedge. It allows you to cut virtually anything with your Cricut, with no cartridge needed!!! :O I actually wrote Martha Stewart once and suggested she try to license some of her templates to Provocraft as cartridges. But this is MUCH better! ;)

SCAL2 has come out and I haven't bitten the bullet yet. It combines the features of Inkscape with SCAL so you don't have to open two programs. Personally, I prefer to use Inkscape to create my designs and then just use original SCAL...although, if you haven't bought any version yet, buy the more recent one! I think there's just a bit more control, even though it means opening another program. For those who don't know the procedure, it's a very simple process to import an image into Inkscape, save it to a file that SCAL can use and then bring it to the Cricut. I'm going to keep this simple so I won't discuss PDFs here, although it's not a very big step to go from pictures to PDFs.
My process:

1. Open Inkscape and use File->Import for .jpgs.
2. Click Path-> Trace Bitmap.
3. Leave everything the way it is in the new window and click Update.
4. If you like the result, press ok.
5. If not, adjust the Threshold numbers for Brightness Cutoff til you do. Update between adjustments to see the changes. This is the most important step and determines what will actually be cut! Bold lines are better, depending on your subject matter...
6. I use the tiny arrow under the red X to dock it on the side of the Inkscape window.
7. Delete the original imported picture.
8. Save the new file as whateverdescriptivenameyouchoose.svg.
9. Repeat ad infinitum!

There are a lot more steps to fine tune your results but that is the basic procedure. The only problem is that you need a specific type of picture to work well with Inkscape and SCAL. A lot of clipart, especially sihouettes, work very well. Some photographs are great, too, as long as there's not a lot of detail in them...meaning few colors, and few shapes, with most being connected to each other.

There are several free tools out there to help you adapt photos to use with SCAL, including Irfanview, Paint.net and the GIMP. They have filters in them to help reduce the number of colors, and also cropping tools and other ways to change your pictures. The last two are great free Photoshop replacements!

I also briefly used a couple of online services that converted your pictures to vectors, which is what an .svg is. Then they went to a pay model. The process simplified the colors in the picture so you can create multiple color layers, if you like.

In browsing Martha's site the other day, I found a new tool she has to allow you to take a photo and simplify the color palette. The printout is supposed to be used with her new line of glitter to color in the various shades. The colors of the photo are a guide for mixing her glitter colors. A cute idea! Especially if you have a lot of her glitter...

BUT this is also a great tool to simplify your photos for Inkscape! The results come in PDF format, too, so you can directly open them in Inkscape. Give it a try! Here is a link to the new online program on Martha Stewarts site.

One last thing about MS: In my last post I mentioned the Scor-pal and the new scoring tool Martha has. Here is a great discussion of the differences! Now, go cut something!

TODAY 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 kind of like Adobe Elements? Not sure. The first commenter (Ashraf) daily recommends a free program similar to the giveaway, too, if you're feeling experimental! Now, go cut something!

Happy 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 wish everyone who visits my blog a very happy Thanksgiving! Here's hoping your Turkey day is everything you want it to be, whether it's family, football, or the Cricut!

And since we've broken the old unspoken barrier (that so many businesses ignore anymore!) of Thanksgiving to start talking about Christmas, I'd like to pass on on a few great cards with templates from Martha Stewart. As I've said before, I don't have any affiliation with her, believe me! But I have watched her show for years and think her craft supplies are high quality, and her projects are original and interesting and fun to do...and fun to adapt to the Cricut! The ones I mention below are perfectly suited to using with SCAL.

I subscribe to her newsletter and get lots of craft ideas almost daily. I got one post that had lots of great ideas, and many that we can convert for use with SCAL and the Cricut. Here is one for some cards made with rick-rack, of all things! This one is for a project close to my heart...pop up cards! I love these and may attempt them this year. And I have to post the one for the popup reindeer card that led me to discover SCAL. This one is almost a popup! And this final popup is called a mirror card, and would be great to make with SCAL. The template works for a few of the cards, including the zig zag cut tree that's sort of a pop up. You'll see when you get the template.

This one is a glittery bough that I just loved. And if you like glittering and being glittery, try this one for a bird in a tree. I hope I got the links right. Here's the main topic for these card examples and others, if you want to read more. I've just mentioned (most of) the ones I feel we can make on the Cricut.

In my last blog post, I forgot to mention one new item of Martha's that I actually purchased . I used my 40% coupon @ Ms to purchase Martha's version of an Enveloper/Scor-pal. ($19.99 - 40% = $13 or so) I have an Enveloper set (came with a box and card score set, too) but not the Scor-Pal, so for all I know Martha's version is nothing like it! :) I believe the Enveloper set was originally about $35 on HSN, although I didn't pay that much because I had a coupon... Erf. Still expensive. Useful tool, though. The Enveloper link leads to Splitcoast stampers tutorial site which has a whole section on how to use this tool...although their version is much nicer than the one I have!

I've pictured both my sets below. I already had a bone folder of hers that I used to replace the tool that came with the Enveloper, but another came with her version of it. I like the first one I bought better. It's higher quality.

You can see at the bottom of the picture the envelope templates I created for my Enveloper. I'm so new to cardmaking that I'm not sure of the sizes. I took some ugly paper and created the ones in the booklet that came with the Enveloper and wrote which ones they were on them. Then I can take my card and figure out which one will fit best or if I need to adjust it. I liked that MS's version has the sizes printed on the envelope template. And the scoring area's lines are nice and close together...the Enveloper set has pre-determined lines that are only good for their specific envelope and card sizes...MS's will be a bit more flexible and useful, I think.

Below you can see two items from her new line of craft accessories. I love the tiny beads and bought the flocking to make Santa beards with!

Another way that I'm fortunate this year is that I don't have to cook the turkey! My husband is deep-frying again. I love it! No kitchen clean up....which can be a big deal when he cooks! And so fast and easy. MS (ack, her again) had a recipe on her show that I want to try too....she flattens the bird by removing the backbone and cracking the breastbone, seasons it, and cooks it bone side down, 450 degrees for 70 mins...how's THAT for fast! And no basting! See her website for exact instructions! Thanks for looking and I hope you get to cut more than a turkey this Thursday! ;)

M&Ms, or Martha S and Michael's

I 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: I don't have any relation to either M! I don't receive anything from them, either. I just love buying her stuff with 40-50% off coupons! ;)

I was very excited to see some of the new ideas Martha Stewart's craft design team has come up with! There are so many new punches, first off! I just found this one on eBay, not sure if M's carries it but isn't it awesome?? Some of the butterflies wings pop up...so cute!

I know most folks have seen the punch sets she has out with matching edge and corner punches. Punch around the page, I believe they're called. You can see the set I broke down and purchased here. (Although I used my 50% off coupon @ M's, and it was far cheaper!) I've seen those sets at Walmart, too, but Michaels seems to have a bigger selection, a couple of different snowflake designs for Christmas, for instance. Definitely a larger selection, at least at mine. I particularly liked Snowfall and it may yet end up in my craft room! (Yes, I'm aware the Cricut can do the same thing but sometimes a punch is just faster and easier!)

There are some even newer ones out from MS that cut far deeper into the page and much larger than regular edge punches, too. They'd be great for 12" layouts! Here's one off Ebay that cuts a decorative doily strip, which is rather a new idea. Here's another type from eBay. And yet another. This one is my favorite, so far, though!

And some smaller punches now have matching stamps that nest on top of the punch. I got the snowflake punch. You stamp and/or emboss the image, then flip the punch around and punch it out perfectly every time. I thought it would have a small border around it but it doesn't...it cuts it pretty close to the edge of the design, at least on the one I have. You can see a couple of different ones here. I also saw a cupcake set that has three different stamps with it so you can make different kinds of cupcakes.

Another new item they're carrying are these beautiful glitters! I know everyone's seen the ones she's had out for some time now, but now she has about five new types! There are vintage-y tinsel glitters, in a few different types AND shapes, and many colors of hole-less (or are they un-holey??) micro-beads that I love to use with my polymer clay. The iridescent glitters are gorgeous, too.

There are also some new kits out from MS, and these are much more elegant and less childish than many of her previous pipe-cleaner and balloon type kits. One is a cool stamping/embossing set, it caught my eye because it has a small bonsai tree in it that matches a card set I got at Big Lots on sale for $2 a few weeks back. It's still at Michael's, but not for long when I get my next coupon! There's also a foiling kit, which I havent seen in ages! What ever happened to foiling stuff? Sorry there's no links, but I guess they're so new that I can't find any!

There's much more there, and if I know my readers, if you haven't seen it yet you will soon! Especially with Christmas coming! Now, either go shopping, or go cut something! ;)

Like 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 wonderful customers (many of them - actually, most of them!), so first one dear lady lent me a laptop she wasn't using, and then another happened to have a nearly identical model to my lappy, and let me make a copy of her restore disks! Those disks finally worked, but I still had to load the second disk in the slot 10-15 times before it finally worked...not sure about why that was but at this point - I DON'T CARE!!! I'm just glad it's back, for now at least, and I can ask for something else for my birthday! ;)

I still hadn't gotten much done crafting wise, but I've been doing a lot of blog hopping to try to get some ideas for Christmas...yes, my name is Karma and I'm a procrastinator! I know many folks already have theirs completed or nearly so, but I'm not that person! ;)

Here's one really cute idea for a ribbon wreath I just ran across tonight. I made a couple of them, a picture is below....really a cute and easy idea, although they look so complicated! I had to use ribbon I already had on hand, so don't judge me! ;) I actually did the bigger one first. It's made with the same see-through metallic ribbon as the bow on it is, about 5/8ths" wide. The small one is made with more of a regular 1/4" ribbon, with a picot type edging on the side. It seems to lay flatter and wasn't so finicky to put together as the metallic stuff. The metallic one is kind of bulky to put on a card, but it's so pretty in person! It's very much more 3 dimensional than the ribbon one is, since the metal holds it stiff and it's shapable, and would be a beautiful package or tree decoration. They don't take very long to make, either. (I also got to use another technique that's new to me to make the perfect bow...just make two bunny ears and do an overhand knot with them. Perfect everytime! Although mine seem to come out umop episdn!) ;) I think this would be a cool idea if the wreaths were made with the large bow ribbon you can find this time of year...but I don't know how many rolls you'd need! It would be beautiful hanging on a door, though!

Take a look at the rest of her blog, too, it's so cute and has a lot of free digital stamps, if you're into that.

I've also been looking at sliceforms lately...I just love them and I'm determined to make one this holiday season. (See some amazing ones here. I believe I got the link from Carol's blog, linked below...and she's mentioned TWICE on that link! Congrats!)

I got a really cute card last year with Tinkerbell and a dangly sliceform snowflake inside...I love it and darned if I'm not going to try to reverse engineer it! Speaking of sliceforms, now I HAVE to mention Carols blog - Extreme Cards and Papercrafting. She's my hero! Well, one of 'em! I just love what she does with paper though!

One part of her blog that I really enjoyed was the page showing her Christmas cards through the years and how they evolved - not to mention seeing her kids growing up! Really cool. Visit here. Make sure you click on each picture to see the cards, inside and out. I love her sense of humor! I wish I could be so original and clever!

Another great post was the tutorial for her 3d popup sliceform Christmas tree. I was also really inspired by her 3d pop gingerbread house tutorial! What a cool card for someone special! And just imagine how you could decorate the little house! I think that's my favorite on her blog! Of course I haven't seen her WHOLE blog yet! :)

But my absolute favorite Christmas card/book out there has to be this one, from BugJunkie! I had never seen such an original and charming book made with the Cricut before! My apologies if you saw it on the Chirp already (for some reason I never get mine, although I signed up for it!), but even so, it's worth another look! From the reindeer on the roof to Santa peeking out from behind the tree, it's just amazing! If I can just stop LOOKING at cards, maybe I can make this one to send as a card! I think I have most of the cartridges she used....I bought A Childs Year because of this card! Thank goodness our Xmas card list isn't TOO big...I might still have time!

Oh, one more blog I saw that had some great ideas...Hog Wild About Stamping! She's the one that had the first video I saw on making your own "Flower Fluff Stuff" that my Yahoo! groups been raving about lately. Well, she has some other fantastic ideas and one in particular caught my eye. Nothing to do with Christmas but if you have a lot of ribbon, her idea can definitely be converted to use with SCAL and the Cricut! Read about it halfway down this post. Another adorable idea she had was a card that flings confetti on the recipient when they open it! LOVE IT! (When I use punches on cards, I always throw the recognizable snips (hearts, etc) in my envelopes so it gets all over their floor) =) Of course the idea can be adapted for a Christmas card!

I'm more of a crafter than a scrapbooker and many of you may already know this tip she has for making a die cut machine not cut the entire design out, but I didn't know! SO smart! And one final idea from her blog that I loved was a flip out card...you open it and a section pops out from the side or top. Really easy to configure for a lot of different types of cards!

I suggest you do a search for the word "tutorial" on her site...too many good ideas to list here, for sure! Make sure you check out the photo that has two sides on the front, for instance! I'm thinking of trying that one out with a shredder! Yes, not only am I a procrastinator, I'm lazy! Of course my Cricut could do the cutting...

Okay, I had to get a post out there, but enough's enough! I have to take my own advice and get off the computer and GO CUT SOMETHING! Although first I still have to reinstall so many programs, SCAL and DS amongst them!

Must....hang...up...now.....BYE! Happy Cutting!

Sorry 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) for making clear word books on the Cricut!

Thanks again and check back! I WILL fix this, darn it! :)

p.s. Let's see how far I get in this explanation before the crash...3...2...1...hehehe. Okay, I did have one idea I wanted to mention. I seem to follow up everything that Kay from Clever Someday (she's clever right now, don't let the title fool ya!) mentions on her blog, but I had another insight about a recent posting that she had about positioning a cut to cut around a pre-printed paper. I thought of a way to accomplish this after cutting. In between crashes!

There's a technique to make your own rub-ons by printing on the non-printable side of computer transparencies. The inked image can then be rubbed off onto another sheet of paper. That would be a great method to use to make a printed cutout AFTER its cut from the Cricut! I'm pretty sure there's some videos on the technique on Youtube! Let me know if you try it - I'd love to see the results! Happy cutting!