Fourth of July - full page design (by request)

In September, I was asked by a Cricut Message Board friend if I could create a Fourth of July design similar to my Halloween design for an event at her church where the theme was holidays through the year - her month was July. She had located some glass vases like the one I used for the Halloween lantern and was planning to make these as table decorations and favors for the other guests to take home. Unfortunately, she did not take a picture (she is hoping to "borrow" one back for a photo) so I don't have a lantern version photo to share but I did test cut the design after I got home (I was in New Jersey when I got her email). I think it also works well as a framed piece. Here is a LINK to the post about the Halloween design as a framed piece.

Once again this is cut on a 12 x 24 mat with the paper placed at the one inch mark. Here is a screen shot of the design.



and here is a photo of the design on the mat after cutting so you can see the paper placement a bit better.



The look varies, as always, depending on the paper you choose to place behind the cut - here are a few examples...




Fourth of July - full page mesh

Scalloped square in a Square (adjustable)

I was contacted by a blog reader who was trying to recreate a design she had seen on a card as a Design Studio cut. She was having problems with the welding, with some areas not previewing properly. Here is a screen shot of the preview



I explained to her that when you are welding inside a silhouetted shape you must build the design from the inside out - in other words start with the center scalloped square, then add the connecting pieces and then the outer silhouetted square.

If you have been reading my blog for a long time, you may remember the way I finally figured out to make an oval aperture card with something welded inside - here is a LINK to the old entry. Fortunately, with the latest update, welding inside a shape is easier and you do not have to build the shape from other shapes.

So, by simply starting in the center and working your way out, you will end up with something that looks like this in the preview.





After I replied to her with the revised file, I got to thinking - could this be made as an "adjustable" file? Then it would be adaptable for many card sizes. Tonight I did a quick version. This file uses both Accent Essentials and George (much easier to start with the scalloped square on Accent Essentials) but, with patience, it could be done in all George. I may try doing that on the plane when we go to San Francisco this weekend.

Once I had the file done, I copied and pasted and changed the sizes. I made a mat full of these to test cut - here is a screen shot of the mat



and here are the actual cuts.



I sized the smallest at 1.5 inches so I could stamp the center with my Halloween clear stamps. You could thread a ribbon through the sides or the top and bottom to attach these to a card or for a bookmark.



The number of "bumps" for the scallops stays the same as you change the size, but, as you can see in this closeup shot of the smallest size, they become less pronounced as the size decreases.




(edited 10-16-08 to add a photo of a quick card I made using these squares)



Scalloped Square in a Square (A)

One More Time - Boy Scout Frame

Well, I did an Eagle Frame, and a plain Fleur-de-Lis Frame and a Cub Scout frame so, by yet another request, here is one more - a Boy Scout Frame.

Remember to follow the directions from the Eagle Frame post linked HERE to have the paper positioned correctly for this full 12 x 12 page cut.

If there are any more variations you are needing - let me know! You can also change the frame yourself by downloading the file, doing a "save as" and eliminating the words or shapes you don't want and then adding in the ones that suit your project. You will need to delete the side of the frame you are working on and then add it back when you have your other elements added (in other words - "burp" the design).

Here is one more photo showing the use of the background filler which is on page two of the file.



Boy Scout Frame

Cub Scout Frame

A Cricut Message Board member contacted me because she was having some trouble adapting my Eagle Scout Frame (see post on April 5th - LINK HERE)

I revised the frame and sent it to her but I thought that there might be many others who would be interested in this version of the frame (after all there are many more Cub Scouts than Eagle Scouts) so I am posting it today for others to use.

Please use the link above and read the directions on the placement of the paper to make sure that your cut works correctly with even outer bars around the frame.

Cub Scout Frame

Leann's CD envelopes

As I mentioned in my last post - I made the CD envelope because of a request from the Cricut Message Board. Leann ("luvmygirls" on the board) also saw the request and created some CD envelopes. Since she does not have a blog, she asked me to post these files in my blog for her to share with others. It is fun to see how different people approach a design and what shapes they use to create a file - there are many ways to reach a similar result.

Leann made a decorative center using a flower from Accent Essentials and made a trim ring on a second page to help the cutout really "pop." Her standard envelope requires Plantin Schoolbook and Accent Essentials.



Her mini CD envelope is made with George and Accent Essentials and holds a cookie very nicely!



Leann's CD Envelope

Leann's mini CD Envelope

Fleur-de-lis frames

I actually did this frame before the Eagle Scout one from my last post - I decided to add the "Eagle Scout" to customize it for a special purpose. For the first version, I used mostly silhouetted fleur-de-lis shapes and then I did a second version reversing the sequence and using more of the solid shapes - I prefer the second version since it results in an alternating pattern but you will find both files linked at the end of this post.

One issue I finally solved for these full page frames (remember the first "nearly full page"one I posted with the leaf garlands - on March 4th) is to slightly offset the paper as you put it on the mat to compensate for the tendency of the machine to start a bit too far in on the mat when you place it in what should be the "proper" position. For me, on my machine, it seems to be about a sixteenth of an inch or so - just get out some "ugly" paper and check your machine as I suspect there may be subtle variations from person to person and machine to machine!

Below are photos of the placement of the paper on my mat - first the top left



top right



bottom right



and bottom left



When I cut the first design, I also had an issue again with bad cuts on a few of the silhouettes - reminding me of all the problems I encountered on the large doily design (one of my posts from my first day of blogging - February 1st). I decided not to stress over it, changed the blade and checked on the condition of my mat - the blade had been in use for quite a while and I had just finished doing over thirty large cuts for my Cricut Message Board recipe exchange layouts (thanks again to Kendra for organizing this!)

Here you can see the bad cuts and the roughness of some of the other areas - if this happens to you try changing your blade before getting too upset!



the cut after removing it from the mat - fleur-de-lis failure!!



I tried to salvage this cut by removing the offending cuts but it looked odd to me



so...in order not to be wasteful, I removed the solid ones too which leaves a spot for a word or title - you can see my small sharp scherenschnitte scissors in the photo - they are most helpful for delicate jobs!



When I test cut these I was first removing them from the mat by sliding my scraper under the entire cut edge and then "poking" out the waste bits - this was tricky and I came close to tearing a few of the delicate spots. So after various test cuts I finally figured I should try the opposite and lift only the design - leaving the waste bits on the mat.

Here are a few photos of my trusty scraper with the little pointed corner that works so well for these jobs (I wish I knew where I got this - I would try to get more for my fellow Cricutters!)



Just be patient and slow - particularly on the silhouetted items



Here are the remainders (negative space) on the mat - it could be fun to apply these to a sheet of paper using the actual frame as a template. I think it would make another pretty border.



This design could be used for all sorts of photos and different color combinations can be very pleasing - here is a pastel lilac and yellow version



Fleur-de-lis frame variation #1 (8 solid shapes)

Fleur-de-lis frame variation # 2 (12 solid shapes)


(By the way, if you are interested in knowing more about fleurs-de-lis, I found an entry in Wikipedia when I checked on the plural - you can click HERE to see this information)

Eagle Scout Frame

Both of our sons have become Eagle Scouts. The Eagle Scout ceremony is followed by a reception where it is customary to have displays of each boy's scouting "career." Our younger son was the only boy in his year to stay in scouting and reach Eagle rank in our Troop so, even though he is a freshman in college, his ceremony will be next month along with two boys a year younger who will graduate from high school in June.

I started to work on getting the display items together and thought of designing a frame for his photo the day he passed his Board of Review - I will see if the families of the other two boys would like to have one to display their portraits. I am sure there are some readers of my blog who have or know of a boy becoming an Eagle Scout so I am sharing the frame .cut file here.

I first used DCWV (Die Cuts with a View) paper which has a white core. While I do like the texture of this paper I do not care for the white core. It cracked when I folded my bags (see post on Easter bags, March 29th) and I found that with an intricate cut like this, some of the white inevitably shows.

Here is a close up photo of the cut on the DCWV paper still on the mat - please notice that the paper is not placed exactly in the corner but offset a bit lower and to the right to compensate for the "uncuttable" area on the mat (more about this in my next blog entry)



and on red background paper



a closer view is below - even when the cuts are cleaned you get some white showing...



Here is the DCWV frame on white paper - the white core is less distracting when it can blend with the background.



I prefer the frame cut from solid core paper - I didn't have quite the shade of blue I wanted on hand but here is a photo of the cut.



I also did a background filler for this size of frame, it is on page two of the file. Here is the frame cut in a medium blue solid core card stock with the filler behind the design



Here is the opposite effect, using the leftover center square to fill that area and white card stock for the page behind the frame.



If you have an Eagle Scout many congratulations to you and your son - as we all know "it takes a village" (and in particular some very supportive parents) for a boy to accomplish everything required to reach this milestone!

Eagle Scout Frame

Bubbly Frame

Yet another frame but I just keep thinking of more ways to put them together! This is made from an ornament in Accent Essentials that just makes me smile - I think this would be cute for a bubble bath layout.

As usual it has a different look when placed on a bright background



The offcut also makes a great frame



I think it looks good when turned on point


How could you use this? I'd love it if you'd leave a comment to tell me what you do with it. Thanks.

Bubbly Frame

Not really a doily, not really a snowflake - here I go being symmetrical again!

This is something I created using only Accent Essentials - just fooling around. I am not sure what to call it but I liked the end result - maybe it could be used on a page for a graduate showing choices for the future in each arrow with a photo in the center, a title of "Where do I go from here?" and the options in the arrows. Hmmm......I may try that....

Anyway, I liked the use of a full sheet of 12 x 12 with no waste! The offcut from this could also be used on a page, here is what it looks like:



and even the leftover "bits" could be put to use - 8 arrows and a circle:



So, if you like it, try it...

Not really a snowflake

Some "Fancy" borders made with cakestands

I kept looking at the cake stand on the Celebrations cart and thinking that it looked very cute and "girly" (since I have two - wonderful! - sons, I seem to be overly attracted to "girly stuff!)

So I tried welding them together to get a border for "fancy" pages. The example above is the first result.

Not satisfied with the "girly" factor I decided to add to it and fit in the open heart from Accent Essentials. There was some tricky welding but it was definitely fancier! Here is the resulting border:



Here are the two borders are at the top and the bottom of a page:



I also tried putting them together with a some of the black background showing like this:



I tried them close together and they looked like this:



The "leftover bits are also pretty and could be used - here are all the pieces:



These cuts are just placed on a black background for photographing and would be straighter if they were stuck down. For items this small, I use the CM precision point adhesive pen - I think there are other similar ones at craft stores. The important thing is to be able to control the flow of the adhesive. With the CM pen I have found that it is best to apply it lightly and then leave it sitting in the air until the white is gone and it just looks shiny. At this point, the adhesive is tacky, the delicate item will stick down very well and there will be no "oozing" of the adhesive.

Finally, these could be used on a page with a special matted photo in the center - like this:




These cuts require a very delicate hand in removing them from the mat -don't use your stickiest, newest mat to cut these or you will be unhappy!

Here are the links:

Single cakestand border

Fancier cakestand border