An Elegant Wreath

I had quite a day on Tuesday - lots of fires to put out and some unexpected complications.  I have a left hand wrapped in bandages right now so it is hard to type and I definitely can't do much with the hand for a few days.

With all of the fanfare about the new Cricut Mini and the Craft Room, I thought I'd share something to remind you to look carefully at the cartridges you own - you never know where you might find an unexpected treasure.  Using Design Studio, the Gypsy or now the online Craft Room can greatly expand the usefulness of your cartridges.  Of course, you do still have to work with the images available on the cartridges that you own. 

This wreath works beautifully to frame a page.  You can read all about it at THIS POST from a couple of years ago and adapt the idea to one of your projects.  Without peeking at the labels, can you tell me which cartridge this wreath is from?  My file is also available to download if you want to see how it was done.

I hope to be able to use my hand more tomorrow - sorry for the super short post today.  I had a minor surgery that turned out to be more involved than I expected but everything is fine.  How are your Thanksgiving preparations going? 


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Hello Thursday News - Design Studio Update

Today was "Hello Thursday" and four new Cricut cartridges were announced.  They are all full cartridges.  Three will be available in mid-March  - Give a Hoot, "Just Because" Cards and Preserves.  The fourth cartridge, Straight from the Nest, will be available exclusively from the Home Shopping Network (HSN), also in mid-March.

Here are the cartridge samples from the Cricut.com site:

This is Give a Hoot.  You can see more info on the Circut site at this LINK and download the full cartridge handbook HERE.

 

This is "  Just Because"   Cards.  You can see more information on the Cricut site at this LINK and download the full cartridge handbook HERE.

This is Preserves.  You can see more information on the Cricut site at this LINK and download the full cartridge handbook HERE.

 

This is Straight from the Nest.  You can see more information on the Cricut site at this LINK and download the full cartridge handbook HERE.

It was also announced that Serenade, the cartridge that was bundled with the Wal-Mart Black Friday solid-colored Expressions will be available in mid-April.  This is great news for many people who wanted this cartridge but didn't need a new machine.

Finally, there are four cartridges that will be "retiring" - this is the first time any of the cartridges have been retired.  They are all Solutions cartridges - Blackletter, Christmas, Sans Serif and Street Sign.  

I have Blackletter and Christmas and I like them both a lot.  The Christmas Solutions cartridge has wonderful images, including the swirly tree, intricate ornaments and angels, wintry houses and church and door,window and sign images.  I am surprised to hear that this cartridge would be retired .  If you don't have it, take a good look at the images and, if you like them as much as I do, try to get this cartridge before they are gone.

The Blackletter font is great for Halloween and there are some interesting emblems and shapes that I have used in some designs I have shared.  

 

Here is a LINK to the posts where I used Blackletter for projects.  Two of them are pictured above and below.

I am very happy to see that Provo Craft has been coordinating the announcement of new cartridges and adding all of the information  about the cartridges to website, including the full handbooks, right away.  It used to be so frustrating to try to find all of the images available on the various creative features keys.

The most exciting thing for me is that the updates for Design Studio and the Gypsy are ready simultaneously with the announcement so, even though the cartridges won't be available for about a month, we can start experimenting with the images, making designs and deciding which cartridges we want to add to our Cricut libraries.

To update your Design Studio program to include these cartridges, go to this LINK (you will need to be signed in to the Cricut.com site) and download the Font Pack.  Be sure to SAVE the download and then run it to install the new cartridges.  Your Design Studio software should be closed when you do this.  When you open the program, the new cartridges will be included in the "All by Category" list.

Your Gypsy will update with the new cartridges when you run the Sync program.

Some bloggers were given the cartridges to preview - you can see their projects on these blogs:

Joy Obsessed with Scrapbooking

Melanie  Courtney Lane Designs 

Tammy Creative Critters Cricut Club

Robyn My Pink Stamper

There may be others - these are the ones I know of so far...

I haven't had a chance to really explore these cartridges yet but I do have them in my Design Studio to play with!  Our older son and his girlfriend arrived from California tonight and we are so happy to have them here for a quick visit before they head to Washington D.C. Our snow is already melting and my cold is improving - things are looking up!

One more week....

So much to do - and not much time left until Christmas.  I didn't post my file for the wreath that I shared yesterday - I had hoped to do a quick video explaining how I did a few things in the file but there wasn't a chance to do that today.  Here is a LINK to the original post.

Since I have had several people asking for the file, I will try to explain quickly what you need to do and then add a video in a few days when I get home.  You actually cut the wreath from the first page of the file.  On the second page, you can cut the stars to layer on the wreath - I found these on another key and resized them to fit - I also used "hide selected contour" to make good use of the glitter paper and eliminate the star that is too large.

The rest of the pages all have to do with adding a greeting to the center.  The two alternatives are the Christmas or Blackletter solutions cartridges.  You can use something else or just make the wreath without a greeting.  The third page has the Christmas solutions cartridge version set up to preview (positioned in the center of the wreath).  On the fourth page, the same words are set up to cut efficiently from a 4 x 8 piece of paper placed with the top left corner at 0 on the X axis and 2 on the Y axis (if that is confusing just look at the virtual mat and you can see where to put the paper!).

The fifth page show the Blackletter alternative for preview only.  I created and welded the phrase but I left it unwelded on this page to get the color to show in preview and make it easier to visualize the final result.  If you cut from this page the letters will not be welded!

The cutting page for the Blackletter version is on page six.  There is a little complication that I will explain here.  I wanted to add an apostrophe for "Season's" and there isn't one on the Blackletter cartridge so I used the semicolon.  You should hide the top dot when you open the file - since there is only one item hidden, it does not stay hidden when the file is closed and reopened .  When there are three or more contours to work with I have a way to make just one stay hidden (here is a LINK to an old post explaining how to do this).  Since there are only two contours, I can't do that in this case so you will need to do it each time the file is opened.

I also wanted the dot on the "i" to be attached to the "i" and I used the semicolon again.  You will need to hide the dot from the original "i" and the comma from the semicolon.  You can see the hidden contours in the second screen shot above.  I hope that you understand this - it will be a bit easier to show you when I make the video.  If it is too confusing - just use something else or skip adding a sentiment all together!

Here is the download link for the file - you will need the Expression to cut this.

Wreath from 50 States

The angel in the photo at the top of this post is another of my brother's stained glass pieces and was a gift many years ago.  If you are interested in seeing more stained glass art, here is a LINK to the Century Studios blog and here is a LINK to the store.

ONE MORE NOTE - today was "Hello Thursday" and new cartridges were announced.  You should update the font pack on your Design Studio - here is a LINK to the update page (you will have to log in first if you are not already logged in on the Cricut.com site).  The new cartridges are the three Spring mini cartridges (Love Struck, Easter and Mother's Day), Songbird, Heritage, Tie the Knot, Forever Young and Sentimentals.  Lots to see! (I'll have more to say about these later).

I am back in New Jersey.  Our younger son finished his exams yesterday.  He has only three semester of college left now!  Since he is a musician and has a lot of equipment and instruments that need to come home for the long break he needs Mom and the minivan to get home. We are keeping an eye on the weather and hope to sneak down to Pennsylvania on Friday to see my Dad for a day before heading up to Boston - there is talk of a storm so we will have to see how it develops...

An Unexpected Wreath

While there are several seasonal holiday Cricut cartridges available you can actually find images that will work for the holidays on other cartridges that you may own.  Sometimes I just browse through the cartridges on Design Studio looking at all of the options - there are endless possibilities once you combine the cartridges with the flexibility and creativity made possible by the Design Studio program.

A cartridge that doesn't get a lot of attention is the "50 States" educational cartridge.  I think the educational cartridges are easily overlooked because they are in their own section in the "All by Category" listing in Design Studio.  It is easier to find the cartridges if you add them to "My Cartridges" because they will appear in strict alphabetical order, regardless of category.  The 50 States cartridge has a lot to offer in addition to the state names, shapes and capitals.  The state birds, flowers and flags are also included. 

The key highlighted here is the cut I used to make this wreath.

Here is a preview of the image that the key cuts.  You could cut it straight from the cartridge and save the extra pieces, however, by using Design Studio and "hide selected contour" you can conserve your paper.

Here you can see that I have hidden the center images (they are in pale blue indicating that they will not cut).

I wanted some stars to layer on the wreath.  I found some on the key highlighted above.

This key cuts seven small and one large star.  I needed nine stars all the same size.  I manipulated the shape using the handles around the box to make sure the size was correct.  I cut the stars from glitter cardstock.

I wanted to conserve my cardstock, so I overlapped several of the cuts to nestle the stars as closely together as possible.  I  used "hide selected contour" to make this work.  If you look carefully at this screen shot you will see many blue lines.

The glitter cardstock I used was from the DCWV Holiday Collection mat stack.  Some of the colors have a very glossy finish but others, such as this gold, have a more textured feel that I like a lot.  When I cut glitter cardstock, I usually use blade depth 6, high pressure and multi cut 2.

I added Stickles to all of the "berry" spots on the wreath.  The paper I used for the base wreath is from a K & Co. Holiday Stack.  I used foam squares to raise up the stars for more dimension.

This cut makes a lovely frame on a page.  As always, the look changes dramatically with different background papers.  You could also create a framed piece for the wall with the addition of a holiday greeting in the center.

This screen shot shows a preview using the words "Seasons Greetings" from the Christmas Solutions cartridge.  Some people do not like the look of the "t" in "Greetings" - the curl can make it look more like an "f."

I tried an alternative by creating a welded phrase with the Blackletter cartridge.  (I did not check weld for the previews so I could see the phrases in color).  I think this is a bit easier to read though I would probably change it to "Merry Christmas."  (There is no "Merry" on the Christmas cartridge - the phrase is set up for "Happy Christmas" which is a more common greeting in England).

I made this wreath quite a while ago and I intended to layer it with another wreath to see it that would create a more traditional look but I haven't had time to do that or to "clean up" the file for posting.  I think the wreath on Joys of the Season would look nice with this wreath added on top.

I do something similar with the wreath on our front door each year.  I have a grapevine and ivy artificial wreath that I decorated several years ago.  Each year I buy a fresh evergreen wreath and layer the artificial wreath on top - it is a quick and easy way to have a fully decorated wreath very quickly!

I did lots of cleaning and put another tree up today - I am getting closer to finishing!   Tomorrow I'll be on my way to New Jersey.  I will try to post a file for this cut if I get a chance - you can easily replicate it yourself and add your own greetings phrase to suit.

 ETA:  Download link for file added in THIS POST - be sure to read the explanation so you can avoid a cutting error.

A Card and a File!

Looking back through recent posts I realized that it has been quite a long time since I shared a .cut file. There have been videos, digital challenges, tags plus inchies, online lessons, trips and visits, photographs and hints about some new and exciting projects - but no .cut files!

So - here is a card that I made from a cut I showed you in a "sneak peek" a few weeks ago.



I made two variations of this design but I haven't made the second variation (the one at the bottom of the photo above) into a finished card yet. The file for that version will be available soon.



I used the lattice circle cut from the Graphically Speaking cartridge for the center of the design.



I took this frame from the Blackletter cartridge and stretched it to 6.75 x 4.75 inches to fit a 5 x 7 card as a topper. Then I stretched the lattice circle to fit nicely inside the frame and welded the two images together.



There is a tiny bump at the top and bottom of the design that you will need to trim with scissors.



I adhered the topper to a bright yellow card - this color combination reminds me of some of the places we used to visit in the south of France when we were living in England. I have several tablecloths from Provence that have prints in bright yellow and medium blue with navy accents.



In the center of the card you could stamp a sentiment or add a word cut, but I chose to continue the floral motif and cut a 1 1/2 inch circle from white textured cardstock which I embossed using one of my small Cuttlebug folders. Then I cut a scalloped circle from navy cardstock using my Nestabilities (if you look closely at the photo above you will see the embossed edge). The embossed flower circle is attached using foam squares to pop it up for some dimension on the card front.



To tie the design together I added some pen stitching in white around the frame and added dots in the corners and on the sides.


Framed Lattice Card Topper (#2)

Blackletter again...

I designed another card using the same technique that I used for the cards I posted yesterday.




Once again I used an element from the Blackletter font cartridge - you can see it highlighted in the screen shot above.



On my first attempt to cut this design I used a smaller sized element in a five by seven grid - as you can see above, my Cricut was not happy cutting this size(!). I also thought it looked too "busy" at that size, so I adjusted the design.


Above is the screen shot preview of the first revision.



This is my first test cut of this version of the design - I was concerned about the tiny cuts at the points of the overlapping elements, but they cut well and just needed a bit of "persuasion" to come out of the lifted cut.


I had originally planned to use this cut on a red 5 x 7 card base - here is a photo of my preview on a red 5 x 7 card base (sorry for the weird glare on the photo).



I decided that I preferred the pink and black combination with some more tiny gems added in the solid sections. I may go back and add gems on the cut holes in the center of the diamonds but, for now, I left those alone so the pink card base could show through.



Here is a closer view of the tiny gems. I dotted my Creative Memories Precision Point adhesive pen in the spots where I wanted to place the gems and then carefully positioned them.



I wanted to make the design a little less "busy" so I set about removing the small triangular cuts. This was not easy to do since they are formed by the outer line of the shape and I couldn't simply use "hide contour" to eliminate them.

I wanted to use only elements from the Blackletter cartridge to avoid having a design the required changing cartridges (no, I do not have a Jukebox - I really don't mind changing cartridges). However, it is simpler for others to use my designs if they only need one cartridge and if I went to the "standard" cartridges to find an element that I could weld into the design to eliminate these cuts I would end up doing at least two files - one for George and one for Plantin Schoolbook).

I eventually found a couple of shapes that would work, using the blackout option to make them solid shapes and doing some stretching and rotating to cover all the areas I didn't want to cut. I also had to "burp" the design by copying, deleting and then adding back various parts of the design until I had all the welds working correctly.



So, when I finally got all of that done (and it took far longer than I expected it would!) and then tried the cut - the machine once again decided to alter the way it cut silhouetted shapes. You can see in the photo above that the "rings" around the diamonds were very inconsistent and became thinner and thinner on the left side of the element as the cut progressed along to the right.

I did the usual - removed the blade housing and checked the blade, put it back and checked to be sure the screw was tightened securely and that the paper was well stuck to the mat.



I tried the cut again and this time it was much better aligned. I guess I expect too much sometimes, but it is frustrating to see a design perfectly symmetrical on the screen and have it cut "off-kilter."



For my second test cut, I had simply turned the mat around and inserted it in the opposite direction. The remainder of the 12 x 12 paper after the two test cuts looked like this.



I immediately thought that this would be great for a scrapbook page - instant decorative mat cutouts for 4 x 6 photos! If you are curious, the photos you see are from when we lived in England and I went with my Book Group to see the home of the Brontë writing family (Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights) in Haworth and toured the surrounding countryside - very beautiful and rugged.



Above you can see the two variations in color and design. I might also try this using "hide contour" to eliminate the small holes in the centers of the diamonds.



The pattern reminded me of a garden maze, so I added some flowers and more of those tiny gems (I think I need to put them away - they are ending up on all of my projects lately!).



The plain designs with just the gems added are rather formal looking...



Adding flowers with the bling, along with the different color choices, gives a much more lighthearted feel to this design.

I'd love to see any cards you make using these designs. It is fun to find card options in unexpected places like a solutions font cartridge!

Celtic Card Toppers 2