Golden Birthday Crown and Badge

The last time I visited my sister, we had a "top secret" project to work on.  Her grandson (my great-nephew) was about to have his Golden Birthday (6 on the 6th) and we wanted to create a golden crown to make the day more special for him.

I brought along a big jar of gems in assorted sizes and we spent some time sorting them and deciding which colors would look best on the gold crown.   My sister has the Cricut Create (I "enabled" her into buying it a couple of years ago) and I brought along my Gypsy to give us plenty of cartridge options.

I created the crown by welding a border shape from the Elegant Cakes cartridge to a rectangle.  For the base layer, we chose DCWV metallic cardstock and then added the top layer cut from Core'dinations Core Couture glittered cardstock. 

I cut some additional strips of the metallic gold cardstock with a paper trimmer to make the sides and back of the crown.  We added a strip of glitter cardstock about 1/4 inch tall and placed  some extra ovals over the side joins to strengthen the connection.  To further stabilize the band, I added some strips of plain cardstock with lots of adhesive so the band would bend smoothly.

In addition to the crown, we made a birthday badge.  The shape is from the Fontopia cartridge and we cut another glitter strip to run along the top of the badge.  Ben's younger brother will turn 8 on the 8th in a few years so we decided to go ahead and make two badges in the hopes that the crown would survive to be worn again(!).  The "6" is from the Fontopia cartridge and the "8" is from Plantin Schoolbook.

The badge and the crown were a hit - here is a photo of the birthday boy.  He even had the day off from school since it was a teacher inservice day in their district.   I hope he'll remember his "special" birthday when he is older.  I still remember my Golden Birthday when I turned 10 on the 10th.  My mother decided to give me a gift every hour and she even set a clock to ring each hour to remind us.  (The presents were things like a bottle of nail polish, a card of barrettes - just little things but it was the thrill of having a gift every hour that made it special and memborable).

There are some predesigned crowns on some of the cartridges but I wanted to show you that it is pretty simple to come up with your own design by using a border shape and making a few welds.  I used Scor-Tape to hold everything together and to adhere the gems to the crown.  I haven't heard yet if the crown survived the entire day without losing any gems!


We are expecting another big storm and it is getting very cold here.  Dad was discharged from the hospital and is back in the rehab section for some more physical therapy.  Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers for him.  Does anyone want to make a birthday card for his 88th birthday on November 17th?  If you do, please let me know so I can send you his address - thanks!


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Saturday Inspiration - Inlaid Wood Pattern

My sister and brother-in-law have been doing a lot of renovations to their house in New Jersey.  It is an older home from around the turn of the last century and has many features that are not commonly found in modern homes.  One of the interesting features is the inlaid wood pattern in the hard wood floors.

Some of their floors have been refinished and a special stain has been placed on the wood strips that make up the interlocking pattern.  The pattern is made from a different kind of wood than the main body of the floor.  You can see a section of floor that hasn't been restored in the foreground of this photo.  The design strips are narrower and only slightly darker than the regular floor boards.

The pattern is very striking, especially after it has been stained with a darker color.   I like the interwoven look and this is the type of design that is relatively easy to replicate in paper.

The pattern in the floor is similar to a design I created back in 2008 using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge and Design Studio.  If you have an Expression and the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge, you can try this design using the free trial version of Design Studio.  The original post with the file and photos of many variations is HERE.

In that post I mention that the design is small and can't be enlarged easily.  This was true at the time, but you can now resize grouped designs in Design Studio by selecting the entire group and holding down the control key as you use the handle to resize the image.  If you are not sure how to do this, I made a couple of videos that give a step by step explanation.  You can find them HERE and HERE.

The Picturesque cartridge came out a while later and it has a similar design on page 74 (fourth key from the right on the bottom row).

I think it is interesting to see how the same patterns are interpreted in wood, fabric (in quilts) and paper.

I hope you had a chance to check out the information about the Spring Training 2012 course that Ella Publishing is offering from April 23 to May 4th. 

Check yesterday's post HERE to get more details and to leave a comment for a chance to win a free spot.  Only the comments left on the original post will be included in the random drawing.  There are five great instructors and access to the videos will never expire.  If the random number generator doesn't pick your number, I think the course will be well worth the price - so sign up and join in the fun!

Please take care if you are in the tornado belt of the Midwest.  We are expecting a very hot day (88 degrees predicted!) on Monday for the Boston Marathon and the Patriot's Day Parade.  I'll be spending part of the weekend getting kits together for a class next Wednesday at the Senior Citizen's Center.  I hope you have a great weekend!

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Incire with Plantin Schoolbook

The Incire (fold and tuck) designs that I have been making are quite easy to make with the Silhouette Studio software.  I have had lots of requests for files that can be used with the Cricut machines.  I created a file with Plantin Schoolbook but it is fiddly and requires a bit of hand cutting to complete the lines.

I remembered that there was an open shape on the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge that is used for the end caps

When you see the design on the mat it looks like the machine will cut perfect half circles.  I had to reshape the outer half circle with the "handles" to make a matching interior shape (if you just make it smaller the width of the cut will not be even).

The half circle line is actually two lines - it appears continuous but when you click on the line you can see that only half turns red (this is how you would choose a line to use the "hide contour" feature).

I only had time to do one test cut and I found that the machine left a gap in the half circles that I needed to hand cut in order to complete the cut lines.  I am not sure if this was only an issue with my machine.  I am curious to hear if any of you can get it to cut a full line.  I seem to remember using this cut before and not having this problem  (but it has been a long time...).

It is just a small gap, but I did have trouble making the cuts perfect.  The loops will be tucked under the next shape so some of the wavering lines will be hidden.  With practice you could probably do a better job. 

I only did one row because you can't copy and paste a group of items in Cricut Design Studio.  I turned the mat around and cut the row again on the opposite side.

The color you add behind the page gives a different look - here I used a dark blue.

Bright pink gives a totally different look.

These lines created loops that turned out to be a bit on the thin side for the size of the page.  The width is a matter of personal preference - you just need to work out what looks good for your project. 

I'll add the link to download the file if you want to play around with this idea.  I am planning to do a little more experimentation to try to make Cricut files but I much prefer the Silhouette software because of the additional features that make a tedious process quick and easy.

You will need to do lots of "math problems" to work out the spacing if you try to design more of these projects for the Cricut.  I will take a look to see if I can find another cartridge with lines that will work.  This is very time consuming since the shapes are often hidden on a feature level or shift.  There may be a line that will cut cleanly that can be replicated more easily.

I would definitely recommend considering an additional machine with a better software program if you want to start making lots of these files.  The Cameo can sometimes be found on sale for between $200 and $250 and it is a great machine.  The Silhouette Studio software basic version is free and it works very well to create unique designs like these.

Incire Border for Plantin Schoolbook

One more note - This rose photo is for my sister who is celebrating a "milestone" birthday today.   Happy Birthday Susan!

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Woven Heart Basket for Valentine's Day

I enjoy making these woven hearts for Valentine's Day (and other holidays too).  They are a typical Scandinavian decoration.  You probably have made these before.  Usually you cut out the pieces by hand using a template, but I decided to make some files to give me more time to do other things while my hearts are cut out by my Cricut.

I had some other things going on Saturday so I won't be able to do a full explanation right now.  If you don't know how to weave these together there are several sites that can show you - just search for "Scandinavian Woven Hearts."

 

Since Valentine's Day is Monday, I wanted to get the files posted for anyone who still needs to make some decorations.  I ended up testing the Gypsy file and ran into some problems (that I have fixed) so by the time I did all of my fixing there was not time left to write up the step by step.  I have lots more photos and some explanation of the design process to add sometime on Sunday so check back.

I have almost figured out the file for this variation (I first saw this idea in the Family Fun magazine).  I cut this sample with my Cricut, but I needed to hand cut to complete some of the curved cuts so it doesn't look as sharp as I'd like.  I am still trying to make it perfect...

Here are the file download links - I used Plantin Schoolbook but you could convert the file for any other cartridge that has a rectangle and a circle.  Please be sure to click only on the file download buttons and not to download anything else on the 4shared - apparently there is a toolbar that some people downloaded (which you do not need) and then they had computer issues.  I am still working out an alternative hosting site but for today - 4shared will do.

 I have paid for a premium service to make direct downloads available to my readers.  I do have a donate button near the top of the right column if you would like to make a donation to show appreciation for the files and to help with the cost of this service - Thanks!

Woven Heart DESIGN STUDIO


Woven Heart GYPSY

If you download the files have fun making these heart baskets - they do get easier with practice!

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Scalloped Heart Tutorial

I wanted to share this file quickly since many people are working on Valentine's Day projects now.  For a variety of reasons that I won't go into now, I haven't made a video but I will explain briefly how I designed this heart.  I used Plantin Schoolbook for the heart but you could try with any other cartridge with a circle.  A heart shape is helpful but not required.

There are more and more cartridges with scalloped shapes available.  Standard scalloped squares, circles, rectangles and ovals are on quite a few cartridges.  Regularly shaped scalloped hearts are a bit harder to find.  There are some wonderful scalloped hearts on the Martha Stewart Cake Art cartridges.

You can use one of these hearts as a template to help you design a plain scalloped heart from circles and other shapes.  I chose this heart from the MS Seasonal Cake Art cartridge and placed a four inch image on the mat.

Then I selected a circle from the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge and adjusted the size to fit neatly in one of the scallops.

You can quickly fill the outline of the shape with circles by copying and pasting and repositioning the circle.  To make  the process go more quickly use the keyboard shortcuts "control C" to copy and "control V" to paste and hold down the "alt" key to temporarily make the handles disappear as you place the circles around the heart.

You can work on the same page as the template heart or you can preview the heart and work on another layer of the file to create the circle outline of the heart.

When all of the circles have been placed you can preview the design.  Be sure to weld the circles.  If you checked weld on the very first circle before copying and pasting each circle will already be welded.  If you did not check weld for the first circle, you can click your mouse on a corner of the mat and drag it to include all of the circle shapes and then check weld for the entire group at once.  You now have a frame which needs to be filled in.

For this heart, I added the heart from Plantin Schoolbook and stretched and squeezed it a bit to fit the heart shape.

When I previewed the design, there were four spots where the heart left a gap between the edge of the heart and the heart frame made from circles.

 I added a couple of circles that I stretched and rotated to cover the gap areas.

When the design is previewed, there are some problems with the welds.  The gaps remain on one side and the new shape will cut from the shape without welding.

To fix this, you need to change the order in which the items are added to the design and "burp" the heart.  To do this, simply select one of the outer circles near the inner circle that covers the gaps and then Copy-Delete-Paste the circle back again.  Do this for both sides - you may have to do it to more than one of the outer circles but eventually the preview will show proper welds.

Here is the final shape.  There are two circles near the top that I adjusted to be slightly larger to keep a good fit and continuity with the design.

Here is the preview of the scalloped heart.  To change the size of the entire shape, click on the mat and drag your mouse to the opposite corner around the items in order to select them.  Then hold down the control key and use the handles on the one items in the shape to resize the group as a unit.
 

I decided to make a separate layer with the circles only to use as a trim on the heart shape.  I did this by simply copying and pasting the circles to another mat.

If you want to do a color preview, you will need to click, drag and select the entire group for the heart or the frame and then uncheck the weld box.  Be sure to redo the weld before cutting or you will have a mess!

The Martha Stewart cartridges are full of great images, fonts, borders and sentiments.  You will probably want to add all of them to your collection because they are so versatile.  It would be very difficult to recreate most of the images.  However, if you need a certain shape right away (perhaps you are a late night crafter like me?) and don't have the cartridge with the image you want, you can sometimes use Design Studio or the Gypsy to make your own version.

It doesn't take too long to make this heart and I encourage you to try it out following these directions.  If you are impatient you can download my file at the link below.  This is still a 4shared link as I haven't had time to set up a new account somewhere else.  I hope that there will not be any issues with the downloads after all of the trouble I had with the gypsy files.  This is a Design Studio file.

These are my trial cuts. I'll add some bling and use them for a card.  They would also make cute "paper cookies" for a Valentine's tree (I wonder if any of you put up a Valentine's tree?).

What other sweet projects are you working on?  I hope this heart comes in handy for you.

Scalloped Heart

Happy Australia Day to all of  my Aussie friends! 
I am finishing my packing today and should be flying to LA early tomorrow morning to meet up with Mandy, Jane, Enfys and lots of others at CHA.  Keep your fingers crossed for me that the storms don't keep me from flying... 


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A favorite file converted for Gypsy users.

A couple of years ago I designed some cards that I called "stair step" cards.  There is another completely different style of card called a "stair step" card that I was not familiar with at the time (I might have chosen a different name if I knew it could cause confusion!).  I have recently had several requests for these files in the .gypsy format so I converted the file for the card above and test cut it tonight.  This card uses the Alphalicious font and either George or Plantin Schoolbook (there are two separate files for the base card).

Here is a LINK to the post where I first shared this card.  These cards are fun to make and there are so many variations that are possible starting from the basic card.  With a little imagination you can make this style of card for any occasion.

This was one of the first stairstep cards I did and you can read more about it at THIS POST.  A blog reader and message board friend sent me an image of a card she wanted to try to make and I figured out a way to cut something similar with the Cricut.  Once I got started it was fun to try all sorts of different ideas and I developed the double stairstep card idea and used fonts with a stencil version to cut words into the "steps."

This is another variation of the card - here is a LINK to the original post.

I have converted the two files and tested the base card cut for the "happy happy" card.  Please let me know if you need one of the other variations and I will try to convert and test cut those for posting as well.  I am happy to share my files for personal use.  Please respect my terms in the left side column and do not convert my files and post or distribute them on a blog, group, post on a messageboard, etc.  They are also not to be used for contests or claimed as your original work for publication submissions.

We are still busy with holiday events and I get a lot of email everyday.  Today was the last day our older son was here with us - he flies to Mexico tomorrow.  If you send me a message and don't hear back right away it is entirely possible that your message was not seen so please try again if you are looking for some help or an answer to a question.  I do my best to answer all messages but it can be difficult to keep up, especially at busy times of the year.

If you want to be included in the random draw for the set of ProMarkers from Letraset please be sure to leave your comment on the original post at THIS LINK.  These are the only comments that will be included  - one comment per person please.

Double Stairstep Happy Happy (George)
Double Stairstep Happy Happy (Plantin Schoolbook)


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