Orange Bunnies!

Last month I explained how the "cuttable area" of the baby bug mat is a bit larger than the "cuttable area" on the Expression mat and I used this set of tags as my example. (Here is a LINK to the post with the explanation and the file for cutting these tags).



Since these tags were cut for a swap, I couldn't show you what I was making with them until the swap was completed. I made these for the second round of the Tags Plus Inchies (TPIs) swap organized by my friend Kopperhead. The theme for this set was "Orange" or "If You Carrot All." If you would like to see all of the tags that were made for this theme, they are posted on Kopperhead's blog - here is a LINK to the post.




I added two stripes of thin orange border stickers to the base of the tag. I used my Scor-Mat to help align the stripes. The markings on the Scor-Mat are great for helping you make multiple items with embellishments in the same place on each item. In the photo above you can also see how I used the angle lines on the Scor-Mat to help place my inchie squares. I positioned the tag on the black line labeled "10" with the lower right corner on the white half inch mark. Then I could use the 45 degree angle line to align my two diagonal squares by using the angle line as the base for placing the squares.



Once I had the squares in position, I added the bunnies I had punched from orange glitter cardstock with the Martha Stewart standing bunny punch. I had to remember to punch half glitter side up and half glitter side down so I could have glittery bunnies facing each other on the tag. The bunnies are adhered with foam squares to give some dimension to the tag.



I used a brown pen to "stitch" all around the tags and shapes.



Above you can see all 20 TPIs ready to be mailed for swapping. I will tell you - that is a lot of pen stitching!

Lacy Lattice "Spirograph" medallion - some more variations

It took a lot of guesses from a lot of readers, but finally Patty D. (congrats Patty!) got the answer - this design was created using the frame for a label from the Calligraphy Collection cartridge.



Above you can see the screen shot of the keypad showing the frame I used (highlighted in green).



Some people guessed Plantin Schoolbook - there is an "atomic" shape with eight points on that cartridge, but it has some extra circles orbiting around the center which can't be eliminated easily since they are part of the continuous line of the design.



Lots of people guessed Fabulous Finds or Wild Card - these cartridges both have a similar shape but, in each case the shape is much thicker. The unique feature of the Calligraphy Collection frame is that it is very thin so the resulting design is much more intricate.



Many of us think of the Spirograph toy when looking at this design - I didn't have a chance to try it with markers yet but I did do some variations to the first file and test cut these to show you some of the interesting combinations (and no....I still didn't get my card made!).

If you are curious about the math behind this type of design, here is a LINK to the Wikipedia entry about the Spirograph. If you want to have some fun experimenting with these designs on your computer screen check out this LINK to the an article by David Little of the Penn State Math Department - there is a pattern generator that is fun to try!



I made several more variations - using 8 or 16 points and sometimes using "hide selected contour" to fill in the circles at the tips. If you hide the circles on opposite tips of the same frame, they will stay hidden when you reopen the file (and your design will be symmetrical).



I have been asked what settings I used to cut these. I was using my baby bug, with the blade depth at 6, pressure at 4 and medium speed (though I don't think the speed control on the machine actually has an effect when you cut with Design Studio). This cut cleanly through heavy "no name" cardstock as well as Bazzill slightly textured cardstock. I would not try to cut this design from thin patterned paper - you need some "body" in the paper.



If you are careful as you remove the 8 point version you can save the offcuts for another variation. Above you can see them on the cutting mat after I lifted the lace cut. You could reassemble these in this pattern on your card or page.



You could also just use the center bits to make a star. This one reminds me of a quilt pattern.



If you have lots of patience (more than I have!) you could even try to save the bits from the 16 point version. As you can see in the photos above and below some tend to stay with the cut and some on the mat and the pieces are extremely tiny.



When you are lifting the cut, it is helpful to bend the mat back a bit and you should go slowly to avoid tearing any of the thin lines.



If you do tear one, you will probably be able to glue it down so the tear won't show on your finished project.



By using the various frames and layering the offcuts you can get all sorts of interesting patterns and designs - here are a group of photos of some that I layered as examples (nothing is adhered so they are not all flat.



I actually like the effect that comes from some of the slightly curved cuts - I just need to figure out how to hold everything together.

And now for a bit of photo overload!



























Below you can see the offcuts which mimic the solid shapes - by layering these you get the effect of a second shape.



Above is the sixteen point shape and below is the eight point shape.



You can even stack two offcuts to get some interesting effects.



So many variations.... below is a solid shape on top of one of the offcuts.



As I promised yesterday, I edited yesterday's post this afternoon to add the basic file (here is a LINK to that post). Tonight I have added another file with the variations - obviously you can take this even further as you experiment with colors and patterns.



(and I will get that card done soon!)

Lacy Lattice Flower (variations)

One last chance to guess...

My day did not go as I had planned. Sometimes things just happen... I had been working on a project that I was very excited about, only to find out that it will probably not be used in the way I expected. So, I am rethinking some of my plans for the future. There may be some interesting changes in store for me and this blog.

No one has guessed the cartridge for the lacy flower design yet (I didn't think it would be this difficult). I will give it a little longer and edit this post to add the file sometime during the day on Wednesday. It really is a good idea to try to find the time to sit down and look through all that a cartridge has to offer. You sometimes find the most interesting things in the most unexpected places!



This photo shows the cut next to an open standard size safety pin so you can get a better idea of the delicacy of the cut. This cut was done on Bazzill cardstock, which is quite heavy, so I am even more impressed with the capabilities of the Cricut.



A few people have commented that this design makes them think of the Spirograph toy - I think I still have one of those around here somewhere.... I wonder how this would look done with markers? (Since they are so thick it might just end up a big blur!).

Check back later Wednesday for this file, and I'll be adding a new post Wednesday night as well.

(File download link added 6 p.m. Wednesday)

Lacy Lattice Flower (basic)

Sometimes the "Baby Bug" is better...

I was working on some tags today for a swap. I found a tag shape that I liked on the Calligraphy Collection cartridge and I set up a row of tags to cut on the virtual mat. My screen had the 12 x 6 or baby bug mat size selected.



Above is a screen shot of the five tags that I carefully fit into the "cuttable area" of the mat. I wanted to add more rows of tags so I switched to the 12 x 12 mat view - suddenly, my tags were outside the "cuttable" area.



Above is the screen shot of the same tags on the 12 x 12 mat (remember, you can click on any photo to see it in a larger view).


These screen shots show a closer view of the slight but significant difference in the cuttable area.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I hate to waste paper and I always try to figure out the most efficient way to cut items. This is yet another of the reasons I like using Design Studio even for "ordinary" cuts where you are not altering the item to be cut.



I decided to use the baby bug to cut the tags so I could maximize the number I could cut from one sheet of 12 x 12 cardstock. In order to do this, I cut my paper into three 4 inch strips. I used my DreamKuts, which cuts perfectly straight thirds in a 12 x 12 paper. If you use a regular trimmer you just have to be very careful to be sure that your cuts are exact.



By cutting each strip independently and placing it carefully on the mat just a bit below the top margin, I was able to cut fifteen tags from one sheet of paper. Below you can see the offcuts on another sheet of paper.



I could have made all of the tags a bit smaller to make them fit on the larger mat but my stubborn streak took over (!) - I wanted to cut the tags in the size I had planned and I wanted them to be cut using as little paper as possible.



By doing the three cuts on the baby bug mat I maximized my use of the paper. I also found out that the smaller machine does have a few advantages! The photos above and below show how close to the edge I was able to cut successfully.



If you have both the Personal Cricut (baby bug) and the Expression, it may be worthwhile to check your design on both sizes of mats and use the one that gives you the best result.

I know I said I would share the lacy flower cut from yesterday's post tonight - but I got a bit sidetracked and haven't finished the card. No one has guessed the right cartridge so far. I do have a few more photos to share showing some of the possibilities with that cut...







ONE MORE NOTE - a few people mentioned they were having trouble with the download link for the 181 circles file. I am not sure what happened - quite a few people had downloaded the file but when I went to check on it, I had a problem too. I have uploaded the file again with a new link so if you had a problem, please try again.

If you want to take a closer look at the file for the tags - here is a download link.

5 Tags on Baby Bug Mat