Another Disney Princess file - Mulan

A few days ago, when I posted the video about setting up your .cut files for layered characters (here is a LINK to that post), I had a request for the file for Mulan. I went back and looked at my files and realized that when I did the original post about Mulan over a year ago (here is a LINK) I used this method but didn't actually create a reference page in the file.



So I went back and revised the file and sent it to the person who needed it. I thought I should go ahead and post the file for anyone else who might be working on Mulan - these files are a real time saver once you do the initial set-up.



There are a lot of extra pages in the file to create this color preview. Remember, you just need to look at the sizes, colors and placement of the papers on page two of the file, set up your mat with the proper papers and then cut from page one. You will have all of the pieces you need, cut in the proper colors and ready to use to build your character. Of course you can vary the colors of the costume - I was trying to get close to the colors used in the movie (but I was limited to the cardstock I had on hand).

(Thanks to everyone who sent get well wishes - I taught a class today with a very croaky voice but I think I am starting to get a bit better. We are off to a family reunion tomorrow so I am hoping that I will be over this cold soon).

Mulan at five inches

Another Quick Video - Layered Characters

I have received a few questions about the color separations for layered characters, so I thought I'd do a video showing one of the files that I created for a Cinderella cut. I have explained this in the past and posted some files on my blog but some people prefer the video format. Here is a LINK to some of the posts about Disney Princesses showing the layers with download links for the files I prepared.

The weekend was very full but I have been hard at work on some projects which will be posted in the next few days. I also have something new to show you that you can use with your Cricut to enhance many of the more intricate designs.



There were some more guesses on the mystery design but so far no one has named the cartridge. (The prize is really just a token gift but I didn't think it would be so hard to give it away!)

Here are the clues - with a new one added:

1. There is only one image used to make this mesh - repeated 35 times.

2. Hide Selected Contour is involved...

3. I have never shared a design made using this particular cartridge - I have to open a cartridge that is still in the box to test cut the design (!)

Be sure to leave a comment for me if you think you have figured out what I used! If no one gets it by tomorrow night, I will just pick a random name from the guesses I have received.

Another Disney Princess - Belle #2

I was doing a bit of reorganizing of my files and found this one which I hadn't shared before. Many people have questions on how to make all the layers for the complex paper piecing on the licensed character cartridges. Here are links (Cinderella and Belle #5) (Mulan) to a couple of earlier posts that have some tips on how to make cutting and piecing these characters a bit easier.

With the Design Studio software you can plan out all the cuts needed and load the mat just once to cut the pieces you will need in the correct colors. This is explained in more detail in the posts linked above so I won't repeat it all here. You use page two of the file only for information about the paper sizes and placements and page one to actually cut the character (the rest of the pages of the file are just there to separate the colors for a screen shot of the preview).

Here is a screen shot of the mat ready for cutting Belle #2



This is the actual mat loaded and ready to cut



When I cut this last year, I didn't have any plain cardstock in the right shade of brown so I tried using some adhesive backed DCWV textured cardstock. I was not very happy with the cutting - I don't care for the white core for cutting these small pieces - below you can see how it looked on the mat after cutting.



Using the adhesive backed cardstock did make it easier to adhere the hair piece to the base but the white bits that showed made Belle look older than her years!



I resorted to touching in the white areas with a pen that matched as closely as possible to the brown cardstock color - when you look at the close up below you can see the tiny pen marks.



The overall effect was fine after the touchup but, in the future, I will try to have solid core cardstock available in all the colors I need for a character before cutting!



Belle #2 at five inches

Disney Princesses - a few more tips!

The multi layered cuts of various Disney characters available on some Cricut Cartridges are very popular but they can be a bit tricky to figure out - especially if you don't use them very often. One of the great things about CDS is the ability you have to set up a complicated cut so that you know precisely how the cut will be made and then save it for future use. In my post about Mulan (linked HERE) I explained how to select and set up all of the pieces on the same mat to speed up the process of creating one of these characters.

I decided to make it even easier for future uses of the same design at the same size. I carefully placed the pieces needed into evenly sized rectangles and squares and noted the colors and sizes needed on a second mat. Now, when I want to make the same character again, I will know exactly what colors and sizes of paper I need and the precise position to place them on the mat (In other words I did all of the "thinking" once and saved it so I don't have to recalculate each time I make a certain character).

Here is a screen shot of the mat showing paper colors and placement for Cinderella #2 at five inches. I just typed the names of the colors and the sizes of each in the appropriate spaces. (You can use any font to do this and they do not have to be so big - I just wanted to be sure they would be visible for this post. You do not even need to own the font cartridge you use to do this since it is merely for reference so just choose one that you find easy to read). You could even record the specific brand and color of paper you used for that character - again saving time since it is often tricky to remember what you may have used (and you may have given that design away so it won't be handy to refer to).



Here is a screen shot showing how the elements of this version of Cinderella fit on the mat.



Here is a screen shot of the mat set up for Belle #5 at five inches



Here is a preview of the mat



and here you can see the actual mat with the paper placed ready to cut. You insert the mat, make sure the file is on page one (where the actual pieces of the design are placed) and "cut with Cricut." If you use multiple mats and are making several of the same character you can get one mat loaded while another is cutting further speeding up the process.



In order to make the screen shot showing the individual colors I made multiple mats in these files - this is not really necessary but it doesn't take long and you can even save screen shots of the second page which shows the colors and sizes and print them up to save in a separate binder so that you can refer to this while the Cricut is cutting from page one (if you are preparing a different figure to cut next).

One other tip for handling and assembling the delicate and small pieces for these figures - I have found that it is easier to apply adhesive to the base layer and then place the small pieces in the correct position when the glue is tacky (I use a Creative Memories Precision Point Adhesive pen - I dot it on the area I want to work on and let it dry to clear and then carefully add my pieces). Tweezers can be helpful to move the bits into position.



Here is the finished Cinderella with a headband decorated with Stickles glitter glue.



You will end up with an interesting off cut from the base layer (the example below is Belle #5) and I actually thought I could use this to make a card - I love the contrast of pink and black and the graceful silhouette (I have not yet decided how many additional details to add in - I think the effect of the plain card is quite pretty).



I plan to save these files as I create the various characters for my projects and then I will be prepared to do future cuts much more easily. Here are my files for these two princesses to share with you - I hope you can use them and that this system makes cutting these popular designs a bit easier for you!

Belle #5 at five inches

Cinderella #2 at five inches

My first Disney character - Mulan!

Disney characters and other complex layered cuts are easier to do when you use Design Studio. You can set up the entire mat with pieces of the appropriate color paper for each layer cut. This saves time in the cutting and puts everything at your fingertips for assembly.



This was my first attempt at making a Disney character - Mulan, from the Happily Ever After cartridge. I first set up the base on the left side of the mat using a size of 5 inches. Leaving the size at 5 inches, I then used the various function keys and shift key to get all the layers that needed to be cut. It is important to keep the size slider in the same position as the cartridge is programmed to make the layers proportional in size to the base layer.



Here you can see the feature keys that are used to make the layers.



The slider should remain at 5 inches for all the pieces that need to be cut - this shows the key selected for the magenta part of her costume (bottom row, fifth from right).



Above is a close up view of the placement of all of the pieces to be layered for the Mulan head and below you can see my mat set up to cut these pieces - by using the grid you can approximate the size of each element and stick a piece of the appropriate color paper in the area where that element will be cut.



This is a great time saver and you can leave each set of pieces on the mat until you are ready to add them to the base so you are less likely to lose some of these small bits!