A quick Design Studio lesson for the frustrated....

I am leaving Saturday morning to take our son back to college.  I wish I could have made the trip to California for CHA but I am trying to be patient and wait for all of the new product information to start appearing on message boards and blogs.  I think there are a lot of great new things in store for us.

Provo Craft has posted a picture of the new Cricut Cake machine - here is a LINK to the page where you can sign up to receive more information when the machine is ready.  This machine is designed to cut designs in frosting for cake decorating.  You will be able to use it with any Cricut cartridge.  There is also a new Cake Basics cartridge that looks great but the link to the PDF of the handbook is not working right now.

Today's post is a little different.  I use the Design Studio software virtually every day and I have become very familiar with the "things that don't work the way you expect them to" and the "ways to get around the problem."  Lately, there have been a lot of people asking questions about how to do some of the slightly trickier things.

I made a file for a wagon wheel (actually a wheel for a pram) for a reader. I realized from a few other emails that even though I have done a video about "welding in a frame" and the need to "burp" the design, some people have trouble watching videos due to internet connection problems or they prefer something that can be printed out and referred to in hard copy.  With that in mind, I did a "words and pictures" explanation of all the steps it took to make the wheel.

Start with a silhouetted circle.  The George cartridge has many silhouetted shapes and I like it because the line is thinner than some of the others.  In this case, the request was for a 2 1/2 inch wheel so I set the slider bar at 2 1/2.  It is important to determine the finished size needed because you won't be able to "group" the components by keeping them in the same selection box since some of the pieces need to be resized and rotated.

Next, add a solid rectangle.  I chose the thinnest one available on the keypad.  You can see that it is much too thick to make a spoke in the wheel.

Move the rectangle over to the circle using the horizontal move handle at the center left.  Line up the left side with the inside of the circle.

Use the handle on the center right to narrow the rectangle to the same width as the line of the silhouetted circle.  You could make it even thinner if that is the look you want - I thought it looked best when the lines were even.

To be sure that the rectangle will stay within the outer edge of the circle, change the height to 2.3 inches in the Shape Properties box.  Click on the mat or press enter to make the change effective.

Next, move the rectangle to the center of the circle.  You can use the pale gray plus signs in the middle of the shapes as a guide to be sure that the circle and rectangle are perfectly centered.  If you have trouble seeing the plus signs, try using the 200 view.

Check the weld box for both the circle and the rectangle (click on the shape to make it active - the handles will show - and then check weld).

Add a new page to the file and then click the preview eyeball.  By previewing on a "clean page" you can see clearly the dark lines where the finished design will cut.

Here is the preview with the thin rectangle and the circle - the weld works perfectly.  Now you need to add the other spokes of the wheel.

Select the rectangle and click copy and then paste.

 

 Whenever you copy and past, the pasted image is placed in the exact position of the original image.  You can tell that there are two images by the slightly darker line.

 

While the pasted rectangle is still active (with the handles showing), click the 90 degree box in the Shape Properties box - this will quickly rotate the item selected exactly 90 degrees and is a very handy shortcut.

Click paste again to add another rectangle and then type 45 in the rotate box in the Shape Properties box.  This box allows you to set precise values for the rotation.

Finally, click paste one last time and then enter "-45" in the rotate box - this will turn the rectangle 45 degrees in the opposite direction so you will have the full wheel.

 

When you click preview and check the weld, you will discover that there is a problem - but there is an easy way to fix this.

The problem is created by the order in which the items were added to the design.  The program seems to read the shapes in the order they were added to the mat.  If you have only two items (a closed frame shape and one item inside)  there is no problem with the weld. When you add a third item inside the frame you need to work from the inside out to be sure that the welds will work properly.  It is generally easier to put your outer item on the mat to work with it and be sure that things line up properly.  Then you can do the simple "burping" fix to make the welds read correctly.

Select the outer circle and click copy, then delete and then paste.  The pasted object goes back to the mat in exactly the same position but it now has been added to the design after all of the other items.  Think of it as letting out the air that was trapped within the design.

Now your preview will look like this and you can cut your wheel.

Here is the final cut.  These are fairly quick to make, so if you need a set you can just create them over and over until you have enough.  It will be a great day for Design Studio users when the program is updated and allows you to "group" a set of shapes that contain individual shapes that have been rotated or otherwise changed.  This would allow you to then copy and paste the entire group as a unit!

I hope this was helpful to the new Design Studio users - for those of you who have already learned how to do this, maybe it was a good review.  If you are a person who actually prefers videos here is a LINK to the post with the "welding in a frame" video.  The example is different but the same principle applies to any items place inside a closed, outlined shape.

I'll be driving most of the day tomorrow so I won't be able to check comments or messages until late in the day.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment or email me and I will reply as soon as I can.

Finally Filigree!

I know some of you have been eagerly waiting for me to get this file posted. I have to tell you that this has been one of those "troublesome" files -I kept running into problems in the test cuts and I really don't know why some of the problems occurred. I will explain some of the issues I had so you won't be surprised if you have problems too (please let me know if you do - maybe we can figure out why there is such erratic behavior by these bugs!). As of tonight, I have successfully cut everything multiple times and I hope that you won't run into any problems.



Above is another variation of the full card topper. I used "hide contour" to "fill in" the ovals at the edges of the topper. Unfortunately, the element I used has only two contours, so, each time you want to cut the "filled in" version, you will need to re-hide the inner ovals. Perhaps a future update will fix this glitch of contours not staying hidden - my fix (described in the post linked HERE) will only work if there are three or more contours in the design.



I wanted to keep this card very simple since the filigree design is so elaborate, but I thought it needed just a bit more so I added a butterfly made with the Martha Stewart monarch butterfly punch.



The sentiment was cut with a Cuttlebug using the die from the "With Gratitude" A2 cut and emboss set.



In an amazing bit of serendipity, the letters align perfectly with the scallops!



Above is a photo of the card from a few days ago - that border cut perfectly the first time I tested it (and made the card using the test cut).



Tonight, I tested the cut again and you can see the result above (!) I was using the Expression instead of the Original Cricut for this cut - but that shouldn't make a difference.... I checked my blade assembly (took it out and looked for any paper bits stuck in the blade housing but there were none) re-tightened the assembly, checked to be sure that the paper was firmly stuck down on the mat and tried the cut again.



This time it cut perfectly - I can't say what made the difference since I hadn't discovered any problems in my checks after the first cut....



A few days ago, when I was testing the file I had the "Cricut mysteriously stops cutting at X % problem" - 62% in the example above and 90% in the example below.



Once again - this is something that used to happen frequently but it hadn't happened to me for quite a while. Everything "freezes" and you have to turn off the Cricut, and close and restart the Design Studio program to try cutting again. In both cases, the file cut perfectly the second time. I have no explanation for why this would happen but it did "clear" by restarting everything - whether or not it could happen again is unknown (I am just trying to give full disclosure so you know what "could" go wrong).

You will need Mini Monograms for either file. I did two separate versions with George and Plantin Schoolbook - the file will cut on the 6 x 12 mat so it is "baby bug compatible."

Filigree Card Toppers (George)

Filigree Card Toppers (Plantin Schoolbook)

Cards with Gate Fold Pop-Ups

In the demonstration videos I have seen for a product called "The Ultimate Crafter's Companion," there is an interesting card which is formed by inserting a gate fold card with a reverse center fold inside a regular card (hard to say it in words but easy to understand if you look at the photos!).

To cut a shape opening in the insert, the demonstrator uses the board to score a shape and then hand trims around the score line. I have tried this tool and I found it a bit difficult to get the score lines for the shape in the correct place - when I tried the butterfly - I ended up with two sizes combined in one!



I went ahead and assembled the card with the oddly shaped butterfly and added a few personal touches. I put some lining paper behind the opening, punched the sides of the insert with a border punch and set the insert back into the card a bit from the edges to show off the borders. You can see the unembellished card center in the photo above.

I was thinking about the difficulty with scoring & hand cutting and also about the limited number of designs available on the tool. It occurred to me that with the Cricut and my Scor-Pal I could easily make interesting cards with many shapes to choose from for the center cut-out.

You need to choose a simple shape that works as a silhouette since there will be no interior details to define the shape. To cut the shape in the proper position for an A2 card, you can set up your mat in Design Studio with a rectangle that is 5.5 inches tall and 8.5 inches wide. Then add additional rectangles to help you center your image, one at 2.125 inches wide, one at 4.25 inches wide and one at 6.375 inches all aligned at the left side as you can see in the screen shot below.



By using these guidelines, you can choose the appropriate size and placement for the shape you will cut for the pop up. In this simple example, I chose a flower from Plantin Schoolbook. Delete all but the largest rectangle when you are ready to cut the insert.



After cutting the insert, you can use the special score lines for a gatefold of an A2 card that are found on the Scor-Pal - they are marked by a small dot just beyond the 2 inch and before the 6 1/2 inch lines. If you don't have a Scor-Pal, you need to score at 2.125 inches (2 1/8), 4.25 inches (4 1/4) and 6.375 inches (6 3/8).



You score the 2 1/8 and 6 3/8 lines on the back of the paper (just flip it over) and the center line on the front - remember, you should fold toward the "mountain" not the "valley" so you just have to think for a minute to get the folds right. (Don't worry, if you fold it in the wrong direction you can refold it so the end result looks like the photo above!).



To add some interest, I used a border punch on the outside edges of the insert - in this case a flower border that is similar to the center cut-out.



I also cut a 2 x 5 1/2 inch piece of patterned paper to adhere to the center of the card (folded right sides together and then adhered it in the folded card.



Then I adhered the insert to the card, setting it back a bit from the edges to show off the pretty punched border. I used the edge of the patterned paper liner as a guideline for adhering first one side and then the other side of the insert.



Above is a view from the top of the card to show the construction more clearly.



Here is one more photo so you can see how it all fits together.



When the card is closed the insert collapses along the fold line.



I cut a piece of the same patterned paper for the front - cut at 4 x 5 1/4 inches and centered. I used the cut out flower from the insert as a decoration on the front of the card with a gem for the center of the flower. The card is now ready for a sentiment and some additional embellishing. If you want to ink the edges or stamp or use Stickles on the insert it will be easier to add these to the flat insert before you assemble the card.

There is no file to share today - just follow the directions above and you can make a card with a pop up insert and a cut-out in any shape you would like!

Postage Stamp Backgrounds (two sizes)

I was looking through some magazines and saw a background paper that was interesting. It wasn't a scallop (for a change!) - it had more of a postage stamp look at the edges. I decided to create a Design Studio file to cut something similar - this is one of those "utility files" that will be useful for many pages.



I did a file for a full page in both George and Plantin Schoolbook - obviously, you will need the Expression to cut these (I have found that some people who already had a baby bug and upgraded to the Expression chose different cartridges when they purchased their big bug so they need a George file). Since I needed to test cut two files I did them in opposite colors - I think this makes a nice double page spread.



I also did files for half page cuts and tested those. I tested the George file on the baby bug. I had all sorts of trauma with the baby bug tonight. I was using DCWV textured cardstock for the test cuts and I accidentally put this piece on the mat with the more textured side facing down - it did not stay stuck down! The angry little bug really slashed up this paper. I should know better than to use this paper for test cuts. I don't care for it very much for Cricut cuts, particularly since it has a white core which sometimes ends up showing. (I am sharing my bad cut in the hopes that you can learn from my experience!)



The next test cut (with a new mat and with the paper smooth side down) went fine - up to 94% when my baby bug mysteriously refused to finish the cut! It is so frustrating when this happens and there is no rhyme or reason to these occasional refusals to finish - such temperamental machines! In my experience, if this happens you have to close the program and reopen it to get the software to start responding again.

Not to be defeated, I thought of an interesting use for this botched cut (I actually had considered this alternative as I made the file).



You can weave ribbons through the evenly spaced holes - above you can see a couple of examples. If you want to use this file for ribbon weaving you can simply delete the center square so the Cricut will cut only the circles (with a little luck the file will cut completely). Add back the square (or rectangle on the half sheet cuts) to get the postage stamp cut.



You can position the half sheet cuts horizontally,



vertically or even...



at an angle on a 12 x 12 piece of cardstock - each makes an interesting background for a layout.



If you save the offcuts, you can use them for additional decoration - offsetting them with the background cut to create a rope border effect.'

I made the files as large as I could - you will notice that the Plantin Schoolbook file will not cut the outer edge of the circles on one side but the edges of the postage stamp cut will be complete.


Full Page Postage Stamp Background - George

Full Page Postage Stamp Background - Plantin Schoolbook

Half Page Postage Stamp Background - George

Half Page Postage Stamp Background - Plantin Schoolbook