Mystery Flower

I hope that you are having sunny weather - we are looking at a week with rain predicted every day!  Monday was a day of re-entry and errands - collecting our son's bike and boxes that rode home with his grandparents, trips to the bank and Costco, and lots of laundry!  I still haven't caught up with all of the email and messages but I am trying.  If you have an urgent question, please don't hesitate to send it again - I do try to keep up but I get many emails every day and, inevitably, some slip through the cracks.

I made a card with a flower before we went away last week.  I wonder if you can figure out which cartridge I used to make this flower...

Here is the plain flower shape before I added any embellishments.  I'll give you a hint - it is a relatively new cartridge and I haven't posted a finished project made with this cartridge yet.  One more hint - it may not have started out as a flower...

 

A couple of people have joined the challenge to use a playing card on a project - thanks for playing along!  I extended the time for a few days to make up for the lost time when Blogger was down.  I also haven't made my project yet!  You can get all of the details at THIS POST.   I was surprised to find out that there are some "hand and foot" (the card game) players among my blog readers.  I hope you have some spare cards that you can use to try the challenge.  The challenge will now end at midnight on Friday.

Don't forget to pop over to the Scrappy-Go-Lucky blog to read about the Elegant Edges cartridge - it definitely is a cartridge worth having.  For those of you who asked about using it with Design Studio - all of the cartridges except the most recent "Hello Thursday" group are included in the Design Studio font pack update - it is confusing because the listing on the update page hasn't been changed since November 2010 even though the newer cartridges have been added.  You can read about the update procedure HERE (scroll down to get to the screen shots).  I am hoping that the May "Hello Thursday" will include updates for last month and this month in both Design Studio and the cartridge library.

Sorry for the quick post today - I have lots to do to get ready for the rest of the week but I'll have something very pretty to share tomorrow!

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Pretty Mat or Frame

We were up very early to take our older son to the airport for his flight back to San Francisco.  The time went by so quickly - particularly since we lost two days of his visit when his original flight was canceled due to the snowstorm.

I had planned to work on some projects and start reorganizing my craft room today but I was so exhausted from the past few days that I spent most of the day reading and napping!  Tonight I finally did some test cuts of files I haven't had a chance to try yet.  I often sit and "doodle" on the computer creating files and I have a huge backlog of uncut designs to test cut.

Here is a frame or mat that I created.  I will do a full post with all of the details tomorrow.  If you look closely you will see some tiny hearts - the Valentine crafting season has started!

I really need to try to get myself back on a "normal" sleep schedule so I am making just a quick post tonight.  I will leave you with a question - can you tell which cartridge or cartridges I use to create this design?   The first person to post a comment with the correct answer will get a little surprise from me!

Op Art Design (from Sesame Street Font)

The cartridge I used to make this design is Sesame Street Font (congratulations to Lianne for figuring it out!).



The highlighted key is the one item that was repeated 35 times to form this design. There are a lot of other interesting possibilities for new designs if you look closely at this cartridge.

My test cut worked perfectly. Then I tried to get fancy and make the file simpler to use (due to the "single hidden contour not remaining hidden when file closed and reopened" problem).



I spent waay too much time trying to "psych out" the software and get a fix that worked but I think that the number and complexity of the welds just made the program go crazy. Here are two of the very odd cuts I got on some more tests.

I will share the file tomorrow, once I have one more chance to try to make it work automatically. If I can't get around the problem, I will do a tutorial explanation to show you how to use the file. Unfortunately, due to the extra time I spent trying to refine this design and another HUGE project I worked on today, it is very late and I have to go get some sleep.

Another Mystery Design....

I was searching through my files for a design I made for one of my current "secret" projects and I stumbled across this file - I reworked it and I plan to test cut it tomorrow. I think when I made it I was working on an idea for a 60's ATC swap and I thought it had a "mod" look (but I ended up doing something else for the ATC).

I thought I'd post it tonight and have a little contest. I haven't posted a "mystery design" for a while. The first person who leaves a comment on this post and correctly guesses what cartridge or cartridges I used to create this design will get a prize from me. It won't be anything as exciting as the Gypsy but it is just for fun! (If you haven't checked the Cricut Message Board, the Gypsy winners have been drawn - I was not one of them but I want to say congrats to the winners - how exciting for them!). If you don't know about the Gypsy yet - here is a LINK to the official site.

This design is intended to be used as a card topper for a 5 x 7 card. All sorts of color combinations are possible for this funky background. I can't wait to show you what I have been working on - I will reveal it as soon as I can...

I Love it When a Plan comes Together!

Tonight we got the second and third bookcases assembled and ready for the next stage of construction. You can see in the photo how I will set them up with the two that are 2 x 4 cubes back to back and the 2 x 2 cube case on one end. The other end will be inaccessible (perpendicular to a fixed glass sliding door) so I didn't add a case for that end.



My very handy husband went to Home Depot this weekend and bought all of the lumber and wheels to make the platform that will make this a movable island and also the wood for the top work surface. I may have a piece of tempered glass cut for the top but we will see how the painted surface works first.

I spent a little time thinking about the containers for some of the shelves and I was happy to discover that my large Creative Memories Power sort boxes will fit perfectly in the cubes. I plan to get a few more of the plastic cubes that fit perfectly and we have some matching Expedit two drawer inserts from IKEA to build as well. This island on wheels will replace a folding table that is just a bit shorter and narrower with limited space for storage beneath it due to the leg mechanism. I am so excited to have it getting closer to being done and I just can't wait to "move in" to all that storage space!



It was a busy day and I had lots of new projects to think about! I find it relaxing to work on a complicated design when I have a lot of things going on - it helps me to focus my thoughts. So I worked a design that I have had in the back of my mind for some time now - with a lot of variations. Above you can see a screen shot of the preview of the design I was working on - I haven't even had a chance to test the cut yet. There are 50 elements to this design and, since I made it "adjustable," that means 49 of them needed to be nudged into position - which took a very long time.



The first screen shot shows the design as a nearly full page cut (eleven inches square) and the screen shot above shows the same design "adjusted" to a 4 and 1/2 inch square which can be cut on the baby bug mat. I like to make adjustable designs so many people can use them but they are very time consuming and tricky to make. I dearly wish that the Design Studio software would be upgraded to include "select all" and "group/ungroup" functions. I use these functions all the time in my Creative Memories Storybook Creator Plus software and they make it much simpler to create intricate designs quickly and accurately.



Thanks for letting me share the progress on my birthday project - next time you see these units they will be riding on a platform with wheels (and they will be out of the family room and in my studio space).

I will try to test cut the design I showed you very soon - maybe even tomorrow. In the meantime, can anyone guess what cartridge or cartridges I used to design it? (just leave a comment if you think you know).

If you were waiting for our next classes to be posted, we have added a word book class for this week and one for next week as well. There is also another Basic Cards session next week. I have had a request for an evening "Getting Started" session for Tuesday, July 7th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern - if there is enough interest we will add that to next week's classes. You can sign up by following the directions on the LMSYHTDT blog. We only scheduled one class this week due to the 4th of July holiday.

Patriot's Day - Busy in Boston

Things are rather busy in our neck of the woods these days! Living in Concord, we are in the midst of the annual Patriot's Day festivities. The "shot heard 'round the world" was fired on April 19, 1775, at the Old North Bridge which is about a ten minute walk from our house.
In case you have forgotten some of your American history, the phrase is in the first verse of Ralph Waldo Emerson's Concord Hymn, written for the dedication of a battle monument.


Above is a photo of this verse on the monument with the famous sculpture by Daniel Chester French, who is best known for the sculpture of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D. C. (in case it is too hard to read from the photo, I have typed it below as well):

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled;
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard 'round the world.





On the other side of the bridge is a monument with this inscription (the photo was taken last summer,when Ted, a Cricut Message Board friend from California, visited Concord).

Once again - here are the words typed out for you:

HERE
on the 19th of April
1775
was made
the first forcible resistance
to British aggression
On the opposite Bank
stood the American Militia
Here stood the Invading Army
and on this spot
the first of the Enemy fell
in the War of that Revolution
which gave
Independence
to these United States

In gratitude to GOD
and
in the love of freedom
this Monument
was erected
AD 1836.

A little piece of trivia that you may not know about Daniel Chester French is that he was given art lessons and encouraged to pursue sculpting by Louisa May Alcott's sister, May Alcott ("Amy" in the book Little Women).

Tomorrow there will be re-enactments here and in Lexington and on Monday we have a parade in town.

The other big event of the weekend is the Boston Marathon on Monday. We are hosting my husband's cousin, his wife and her parents for the weekend because she will be running in the marathon. ( I am so impressed - I walk in the mornings but running is beyond me!) Today, we had the extended family that lives in the area over for a cookout (luckily the rain held off) and this group includes a lot of lively youngsters - including a set of twins and their younger brother and our five year old triplet nephews!

So, things are busy here - but it is fun to be in the middle of all these activities and historical events. Tomorrow morning we will wake up to the sounds of cannons(!)

I know that most of you come here for Cricut and craft info, so forgive this digression (I actually have had some blog readers send me messages saying they enjoy the occasional non-crafting posts and the glimpses into another crafter's "real world").



I will leave you with a photo of a design I did a couple of weeks ago that I hope to finish into a card very soon - can you guess the cartridges involved?

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)

What is in the Box?

It's been a very busy day. I finished a project but I am on my way to see the High School play and so I am posting a little "teaser." I may get to write this all up when I get home, otherwise, check back tomorrow!



Here is one more clue....what do you think?

A quick "Mystery" post!

Here is a little quiz for you! I made this design using Design Studio quite a while ago. As you may have read in my blog, I am also a quilter and this reminds me of a quilt pattern.

So here is the question - what cartridge or cartridges did I use to create this?

I will post the answer and the file tomorrow - have fun guessing! Just leave a comment with your guess.

Sorry for the super short post. I got my son to college yesterday and spent quite a few hours helping him move from one room to another in the same building - and cleaning up the place! I am visiting my Dad and his internet is having problems - so I managed to connect through a neighbor but it is a weak connection and goes in and out. I hope this makes it to my blog!