"Grouping" in Design Studio - Snowflakes in Circles

The decorations are coming down from the attic fast and furious now - I want to get most of them up before I go to pick up our younger son for his Winter Break next week.  This stained glass Santa was a gift from my brother many years ago and always hangs in the kitchen window.

The next tree to go up is the "upside down" tree.  It has a base and two sections and it takes two of us to put it together.  This is the tree for all of the delicate glass ornaments - lots of room to dangle and out of reach for the smaller visitors!

I usually try to keep the lights on the top section and then rearrange them when the tree is assembled but this year I took them all off and started right from the top.  For the next few days we will enjoy the tree with lights only and then I will start adding the ornaments - it takes a couple of days to finish!

I did make a quick video showing how to make the snowflakes in circles.  These are what I call "adjustable" designs.  You can do some grouping in Design Studio but you need to plan and have the patience to do a lot of nudging!


 I hope you find this video helpful - I will try to make another one showing a more complicated grouped design soon.  I am limited to five minutes on a video so I may need to do this in parts.  I'd like to purchase some software that will make it possible for me to make longer videos but it is very expensive so that will have to wait a bit longer.

We have a lot of family plans for tomorrow but I want to try to get more holiday decorating done later in the day.  I hope you don't mind me posting the stages of decorating our house - it helps to motivate me to get things finished.  I know that many people put things up right after Thanksgiving, but we have always done it in gradual stages and then leave everything up well into January (the days are short, dark and cold and the lights just make things more cheery in the dead of winter).

I wonder how many of you are still decorating...

Scalloped Circle (adjustable)

Today I have a "utility" file to share. These are files that are helpful for certain projects but just not terribly exciting to look at!



I got this Creative Memories punch a while ago - it is one of the newer ones. I sometimes wonder why I still buy punches when I have a Cricut, but there are times when a punch is handy - particularly if you want to "fussy punch" a certain design.



Here is the view of the bottom of the punch - it is quite large and sturdy.



There is a switch on the bottom that allows you to choose a plain scallop or one with extra holes in each "bump." If you want more information about this punch, you can use this LINK to my CM website.

I like the punch but I wanted to be able to layer it, so I turned to my trusty Design Studio to create an adjustable file that would match the scalloped shape.



While it is a simple shape with only eight "bumps" it still takes quite a while to create it as an adjustable file. You need to keep all of the elements in the same selection box and nudge them around with the arrows. You also need to work at a size where your smallest element is one inch or larger since you have to use the slider bar to set the size. Oh how I wish for a "group" function in the program whenever I start on one of these files!



The layers worked out very nicely - scallops are tricky because you need to get the angle and the depth of the indentation right if you are trying to match an existing scalloped shape.



The file has three sizes already set up for you - the original 2 inch size of the punch and 2.25 and 2.5 inch layers. You can copy and paste and resize the file using the Shape Properties box or the handles.



There are so many variations possible once you start adding layers! Below you can see two punches from the CM punch on the left and the 2 inch, 2.25 inch and 2.5 inch variations on the right side.



I made this file with Plantin Schoolbook - I may not have time to do a George version before we leave on vacation but you can probably figure it out by using the Plantin file as a guide. Let me know if you need help and I will try to do a tutorial after I get back (we leave on Friday!).


Simple Scalloped Circle (8 bump adjustable)

Twelve Scallop Chipboard Book

There is just something about the dollar bins at many stores - so many irresistible items that you know you can use to make some great projects. There are spools of ribbon, stamps and small chipboard album sets that appear from time to time. It is easy to spend a lot of money in no time at all.



Back in February I found these albums and decided to try to make a .cut file to make it easier to cover them. Here is a LINK to the post. I know a lot of people were happy to use the file to speed up their album making. Several people asked if I could do files for other albums they found, but, without having the actual chipboard to work from, I didn't want to make files that "almost" worked.



Recently, I came across this version of the scalloped circle chipboard album - it is made by the same company but has twelve scallops instead of eight. The packaging is slightly different with a blue top instead of a black one.



Here you can see the difference between the two chipboard shapes. The book with eight scallops looks like a flower and the twelve scallop version is more of a circle.



Here is a photo of the finished eight scallop album that I made in February.



I made this file as an adjustable file so you can copy and paste and resize it to suit your other projects. I found that my chipboard book was just under six inches - five and 15/16 inches to be exact - so I made the original scalloped circle in the file that size. As you can see in the screen shot above, this file will be useful for many other projects since you can easily resize the shape and have graduated circles.



It took a while to work it all out, but once I got the file finished I was able to cut out all of these pages in less than five minutes.



I used some paper in muted shades for the first test cuts but I decided it was too "serious" looking for the flower shaped books.



I remembered that I had this pack of Debbie Mumm paper. I have always liked her designs - in fact, I have a stash of Debbie Mumm quilting fabric that is "too pretty to use"!.



This paper has bright designs and I thought it would be nice for a child's album.



Here are the five papers I chose for the album. The little bugs are so cute!



Since you need to have the Expression to cut these shapes at the proper size to cover the album pages, I used Plantin Schoolbook for the file. You can fit two shapes on a 12 x 12 page and there will be some paper left for mats and titles to coordinate for each album page.



For more information about how I put the album together you can look back at the post for the first album (here is that LINK again). I hope that many of you will be able to use this file - even if you don't have this chipboard album, scalloped circles are always useful!

Twelve Scallop Circle for Chipboard Album (A)

Memories Frame - Home Decor Cartridge

I have been doing several projects using the Home Decor cartridge - primarily because I can use it in Design Studio and, for me, "a day without Design Studio is like a day without sunshine!" I really enjoy combining elements and making new variations of the designs. I also can accomplish results that are not possible using the cartridge with the Cricut machine alone.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, this Cartridge can be previewed in complete detail by looking at all of the cuts in the Design Studio program. You can do this with just the trial version of the software but you really should upgrade to the full version and start having some fun! (You can design with all the cartridges in the trial program but can only cut with the cartridge that is "native' to your machine - George for the Original Cricut, Don Juan for the Create and Plantin Schoolbook and Accent Essentials for the Expression).

In case you do not have even the trial version of the software on your computer, I am including a photo of the images as they appear on the pamphlet packaged with the cartridge. Solutions cartridges have only two creative features, shadow and blackout, and there is not a full booklet included with the cartridge.




The photo in the cartridge pamphlet is really tiny - you can click on this photo to enlarge it for a better view.



When you open the cartridge, don't forget to save the two chipboard brackets for another project (you know I hate to waste anything!).



I started this design by inserting the word "Memories" on the cartridge inside the leafy frame - this frame is one of my favorites and I am sure I will be using it a lot. In the photo above you can see the basic cut. I created this as an "adjustable" design so I can use it at various sizes.



Next, I created a shadow for the frame, adjusting the proportions of the shadow on the cartridge to fit my adjusted design. I cut this in a darker shade of brown.



I decided that the word "Memories" was too subtle so I cut another layer for the word in the darker brown I used for the shadow. I like the look of this darker layer better - the design appears more balanced.



I decided to try filling the center area of the frame. The cartridge blackout option does not fill in the entire central area. By using the "hide selected contour" feature, I was able to create a blackout version of the full frame. In the photo above, you can see it with the lighter "Memories" word (no layer added).



Here is the page with the darker layer added to the word and the blackout version of the frame.

If you would like this file you can download it using the link below. Several people have asked for files for a few of my other Home Decor examples and I will try to post those soon.

For those who have asked about classes, Jen and I are teaching a basic card class on Thursday and another Getting Started class on Friday - check the Let me Show you How to Do that blog for details.

Memories Leafy Frame (A)

Scalloped Rectangle - A quick design tip

I think you all must be getting tired of hearing about my travels, my family and our projects, so tonight I just have a quick tip to share.

I recently saw a project where someone had used a scalloped rectangle in a book. It was obvious that they had taken a scalloped square and stretched it in one direction to turn it into a rectangle.



Above is a screen shot showing what happens when you simply stretch a scalloped square - the scallops become somewhat distorted since the number of scallops remains the same and they are covering a wider distance.



Here is another view in black and white - there are only five "bumps" across the top and bottom of the rectangle. The scallops at the top and bottom are shallower when compared to the scallops on the sides. While, in some cases, you might want this "look" for your project, if you prefer a more regular scalloped rectangle, there is an easy way to create one in Design Studio. You will need to have a cartridge with a scalloped square such as Mini Monograms.



Simply place two scalloped squares in the same selection box and nudge the second one to the left until the scallops align neatly. In the screen shot above you can see that this overlap produces a scalloped rectangle with eight "bumps" across the top.



This screen shot shows the difference between the stretched square and the overlapped squares a bit more clearly.



You can make variations in the size by using a larger or smaller overlap - above you can see a "seven bump" version of the rectangle.



This screen shot shows how the squares were nudged to form the "seven bump" version.



You can see a "six bump" version above.

By putting the squares together in the same selection box you have created an adjustable design that you can cut and paste. Once you have the squares aligned, you can make small adjustments to the size by using the handles. These adjustments will not create as large a distortion when compared to simply stretching the original square.

So, if you don't have one of the carts with a scalloped rectangle, you can make one from a scalloped square. Even if you do have one of the rectangles - this method will help you make a rectangle with the exact number of "bumps" you need.

Cathedral Window Card Toppers

I was exploring my Accent Essentials cartridge and found this element.



It reminds me of the shape made when you make a quilt in the "cathedral windows" pattern. When you combine these shapes in a grid you get a secondary effect.



If you look at this one way you see circles with pointy diamonds in them - if you look at it another way you see four petal flower shapes that end the rows in half flowers.



By snipping away the corners carefully you can emphasize the flower shapes.



You can see in the photo above that my blade snagged a bit in the lower left corner (I used paper instead of cardstock and it tore the paper a little). I could place an embellishment in that spot to hide it. I decided to snip away even more of the shapes to eliminate the bad spot in a symmetrical fashion.



The result is a pretty frame for a card top.



This file is an adjustable one but I have already set up pages with A2, 5 x 7 and full page cuts. The 5 x 7 test cut is in the photo above.



The offcuts from my tests of the A2 and 5 x 7 sizes yield a lot of little pointy diamonds which you can save and use on something else - I have all sorts of little bits like this saved and sometimes I just sit and make card using up all of the "leftovers."



If you cut the full page your "leftovers" will be bigger as you can see above - these will certainly turn up on one of my projects.



You can turn the full page cut to a vertical orientation...



or a horizontal one - whichever looks best for your layout background.



Here I added the eight pointed star flower from January (here is a LINK to that post if you missed it).

I have been very busy this weekend and now I am off to an Academy Awards party so I will catch up with questions and emails tomorrow - thanks for your patience.

Cathedral Windows Card Toppers (A)