Home Accents Large Medallion

The addition of the "Hide Selected Contour" feature to the Design Studio software opened up many appealing design possibilities. I used the hide contour feature to create this medallion which could be used for a title page or to mat a special photo. This cut could not be made without the hide contour feature.



Above is a screen shot of the element as it appears when selected from the keypad at about 10 inches tall. The width is approximately 11 inches.



I resized the element to be 11 inches wide and 11 inches tall and rotated it 90 degrees to place the flowering arms at the top and bottom of the page.



This screen shot shows the shadow cut of the element as it is designed on the cartridge.



Above, you can see how this shadow looks behind the original cut, in a preview of the cut.



This screen shot shows all of the center contours hidden to create a large central area in the shape with the delicate outer sections still set to cut in full detail.



By hiding the center portions of the cut (they appear in pale blue in this screen shot), I created a different medallion image with the large central area for a title or a photo.



This screen shot shows the blackout version of the cut - the center is not solid but has a solid shape behind each section of the design.

Since the shadow cut and the blackout cut available on the cartridge did not give the effect I wanted for this page, I used the "Hide Selected Contour" option to produce the cut.

***Remember, to hide a cutting line, you left click exactly on a line of the design to select the line you want to hide - it will turn into a red dotted line. Then you right click and choose "Hide Selected Contour" from the bottom of the pop up menu - the line will turn pale blue to indicate that it will not be cut.

I made several test cuts and have added some photos below.

My first test was done on paper that is an orange shade on one side and a design that looks like damask wallpaper in yellow orange and green on the other side.



Above and below you can see the offcut from each side of the paper placed on a brown background paper.



The strong contrast makes the medallion shape very distinctive.



Here is the actual cut medallion layered on pale multi colored wash paper - the look of the cut medallion or the offcut sheet layered on a backing sheet is nearly the same.



It is important to choose papers with a good contrast between the shade and intensity of the color and background. Very busy patterns in nearly the same color value should be avoided since they easily confuse the eye and make the design very difficult to see and appreciate.



The second test cut was done on paper that has a busy daisy pattern on one side and a subtle pattern in a bright pink on the opposite side.



I think the pink and pale green work well together.



Above and below are photos of the the offcuts layered on contrasting papers



The busy pattern makes the design harder to see.

This design is one of many that you can create easily by using the "Hide Selected Contour" feature. I used this same shape with the contours hidden for another project that I will share very soon.

It is fun to play around with the hide selected contour feature - all sorts of interesting patterns can be created. I'd love to see some of your creations using this designing tool.

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)

Remember the Chipboard Albums.....?

I imagine you all think I forgot about my promise to share an interesting way to decorate the chipboard flower albums after they are papered. I didn't really forget, but there were other things that kept popping up that pushed that information aside. (If you missed the post about the Chipboard albums, here is a LINK).

So, at last, here is the interesting thing I noticed. I try to be neat when I am crafting, but I get so involved in making things that I don't always tidy up after each project. Usually there are lots of random bits sitting on my table from previous projects - right now there are a lot of the medallions that I have been making and sharing. (to find the posts for these check the "cartridges used - topics" in the side column - click medallions for all of the medallion posts and links to the files).

If you think about the way I designed those medallions, you will see where this is going (!). The chipboard flower albums have eight "petals" and the medallions are eight sided designs as well. This means that they will work very nicely on the Chipboard flower pages.

Here are a few examples:







When you cut the medallions be sure to save all of the offcuts - these are also useful for making some very dramatic and beautiful patterns.







I noticed that this butterfly paper has a butterfly very similar to the Martha Stewart "monarch butterfly" punch - you can see a punched sample in the center below.











I am just fascinated by all of these medallions and the effects that can be obtained by combining them and by using the offcuts creatively. Here are a few more examples - the possibilities are limitless!













You may need to adjust the sizes from my original designs to get exactly the effect you are looking for - just change the original element to the desired size, check weld and then copy and paste it three times changing the rotation to 45, 90 and -45 degrees.

I'll show you another chipboard album soon - and I'd love to see any that you have covered using my flower file.