Blog Design customers

Just a short note to let you know that I have been busy with applying and stocking things for upcoming art shows, but I have not forgotten you! The next show is next weekend, August 8th, at the Ohio State Fair. After the show, I will be wham bam thank you mamming you all with awesome new blogs! Thanks for your patience!

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Tote bag tutorial

Here is a lil How To use the old Cricut to make this handpainted tote bag!



Using the steps in my SCAL 101 guide to cutting cool crap, I cut a cool flower design on freezer paper. Freezer paper can be found in the sandwich bag aisle. It has a paper side and a shiny side, and can be ironed onto fabric temporarily for use as a stencil.



I used the outline of the flower as my stencil, and ironed it on to my tote bag. I had to add in all the little pieces inside on my own. I will have to figure out a better way of transfering the design. Maybe contact paper?



Yeah it's blurry. You try painting and taking excellent photos at the same time. Anyways, I used a make up sponge to paint on my colors. For paint, I used regular acrylics and mixed them with an additive to make it better for fabric. Dab dab dab, dab dab dab.



Once I had it painted and dried, I peeled off the freezer paper. It comes right up, no mess.



And I picked out all the little pieces too, which wasn't quite as easy, but makes it look good.



I painted on another flower design, and cut out a bird silhouette from fabric. Loooove the polka dots.



And it still looked like it needed something, so I added a satin ribbon around the top to match the brown and polka dots.



Happy pretty tote bag!

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Old Window paintings

I loooooove using old windows in decorating and art.

Loooooove.

At all of those fabulous flea markets I have been attending, I have been collecting some to paint.


This one is a field of wildflowers. It is meant to be simple, and to still be a "window" with most of the glass transparent, but just a hint of what might be beyond it.

It makes me think, and wonder, what would you like to see if you had a window to your dream world?

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Cool birdhouses

I am loving the mix of patterns and colors on these! It's fun to just let lose and see where it takes you!

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SCAL 101: Finally cutting cool crap

Now we are just jumping ahead to the real reason anybody gets SCAL in the first place.... cutting whatever you want!


If you get lost, svgcuts.com has great videos for detailed use on how to navigate SCAL and such. They also have a large collection of FREE files already in .svg format!


To walk through this, I am going to use this pretty butterfly from Cheeky Magpie (we are ignoring that she already has the .svg file included- we'll work from the .png file!)



(Yes, I absolutely regretted chosing this as my example! All those details take forever to punch out. Anyways)

1) Open Inkscape > File > Open > Find butterfly file > open


2) Click on the image to select it > Path > Trace bitmap


3) Leave selection defaults > press Update > Then Okay
Inkscape will draw the vector right on top of the old butterfly. You will notice that the new butterfly has edges that are very smooth. This is good.
Click on top image (butterfly vector) > drag to side > click on bottom (original image) > delete




4) Drag vector back to center > File > Save

Next, we switch to SCAL

5) Open scal > file > import svg > find the butterfly .svg file you just made


6) Everything opens at 1 inch in size at first. Click and drag to scale




7) Load your paper into Cricut > click on the Scissors to cut > select Firmware version > Press Okay
The Cricut should start cutting
The settings I used are blade depth 4, speed low, pressure med



8) Now your filigree butterfly is all done!

Tip: Save the outline of the butterfly to use as a stencil!

And there you have it! Once you have done this a few times, it will go extremely fast. And you can start cutting out fonts, dingbats, shapes, whatever you like! I'll be posting some of the things I have made next, including a tutorial for this tote bag!




Bonus:
Here are a few more sites with FREE .svg files
http://freesvgfiles.com/
http://desertpea.4shared.com
http://scraption.com/

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Cleaning: My Arch Nemesis

I think it's the nature of craft rooms to be messy. At least, that is what I am telling myself. Crafting and neatness are polar opposites to me; like oil and water, like Batman and the Joker, like Gandalf and Sauron. (Nerdy reference alert!)

Nobody ever posts pictures of their MESSY rooms. Everything must be beauteous and in its place. But that isn't the way it looks most of the time, especially if it's being used!


This is what my room looked like-- yikes!


After 7 days, 1 bottle of wine, 3 blood sacrifices and a bruised knee


Better, right?



This is the antique sewing cabinet I purchased at a flea market over Memorial Day weekend. I cleaned it up, removed the old backing fabric and replaced it with clean white. It is so useful!



A spice rack that Erin bought for me to display my scented sprays- they fit perfectly!



And I even got my fledgling fabric collection together!

So, it is all nice and ready for me to craft again!


(I'm not gonna lie, in the time it took me to post this... it already looks like picture #1 again.)

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Lots of stuff comin at ya

I have been a busy bee!

Lots of pictures, crafts and how-tos comin at you soon!

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You know what I love?

Nice people.
Craft people.
Twitter.
CUTE STUFF.
Blogs.
And people who pull all of it together magically.

One of those people is my friend from Bit of Whimsy Dolls. On Twitter she is @bitofwhimsy. She is suuuuper nice. She also makes suuuuuuper cute stuff.

She is hosting a Christmas in July giveaway! Go to her site to enter to win any of these awesome creations! (Except the owl one, because I want to win that one!) Hee








All pictures from Bit of Whimsy Dolls

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Parade of Homes

Yesterday two of my friends, Steph and Steph (nice, right?) and I melted our faces off at the 2009 BIA Parade of Homes in Dublin, Ohio. It.was.hot. But, we saw some beautiful homes and decor! Steph took lots of pictures and will be posting them on her blog- so be sure to check it out for some amazing inspiration!

^^^PARADE OF HOMES PICTURES

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SCAL 101: Getting started

Welcome to Part Dos of my SCAL for beginners bit. If you missed the first, go back and read SCAL 101: Intro to cutting cool crap



In the next part, we will get our Cricut all set up to cut from our puters, and get the programs that we need. You will also find some things not mentioned in any resource I have found, that I had to figure out myself.


Let's start out with some links:
1. Sure Cuts a Lot by Craft Edge Official website and product page
2. Cricut Design Studio Free Trial from Provocraft/Cricut website
3. Amazon results for Sure Cuts a Lot
4. My Cricut Buddy /Memory Lane LLC, Source on Amazon where I purchased my copy of SCAL (I recommend them)
5. Inkscape A free program to convert any image you have into the .svg type



What is .svg? It stands for Scalable Vector Graphic, which means that the image is not made up of tiny pixels (dots) of color like we are used to, but actually lines and shapes made from magical mathematical equations in computer code written by powerful wizards from another dimension. How math=pictures I have no idea. The difference is that when you click and drag to make your picture bigger or smaller, it won't get grainy or distorted. The lines stay crisp and clean.

Enough BS! Let's get started!

First, you have to connect your Cricut to your puter. For that, you will need a printer USB cord that looks like so
<-- A USB end and a squarish end



This did not come with either my Cricut or my SCAL software. I happened to have one that connects my printer, so I use that and switch it back and forth as I need it. I'll probably get another at some point if I use the SCAL a lot.





Next, you have to have the most recent version of the "Firmware" software for your Cricut. If yours is new then I assume it would be. If not, you have to get it, and the only way to do that is through Design Studio
-install the free trial version of Cricut's Design Studio
-in the settings, update to the most current version of firmware available
-you don't have to use the Design Studio for anything else after that, but I don't think you can uninstall it, or it might uninstall your Firmware upgrade.


What if you want to try the free trial? You can, but when it cuts, it will also cut vertical lines through any designs, making cuts unusable. Go ahead and close out of that.



Reference: SCAL works with these versions:
Cricut Personal (firmware v1.1 or 1.3)
Cricut Expression (firmware v2.1 or 2.3)
Cricut Create (firmware v1.51)




Okay, now you install SCAL. I bought mine from Amazon.com, from seller My Cricut Buddy, and not only did they send me the SCAL, but also a disc FULL of fonts (as in, I can't even install them all, it would take forever). You will have more fonts than you could dream of. They also send you some freebie vector files also to get started with, AND a few programs for converting regular image files into the .svg format. Friggin sweet.




You will also most likely want to install Inkscape, which again is a free program that can convert any image into a .svg. This came with my SCAL package from My Cricut Buddy, but you can also download it from the net.





Another thing that I learned is that you must have a Cricut cartridge inserted, or you will do no cutting. I got mine from a friend with no cartridges, and it won't "Load Paper" without one in the slot. At least on the Personal, you have to have one cartridge to Load, Unload, Stop and move your blade around.


You are now all set up! It's a good idea to do a test run now and make sure all the settings are right. Go ahead and open SCAL. This is what you will see:

Looks just like your cutting mat! Click anywhere in this area to put your cursor there. In the "Library" box, chose Fonts or Shapes. In the corresponding new box, select one of the letters or shapes, and when you select it, it should show up on your cutting area. We will get to more detailed use of this program later, but try it now and see if it works.

Press the Scissors button along the top. A message box will come up asking you what version of Firmware you have. Pick the right one, and then it *should* cut for you.

Troubleshooting: Mine did not cut right away. The first few times, I had to also have the Design Studio trial version open, so that it picked up on my updated Firmware. This finally worked itself out, and now I no longer have to do that.

So get settin' up, and I'll start writing the next bit, playing with the SCAL!

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SCAL 101: Intro to cutting cool crap

Hi, my name is Jan, and I have a Cricut.
Hi Jan.
Um, I've been using my Cricut for about a month now. I had a great idea that I would purchase the Sure Cuts a Lot software and cut amazing things. And, um, it's way smarter than I am.
mumbles of sympathy
So, anyway, I have been figuring it out as I go. That's why I came to this meeting. I'm hoping to share with all of you what I'm learning. Kind of a dummy's set of lessons. Maybe we can all work on this addiction together.


That's right. SCAL (Sure Cuts a Lot) has pwnd me. For one, I keep calling it Sir Cuts-a-Lot, as if it is some knight coming to rescue me from mediocre crafting abilities. Anyway, I am learning, and it's really great. It's a bit tricky to figure out at first, but once you get going, you can do anything with it. You will love it.

SCAL is the knock-off option to Cricut's own Design Studio. Basically, SCAL cuts whatever computer image is in a .svg file type, while Design Studio only cuts from Cricut cartridges that you already own. So, cost-wise, there is no comparision. Even after you spend $70 for Design Studio, you still have to buy every cartridge you want to use with it, either at $80 full price or $40ish if you find them on sale. SCAL is $60ish total, and you can cut anything.

**WARNING** SCAL software is NOT approved in any way by Cricut. They want you to use their own software, and if you use SCAL you will void your warranty with Cricut. They claim that some Cricuts can mess up if you use other software. They currently have no way of knowing if you use SCAL, so it's your own ass if you tell them :) Mine was purchased from a friend and the warranty was already voided, so I had nothing to lose. I am in no way responsible if your Cricut breaks and you call up Provocraft and tell them you were using SCAL. Love you though ♥

But then you're thinking, what the heck is .svg and how do I get one?

That is a great question, I thought that too! So I will be posting some basic intro steps to getting it working, as I go along and learn it myself. Cause that's what we do here. I know many of my friends and readers have either gotten Cricuts recently, or haven't yet tried SCAL for themselves. So hopefully this will help us both out. It will take me a bit to explain, so check back for new chapters in SCAL 101. I'll be posting basic steps, descriptions and helpful links for those of you wanting to figure this out too.

Now, anyone have a sponsor token for me??

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Peace

Standing
In the cool grass
With bare feet

Feeling
A light breeze
On bare arms

Hearing crickets
Smelling earth

With eyes closed
Under an infinite night sky
It is summer

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The Pie Purse

I have been fooling around learning patterns and my sewing machine and such. I am getting much better! I have been loving the pleated purses I see everywhere, that I decided to try one of my own design. I really wanted a fold on the front that has a bright piece of color peeking through.... (like a slice of pie, and, well, i'm jannypie) It also has two little side pleats on both front and back, just to give it that extra ruffly touch.





I also wanted to be a bit "daring" (for me anyway) and go completely without a handle. To go strapless, you might say. Holding it as a clutch is actually kind of fun!





It is made from fabrics from a thrift store, making it eco-friendly by re-using and recycling materials. Thoroughly washed and cleaned of course. This one has a snap button, but I think I may switch to a magnetic closure along the top, to help keep all my goodies in.




I am delighted with it, and am having so much fun carrying it around and receiving compliments!! Please tell me if you like it!

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socktopus

i ♥ him

Made from blue socks and felt pink cheekies. He has 8 legs all the way around.

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what a steal!

I found these 2 Pottery Barn table easels at a thrift store for $3 each. They will be perfect for displaying art! (Current featured art is owl collage made by erin j).

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bonus dollar store craft

ID card lanyard.
$1 eyeglass hanger thing
$1 retractable string
$1/5 plastic ID card holders

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July desktop background

Thanks for reminding me, Karen!







1280x1024 large

800x600 small

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Dollar Store crafts gift set

Here's another cheapo project from items bought at a dollar store! It was made for a craft exchange among a local group. I made my giftee a "Book lovers" gift set.


I bought a journal for recording books read, opinions, reflections, quotes, interesting facts, stuff that you like getting from books and might want to go back and remember. I also added in a bookmark made from a glasses string and some beads. ($3 total)


I also purchased pieces of scrapbook paper to make book plates. I used my Cricut and SCAL software to cut the shape and the bird silhouette. Then I hand stamped "The Library Of _________ " on each, and placed double-sided scrapbook tape squares on the back. ($2 total including scrapbook tape)





And finally I made paper clip markers to mark pages of good quotes, questions, topics of discussion, etc, to make easy reference when in book club or whenever.

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