Testing, Testing...

A week ago there was some new buzz on the Cricut message board about a new program called Making the Cut.  It appeared to be along the same lines as SCAL (Sure Cuts Alot) a program I use currently use to cut all my SVG's with after putting them together in Inkscape. I down loaded the trial version and was impressed with the early stages of the program, it looks quite promising and easy to use. Needless to say I bought it due to the fact Andy the guy behind this program seems to be really on his toes and working diligently to get his new product up and going with all the bells and whistles everyone is looking for.  It imports SVG's and other image formats right into the program so they can be moderately adjusted and then cut.  This will work great for a large number of my library images and SVG's I have compiled.  I love that it lets me view the SVG files within the program prior to opening them on my mat. The same with viewing the fonts and moving, adjusting and welding text is a breeze.  Already in the works is the ability to shadow text, which is a must for me.  I know alot of the buzz is people are excited to be able to bypass Inkscape or a simular program but I don't find that the case for me.  I love Inkscape and the ability to rework entire images to get what I want and then save as an SVG to be cut within programs like SCAL or MTC.  This is a quick layout I cut with MTC to give it a test run.  The cuts were precise and it did well on the more intricut filigree pieces.  Kudos Andy I think you've got a winner!  The cut file for the pieces used have been saved in both SVG and MTC formats.

A Child's Year...

I knew from the moment I saw a hint of this cartridge I would have to have it. Silhouettes have always been a favorite of mine and this cartridge is pure heaven. Provocraft you did good, this will become one of my long standing favorites. It begs you to take out all those wonderful pictures of the kids when they were growing up and weave them into your scrapbook memories. The possibilities for cards, crafts and layouts are endless when you let your imagination and creativity flow. I've already seen many great pieces from other Cricut message board members. Even the fact it's not yet loaded into Design Studio did not dampen my enthusiasm to start making cuts. Believe me that is saying something because I've become spoiled and never make cuts without DS these days and I have five cuts made to set up layouts with already. I would also like to give https://www.scrapbookpal.com kudos for their fantastic prices and speedy delivery. I ordered it late Friday night (the 3rd of July holiday weekend) and it shipped first thing Monday morning for only $49.99 and free shipping. This is the first of my cuts and I used my favorite colors and my adorable grandson on his first birthday. If you are on the fence about this cart take the leap you won't regret it.

Paper flowers to bring in spring...

I joined the May challenge on the Cricut Community message board again this month. The theme is Cricut cut flowers and we have taken on the name Bloomin Bugs. Amy a fellow team member came up with a wonderful signature for this month. Flowers and sparkles, what could be better to head into the spring months. I was getting so weary of winter this year. Bring on the flowers even if they are just made of pretty paper. Well when I sat down to start this project two weeks ago I really couldn't decide what I wanted to do. When you think of Cricut cartridges and flowers it really brings up a vast amount of choices to choose from. For mothers day my daughters brought me over baskets of flowers so I thought that just may be a good base idea to build on. The flowers were cut using the Wedding and Walk in my garden carts. I chalked the edges, ran them through the Cuddlebug and layered them using bronze brads and pop dots. All the green foliage was cut with Storybook. My pot was done making two cuts using WIMG then cross cutting them, chalking the edges and weaving the pieces into a basket. Lattice was from the cart with the endless possibilities, Wildcard. I find that cart has so much on it that can be used for details in layouts. Of course my favorite butterfly comes from Indie (the small ones are from Pooh). I was in the dollar store this week and found a great deal on chipboard journaling pieces, 36 in each box. Most of the time the colors they offer are to bright but a little distressing and they are perfect. So the chipboard journaling piece completes my project. I haven't found the picture I want to use for this project yet but I'm sure before the summer is over it will be filled.

Saving scraps, to toss or not to toss that is the question...

Do you ever save too many bits and pieces of scrap paper or elements you save? I find if it has an interesting shape, texture or color I tend to save it. Sometimes the piece looks totally useless and I still tuck it in the drawer for future possibilities, ah the curse of a pack rat. But then again whenever someone needs something, a bit of this or a piece of that who do they ask? Why the pack rat of course, and I produce the needed item from a drawer or shelf with a bit of a smug smile on my face. Mind you never saying aloud "see I told you it would come in handy" but just handing it over with a renewed conviction that being a pack rat is not always a bad thing. This is a layout of my daughter when she was about three. I started with a piece of pink polka-dot paper and than proceeded to dig through my scrap leftovers drawers. The green in the corner is a left over piece of cardstock I used to punch out my flower leaves for various flowers I have made in the past. I had punched every usable inch of it and was going to toss it out but changed my mind and stashed it back in the drawer. Looking at it reminded me of a quilt pattern so I used my Zig pen and applied stitch line around all the cutout areas. I added a few flowers to give the piece a splash of color it needed. All the remaining pieces in this layout are scraps from my stash, the only new cut item was the title (I used Cursive 101 & Home Decor). I finished "stitching" everything to tie it all together. Moral of this story is "Waste not, want not" (or never throw away something you may use sometime, somewhere in someones lifetime, LOL).

The Graphics Fairy...

I want to extend a gigantic thank you to the The Graphics Fairy. Every morning I make my coffee and sit down for ten minutes or so at my computer. I check some of my favorite web sites, the The Graphics Fairy being the first one I open. It’s like opening a treasure chest of vintage graphics. Each day there is a new post added. Karen’s collection includes something for everyone even if you are not a vintage enthusiast as I am. That brings me to my post today. Karen's post for April 26th was this adorable little girl all dressed in pink and it made me think of my daughters baby pictures when she was about three. Needless to say it became the starting point for my layout. The paper I used is from the Prima Nursery Tales collection I had shown in an earlier post. It really is beautiful quality weight paper. The harlequin print almost looks like glittery patent leather. The pink is pearlized and I love the bunny and little girl print, it almost reminds me of Alice in Wonderland. The photo I scanned and converted to a light septa tones then colorized with the paint brush tool. I choose to just color the gingham on her dress, her pink cheeks and blue eyes. I gave it just enough color to tie in with my pink theme. The flowers are from the same Nursery Tales collection. The title is done with a stamp set from Creative Imaginations called Sonnets. I used Cats eye chalk covered with Diamond dust on vellum. Adding a bit of ribbon and lace, rhinestones and sparkle here and there and my ‘Baby Girl’ was complete. Hope you like it and thanks for stopping by.

Embelishment Heaven...

How do you know when you over do it on the embellishments you use on a layout? Can one over do the amount of embellishments as long as it ties in with your page? My life has always been a 'collection of things' and that theme seems to carry over into everything I do. I think that is why vintage is my favorite style. Vintage invites collection and always gives me a homey feel, a sense of treasures. I am partaking is a team challenge on the Cricut message board where we need to use a card cut as part of our project. That idea inspired this layout. This is a photo of my baby boy who turns twenty in two months, how quickly the years pass. I used so many different bits and pieces putting this one together. The paper base has four layers and my thanks goes out to ScrappedLives' Nestie look alike cut file. I used it making an oversize version for my matting. The title is done with Ranger distress stickles and I must say I really love these, they are a perfect amount of glitz without the glaring sparkle. In place of Ranger Perfect Pearl I used metallic Scribbles to get the same effect. The flowers are from the Prima Nursery Tale collection. By the time I was done loading my selection of files into my DS I had used five different carts to get what I needed. I love how you can take a cut file and skew the proportions to fit your picture. Embossing always adds just a little extra so part of the title and photo frame were done using the A2 Swiss dots folder. I think I ended up pleased with the overall effect of this one. I know I love the little boy it is all centered around.

It's been far to long...

Well it's been over thirty days since my last post, a long thirty days I might add. Seems like after my desktop decided to play dead my printer wanted to get in on the game as well. My desktop had been revived but my printer is still printing a lovely shade of green, it was like an eternal Saint Patrick's day! All mechanical difficulties aside I have had some flair ups with an ongoing medical problem as well. I wish fixing those were as simple as buying a new laptop and replacing a printer. Oh well, I guess all things have a shelf life, computers, printers and people. The trick is to make the most of it, enjoyed it all and scrap the memories for the next generation to remember. Now that everything seems to be reasonably back in working order again I decided I need to just relax and scrap. I love the way scraping brings an inner peace and gets those mental juices flowing again. This layout is of a photo of my grand kids (Angelica, Alyssa and Jacob) that I don't get to see very ofter as they live out of state. I love fall colors and plaids. I embossed my title on plain card stock and used the argyle pattern to give is a little punch. By the time I was done making my layout in Design Studio I think I had ended up using 5 or 6 cartridges, but I was pleased with the way it turned out. It's good to be back.

A little challenge for motivation...

Do you find yourself more motivated when you do a challenge. I know for myself it always seems to give me a little direction to channel my creativity in or a little boost when mine is at a lull. This is a challenge from Visual Designs by Chris. This layout was done with SCAL. I used his embellishment cut for my hinges. I cut the first one attached to the frame and layered the second with pop dots and brads to give it a dimensional look. My intention for this page was to resemble an old book cover. The picture is one of my grand daughter regally posing in one of the gowns I made for her dress-up trunk.

Family history albums...

A family history album is one of the most important scraping projects you can do. Since last fall I have been working on a family history heritage album. It started one afternoon when my grandson was spending the weekend with me and we were going through old family photos. My grand parents and parents have passed from my life and with them a many pieces of our family history. It made me realize that so many of the family memories I hold will be gone as well when I am no longer here. If I don't save them for my family they will be lost forever. It's a much bigger undertaking than I had originally thought when you start adding in great aunts, cousins etc. Heritage style layouts have always been my favorite to work on, they seem to be the ones I always gravitate back to. I love all the antique looking bits and pieces that can be added. In a way they are not unlike an antique dresser top fill with assorted treasures. This is another cut using my Expression and SCAL. I love the way that the Expression allows you to cut an entire 12x12 page.

Re-working old layouts...

Do you ever go through your old scraps books and want to redo your pages? I know a lot of people say you should leave them because they show how you did things at that time. In many ways I guess that’s true. The progression of your skills is clearly shown when you compare the “back when you started” pages and the layouts you craft now. I tend to take pictures of my crafts and keep them on CD. That way when I give them away I still have a picture to reference back to if I need it. In a way I kind of look at redoing pages like redecorating a house. You want your homes décor to grow with your improved tastes over the years. I know I don't want to invite friends and family over sit amoung those shag rugs and coffee tables crafted from utility wire spools that we thought were “groovy” in the late 60’s and early 70’s. I just want to look at the pictures of them and have a good laugh. I do want my albums I pass down to be something I am proud of. Next comes the question do you or will you ever have the time to redo your pages? Most likely, if you are like me you can hardly keep up with the current photos you take. But for the fun of it, and because my daughter was commenting on how much my scraping techniques have changed in the past five years I decided to try something. I took a layout I did the end of 2005, reprinted the elements from the page and started from scratch. The before and after pictures below are what I ended up with. I guess my tastes have changed. But never enough to redo all my books, maybe just reprint those really special pictures and do another layout with them

After:


























Before:

Sometimes you just need bright colors...

My favorite way to spend a cold Sunday afternoon is choose a couple good movies, a warm pair of fuzzy slippers and make a fresh pot of coffee (with Irish Cream creamer). Then head off to spend a relaxing day in my scraproom. I really love to work with K & Company papers. One of my favorite stacks is one done by Brenda Walton. The papers are so warm, bright and full of color. With the next to zero temptures outside right now everything warm and colorful is a plus. So I scanned through my photos and found two just as colorful as my paper choices. I could almost smell the grass and feel the sunshine behind the faces of my beautiful grand daughters. It's been a great afternoon, I just may have to repeat it again tomorrow.

The end of another holiday season...

Well the last ornament and Christmas decoration is packed away for another season. As the years pass the holidays seem to arrive more quickly and pass much to fast. For the amount of Christmas decorations I have accumulated one would think I considered it a year round event. I think after this year I am able to decorate five trees, each in a different color/theme. I do believe there are five trees of different shapes and sizes lurking in my storage loft as well. Mind you I live in a three bedroom ranch that has a one tree capacity if I still intend to accommodate furniture and family over the holidays. I guess for me Christmas decorations are kind of like scrapbook supplies, you will never use them all but you can never have enough.

Black & white or color...

This is the first of my layouts using the new stacks I bought yesterday. The background paper came form the Paper Pizazz Heritage stack. Each year my daughters take all the kids to have their portraits taken together and it always gives me a wealth of ideas for layouts. I have a love of black and white photos, they tend to be my favorite to work with. Color photos I find you have to blend in the basic colors in the photo with your page color scheme while black and white allows you can choose the color the photo makes you feel. For that reason many times I will make my color photos b&w or just add a touch of septa tones . With this layout I loved the colors in the photo and they seemed to tie in well the the paper I had picked to work with. I wish I could say I had a process of how I pick my paper or pictures but I don't. Sometimes I find a photo and work from there. Other times I find a paper I want to use and work form there. Sometimes when the scrapbook Gods are smiling on me I get an I idea that brings to mind a picture and paper at the same moment. I love those layouts that just come together, because I tend to be one of those scrapers that tweaks a page until it feels right.

And the blog begins...

Well it's a new year so I thought I would give something new a try. Today I decided to try to start a blog for my scrapbooking projects. So here goes...

I started out yesterday by sifting though the drawers of my paper scraps and extra cuts of this and that. I never disguard scrap pieces I think might be used somewhere, sometime for something. So now that I am having a bit of trouble getting those drawers to close I figured I should make an honest attempt to use some of them. I did get three layouts done and have another possible three laid out.