Good intentions...

is what I had to make test cuts this weekend. I seem to have gotten side tracked.  This past week there were a couple of threads on the Cricut message board about wide format printers on sale.  I have been wanting a wide format for sometime now but could never justify the expense of adding yet another printer to my scraproom.  Well I checked them out and caved.  I brought home the HP Photosmart B8555 for only 149.00 with 50.00 bonus Officemax points. It even has reasonably priced replacement ink with individual color cartridges around 10.00 each. It is a bit noisier than my other HP but the prints are clear and true color (up to 13x19 if you choose). I really was more interested in using the printer for background papers so the great photo quality is a bonus.  I did a test digital stamp on print paper and I think I am really going to use this more than I thought. It is however a large printer so I ended up moving my entire scraproom around trying to find the right spot for it.  I guess you never realize how much stuff you have until you try to rearrange it. Long story short I only got one of my test cuts done but he is a real cuttie.  Someone off the MB ask if I had this image and I did so I converted it.  I made the passy a separate piece so you can add it or leave it off.  This is Alvin should you care to try him.

This is the 12x12 with the digital stamps added with the wide format printer.

My first Tilda comes to life...

and I must say I really adore this little girls.  They have so much character for someone with only eyes and eyebrows.  The first one I tried was at 5 inches and she is small so it was harder to get alot of extra details on her.  The next try I cut her at 7 1/4 inches and she was so much easier to add detail to.  I like both sizes and anything in between would work great for a scrapbook page.  So far I have about 24 of them in cut files but only these 2 have been tested.  My goal for this coming weekend is try to test cut  at least 10 more.  I get so wrapped up in converting files that I haven't been doing much cutting, LOL.  If you would care to try these files here is the link for Tilda Fall and Tilda Stylish.

On another great note today I was lucky enough to be chosen to win a Cricut Winter Woodland cartridge for week #4.  I'm so glad I didn't buy it at M's last sale.  Don't forget to go to the Message Board and put your name in there is still one more week to win.

Don't You Just Love Tilda...

I have been playing with Inkscape again this past weekend.  I find late at night when I'm watching movies I love to sit and play with Inkscape.  I have four granddaughters and two daughters so I have plenty of little girl pictures to work with.  Looking for some images to convert I came upon a large selection of Tilda images that were perfect for what I was looking for.  Well one image led to two to ten and so on.  Now I have a whole collection of Tilda's to cut.  I think she is adorable.  These are some of the ones I've finished so far.  I've yet to test cut them because I'm not sure what pic's I am using and need to color coordinate them.  Detailing them will almost be like playing with paper dolls. I will try to get the cuts made and some of the files posted this week.  I still have another bench, a window and awning etc... and more Tilda's.  I will try to post them as well.

Still sorting out cut files...

and it seems to be a never ending process. I am finding so many files I had forgotten about and a lot of them I want to tweak now that I've become more proficient with Inkscape (and still learning everyday). For those of you learning Inkscape might want to check out Mary's tutorials over at Mardenz blogspot. Her tutorials are great and her cut files are never ending. You will be like a kid in a candy store there are so many to check out, LOL. I really do need to stop playing with cut files and get back to working on my scrapbook pages. I'd like to share a couple simple files of mine I found. I love to read and just love the look of books on a shelf. They are a window to the world and imagination without ever leaving the cozy comfort of comfy chair on a rainy day. I always encouraged my kids to read for enjoyment starting when they were small and we bought endless shelves of books. With today's technology it seems so many kids rather put in a DVD. But in doing that they lose the unique feeling of getting lost in a tale that comes alive in their minds eye.

Girl With Book and Comfy Chair links should you care to use them.