Sparkly Butterfly Hello Card

I was out of sorts all day - trying to get paperwork done (not the creative type of paperwork!) and wondering if the stormy weather we are having in the Northeast will ever end.  We have had nearly a foot of rain in some areas!  There is a lot of flooding - fortunately we live up a hill and our lower level has stayed dry.  We do have a bit of a leak in the roof in our family room.

I wasn't on the computer most of the day and I haven't had a chance to finish up the comments/questions from last week.  I did take a quick break to make a card - I needed something bright and sparkly to cheer myself up!

I started with this butterfly on the Lyrical Letters cartridge.  As I mentioned last week - this cartridge is full of hidden treasures and is far more versatile than the average font cartridge.  I used Design Studio to determine the sizes I needed for my card.

The butterfly image is designed to be used as a layer on the "congratulations" word art so it is easier to set the mat up using the real dial size to avoid a lot of sizing guesswork.  Once you figure out the size you can cut the butterfly directly from the machine if you have only the trial version of Design Studio.

I also selected this frame and set the real dial size at 5 1/4 inches to fit an A2 card.

 
The cartridges does not have a blackout option for the shapes (this butterfly was meant to be layered on the word art which has a blackout version connected to the "congratulations").  You can create a blackout version in the proper size by using the "hide selected contour" on a second butterfly entered at real dial size 3 1/4 inches.  (Left click to select each dot - the line will turn red - then right click and choose "hide selected contour" from the bottom of the pop up menu).

I wanted to add a sentiment to the front and, since I was using glitter cardstock for the frame, I thought it would be best to cut my sentiment and not try to stamp it.  I needed to make the sentiment very tiny.  I used the preview to size the cut.

The smallest size you can enter from the keypad is one inch.  You can adjust the image to a smaller size by using the "handle" in the lower right corner.

This screen shot shows the difference between the two.  The final word is very tiny and I was a bit worried that it would not cut properly.

As you can see in this close view - it cut perfectly!  This was cut in the pink Core'dinations gemstone cardstock I used for my Easter projects last week.  I turned it over so the darker matte side would show.

I added some "Star Dust" Stickles to the dots of the butterfly and some small pink gems to the tips of the antennae.

The butterfly seemed to something more, so I added a heart shaped gem for the head and some more Stickles to make a body for the butterfly.  The butterfly is raised up with foam squares for more dimension.

Here is how the card would look totally unadorned with bling - still very pretty.  I use multi-cut 2 when I cut this heavy glitter cardstock from DCWV, pressure at maximum and blade at 6.

You could cut the frame, save it for another card and use the interior section behind the butterfly for a different look.

Patterned paper for the background creates yet another look (this is my oops! butterfly when I forgot to change the page of the file and cut the blackout version twice - it won't go to waste...).

I hope this card will bring a smile to the person who receives it.

How to design the "pretty mat or frame" with Home Decor

Thanks to all of you who made a guess about the cartridge(s) I used for this design.  As it turns out, the first guess by Linda was correct (and she was actually the only one that chose the correct cartridge).  I used three elements from Home Decor to make this design.

The main element of the design is the crown.  The key is highlighted in this screen shot of the keypad.

I thought the shape was so pretty and I realized that it was close to a quarter circle so I could probably fit four of the crowns together to make a full circle shape.  I rotated each crown by 90 degrees to create the final shape.

This screenshot shows the alignment of the overlap.  Because there is a decorative series of concave curves at the edge of the crown there are some places where the overlap results in a new cut out design.

While the overlap creates these attractive cut out areas there are some problems...

This screenshot shows the preview on the design page.  It can be difficult to see clearly what the cut will be when all of the lines appear in the preview so I always preview the design on a new blank page in the file.

By looking at this preview, I can see that the corner is pretty but there is a problem in the way the "beaded" band on the crowns are cut off by the weld.  I could have added another shape to complete the beaded lines but I chose to handle this problem another way.

To solve the overlap issue, I used "hide selected contour" (one of the best tools in the Design Studio program).  There are a few "glitchy" things about "hide selected contour" - one of them is that if you only hide one line or contour in an image it will not stay hidden when you reopen the file.  If you don't want to have to remember to "rehide" the line each time you use the file, you need to hide at least two lines.

If you have an image with three or more lines you can use a workaround to produce a file where the single line will stay hidden - here is a LINK to an old post where I explained how to do this.  In this case, I decided to hide the center circle and add another shape to make a slightly different design.  If you click on the image you should be able to see this more clearly.

I chose this heart and used the "handle" in the lower right corner of the selection box to resize it to approximately the same size as the circle it was replacing.  The Shape Properties box will not accept values less than 1 inch for the height and 1/2 inch for the width, however, by using the handles you can create tiny shapes (and they usually will cut well).

I wanted to create a solid shape, so I now needed to add something to fill in the center of the design.  I generally try to challenge myself to use as few cartridges as possible for a design so I checked for a useful shape on the Home Decor cartridge.

Home Decor does not have a simple plain circle cut but it happens to have a great scalloped circle with 37 "bumps" so I used this to "fill in" the center of the design.

When "weld" is checked on the scalloped circle the final design will look like the screen shot above.

Here is the test cut.

This is the offcut from the design which could be trimmed and used on another page.

This screen shot shows the design if you do not check weld on the scalloped circle and use it to create a cutout in the center of the design.

Here is the test cut of this design.

The version with the cut out center will produce these offcuts.  All of these could be used for other projects or for the opposite page in a two page spread.

If you do not insert the scalloped circle you will get this design.  I don't have a photo of this cut to show you right now.

The design is not "grouped" because some design elements had to be rotated individually and therefore I could not keep them all in the same selection box.  You could transfer the file to the Gypsy to group the items and resize it but you would then need to bring it back to Design Studio to hide the contours so it is probably easier to just recreate the design in the size you need directly in Design Studio.

You could add any shape you like to make the center cut out but you need to be sure it is larger than the naturally occurring center opening formed by the crowns.

I'd love to see what you create with this file!

Doily Mat or Frame

One more week....

So much to do - and not much time left until Christmas.  I didn't post my file for the wreath that I shared yesterday - I had hoped to do a quick video explaining how I did a few things in the file but there wasn't a chance to do that today.  Here is a LINK to the original post.

Since I have had several people asking for the file, I will try to explain quickly what you need to do and then add a video in a few days when I get home.  You actually cut the wreath from the first page of the file.  On the second page, you can cut the stars to layer on the wreath - I found these on another key and resized them to fit - I also used "hide selected contour" to make good use of the glitter paper and eliminate the star that is too large.

The rest of the pages all have to do with adding a greeting to the center.  The two alternatives are the Christmas or Blackletter solutions cartridges.  You can use something else or just make the wreath without a greeting.  The third page has the Christmas solutions cartridge version set up to preview (positioned in the center of the wreath).  On the fourth page, the same words are set up to cut efficiently from a 4 x 8 piece of paper placed with the top left corner at 0 on the X axis and 2 on the Y axis (if that is confusing just look at the virtual mat and you can see where to put the paper!).

The fifth page show the Blackletter alternative for preview only.  I created and welded the phrase but I left it unwelded on this page to get the color to show in preview and make it easier to visualize the final result.  If you cut from this page the letters will not be welded!

The cutting page for the Blackletter version is on page six.  There is a little complication that I will explain here.  I wanted to add an apostrophe for "Season's" and there isn't one on the Blackletter cartridge so I used the semicolon.  You should hide the top dot when you open the file - since there is only one item hidden, it does not stay hidden when the file is closed and reopened .  When there are three or more contours to work with I have a way to make just one stay hidden (here is a LINK to an old post explaining how to do this).  Since there are only two contours, I can't do that in this case so you will need to do it each time the file is opened.

I also wanted the dot on the "i" to be attached to the "i" and I used the semicolon again.  You will need to hide the dot from the original "i" and the comma from the semicolon.  You can see the hidden contours in the second screen shot above.  I hope that you understand this - it will be a bit easier to show you when I make the video.  If it is too confusing - just use something else or skip adding a sentiment all together!

Here is the download link for the file - you will need the Expression to cut this.

Wreath from 50 States

The angel in the photo at the top of this post is another of my brother's stained glass pieces and was a gift many years ago.  If you are interested in seeing more stained glass art, here is a LINK to the Century Studios blog and here is a LINK to the store.

ONE MORE NOTE - today was "Hello Thursday" and new cartridges were announced.  You should update the font pack on your Design Studio - here is a LINK to the update page (you will have to log in first if you are not already logged in on the Cricut.com site).  The new cartridges are the three Spring mini cartridges (Love Struck, Easter and Mother's Day), Songbird, Heritage, Tie the Knot, Forever Young and Sentimentals.  Lots to see! (I'll have more to say about these later).

I am back in New Jersey.  Our younger son finished his exams yesterday.  He has only three semester of college left now!  Since he is a musician and has a lot of equipment and instruments that need to come home for the long break he needs Mom and the minivan to get home. We are keeping an eye on the weather and hope to sneak down to Pennsylvania on Friday to see my Dad for a day before heading up to Boston - there is talk of a storm so we will have to see how it develops...

Op Art Design (from Sesame Street Font)

The cartridge I used to make this design is Sesame Street Font (congratulations to Lianne for figuring it out!).



The highlighted key is the one item that was repeated 35 times to form this design. There are a lot of other interesting possibilities for new designs if you look closely at this cartridge.

My test cut worked perfectly. Then I tried to get fancy and make the file simpler to use (due to the "single hidden contour not remaining hidden when file closed and reopened" problem).



I spent waay too much time trying to "psych out" the software and get a fix that worked but I think that the number and complexity of the welds just made the program go crazy. Here are two of the very odd cuts I got on some more tests.

I will share the file tomorrow, once I have one more chance to try to make it work automatically. If I can't get around the problem, I will do a tutorial explanation to show you how to use the file. Unfortunately, due to the extra time I spent trying to refine this design and another HUGE project I worked on today, it is very late and I have to go get some sleep.

Video - "Hide Selected Contour"

It has been quite a while since I posted a video. There just aren't enough hours in the day and I have had a lot going on! Lately, I seem to be getting lots of questions about the use of the "hide selected contour" option in the Design Studio software so I made a quick video to explain how to use this design tool.

If you are using a cartridge that does not separate the layer options by color, "hide selected contour" can help you save a lot of paper and make your cutting very efficient. In this video, I explain how you can separate your layers to cut each item from the proper color by using "hide selected contour."

This is the basic information on using "hide selected contour." If you are a regular reader of my blog you know that there are many ways to use this feature and there are also a few "tricks" to get the function to work in various situations. I will be adding a few more videos to explain these quirks. (I will try to get those done without another long time gap!).

Now I have to go read all about today's big reveal of the new Gypsy device - I am very interested to find out more about it. You can check it out HERE. Let me know what you think.....

Fish Bubbles Card

There are so many ways to adapt the images on the Life is a Beach cartridge to make cards. The cartridge has two standard card options but, by using various features of the Design Studio program, you can create all sorts of interesting designs. Here is a LINK to the first card I shared earlier this month.

The file I created for this card with "fish bubbles" uses the hide contour feature in several ways to create a card with multiple openings containing images, details on the images and a thin frame or border.



Here is the basic A2 card after cutting and folding. For this version, I used the second page of the file which will cut the detail lines on the fish.



This screen shot shows the card - the pale blue lines are all of the contours that I have hidden. The details show on this page, but, since I have checked "weld" on the fish charms, they will not cut.



On the second page of the file, I have hidden all of the contours except the detail cuts and I have not checked the weld box on these images. If you cut the first page of the file and then, without unloading the mat, cut the second page of the file you will end up with the card as shown in the photo above.



This preview shows the card as it will cut from the first page of the file. The frame is set up on the third page of the file - it is optional and may not be needed if you choose a patterned paper for the card base. It shows in this preview but it is on a separate page so it will not cut the card front.



I created the frame using a card form from the cartridge, adjusting the size and placement using the Shape Properties box and hiding all of the unwanted contours or lines.



I cut a piece of patterned paper to line the card - the paper is cut at 8 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches.



I adhered the paper to the right side of the card and left the front piece loose.



By adhering the paper only to the back of the card, you can enjoy the effect of the apertures. I used a white gel pen to go over the detail lines on the fish. You could use various colors, or omit cutting the second page of the file and add your own decorative details.



To further enhance the aperture "bubbles," I added Stickles glitter glue to outline each bubble. I used the "waterfall" Stickles.



One more view of the card flat on the table with the front raised up a bit. You can see the "waves" on the paper liner but they are not stuck to the card front which gives a nice depth to the card.

These are easy and fun to create - if you try one, I'd love to see it!

Fish Bubbles Card