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Saturday, January 31, 2009

Cool Stuff on Ebay. Cricut, Rubber Stamps, Sizzlets, and Sizzix Embossing Folders and MORE!

A true purge of artistic supplies! :) A nice variety of supplies for sale. Please take a gander if you are interested! :)
Toybox Art Stamps, Ink & The Dog, PaperArtsy, Stampsmith, 2nd Star to the Right, and more to be listed soon rubber. Sizzix and Cricut Supplies. You just never know what you might find! :)

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Blog Candy - More Fun with Distress Inks

**A Late Update.....the winner of the tag is: Sherry Goodloe
Congrats and thanks to all for playing!!!!***
More fun with Distress Inks over the holiday break! :) All of the images are from I Brake for Stamps. I had so much fun w/ the inks that I orders a few more with some Christmas money I had! ;)
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I sponged the base color over the entire tag and then stamped over a stencil in the opposite corners. I stamped all of the images over that and then added the rose rub-on in the corner of the girl image. I like how the stencil shows subtly under her dress. All by design, of course, HAAAAA!!!! :) Added some fibers from my stash and....... voila! :)


IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO WIN THIS TAG, JUST POST A COMMENT WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS INCLUDED. I'LL DRAW A RANDOM WINNER ON MONDAY, JAN 19 AT 12:00N PACIFIC TIME. You may leave an annonymous comment on my blog.....just remember to include your email address! :)
Thanks for looking!!
xoxooxoxoxoxo
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p.s. I still have several Ephemera packs and Assemblage, Collage, Altered Art Supply Boxes available on Ebay!!!! Check 'em out here:
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Name Notecards! More FUN!!!!

Here I am again with some more Cricut/SCAL Cards! :)
Heather over at the SureCutsALotUsers Yahoo group was delightful enough to post a wonderful tutorial on how to design and create "Name Notecards". I was thrilled that I was able to produce my own cards from her VERY CLEAR instructions! Thanks, Heather!!!!!
Here is a prototype card I made for my Mom. I think it turned out really pretty. There are so many possibilities with this design....it's really mind-boggling! :)
This card is done the same basic way. The wolf in the center is a "font/dingbat" that I found. Then I added the monogram "M" cut on the side. This is a prototype for my son's 2nd grade teacher. The school mascot is a Wolf Cub! :) Thought she would have fun using these to send notes from school, etc.

If you haven't noticed, I've been having waaaaaay too much fun with my Cricut! :) On the other hand, YIPPIE! A TOY THAT I'M ACTUALLY USING!!!! LOL!!! :)

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Free Flying Pig SVG File for your Cricut! :)

I converted an image to an .svg today! As London Tipton would say "Yay, me!" I just love flying pigs. Maybe you can use one, too! :)

Here is a pic:


You can download the image here:

Distress Ink and Tag Fun -- Giveaway!!! :)

***UPDATE***
The winner of the tag is: Hope
"This is so pretty... You are always such an inspiration!"
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO LEFT SUCH LOVELY COMMENTS!!! STAY TUNED FOR ANOTHER GIVEAWAY, SOON!! :)
Over the Christmas Break I was able to make a few tags and cards. Here is a pear tag I made.
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Crumpled the tag, applied distress inks w/ the sponge blender tool thingy, stamped text and pear (I Brake for Stamps), added some doodling w/ my Inksentials Pen, and attached some fibers. Quick and fun! :)
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I would like to send this tag to YOU! :) If you are interested, just leave a comment WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS and I will draw a random name from the list on Monday, Jan 12, 11am Pacific Time.
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Thanks!!!! xoxoxooxooxo

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Cricut and SCAL - Silhouette of my Son

Oh boy!!!
I'm pretty excited! I decided to go with a "low tech" method of getting the silhouette of my son's baby photo. I decided that my learning curve on how to do this in Inkscape is WAAAAY too steep. So here is what I decided to do:
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1) Convert the photo to black and white.


2) Printed out the photo on text weight paper.


3) Got an overhead transparency and a sharpie and traced the lines that I wanted cut.


4) Took a photo of my drawing (yes, I know! I need to get a good scanner!!!)


5) Re-edited the photo of my drawing to darken the black.


6) Uploaded the .jpg image of my drawing into Inkscape


7) Converted the image to an .svg file


8) Cut it out!!!!!!!!!!!
WOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOO!!!
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I would love to make a t-shirt using this cut out as a stencil. I'll let you know if I am able to get it to work!!!


Here is the black and white photo: Is this a "prom night pic" or what?!! I LOVE this picture!!





Here is the pic of the drawing I made:


Here is the cut on vinyl. Yes. It did take forever to cut, but IT CUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) Yippie! I'm really, really happy with it!!!!!!!!!!!







Ephemera Packs Finally on Ebay!! :)

Finally got some Ephemera packed up for sale on Ebay! If you'd like to take a gander you can see the listing here:
I have started with 10 packs, but, trust me........there will be MORE!!! :)
Thanks!!!!!
xoxooxo
Susan

Monday, January 5, 2009

Cricut and "SCAL" -- My First Original Art to Cut out! WooooHoooo!!!!

I took the plunge and purchased a software called "Sure Cuts A Lot" for my new Cricut Create machine. (Check out what the software can do here!) I dilly-dallied around the holidays before giving it a go. I finally got it uploaded and did a few test cuts using a "dingbat" font (this is a font that has a shape). It was a silhouette of a pelican.....turned out great! Then I tested a stencil font and that also turned out fabulous.
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Now, the REAL reason I got this "SCAL" software is to cut my own designs and (hopefully) make stencils out of family photos. You have to convert your .jpg images to an .svg image (SCAL can only read 2 types of images: .svg ( Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) a file format for describing two-dimensional vector graphics, both static and animated) and .scut (this is an image proprietary to SCAL)
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No, I have not gone computer programming wonky. I have no idea how most of these images work, but I DO know how to find good tutorials for lay-people like me!!!!! :) My first attempt at producing my own art was to cut is a silhouette image of my dog. (a caricature, as it were) I hand drew an image, took a photo, edited the photo to enhance the "darkness" of the silhouette, converted it to an .svg file via a free down loadable software called Inkscape, and then cut it out with my Cricut Create using the SCAL software!!!! (whew...........) It may sound a little complicated, but trust me, it was really easy!!!!!!!!!!
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Here we go................!!

First, here is my subject. Isn't he handsome???? Hard to see, but he has a quite pronounced brindle (thus the stripes and his name: Tiger) He also has a very curly tail. :)






Here is my outcome.

Original drawing on the right, Cricut cut out in vinyl on the left. I think it looks pretty darn skippy!!!!!!


I have ordered some black and white "sign" vinyl that can be used outdoors for up to 5 years. I'm planning on making a "unique" family set to put on the back of my car window! :)

Now, I'm sure that making a stencil from a photo is going to be much harder. But, I'll keep checking out tuts and shamelessly soliciting help from others that know WAAAAAY more than I do. I'll be sure to post my results when I get it figured out! :)

Comments always welcome! Leave me your email address so I can respond back!