Cricut Craft Room

I'm just not feeling it...I just don't get it. I'm still scratching my head at the big news that came from CHA in Los Angeles today. FREE online cut file editing software from Cricut (yes I said Free and Cricut in the same sentence...get up dang it, there's no passing out!) . Much like Design Studio, except it's only available through the internet. 

So I'm watching the video, reading the comments of such excited (and most likely broke) people. BECAUSE YOU STILL NEED THE CARTRIDGES TO CUT THEM WITH YOUR CRICUT! Why such excitement when you can pay a little bit up front and get literally hundreds of free SVG's and whole sets of SVG's for about $6.00!? OH don't forget you can make your own SVG's from Sure Cuts Alot, too. So I fail to see why this is such a NEW thing. In fact it's much like paying the registration on your car and then you get news from the the Auto Club-"Guess what YOU GET to DRIVE on the STREET, aren't we sweet to let you do that?".

But I hear you say well I use my cricut and don't have the opportunity to get on line so I use Design Studio or my gypsy. Well my little netbook has been cranking along and I've used it just fine without a internet connection, cut what I wanted, in the way I wanted, and I can say honestly that I've spent LESS than $50.00 on Svg's in the last year and 1/2, the rest were free. I've saved all my Svg's and fonts, so if I lose them I just plug them back into my computer. What happens if you lose or break the cartridge? Can you go back to Michaels or even Provo craft and get another cartridge? Yah I can hear them laughing over here. Now compare SVGCuts.com or Lettering Delights, I accidentally erased a extracted file, did I cry? Nope all I did was go back on line and download it again.  You see that's the difference, we have real people that are REALLY trying to help you in this SCAL business. And the tech support at SCAL helped me out when I kept screwing up my installation. They didn't have to, they just did it. Now I'm sure there are very sweet people at ProvoCraft, I know there are. However whoever prices these cartridges out needs to understand that for ONE cartridge, $80.00 retail is out of reach for most. Yes I know you can go to OhmyCrafts or many others, for that matter, but I have to say that I know I've retrieved (and had a good time doing it) more SVG's in one day than what is available on ONE cartridge. Realize also that I've not even mentioned the free fonts you can download.

So do the math, read the blogs that I follow, go to the forums that specialize in SVG's and other cut files, really do the research before you go to that big craft store that ran your little mom and pop craft store out of town, and plunk down $80 for a cartridge. Then come back and pick up your free cut files from me:)

Here are some of my favorite retailers of SVG's, forums with links to free svgs, and of course SCAL by

Craftedge





SvgCuts   

Forums:
InkscapeCuttingDesign.com


forums.surecutsalot.com

I have EOC but please don't pity me!

My card for a lovely little free spirited Princess. I used a purple card that I found at Michael's for
99cents(not a bad buy with envelopes for 8 of them) as the base. I found this lovely scrolly frame from http://dtsartblog.blogspot.com, She made a Svg that was perfectly princessy, I used a couple of different fonts from lettering delights see link below.

If there was an addiction to scrapbooking stuff, I'd be at the podium, sobbing "My name is Belinda and I'm a craft-a-holic. sob. I have to intently stare at the object I want to make, thinking of all the "stuff" I could use. Yes, I have EOC - embellishment obsessive compulsion."

I do realize that this is a much better addiction than one to designer clothes, handbags, and shoes. In fact I think my Brown man is quite happy to have it this way. But sadly he doesn't understand my inner desire to watch the glue dry as I add glitter, my stickles fetish, and until recently -cue opera singer-Tattered Angels GLIMMER MIST and Glitter Glam. I'm so in IT and I know it's going to get worse, because I want it in every glorious glowy color. I used pomegranate, and the glitter glam in chandelier. I used some glitter paper from DCWV, but as my evil twin has told me it DOES have an annoying white core, but the paper I got from Pumpkin Crafts AC Cardstock does not. It has a lovely texture too that I didn't feel I needed to use the Cuttlebug on, it's just pretty all by itself. 

I swear this is one of my favorite cards I've made and I REALLY hope she sticks it to her bedroom door so all can know her title before they bow and enter. 

The fonts I used were LetteringDelights Hallmark and FancyFolk for my lettering.

I'm a banner waver - Oh yes I am!

My banner O'Birthday

(and a free svg files to boot)

Here is the banner pennants SVG from Lettering Delights (click on the badge at the bottom of this post) The letter "L" and "S" Hodgepodge, it is one of the freebies I received. I uploaded it to Picnik and worked some magiK. (Here's where I thank my Sister In-law CINDY for finding yet another thing for me to get obsessed with....Love you CindyLoohoo!

Because of the nature of the receivers of the little pennant banners, I didn't do fancy. I DID deem necessary the need for a two dimensional tag that laid over the top so I could put my little hodge podge letter center stage. So here is the link for the-> Tag SVG's <-that I made. You could easily make them a gift tag or even size them larger and make a card too!

I made these cute little pennants because my babies are getting older each year, and no matter how much I discourage them from doing so..they do it EVERY year! It seems like yesterday, they were brand new and so incredibly tiny, and now here they are embarrassing me every chance they get, still keeping me up at night, kicking at each other (in my belly they were auditioning for Cirque de Soleil), making me say things that I never thought I'd say like, "Don't EVER wash your face in the toilet bowl!",  "Please stop licking your sisters head Logan!", and "Do NOT put food in YOUR NOSE...EVER!". These are things you only say when your a parent, or one of the unlucky few that get sucked into a babysitting session. The fear of your child eating something "weird" morphs into the fear of them putting their fingers into weird things, stepping into weird things and basically, just being a weird thing.

So as I'm lamenting about birthdays, I cut and glue my worries away with my Cricut macheen, when financial stresses keep me awake at night I push and fold paper, to deal with growing ancient I make little things that I know will end up decorating the park lawn. 

Vertical motion while hoping for a horizontal position

Vertical Gift Card Envelope SVG

Vertical Gift Card Envelope SVG

I'm tired...really tired. I should be getting my pictures, supplies, and tools ready for a day of scrapbooking on Saturday BUT NOOOOOOO here I am being obsessed with making SVG's and mastering Inkscape. I've got this feeling that Inkscape is going to be like my dog, just always surprising me with his new and inventive ways to hack me off. I literally took 2 hours to fix something that worked pretty good, however my eyes spotted errors, then I fixed those errors and caused more errors. 

Ok ok OKAY... It's done! I'm hoping the adorable little Princess, whom I made this for, won't throw it on the floor after she's extracted the goody inside. I'm hoping the Mommy re-uses this because I just think it came out so cute. 

The picture above is the finished product with stickles embellishing it, but I'll show you why I just love Stickles! I used the Birthday elements svg's from Svgcuts.com  to give it the girly bling, I wanted it to be the bow on the present. I used magenta Scrapper Floss and Violet Scrapper Floss just for the heck of it.

No stickles :(

With Stickles :)

I hope it works for you. Click on the Caption on the very top for your link to download the svg. I'm going to bed, dang it!

Where the heart is...Duh Shopping!

 VerticalGcEnvelopeWhearts SVG gift card envelope for your Valentine 

In honor of my 100th post I thought I'd share my heart with you...my love....of shopping! You know we just can't put a price on that feeling of walking into our favorite craft store, or any store for that matter, with money in our pocket and the ability to get whatever we want, yes I know...it brings tears to your eyes, preachin' to the choir ladies, I'm preachin' to the choir.

So I've heard that there are some of our better halves that have a disability when it comes to picking out gifts for Valentines Day. If taking pictures of the desired presents and texting them (yes! I do this), circling catalogs pictures, and even whispering your list to your man as he sleeps is not working.. Print this blog post out, doesn't have to be pretty, just so he can read it. Hand it to him. Now look away ladies....

"Dear man let me help you...put the stuffed animal that you feel is your only hope, back on the shelf. Put that hideous pair of socks down...these won't help you.  The lingerie, yes it's pretty but your only going to make her angry, this will definitely not help you. Let ME help you....Go to the store that you see all the receipts from, you know the ones you complain about, and BUY HER A GIFT CARD. Go now." 

All done ladies, let me know how it worked out. Just so you know I used my beloved stickles and my cuttlebug, the rest was ALL my brain on adhesive fumes.

Tea for Bee

Teabag giftcard holder SVG

My buddy Bee ( Yes!There's another one, my Eeevil twin, whom I've mentioned before) was chatting with me on Google talk and I begged her for some ideas on new svg's to make. So apparently... I got it completely wrong, and made this. Her request for non showing scoremarks were noted, now I'm going to try and make a coffee cup for her and eventually I might be able to make the right teabag holder for her. 


Click on the caption for the svg link. 


I used watermark ink for the stamping, Can't say what the stamp is called but I won it at a crop- a-thon. I used the holly and heart shapes that come with SCAL for the finger tag. I broke apart the holly to size them different and of course used layers for that part. I inked my edges with a ruby ink. I had also just bought some glimmer mist in pomegranate at Scrapbook Blessings in Newbury park. They are SO helpful and the lovely saleslady was so sweet and ACTUALLY showed me how to use it! (You won't get that at Michael's! Always try your local scrapbook store people, they are way to valuable to lose!!). I used an exacto knife to make the slot for the gift card manually because I imagine we all have different preferences on where to  put the giftcard, a glue dot should be just fine in adhering the giftcard. It took me about 3 1/2 minutes to put this together just so you know it's not a huge investment of time. Enjoy!