I love Markers - Copic markers!!

I have been surfing for some card making ideas over the last while, trying to use up the scrap papers that are in my drawer that I will never remember when scrapbooking but are so pretty that I had to keep em! I've come accross quite a few very great templates and ideas and challenges (awesome stuff) and blog candy contests (doin' the happy dance). But what most interestingly caught my eye was all the stampin' that's going on in blogworld. Holey smokes, I had NO idea!! Back when I first started scrapbooking, eh hemm... about 8+ years ago, stamping seemed so "grade-school" and scrapbooking was a beautiful way to be creative, cherish memories and most importantly for a crafty-anal person like myself, I could CLOSE THE BOOK when it was done, and revisit later ;) LOL.

Well nowadays stamping has taken on a whole new level of awesome!!!

Here's a perfect example by Debbie of

what made me do it...

And sure enough, the colouring that caught my eye over and over again was using Copic Markers and wouldn't you know it there's a blog called I love Markers so I called my fave scrapbook store and they said they are backordered for months and they being in a teacher once every 4 months to teach people how to use Copics because they are so darned popular. Hmmm.... what am I missing I thought. They don't have any in stock and probably never will so... what about a REAL artist's store, wouldn't anime artists go there for supplies - of course!! So off I went, they DID have loooots in stock and I bought the beginner set and a few other must have colours. I had to. It wan't an option! I have a few stamps, clear stamps have been cool and a great way to add doo dahs to the cards I'd been making to date but colouring them... like painiting with vibrant colours uning a marker that cours like a paintbruush it's just sooo awwwwwwwsomeeeee - BLOWS MY CREATIVE SOCKS OFF!!

And... another summery inspiration over at

http://passionforcrafts.blogspot.com/

how beautiful!

The exploding box

I've heard about this but I've never actually seen one - until I found this great one overe here and a tutorial over here but by far, this is the most awesome one:

Check out more box ideas at http://magic-boxes.blogspot.com/

Flower Pocket Card

Aren't they beautiful??

Here's the challenge and and an example of

the inside of this card idea made by Missie_coop

You can totally use the QuicKuts flowers and leaves that come with the Silhouette in the QK Library and resize them, cut a bunch in different colours and if you have the RM upgrade the QK Library now has leaves you can also cut and add. What am I talking about??

1. Once you arrange and resize your flowers and leaves, save the file! Then save under another filename so you don't lose the integrity of the individual flowers.
2. Then weld the whole flower & leaves bunch and make a mat. Remove the flowers now (they are in the previous file) and add a rectangle and weld that to the flowers background as your card base and cut!
3. Remember to cut a bit of paper (by hand even) at the right size for your message to be written on as well.
4. Now back to your original file with all the pretty stuff. Cut the leaves and flowers in different colours, be patient with yourself.
5. Now you get to assemble!! YAY!
6. To make the flower pot base, I'd just cut it by hand :) And... the ribbon is the only thing holding it closed according to the original directions.

You know I am talking to you - Miss.A!! Enjoy :)

My SWEET luck - woo hoo!!

I won blog candy!
I don't even know what blog candy is, but I won!!
I'm doin' the happy dance!! YAYYY!! Thank you Darcy!

Okay, now that the excitement has died down, I realize I won blog candy over at Darcy's Blog. I subscribed to the news feed and just got the notification a few minutes ago! She's got such awesome files, and I get to choose one free file from the store - yayyy!! There's still an awesome FREE Girly Girl file available which she's taking down any minute now - so sign up for the newsfeed so you'll know when there are more goodies!! Sooo.. back to my candy win - after much *fun* contemplation, I chose this file, I think I'll use it very frequently cause it's just so darned cute!!! Check out her other adorable files over at Visual Designs by Chris.

Thanks Darcy!!!

Happy Father's Day!!

Dear Daddy,

Even though I am little I still want to share a special few moments with you on this Father's Day. Last Father's Day I was only 2 months old so this one will be extra special. Also, I was hoping we could listen to some special songs I am dedicating to you and Me this Father's Day.



Maybe we could dance to this one...



And maybe we could cuddle for this very special one - I love you Daddy!



Love,
Marissa

Paper Lanterns

These stunning lanters can be found at

http://www.earth-friendly.net/

Me and my big brain could imagine how they would look unassembled and flat but do I have the time/bandwidth to play and experiment?? NOOOOO!!!! LOL These are beautiful, I'd love if someone could come up with a mini-version template that we could resize and add the decorative cut-outs on - any designers up for the task?

You can find their catalogues here for even more pics of how they assemble them, etc.

UPDATES:
And a special thank you to Bonnie from the KNK Studio GE Yahoo group for finding these stunning inspirations ...and Meadelie thank you for finding this HOW TO !! ...and Marg for finding this video - just awesome!!

Anyone going to try making these??

A Father's Day Tribute

"Father & Friend" by Alain Clark

FREE Inkscape Tutorials

Hey folkes, did you know that Inkscape is a FREE graphics program which can be downloaded at http://www.inkscape.org/

Also, Aussie Wendy has made some awesome free videos you can watch to get you started designing on inkscape including: Making Welded Words in Inkscape, Making Mats for Titles in Inkscape, Deleting Nodes in Inkscape, Exporting DXF in Inkscape to GSD in Robomaster and Changing Color cut lines in Robomaster. Click their logo below to take you to the videos page:

Daddy's get well card

So, I found myself with a little spare time - oh, so rare... and wanted to try to make a digi-cutter file out of a tri-fold card idea I loved from Bonnie over at Craftiblog and some other ideas I found. I'll be honest, I did a mock-up to try out where to put the score lines in my file since there seems to be way more than one beautiful ways (<- click each word for a great idea) to make a tri-fold card and since I hate to waste good cardstock, I made this cute card from the baby for DH who is having surgery to fix his umbilical hernia "hole in his tummy" next week. I had all intentions of cutting the words, and the card ... but it didn't happen - I was just too tired. Anyhow, as I was settling down for bed reading what my fellow bloggers were up to - all of a sudden... lookie-here ...a CHALLENGE using GRASS?! But I just used grass I thought, and holes-in-one paper as a joke about the hernia/hole and then immediately regretting my amature whipped-up-quick card... but I submited it anyway - why not, right :)

Here's my "using up the scraps" in a golf-inspired paper card:

I've used Artic Frog "241-shoot it spring break" hole-in-one paper, and Amscan "No. 415294 605" grass paper and a real bandaid cut smaller, my sharpie marker and a recent photo altered with the antique effect and printed and cut. I also used ColorBox Pigment brush pad in gold and dark moss to ink the edges and Creative Impressions "screw tops" paper fasteners on the corners.

And here's the cutter files I managed to create but never tested.
4X3 flat front tri-fold card
4X3 tri-fold card
(Note when I get to test these two files, I will replace the original one if necessary so you are on your own for now until I do - LOL)

Enjoy!!

Beautiful advice

This is the most beautiful advice I have ever received in an email ....

'Never borrow from the future.
If you worry about what may happen tomorrow
and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain.
Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice..'

1. Pray
2. Go to bed on time.
3. Get up on time so you can start the day un rushed.
4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health. 5. Delegate tasks to capable others.
6. Simplify and unclutter your life.
7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)
8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places. 9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don't lump the hard things all together.
10. Take one day at a time.
11. Separate worries from concerns . If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety . If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it..
12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.
13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.
16. Carry the Quran with you to read while waiting in line.
17. Get enough rest
18. Eat right.
19 Get organized so everything has its place.
20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life..
21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.
22. Every day, find time to be alone.
23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's time to go to bed to try and pray.
24. Make friends with Godly people.
25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.
26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good 'Thank you Lord .'
27. Laugh.
28. Laugh some more!
29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.
30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).
31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).
32. Sit on your ego
33 Talk less; listen more.
34. Slow down.
35.. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.
36 Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before.

May was Teach a Friend to Scrapbook Month

... and I missed it!! Ah well, here is an awesome book from scrapbook.com to get her started. Also check out Stacey Julian's blog for even more tips and inspiration :)

"Tell your friend that creativity isn't what you make, but how you think. Tell her that true creativity is simply an ability to fully engage and experience any moment in time. Tell her that as she learns to recognize the magnitude of everyday moments, she will begin to find her creativity. Tell her she can scrapbook." Tell her you'll help! Quoted directly from: S. Julian

EASY Vectorizing to get the KFC effect

Remember my post on vectorizing to get the KFC effect? Well, a dear friend found this awesome tool online for me, click here. How easy it will be to have the already finished product and then trace or get outline by colour and then cut , layer and WOW! Aweome idea :)

Are women born this way?

Click here - it's just fantastic!

Tips & Tricks: Paper Piecing & more freebies

Have you heard about Paper Piecing? Try doing a google search and see what you find ;) It's a great thing to look out for because you can get lots of ideas and free PDFs that you can make into cutter files.

Here's a great example:

Click on image to link to scrapbooksetc.com source file in PDF and scrapbooksetc.com's info OR click here for more info on this type of stuff :)

FREE FILES - got your attention didn't I :)

CHEERS! If you are a new cutter owner and I really hope my blog is useful to you :)

When I first got my Cutter, I scoured the web for free files that I could play with and soon got frustrated because whatever project I was working on would take forever becasue I knew *exaclty what I wanted* and either had to buy it or find it for free online. Well, when searching for just the right cutter file, I encountered version issues, file type issues and incredulously I found a lot of great files and ideas and collected what I thought was a lot of free files - yippieee!! Like candy to a craft-addict!!!

Then, I had to figure out a filing system, and then I just got frustrated when the file I wanted to use needed just a little tweek here or there and one that could not be accomplished after I cut it. I was ready to cry at my Valntines Day attempt, I swear I wanted to throw my machine out the window!

I realized my creative brain was much too big for the software that came with the Silhouette. I broke down soon after and collected my pennies and invested in the greatest program - the KNK Studie GE software and WOW! Once I started playing with it and going over the tutorials that came with the purchase, and those free on iloveKNK.com and the fantastic user manual that came with - my juices were flowing.

So I was recently cleaning up a bit of old stuff because I am so loving my program that I dont really use GSD files anymore... I came accross my list of gold - which I have included below. I hope it helps some of you newbies, it sure helped me at the time but WOW... now, I don't BUY files - I create them in a blink of an eye!!

I'll even admit, I own a QuicKutz Silhouette and spent some money buying GSD Files and NOW... HA! I coudl create and cut those same files in just a few minutes - thanks to the KNK Studio GE Software.

Good luck, and happy cutting!!!


Tutorials and Tools
http://02af4c4.netsolstores.com/MachinecomparisonsTSI.htm
http://new.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/
http://www.iloveknk.com/
http://scrapbooking.arnolds.net.au/forum/viewforum.phpf=4&sid=f43ec12b09c3248c2c091352550ffa09 (tutorials)
http://www.scrapbook.com/forums/showforum.php?fid/50/
http://www.batchconverter.com/image-converter.html (change file types by group)
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F2Fcrafty.actifforum.com%2F&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Free GSD & KNK Files & For files sale
http://www.4shared.com/dir/15995478/45b64a0a/KNK_Files_by_Nikki.html
http://www.4shared.com/dir/12150434/f3b662f5/GSD_Files_by_Nikki.html
http://www.fam-bjork.se/monicas-hobbysida/
http://www.quillingpatch.com/category/freebie-friday/
http://02af4c4.netsolstores.com/index.asp?ageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=7
http://www.littlebit.com/cutter/cutter_files_index.html
http://02af4c4.netsolstores.com/index.aspPageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=7 http://creations.110mb.com/whatsnew.htm
http://www.timeforcrafting.co.uk/templates.html
http://www.collectedmemories.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/cmStore.woa/wa/page?key=morefreediecuts
http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/hme/k_5/shapebook/toc.html
http://www.bosskutdesigns.com/
http://www.letsbescrappy.com/cutter_files/cutter_files.htm
I know there are more out there, you might also look for websites that have pdf files you can convert, or jpgs too.

A resource for GSD Junkies
CRAFTY, le Craft Robo
Davesangel
Dianas Designs
Great Scrappin Designs
Hinkeltje fotografie & scrapbooking
I Love Craft Robo
Jayrewcraft - GSD Downloads
JennieBean Crafts
Kreations By Katie
Looking Out
Monique
MyDieCuts.com
Mydiecuts
Paperthreads
Serialpurrs
Signmax.us
Sussann's Blog - Cutter Files
The latest by Mary
The Scrapbook Lady - GSD Downloads
Time for crafting
Ukscrappers - Craft Robo
Visual Designs By Chris
Wishblade Files
Wishblade GSD Files
Wishblade
http://www.scrapmag.info/crafty/index.php (French site - all free)
http://www.duckysdesigns.com/KNK/Freebies/freebies.html
http://wordpress.com/tag/free-gsd/
http://papercuttingfun.com/wishblade/
http://www.paperthreads.com/forum/index.php
http://aussiescrapsource.typepad.com/aussie_scrap_source/quickutz/index.html (Free .GSD)
http://www.paperthreads.com/ (mostly for sale) (message board for sharing)
http://scrapbooking.arnolds.net.au/forum/index.php
http://ukscrappers.co.uk/ (go to the Craft Robo part of the Forum)
http://www.designsbyduchess.com/dsphotography/wishblade/wishblade.htm http://www.thewishbladingwell.com/
http://greatscrappindesigns.com/store/Default.asp
http://www.thescrapbooklady.co.uk/catalog/gsddownload.php
http://www.jersgirl.com/temps.html (jpg templates) Matching QK &

TTF Fonts:
http://www.scrapbook.com/blogs/19078/view/3115.html
http://www.publicfont.com/category/quickutz.php
http://mamawslegacy.wordpress.com/ (blog; free files almost daily)
http://mamawslegacy.com/cut/cut.html (free cutting files)
http://mamwawslegacy.cuttersmarket.com/ (cutting files; files in gallery)
http://www.letsbescrappy.blogspot.com/ (inexpensive for sale)
http://www.visualdesignsbychris.com/store/home.php
http://www.digitalcraftcutters.com/id67.html

Ideas for creating:
http://www.letteringdelights.com/
http://www.deltaphiscrappa.com/DayCrop28.html
http://www.estiloweddings.com/CUPCAKE-WRAPPERS/cart.php?m=product_list&c=97

Awesome free files - thanks Monica :)

http://www.fam-bjork.se/monicas-hobbysida/en_index.html

Awesome pop-ups!

Have you ever made a pop-up card or done Kirigami before?

Try www..EASYCUTPOPUP.com for card patterns

Click on the pics above to go staraight to their website.

Altered Binder Clip - great for work!!

How cute is this!!

Such a great idea for the office, no?

Awesome - Free files!!

This blogger is committing to a file a day for a year and she is offering them free. Hope you all find something you can convert for your use! http://vendibles.wordpress.com/365-free-svg/

A fun Silhouette of girlfriends shopping from Sh*ppers Drug Mart :)

Wouldn't this make the coolest girlfriends card? I am imagining layering the women in different colours, but my big brain is usually wayyy ahead of my creating-ability ;) Anyone interested in taking the leap and creating a cutting file from it? Please send me a copy when you're done, I'd love you forever becasue although I am really good at manual tracing, I still have to fiddle a whole lot with auto tracing and these lines need to be clean!

Click on the pic to get the jpg file and ENJOY!!

Tips & Tricks: QuicKutz Alphabet equivalents

Click on the pic for the link to the font equivalents - thanks Superpezgirl

Tips & Tricks: complete cutting control at your fingertips

Check out my all time MUST-HAVE tool, for what someone once called xacto knife surgery for those cuts that don't quite go all the way through.


Enjoy!!

1st Communion Card

Wow, looovin' how this looks with the gold ;) I manually traced a photograph using my KNK Studio GE program and had this cut in 15 minutes, start to picture! I will be using it to decorate a patent black gift bag for my husband's Goddaughter's 1st holy communion gift... which is no doubt - GOLD and beautiful ;)

Click on the pic for the knk file, sorry, didn't have time to convert it to GSD.

From panic to passion!!

Okay I must be loosing it! I tried cutting something simple the other day (3 letters for a monogram) and had to change the blade cap for the paper - I did. Then I went to cut and it started making this horrible sound and since the whole house was asleep I couldn't investigate, I powered off. Finally I now have a moment to try again and the noise is still there. Note, there are no pending print/cut jobs and I powered down and unplugged all cables before restarting, and my Silhouette is only 4 mos old! When I power up... the "carriage" (to use the old typewriter-term) wants to move left but it's as far left as it can go so the terrible sound is the motor trying to move it left. ACK! Whaaa'doo'eye'dooo? HELP!

You know, I really have to hand it to my Yahoo Group friends, they just make life so very much easier! And Sandy McCauley simply makes me want to HUG my machine!! They confirmed I am not losing it!! (and also that it's not human error, my baby is BROKEN!!

PANIC!!!

Holey smokes! I am about to cut 145 monograms for wedding invitations - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

... and that I should contact the QuickKutz Customer Support, so I did, through their website and in less than 24 hours The Silhouette Support Team said: "Thank you for alerting us to your concern. It sounds as though the Silhouette's blade holder is off track. To get the tool back on track you can manually move the device back and forth several times. This should cause the belt to get back on track. Please try this and let us know if you have any problems. "

... and it worked!

So, off I went to use the Passions Conflict Rob font I fell in love with thanks to Nancy which is no longer a free font, so for those of you who want it, try Aquarelle.

So with a PASSION font, I created these thank yous for each and every one of you who always see to it that I loooove my cutter (especially Sandy!)!!

Tips & Tricks: Embossing, Engraving, Punching, and Drawing with a Digi Cutter

Click here for Sandy's video

Tips & Tricks: The Font Organizer

This program, The Font Thing is yet another really awesome freeware program. I personally found it helpful to organize my 1,000s of fonts into folders so when using this program I can actually at the click of a button install and uninstall fonts as I need or want to. It's also got this great feature where you can type in whatever you want to "cut" or "print" and you can see what the font will look like to help you narrow down what the lucky font of the day will be :) This is the biggest time saver I've found to date! Unfortunately I have become addicted to fonts now ;) What a fantastic problem to have!!

Download it here.

Tip & Tricks: Colour Detector

This is a neat program that allows you to find an exact colour match, not only using Craft Robo type software but ANY software! This is great when editing photographs even :)

Download it HERE

Silhouette Training manual

This is awesome!!

... and about time too...

here's a link to a decent training manual

for the Silhouette!!

I've stuck these pics on my wall for reference, it used to baffle my little brain ...

Awesome Tool: ImageChef.com

Tips & Tricks: Vinyl Cutting

I haven't tried this yet but my friend Sandy gives a tutorial :)