Spider Box

Today my 7 year old son is home sick and watching TV. He sees the show advertising the cricut and asks if we can make a project he saw on TV. Since I didn't know what he saw, I brought him over to the computer to show him what we could make and he picked this spider box. He LOVES it. It's the small things in life that make us the happiest sometimes. I took an old border that I didn't really like from some swaps that I used to participate in years ago and a couple of stickers and in 10 minutes we have a somewhat decorated spider box. It's really kinda cute and didn't take long at all to put together. Unfortunately, I misjudged where it was going to cut so his legs are a little torn as the cricut ran off the paper but fortunately my 7 year old didn't notice or care! Woosh! LOL. I don't remember who shared this spider box so I can't share the link with you but I think it turned out cute! I wish you could "see" the spider on the top of the box a little better but.....

Svgcuts!

Hi everyone....one of the most amazing sites is doing blog candy....an actual cuttlebug! Can you believe it! So I am posting about this site again. I mentioned it in one of my previous posts at some point just because I love their files. :-) They have wonderful sets of SVG files for sale, they offer regular freebies to try their files, and the designer even belongs to one of the groups I belong to and is always sharing her knowlege, and if that wasn't enough they have project ideas too. It's a great site so jump on over and check them out!!! Great files...so those of you that I've been sharing the SCAL info with recently, make sure you bookmark this site!!!

http://svgcuts.com/blog/?p=3672

Christmas Poem

This was posted on one of the scrapbook groups I belong too. I just had to laugh as I imagine this is EXACTLY what Santa would say to me!!!!

Twas the night before Christmas, I'm glued to the tree.
I'm wondering what Santa brought just for me.
Could it be cardstock or chipboard or lace?
Or a Cricut, I said, with a smile on my face.
And that's when I heard him, "Hi Santa," I said.
"You know....good little girls should be in their beds".
"I know I should Santa,and now I've been caught.
But I was just so excited to see what you brought."
"Well, let's take a look in this room where you work."
He shook his head quickly, and left with a jerk.
I heard him exclaim as he put it in gear.
"You've got enough crap, I'll see you next year!"

~Author Unknown

Blog Candy

Above Rubies Studio (www.AboveRubiesStudio.com) is offering the cartridge A Child's Year as blog candy. How fun is that.

Also, they have compiled a FABULOUS cricut cutting guide telling you what settings to use for cutting all different kinds of paper. It's 22 pages long and has TONS of info. It's free if you would like to use it too. Go check it out and get your copy or jump on over to their blog for your chance to win! Good luck!

http://www.aboverubiesstudio.com/free-goodies/prizes-and-giveaways/win-it-day-2-a-childs-year-cricut-cartridge/451/

Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) Information and Links

In the last week, I have had lengthy conversations with 3 people wanting more information on SCAL. To make it easier for them to find out and research this option to see if it is right for them, (now that I can copy and paste links), I decided to make a post with the basic links they will need to get them started.

1. Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) - is a program designed to use with your computer to cut any font, dingbat, or anything that you design yourself out on your cricut. The main site for this is: http://www.craftedge.com/index.html It runs around $65 to $75. There are 10% off codes that are available every so often on the groups below.

On my computer I probably have litterally 300 cartridges or more worth of images I can cut. Yep, you heard me right. All for only the $65 dollar investment plus the $30 I paid when the new version of SCAL came out. For those just buying, you don't have to worry about the additional $30 because you can only buy version 2.0 now. :-)

2. To learn more about this program than you can imagine, I would recommend these forums and groups:

http://forums.surecutsalot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SureCutsAlotUsers/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scalhints/

3. Inkscape is a free program that allows you to create SVG files that will cut using SCAL. I use version .46. You can download it here. (Some people have had trouble with the newer version.)

http://www.inkscape.org/

4. I bought my SCAL from this website because I wanted an actual cd copy. Their service was great and I got free shipping and a decent price.

https://www.cutterscreek.com/store/

5. You have to download a free trial version of Design Studio (Provo Crafts poor attempt at SCAL...lol....). However, and this is important, you must make sure that you are only using version 2.32 or 1.3. This is the link I used, but I can't be sure that it is still the right version. If you currently use Cricut's Design Studio and upgrade to the latest version, they were suppose to put something in the newest version of Cricut Design Studio to block SCAL from use on your cricut, so please make sure you check this out on the forums above before you use this link.

http://www.cricut.com/cds/DesignStudioTrial1.aspx

6. To see some fun projects that were created with SCAL, follow some of these links from free SVG files (SVG files are those that can be cut with SCAL for use on your cricut.)

http://forums.surecutsalot.com/viewforum.php?f=13

http://dscrapbookingroom.blogspot.com/

http://pennyduncancreations.com/

http://dan99.blogspot.com/

http://susanbluerobot.blogspot.com/
this blog is card maker heaven. search for SCAL or SVG files-she has hundreds and they are all amazing

http://jensbrainthings.blogspot.com/
search for SVG files

I have about 30 blogs I've bookmarked that offer cute free files, but these will get you started and an idea at any rate.

7. I use a free program called "The Font Thing" to manage my fonts so that they all don't have to be installed on my machine to use them. If too many fonts are installed on your machine, it slows it down. I use Windows XP

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Others/Font-Utils/The-Font-Thing.shtml

8. And one last thing, the only downside to svg files is that you can't "view" them like a picture which makes it really inconvenient. I installed an SVG viewer program called Renesis and it crashed my entire computer! A lot of people have used this without any trouble, but I lost everything and had to reinstall my computer from scratch so I would NOT recommend this program. I have since installed Adobe SVG viewer and haven't had any problems, but it isn't working either so.... my go around is this...when I save a file, I will open it in inkscape, make a bitmap copy (do not save after you make the bitmap copy) and this will show directly next to the file in my folder. Works great for me with no complications. So....

I know this is long, but I also know that having these links available instead of writing them down and trying to "remember" what I told you about each of these programs will be beneficial. For more information, you can read some of my blog entries, some talk about SCAL and why I bought it. Hope this helps!!!

Halloween Pumpkin Treat Bags

Aren't these the cutest things! One more reason I love SCAL. This free file found on the craft edge forum (search for pumpkin treat box svg) was just too cute. I had to give it a try. I decided to make these for the kids teachers (school and piano) and my visiting teachers. Aren't they fun. If I get a chance, I'm going to make some super cute cookie Frankenstein boxes. This is actually the first box that I've made and it was super fun. Inside it will hold 3 or 4 Halloween size candy bars. The font I used on the Boo was called Creeper and it's a free download if you are interested. (I wouldprovide the link but for some reason I can't paste into blogger....does anyone know why? I would love to be able to provide the direct link but until I can figure out how to paste it, it's too much of a pain to go back and forth 20 times to get the 10 yards of link posted....sorry....if you know why I can't paste into here, I would LOVE to know!)

Guess what!!! I found out "how" to do this. Woohoo! Now that will make life easier! Here's the link to the pumpkin treat box! Enjoy!

http://forums.surecutsalot.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=8046