Cutting Stamped Images using Silhouette PixScan Mat

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

I'm always looking for ways to make crafting a little easier on my hands.   I haven't been doing much crafting for the past month or so but am hoping to do more now that I have the new We R Memories Keepers Precision Press and a Silhouette Portrait with PixScan Mat.

I love using my Cricut with the co-ordinating CTMH Stamp Sets and Cartridges but really struggle with the acrylic blocks and fussy cutting.

I'll be posting about the Precision Press soon but did post my FB Live Video on YouTube.  I tried to cover as much as possible about it (don't mind the flipping around at the beginning, I almost lost my wifi connection as I started recording) and tried out a few different types of stamps to see how it worked.

I used the Press to stamp out a bunch of images last weekend to test with the Silhouette Portrait and PixScan mat.  I decided to buy the smaller Portrait instead of a Cameo since I already had a larger machine.  I also upgraded the Silhouette Studio software to the Designer Edition since I have so many SVG files already.

I'd watched a bunch of YouTube videos while I was waiting for my machine to arrive so the software wasn't too difficult to figure out.  I'm used to the Cricut adjusting the settings for blade, speed and pressure so it will take some playing around with the Silhouette to get the best cuts.  But overall the cuts were pretty good once I adjusted my blade.

 After I uploaded my photo of the PixScan Mat and imported it into the software I selected Trace and highlighted the stamped images.

Then I turned off the high pass filter and bumped up the threshold until I had a nice solid line around the outside of each stamped image.

Here it shows the red outline which is the cut line after tracing.  

Then I created a border around them using the offset feature set at .04 so it would look similar to using metal dies with stamped images

Then I selected release compound path so I could see both the offset and original trace lines.

Then I removed the inner cut lines and deleted them so I was left with the stamped image with a border around it. 

Then I grouped the images so I wouldn't accidentally move any of the cut lines before sending to my Silhouette.

Here's a close up of my screen before cutting....

...and my stamped images after cutting. 

Love how it turned out and am looking forward to cutting more stamped images without scissors! 

I've bumped my blade up a notch since cutting these and didn't get any fuzzy edges on the other projects that I'm making for the holidays.   I think I may even end up using this little machine more than I first thought.  It is so convenient to have it sit under my desk in my office and then I can leave my Cricut in my craftroom with the bulk of my stamps and supplies.

Cricut Design Space App Now Has Offline Capabilities

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

Cricut just announced yesterday that they would soon be releasing a new version of the Design Space App for iOS and I'm happy to say that I was able to update my iPad this morning and go offline with it!!

This is such a great feature, whether you want to design on the go or if, like mine, your wifi connection isn't the best and you want to be able to cut offline with your Explore.

Here are some of the basic steps to help you get your new App ready to cut offline.
 
I took some screenshots as I logged in and downloaded some images and fonts for offline use.

I updated my app and logged in just like I would normally do.

Clicking on the 3 lines shows all the different categories of Make It Now Projects and just above that is My Projects in the Cloud (anything I have ever designed and saved) and a new category called My Projects on this iPad.

I clicked on the new category, My Projects on this iPad and 

since there was nothing there I chose to create a New Project.

Then I searched for my new CTMH Flower Market cartridge.

Once my cartridge loaded, I selected a few images and they showed up along the bottom of my screen.  I then had the option to Insert them into my project, or I could Download Selected.  

I clicked Download Selected and those three images now show as Downloaded instead of Purchased.

Still online, I inserted the 3-D Rose image that I had just downloaded.

I noticed the squares on my grid were quite small so I went into settings and turned the Metric Units off.  The App always defaults back to metric when I update since I live in Canada.  I prefer to use Imperial when I am crafting.  

I decided to save this new project to my iPad so I can go back and cut it 

offline when I get out to my craftroom.  

After I selected Save, I was given the option to Save to the Cloud or to Save on this iPad.

I named my project and then selected Save on this iPad.

Now when I go back to the Project Menu and select My Project on this iPad my new project shows up.

Offline, my project is ready for me to cut!

After downloading those few images and saving my first project I decided to download some fonts to my iPad.

I selected the Text icon at the bottom of my Design Screen.  

Once the font list loaded I hit Select in the upper left-hand corner.

Then I got the Manage Fonts screen and could scroll up or down and tap on the fonts I wanted.

As soon as you tap on a font then the Download option shows on the upper right.  

You just tap Download and your fonts are saved to your device.  

I turned my wifi off and when I select the Text icon my downloaded fonts are showing in the list! Just tap the one you want to use and it works just like it would in the old online version.  

Another option for downloading images:

When you are choosing images to download you can add them individually like I did above, but there was also another option.  Before you tap on the images you will see a Select Visible icon to the bottom left of your screen.

I tapped on the Select Visible to see what would happen....

All the images that are on the screen showed up in the bottom bar.

I tapped on Download Selected and all those images downloaded to my iPad.   

Great option if you want to quickly download lots of images.

When you are in the App, if you tap on the little man at the top and select About, then What's New it will take you to a screen with some basic instructions about downloading and saving to your iPad.  

I can't wait to play with it some more and cut offline!  I will post more as I go! 

CreativeLive Black Friday Sale On Now Through Sunday

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. 

I'll cut right to the chase. CreativeLive has an incredible Black Friday deal for you! See below. 

Black Friday Promotion

Offer: 25% off all online classes through Sunday!

Valid: 11/25/15 - 11/29/15

Link: Black Friday Sale - 25% off all online classes through Sunday! 

Scrapbook Title in Inkscape using Crafts By Two Font Art Tutorial

While I've been working on my album for 2003 I've been learning how to use Inkscape so I can design some of my own titles and cutting files to use with my Cricut Explore.

In a previous post I went over the tutorials from Crafts By Two using colouring pages to make your own cutting files for personal use.  

I made another cutting file this week for my Christmas pages and love how it turned out.

Here are my finished files imported into Cricut Design Space and ready to cut.  

I used another great tutorial on Font Art from Crafts By Two to make my own title in Inkscape.

I started off in Inkscape using Waltograph Font & Alex Brush Script Font.

I typed out my words and positioned them where I wanted them. 

Then following the tutorial I made the different shadow layers.  

Once it was finished I imported my svg file into Cricut Design Space.  

I made a duplicate of it so I could add the two gifts shadow layers to the title.

I also duplicated the gift images because when you weld it all together it becomes just one layer.

I cut out all the different title layers and gift layers and glued them all together.

I used foam tape on the title piece to pop it up from the base layer.

I used CTMH Black, Glacier & Cranberry Cardstock along with CTMH Snowhaven patterned paper.  I had a scrap of CTMH Silver glitter cardstock that I used to back the gift on the left.

Here is my finished title - ready to add to my scrapbook page.

I love how precise the Cricut Explore cuts - the word "from" and Pluto's tail are very fine cuts and cut beautifully. 

Colouring Book SVG 201 with Crafts By Two

Today I cut the svg cutting file that I made following the How Two: Coloring Book SVG 201 Tutorial by Crafts By Two.  I used the same image as the 101 Tutorial.   

In the 101 tutorial you cut every layer. I had a lot of small pieces with the eyes, brows, nostrils & mouth all cutting separately and needing to be layered.  The 201 tutorial goes over additional steps to eliminate some of those extra cuts.   I was able to have the smaller pieces cut out of the face and have the black layer underneath show through.

There are the pieces all cut out. Notice the layer with the face.

Here I have it mostly glued together. So much easier than trying to place every piece on the face in proportion to each other.  

This shows the face from the second over top of the first - I wanted to see how close I was in guessing where all the pieces went in the 101 piece.  Not too bad I was off just a little bit. 

Here are both cuts side by side, the 101 piece is on the left and the 201 piece is on the right.  I didn't have a coloured image in front of me when I used Inkscape for the 201 so I didn't notice that I had changed the hair to the side of the face in the second cut.  The finished product isn't much different but was way easier to cut and assemble by eliminating all those extra pieces.  I will definitely be using this tutorial again to make more cutting files for my personal scrapbook pages. 

Find the Tutorials on the Craft By Two Site.

See my original post here

If using a licensed image to make a cutting file remember personal use only.

This image will be used in my Walt Disney World scrapbook. 

Colouring Book SVG 101 with Crafts By Two

About a month ago I bookmarked the Crafts By Two Colouring Book Series and printed off the reference sheets that go along with the videos.   Yesterday I decided I would follow along with the first tutorial - I didn't watch any of the videos, just used the written instructions.

I've used Inkscape in the past for converting images to svg for using with My Memories Digital Scrapbook Software.   And that was only to import as solid image after using trace bitmap.

I found the written tutorial very easy to follow.  I had watched a video that someone else had done and it didn't work.  The Crafts By Two didn't leave out any steps and I was able to save my svg and cut it out with my Cricut Explore last night.

I found this image online.  I was looking for an image with larger pieces and everything connected for filling in with colour.  I do have a few Disney cartridges that I bought in the United States so I had a good idea of what I wanted when piecing together of all the cuts.  

I imported the picture into Inkscape and followed the instructions by 

Crafts By Two - How To: Coloring Book SVG 101

Here is my svg uploaded into Cricut Design Space.

Each piece cut out with my Cricut Explore.  Even the teeny, tiny pieces for the nostrils cut out. 

Here's my finished image all glued together.  

The only piece that didn't work well for me was the highlight on the nose.  

I ended up removing it and using a black pen instead.  

I like how it turned out even with having to put the face together like that.  

I watched all the videos this morning and using the same image I am going to follow 

Crafts By Two: How To Coloring Book Svg 201.  

I will post that as soon as I have it cut and pieced together and will show a side by side comparison with this first image. 

To see the video tutorials and download the pdf instructions visit:

Crafts By Two - How To: Coloring Book SVGs - The Complete Series

If using a licensed image to make a cutting file remember personal use only.

This image will be used in my Walt Disney World scrapbook. 

Studio J Layouts

I placed an order at the end of November to take advantage of the $5 Layout Special pricing.

I did a cost comparison in a previous blog post comparing the regular Studio J pricing to what I paid at my local Costco for 12x12 layouts.

With the November Special I ordered 12 Studio J layouts, which is the equivalent of 24 pages from Costco.

Costco price:  24 x 4.99 = $119.76

My Studio J order total with my Consultant Discount of 22% plus s&h and tax = 69.63

Savings of $2.09 per 12x12 layout!

In Studio J you can choose from 3 types of layouts - in these I choose a photo template & a paper kit then dragged my photos into the photo wells, added my titles & journalling and embellishments and coloured the existing embellishments (ribbons & buttons).  You can also delete anything that you don't want, you can resize and add more pictures with this type of layout.  There are 130 kits to choose from.  There is also a Studio J app for iPhone that shows all the kits.  I find it handy to look at so I don't have to go back and forth in the program. 

In this next set I chose from pre-done layouts. 

These were really fast I just added my photos and personalized with my own titles and journalling.

With this type of layout you can't make as many changes but it is fast and great if you don't have a lot of experience.  Great way to learn how to use the software and then move on to the other types of layouts when you are more comfortable with how the program works.  And since there is no charge to use Studio J you can make an unlimited amount of pages while you learn the program.  

And finally I choose a No Limits layout.  

You can do anything with the No Limits. 

I added a page that I had created in My Memories scrapbook software to the left side and a page I created with the Project Life iPhone app on the right.  

You can also fill the page with different sizes of photos. 

Great way to save on photo finishing when you use odd sizes (like 2x2 or 2x3 or 6x8) in traditional scrapbooking or pocket scrapbooking. 

You can create as many layouts as you want and won't be charged anything until you purchase your prints.  The software is web-based so you need an internet connection to use it.

I often upload my pictures into different projects from my desktop and then login from a laptop or even from my iPhone (with Puffin web browser).  

Layouts are saved in the software for 90 days which gets extended once you make a purchase.  I created over 50 layouts but only purchased 12 - the expiry date was extended after I ordered.  I created many of the layouts back in July when I was first off work for my tendinitis and very limited to how I could use my left hand.  

Digital scrapbooking was the perfect option to be able to work on my scrapbooking without having to do any cutting or stamping and hurt myself more. 

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about Studio J.  There are also many video tutorials on the Studio J site. 

If you live in the Langley, BC area and would like to see how it works I will be doing tutorials in the New Year.   Sign up for my newsletter to be notified of upcoming dates.  

Try it free today at http://nancyhelmer.studioj.com