2010-01-14

Tag Tags Tags

Tags are a quick little embellishment that can give a card a little "pop".  Anyone can do them in SCAL.  You can do any shape.  Below are just 2 examples of how I've used tags on some of my cards.  The first might be hard to see, but it says "bon jour".  It is a card I sent to some friends from France who are in florist wholesale. 

Below are the tags in a .png file, but to the right under SVG Files, you can click "tags" and download the svg file.  Help yourself if this is something you can personally enjoy for yourself.

2010-01-12

SVGs are universal - Dragonfly (stained-glass)


I so enjoy the svg collections I can purchase and receive free from my favorite sites listed on my blog.  All these sites work so hard to give us the best world of svgs for our personal use.  I wanted to give something back to Mary, who is a wonderful svg creator at SVGCuts.com.  How do you send a card to someone who already makes fabulous cards?  So I started thinking outside the box.  Many people in the forums are cardmakers or scrapbook makers.  Many of these same people use the svgs for other things as well, such as stencils for walls, cookie shapes, cake decorating and for me, I also dabble in stained-glass.  Then, it hit me!  I took artisitic liberties with the "Woodland Dragonfly" freebie (http://svgcuts.com/blog/?p=144) Mary at SVGCuts posted last February. It came from the collection called "Woodland Fairies SVG Collection (main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=3).  The dark blue wings are translucent and really shows off in the sun.  The body was made with opaque blue speckled marbles.  It is wrapped in 60/40 lead. The wing veins were done in 20 gauge wire.



The butterfly was from a quick drawing I did.  I made an svg file and included a body and antenna in case someone would like to use it for something else other than stained-glass. The wings are glass, wrapped in lead (60/40) and the veins are 20 gauge wire.  It is welded to an insulation support.  I bend on end so the butterfly and dragonfly would give the appearance of flight. The link for the svg is to the right:

2010-01-09

By The Sea....By the Sea


If you know me...then you gotta know how I love the beach!  The 2 cards above are the same with the exception of placement.  The scallop was a stamp which I embossed with copper embossing powder.   I used SCAL to trace the stamp edges, and cut.  I used the cut as my template and using the same position, using the "Load" button (NOT the "Unload" button), I was able to cut out many shells without having to hand-cut each shell. The word stamp, "by the sea", was also embossed directly on the card with copper powder.  The octogans were cut using SCAL shapes. However, I sometimes use nestabilites shapes, position on card stock, and run through my cuttlebug.  To finish off the card, I stamped some more scallops as background in shades of "soft sky" and "apricot appeal" by Stampin Up, and added a little natural taffeta to give the look of sea grass.  Viola...a cute little card that didn't take very long. 

I have found the most challenging part of making a card is the FIRST card.....that is were the creativity comes into play.  Sometimes something just pops into my head and other times I have to just play play play with my stamping toys till something takes shape and that I'm willing to send to someone with my name on it...haha

2010-01-07

One Stamp - Many Layouts


I wanted to show how one stamp could make 3 entirely different cards.  This stamp is by "Stampin Up" called "Inspired by Nature".  On the first card, I embossed with white powder on textured, designed paper. ( I added a little ribbon and flower paper clip for embellishment.) On the second, I used "Stampin Up" inks on the stamp, lightly sprayed the stamp, and then stamped on plain heavy-weight card stock. (Autumn look)  On the third card, I used Stampin Up water markers directly on the stamp; again, I sprayed water and then pressed on card stock. I then took the grass stamp and stamped on top of the flowers.  I added a little more texture by backing with homemade paper. (Pic is blurred and I'll correct that later today.)

2010-01-06

Giveaway from SVGCuts: 3 winners!

They have done it again.  It is their Monthly Giveaway! SVGCuts is a great, new, up and coming company that caters to: offering wonderful svg collections for sale, offering freebie svg files several times a week, posting creative ideas for your svg files,  answering and solving numerous questions regarding your concerns and problems with svg files, SCAL and even Inkscape.  And, let's not forget to mention the extremely helpful tutorials for SCAL.

I'm without my sidekick,  IMAC with SCAL.  The story involves a wonderful Christmas present given to me gone bad!  It seems that the gift, the Bamboo Pen and Touch with Photoshop Elements, did not like my IMAC.  Maybe it was Snow Leopard it didn't like.  Anyway, the program caused numerous problems to my IMAC, which has now been sent by FedEx ambulance to the Apple Hospital in Kentucky for several weeks.  (I'm sure my husband meant well by the Christmas gift.)  Therefore, I'm dedicating this day to honor a great little company called SVGCuts.  The company has now been recognized by Craftedge, who created SCAL, for their services to the users of SCAL and svg files.  Mary and Leo, the founders of SVGCuts, deserve a round of applause for doing such a fine job of offering us beautiful svg files, tutorials, and a super customer service department.  It is from their inspiration that I decided to create a blog for the very first time in my life and see if I can give back to other lovers of svg files, SCAL and Cricut.

2010-01-04

North Pole Penguin



Ok, last Christmas card until closer to next December. My special students at Eastside High School also chose to do this card for some family and friends. The card consist of all cuts from Svgcuts.com "Santa's North Pole Workshop". The embossing was from the Cuttlebug "snowflake" folder. A little glitter, ribbon and puff paint for snow and you have yourself a chillin' penguin.

2010-01-02

Lamp Post at Christmas


Ok...One of my first little svgs I have created for some Christmas cards. I worked with some very special students at Eastside High School that wanted to make some cards for some friends and family. Their patience and determination made me just a little humble.


There is certainly no reason why it couldn't be incorporated into a Spring card.
To get the svg, you will have to "click" the lamp post svg in the right column.

I guess my goal is to deposit at least one svg file a week to my blog. My svgs may never be as good as Mary and Leo's at SVGCUTS, but their inspiration and the support of the forum group are plenty of motivation.

2010-01-01

First day of the New Year 2010




I'm a Carolina Girl who loves the beach, but my body is stuck in Greenville, South Carolina. I love the beach. I would rather have the intense sun on my back and the hot grainy sand in my shoes than to have a comfortable chair to sit in to view the blue ridge mountains. So what else is new?

Well, it's a new year and I have a new goal...to do a blog. Why not!

My first SVG is the Palmetto Tree and Moon, the South Carolina logo. I got the picture through public domain and tweaked it in Inkscape to create a svg file.