Another Rosette for you!

I got plenty of emails about the rosette and it seems many of you love them as much as I do. So I decided to try another today. One tip on this one, flatten down between the petals after assembling. It seems to give a fuller look. You can get the free WPC and WPC14 files here.

One more thing, if you know of another free host for cutting files that you find easier to work with please let me know at imcindycade@gmail.com

Thanks and God bless you and yours.

Rosette WPC file

Ahh the kids are back in school and I got to play! I love TH's (you all know who he is right?) new rosette die. Unfortunately I don't have it and further I want to make them in different sizes. I created a very similar wpc file and it cut beautifully, yay!

You can get it here: http://www.4shared.com/file/ZXohfnWl/Like_TH_Rose_by_CindyC.htmlIf I am doing this right I should soon have lots more files to share.
God bless!

Converting SVG files to WPC Inkscape link

I found a direct download link (thanks to Yahoo search) Inkscape-0.45-1.win32
I even downloaded it to be sure. I have Vista on my computer and it works fine fine with it.
I did not install this one (since it is already installed but it has the exact same name and 21,938 kb so I feel that is pretty certain. I also have Kapersky and it came up clean. Smile.
Hopefully this will end the frustration for many of you too.
Creatively...

Converting SVG files to WPC

After converting tons of files with Inkscape I found that many did not work well in Funtime. Why? One thing I have found is that the newer vesion of Inkscape does not convert SVG to DXF very well. I searched on the web and found the 0.45 version of Inkscape and it does a great job! What a relief it was to find the right product.

My process for converting to Funtime for my Gazelle is:
1. Open the SVG file in my 0.45 version of Inkscape. Make sure it is all grouped and then save as a DXF file.
2. Import the DXF file into Funtime 2010. Group (resize as needed) and save as a WPC file.
3. Add to blue book while there. I love the blue book!

"About a Girl" Featuring Faerie Song Art Stamps!

Project 2 of a "metal art" blog hop feature by Rubber Road Adventures and Faerie Song Art Stamps.

About a Girl
By Cindy Cade

Crafty Cruisers
Intermediate Stamping Team Designer

I have several different sized tins that hold smaller tins for storage. This is one of them. I think it made a lovely keepsake Christmas gift box for my little girl, don’t you? It was perfect for a necklace I made for her too.

Supplies:
FSVW-3BL Basket of Love (Faerie Song Art Stamps)
Classic Scalloped Rectangles Megabilities (Spellbinders Paper Arts)
Dahlia Nestabilities (Spellbinders Paper Arts)
Beige embossing silicone mat (Spellbinders Paper Arts)
Big Shot (Sizzix)
Memento tuxedo Black ink pad (Tsukineko)
Heat-It craft tool (Ranger Industries)
Stazon Blazing Red (Tsukineko)
Sharpie Markers
Galaxy Marker Milky Way White (American Crafts)
Matte Finish 1311 (Krylon)
Aluminum Pop Can
Metal (Hardware)
Xyron 850 Create a Sticker (Xyron)
Foam Tape
Paper fastener
Paper piercing tool

Instructions:

Clean your pop cans and carefully trim. Edges can be sharp! Flatten.

2. Stamp Faerie Song Art Stamps’ “Basket of Love” with black ink and heat set.

3. Color with Sharpie markers. Try to stay away from the black stamped lines as they can bleed.

4. Color white areas with Galaxy Milky Way White. Dry.

5. Seal with Krylon Matte Finish.
6. Cut with the second largest Megabilities scalloped rectangle. Run through again with silicone mat (per instructions) to emboss edge. Before removing from die, take your Sharpie marker and trace the inside of scalloped edge.

7. Bow: Cut three floral shapes using the second, third and fourth largest Dahlia shapes. Run through with grill metal and tan mat to emboss.

8. Add blue marker to bottom flower by rubbing color on your finger (or cosmetic sponge) and quickly spreading from center of flower to the outside petals.

9. Cut slits in between flower petals and roll back with pencil to give a bit of an under-curl. Pinch the tips of the largest flower.

10. Punch hole in centers (I used a paper piercing tool) and add a paper fastener.

11. Tin: Lay the grill metal over your tin and use as a stencil. Dab Stazon ink in the centers. Edge tin with Stazon masking as necessary and heat set.

12. Run stamped piece through Xyron and adhere to tin.

13. Attach bow with foam tape.
For more go to:
Etha's Fairies Tin
Judy's Decorative Clock
Peggie's Music Box

Visit Faerie Song Art Stamps to see their full line of wonderful stamps!

For all your die cutting needs (and more) check out Terryfictimes! Beverly is a doll of a vendor. :-)

What a Puzzle! Featuring Faerie Art Song Stamps

A "metal art" blog hop feature by Rubber Road Adventures and Faerie Song Art Stamps.

What a Puzzle!

By Cindy Cade

Crafty Cruisers
Intermediate Stamping Team Designer

Cat lovers; either we know one or we are one. Here’s a little gift that’s sure to bring a smile.

Supplies:
FSVW-1KF Kitty Fae (Faerie Song Art Stamps)
FS-11CIP - A Cat Is a Puzzle (Faerie Song Art Stamps)
Cuttlebug A2 D'vine Swirl embossing folder (Provocraft)
Cat die (Spellbinders Paper Arts)
Beige embossing silicone mat (Spellbinders)
Puzzle Maker Die (Sizzix)
Big Shot (Sizzix)
Vellex Craft Ribbon (Berwick Industries LLC)
White and yellow ochre cardstock (Hollos)
Background paper (Spellbinders)
Decorating Chalks (Craft-T Products)
Dove Blender (Dove Brushes)
Round It All ½” (Zutter Innovative Products)
Memento tuxedo Black ink pad (Tsukineko)
Adirondack Expresso ink pad (Ranger Industries)
Xyron 850 Create a Sticker (Xyron)
Computer, scanner and Printer

Instructions:

1. Stamp Kitty Fae on white card stock with black ink. Dry.

2. Color with Craft-T chalks using a Dove Blender. The blender will make the colors pop and set them as well.

3. Copy image and bring into any program to resize. Mine is 1.96 inches wide. I also mirrored the image to make it just a tad more challenging for matching the easy puzzle. Print on plain copy paper and trim.

4. Cut background paper to fit your tin. Round corners and adhere the small Kitty Fae as shown. Stamp your saying. Dry. Run through Xyron. Remove clear plastic protective top but leave backing on. Emboss with D'vine Swirl embossing folder in the die cut machine. Remove protective backing and attach to top of tin.

5. Cut background paper to fit to side of tin. Stamp randomly with Expresso to create a pattern for visual interest and continuity. Run through Xyron and attach.

6. For Puzzle: Run stamped image through Big Shot with embossing folder.

7. Adhere (Xyron) the now embossed stamped Kitty Fae to heavy duty cardstock. I used a cover weight duplex with white on front and black on the back. Cut with Puzzle die.

8. Cut the two cats, one from white cardstock the other from the ribbon. Ink your embossing folder and run the cardstock die through your machine. Adhere to background paper to fit inside top of tin. Then attach to tin.

9. Place one piece of puzzle in bottom of tin. Add a trimmed piece of paper to fit tin and fold the rest of the puzzle within. Now they will be missing a piece which, of course they will find when the look further. (Wink)

Now give it to your cat loving friend and make their day!

Creatively,
Cindy Cade

For more go to:

Etha's Fairies Tin

Judy's Decorative Clock

Peggie's Music Box

Also visit Faerie Song Art Stamps to see their full line of wonderful stamps!

I Have a New Hero!

And her name is Stephanie. Why do you ask? Well I am going to tell you! I have been converting files the LOOOOOOOOONG way with only marginal success. Ms. Stephanie, my new bff, has a fabulous article on converting those cutting files.
Where do you say? Why here of course! Scrapncreations.
This is the first time I just had to hit the tip jar. Woohoo!

How Exciting This Gazelle Is!

I have learned a few things along the way. First, there is so much information available it can be confusing where to start. So, when you get your Gazelle, first things first, join the Bosskut forum. It has beginning steps and boy have they made my journey clearer. Thank you!

Next thing I learned, the blades for deep cutting and for regular cutting look the same. Read the envelope. LOL! I was using the wrong blade. I changed it, followed instructions and then took to cutting.

Remember how I said that I needed to make the mats stickier? I mixed Aleene’s Tack-It Over with a ratio of 60% glue to 40% water and “painted” it on the mat. Let it dry and it works very well! So then it was time to cut.

First here is a heart doily that is 7 ¼” square. It came out great on the first try. The only problem was when I pulled it off I ripped it a bit. So lesson learned, Cindy be patient and go slowly! Next I decided to just go for the intricate. Hey, that is a big reason why I purchased my Gazelle. I love those lacy designs!

This picture shows the projects ready to be cut. Quite detailed aren't they?

This shows the cutting settings I used. I know some of you are novices like my self.

This shows the cut items with just the outside removed.

Now to pull off the delicate cut pieces; yes, I had some tiny parts to remove but most stayed on my mat. Yay!

Aren’t they beautiful? By the way, I used cardstock that was not overly thick. One of the tutorials at the forum suggests using a “30” as the knife offset when doing small details.

I am a happy camper! I believe I got most of these designs from the Funtime Yahoo group and/or the Bosskut site.

Well the adventure has begun. My Gazelle came Friday evening. Yay!

Those of you who loved Barbie in the 60’s will love the color of the Gazelle. It is white, hot pink and orange. I must confess mine will be altered soon. ;-) Everything is in the box, the usb cord, power cord, dongle, book, and software. It was a little confusing for me to understand how to get it all going but I managed. One big problem for me is the size of the text in the book. My eyes are old they (the fonts not my eyes) need to be bigger. I am hoping there is an online version I can just download and read on my computer more comfortably.

My next hurdle was to see if I could get all of my wonderful svg files converted to use with my Gazelle. Nope, after all those hours saving to dxf, they were all blank! I followed the instructions to the letter but maybe it is my 64 bit computer? Or my Vista? Who knows but working with Inkscape and saving it to dxf and then bringing into my Funtime 2010 isn’t working for me. After that I decided to take a break until last night.

So I decided to pull in less complicated files to see what I could do to use them. You would think I would just use one of the many wpc files freely offered on the Funtime group wouldn’t you? No, I am too advanced for that. (Yea right)! I finally had some success when I opened a file from Paulo’s site of a heart border in my Inkscape. I then changed it to black and resized it to 8.5 inches wide. I then copied the file and pasted it in my Funtime program. I used the Auto Vecto feature. I then had to close the side of the top border. Even for a beginner that was easy enough to do. I held my tongue just right and sent it to my Gazelle to cut. Success! Both the upper and the lower cut! See here they are. I saved that file as a wpc. Yippee!
I thought I had best do this again just to see if I can. So I grabbed a lace border again one from Paulo’s site. I went through the same steps but decided I only wanted the top layer. Look, even with all of those little holes, I have it! Okay it may not be perfect but it is close enough for now.

Tomorrow, I will play more with files. I will also get a shelf liner under my machine to see if it will quiet it down a bit.

All in all, for a complete beginner, I am feeling pretty good right now. My only real wish? Is there anyone who knows how I can easily convert those svg files to wpc? You would be my hero!

Creatively…

Gazelle Files and Delivery

I had hoped that it would be here for the weekend but that's okay. I have been busy snagging cutting files and converting them for use with the Gazelle.

There are some wonderful folks around the web. I have started a new "Favorite Cutting Sites" links group in the right column. Penny and Paulo offer wonderful and free .svg files. I will add more links as I find them.

Now I had to find how I could use these in my machine so I wrote to Bosskut. I had heard they have great customer support and I got a reply back the very next day:

"To convert your svg files, you will not need any additional programs.
Open the svg file in inkscape, make sure everything is ungrouped, then select everything and "save as" a dxf file.
The dxf file will import into funtime...
Thanks! Terri (Gazelle Tech' Support)"

BTW, Inkscape is a free program you can get online. So many new things to learn! It is a great program and I am sure we will be doing things with it in the future as well. Penny included tutorials as well as cutting files on her site and she is one talented lady. So, take a look around, let me know what cutting sites you find and let's get ready to play!

creatively...

Coming Soon: The Gazelle Adventure!

Well I did it. I ordered the Gazelle and I am quite excited I have to tell you. The creative possibilities are like Manna to my spirit!

I will learn to design my own die cut patterns or take any stamped image or clip art image and make a die cut from those. Maybe use someone else’s shared template. No more waiting and hoping that some of my favorite die companies will produce the die I am longing for.

I will be making rhinestone patterns, pop-ups, my 3D pop-outs, favors, banners, and who knows what!

Perhaps you are already on this road. Maybe you are thinking about taking the plunge yourself. Either way, I hope you will take this journey with me and share your ideas, techniques, and knowledge.
From the fabulous finds to the hurdles, I plan to share it all. Care to join me? As soon as I know the shipment date I will share it here. Please let everyone know about this adventure so they can join in too.

Creatively…

Design Team Thoughts

Design Team Thoughts

Isn’t it time someone spoke up? I think so. Those of you who sponsor design teams do you really consider your designers as valuable? I wonder.

A good designer will do their best work (not just CASE others). They will promote your company everywhere they go. Each card, altered item, layout, or what have you has taken hours if not days to imagine, work out details and complete with all to be in pristine condition. On top of that the designer is usually asked to photograph and edit their items, upload the scans on more than one venue, and be available to answer all questions about the technique and/or item. They will be required to name products used in the card and often include a tutorial. Then there are the “blog hops” which add more, yup you guessed it, time from the designer.

Often we are required to send the actual objects to the company which require proper packaging, more time spent, and shipping costs. We may be asked or required to send to stores and conventions as well. Did you note the shipping costs? Many expect us to pay them without recompense!

If the designer, like me, loves to think outside the box and find new ways to use the product, that takes more time along with the possible use of outside products.

Now for all of this what does the design team member get in return?

Lately, without naming names, I have seen companies that will give you perhaps $50.00 in product (I wonder is that retail or wholesale?) per month. Some may give a single sheet of rubber stamps. That’s it. Everything else comes out of our pocket. Does this really sound fair to you? They get away with it because some folks just want to be able to claim they are on a design team. Whatever happened to RESPECT? Appreciation?

I have had the pleasure to work with some wonderful companies as a designer. They treated me like a star. I was given plenty of product to work with. Most let me choose which products and projects I would prefer and not try to mold me into a certain style. They reimbursed me for my shipping costs and covered my travel fees if I chose to be a demo for them. If I chose to submit to magazines I was well compensated for those published as well. I cherish these companies. They usually sent me a LOT of product when I began as well so I had plenty to work with and choose from. Why? because they know that we designers may feel like doing something artsy today and cute tomorrow. But if we only have, one style of images to work with, it will limit our creativity. This is not good for the company or the artist.

Companies: Please give credit to your designers for the hard work they do. Compensate them fairly and if you can generously. In the long run you will be glad you did. The designer will never forget you and will continue to “advertise” for you long after her/his term is over if you do.

Designers: Do your very best at all times. Live up to your obligations. Give praise when due. Be quiet when you should.

We all make mistakes, I have made far too many in my life I know. We all are still learning how to better create, communicate, and even handle our own struggles. So let’s give some leeway when we can. It is more fun to lift up then to tear down.

I must give a huge shout out to some of the companies who were beyond the best to work with: Spellbinders, Hearts in Touch, Red Castle, Inc., Innovative Stamp Creations, Enchanted Ink, Terryfic Times, Marco’s Paper. THANK YOU! And to all of the other companies I have worked with, thank you as well. I have been blessed!

Creatively,

Cindy Cade

http://artisticextras.blogspot.com

3D Pop-Out Tutorial can be seen at:

My RubberRoadAdventures blog page. I would love to see how you use it too.

A Valentine

This is a valentine I made for an article at RubberRoadAdventures Newsletter. Again it features my 3D Pop Up technique. It should be up soon so keep checking if you are curious about its details.

Creatively,

Everyone seems to be into 3D these days so...

I had to join in. Now I don't get to see most films in 3D, according to the experts I have no depth perception, but really that means my perception is just different than yours. Different isn't always bad now is it? I did once experience a 3d movie, because the screen is so huge at Disney World and the glasses are a better quality, I actually got to see what you all do all the time. I was probably the most excited kid the room (I was only in my 40's after all)!

Lately I have had so many creative ideas storm my brain that I feel I am about to burst. Finally I just told myself to let the other stuff in my life go and get back to what I like to do; Play! I am very glad I listen to my own advice.

Oh yea, back to the 3D, oh how I can ramble... Here is my project of today. I only wish I could get a better picture. Do you see the dimension? I mean how can you miss it? No this isn't a bunch of flowers stacked on each other, well not completely.

I have seen pretty punches that are dimensional in that you can pull up the butterfly's wings, or the sides of a heart. They are nice but they are a little too subtle for me. I love bold! So enter my 3D Pop-Out technique. Hey how'd you do that you ask? Well, it shouldn't be too long before the entire tute is up at Rubber Road Adventures I am working on it now.So keep checking. I will tell you it involves those wonderful dies from Spellbinders!

Here is a more sideways view. Notice how the petals are still attached to the base layer?

You all have to do me a favor and write to Spellbinders and tell them that we need nesting daisy dies, for starters. I have others in mind too and since I know they make these all so well where else would we go?

Don''t forget most of my work is now being shared at Rubber Road Adventures where I am on both the stamping teams and the fairly new Hot Diggity Die Cut Diner. Food and crafting? Hey sounds made just for me right? LOL

Creatively,

Cindy Cade