In the Frame

 by Pete Hughes

Well, I tried my best I really did but I can't stop fiddling around with the ecal software on the eclips machine. My good friend and fellow designer Paula sent me a link to a blog which showed a brilliant idea which translates perfectly to ecal.

Imagine never having to buy a Wedding, Christening or Anniversary present ever again! think I'm crazy? then read on......

I had some deep box frames kicking around so I measured the glass and set about creating the artwork that you can see below. My dear Friends are tying the knot on Saturday and it seemed like a perfect gift.

First I created the rectangular frame, then I created and welded the individual words (for all you 'fontaholics' I used Sanford) before playing around with their relative sizes and welding them together within the  frame. Finally,I added the swirls which are part of the shapes library which come with the ecal software; weld it all together and I'm ready to cut. At this point you can still stretch the artwork to fit the proportions of your frame if you need too.

Now all I have to do is attach some cream paper to the cutting mat, press the button and go and make a cup of tea while my eclips does all the work for me. The eclips is just a tool, a high tech pair of scissors if you like, but the real work (i.e. the design) is done before you even press the button.

I carefully teased the artwork away from the cutting mat and applied a light coating of spray adhesive. Next, and with equal care, I placed the glass from the frame onto the face of the design and mounted it into the frame. My friends love the work of designer William Morris so I chose a suitable paper to place in the back of the frame and that's pretty much it. One hour from start to finish.

Here's the end result, the design looks like it is floating above the background. I'm going to be playing around with a few more variations on this theme in the coming months, can't wait to see where ecal takes me next!

 

The Magic of ecal (part 2)

 by Pete Hughes

Sorry, Couldn't help myself! I am enjoying using the ecal software so much that I felt I had to share some more. as I mentioned last time, with ecal, you can use any true type fonts, this includes Dingbat fonts of which there are literally hundreds free to download.

Dingbat fonts can be simple shapes, floral borders, butterflies, famous logo's, seasonal pictures in fact the list is pretty endless. The best way to find what is about is to pop the phrase free fonts into your computers search engine and see where it leads you. It is very easy to download free fonts and of course, they're FREE!!! 

A really cute dingbat font is creatures which comprises of a number of little monsters, perfect for perking up kid's birthday cards or invites. I used one such creature to create the card below and here is how i did it (If you look back at the last blog post it will give you a more in depth explanation of how to use ecal)

1. Firstly, I selected my 'creature' and brought it to the size that I needed. Next, I selected the object menu at the top left of the ecal screen and scrolled down to break apart which allows me to select individual areas of the artwork so that I can drag them to separate areas of my mat prior to cutting. You can see that I have separated the image into outline (top left) block colour (top right) and below that, the teeth, tongue and eye balls.
To create the little monster phrase I chose the fonts Cinnamon Cake for the word 'little' and Samdan for the word 'monster'. I welded the letters together but before welding the words together I copied and pasted the word monster so that I could cut it in a different colour (green). after welding the two words together I rotated them so that they would fit onto the blue paper.
2. Once everything was where I wanted it on screen it was time to lay my chosen papers on the cutting mat. One of the great things about working on ecal is that the computer screen represents the cutting mat in your eclips so you know exactly where everything is going to be when cut which takes away the guess work when your laying down your papers.
3. simply press the cut button and let the eclips do the work. remove all the waste paper and you are ready to assemble your card.

4. Mount the outline onto the patterned block colour cut-out.

5. Add the cut-out detail i.e. teeth, tongue, eyeballs.

6. Use distress inks to tint the bottom of the word and a sanding block to distress the top before attaching to the 'Little Monsters' phrase in a slight offset to create a shadow effect.

7. Assemble the parts of the card.

8. Mount the check pattern onto the base card and attach the 'Monster' using 3D foam pads before adding the phrase.

The Magic of ecal

 by Pete Hughes

Just back from Paris where I was demonstrating all things 'Sizzix' at the SMAC trade show. I think I was the only Welshman in France on Saturday as Wales beat the French rugby team in Cardiff to win the Grand Slam....Hurray! I didn't make a fuss but I did have a smug grin for a few days after.

So 'What's this ecal business' I hear you cry. Well, it's the new software package which turns the Sizzix eclips electronic cutter into the most awesome creative craft tool on the planet. using ecal software your eclips can use any true type font on your PC including wingdings and dingbat fonts as well as allowing you to create and cut your own artwork.

Those amongst you who read my blog regularly will know that I am no great fan of technology so for me to fall in love with something like ecal is nothing short of a minor miracle, and at the same time, testament to how easy it is to get to grips with.

This is a project which I created in a little over 15 minutes, Using the keyboard I typed the 3 words needed in different fonts (screen 1), 'Happy' (creampuff font), 'Birthday' (Rustler font) and 'Sophie' (Channel font) then with the click of a button I welded the letters together. In screen 2 I adjusted the size of each word and overlapped them slightly. In screen 3 I selected all of the words and once again, welded them together.

In screen 4 I used one of the basic shapes included in the software, namely and oval to create a border frame. Once you draw the oval it's so easy to change the size and proportions to fit the artwork. In screen 5 I placed the oval around my text, carefully re-sized it and welded them together, again, with the simple click of a button. In screen 6 I added some flowers taken from the basic shapes menu and added them to my Text/frame.

In screen 7  I welded all of the elements together. once I was happy with the artwork I shrank it to fit my base card and clicked on the shadow feature which creates a shadow as a separate artwork (Screen 8) before moving the two elements into position, the screen shows a virtual cutting mat and represents where the shapes will cut on the real cutting mat in your eclips machine.

The first image below shows the paper that I have chosen trimmed to size and loaded onto my mat ready to be cut the second image shows the shapes after they have been cut on the eclips and the waste paper removed. All that is left to do is mount the artwork onto it's shadow and attach it all to the base card before adding a few adhesive gems

It really couldn't be any easier and the software is so simple to use, just by playing around for a while you can get some truly staggering results. The key to ecal is freedom; the freedom to use original bespoke designs, the freedom to use any true type font, but most of all the freedom to create your own little world.