MTC Blog Hop-MY TURN!

It's finally my turn for the Make-the-Cut Blog Hop. If you've gotten lost, just click the blog hop button on the right to find the main page with the list of all the participating blogs. Also be sure to read to the end of this post for the blog candy info! As many know, MTC does not work with the cricut anymore. But fear not! It works with plenty of other cutters, including the Black Cat Cougar, Black Cat Lynx, Bosskut Gazelle, Silhouette, Craft Robo, US cutter MH/Laser point series, ECraft, Pazzle, KNK, and any cutter using an HPGL printing support feature.

So on to my projects. I have the Silhouette SD and although it's not yet a native plotter in Make-the-Cut, it is possible to cut with it through the print menu. It works perfectly and I wanted to focus on using both a graphic and an svg file.

My first project is this summer card. I made it for my daughter to give her speech therapist since she only goes to speech therapy during the regular public school year. So it'll be a nice 'Have a Great Summer' type card. I used the pixel trace function in MTC to trace some images from the Sunshine Fun graphic set. I had to trace some of the images more than once, but usually only twice, to get all of the shapes I needed. (For tutorials see the end of this post-I will post links to them.) Patterned papers are from KI Memories and Stampin' Up. Cardstock from Bazzill and Stampin' Up.


For my next project I wanted to use an svg set. So I imported some shapes from the Doug's Outer Space svg set and cut them out for this cute boyish spaceman card. Using svg files in MTC is so easy and I love that Lettering Delights has so many to choose from. Cardstock is all from Bazzill, Neenah and Stampin' Up. I also wanted to mention that despite popular belief, the Silhouette SD does cut heavier cardstock without any problems whatsoever. I used Stampin' Up, Bazzill and Neenah paper on both of my projects and did not do any multi-cuts. All of the cuts came out perfect and clean, even in the corners and on the smallest shapes. Both cards here are 4.25 x 5.5 so you can just imagine how tiny some of these cutouts are!


And now for the blog candy. I'm offering a $10 gift certificate to Lettering Delights!! To enter, just leave a comment-that's it! If you want to follow my blog I'd be grateful but it's not necessary to be eligible for the gc. I will draw a name a week after the hop ends. And be sure to check the main hop page every day to see whose blog to visit next!!

Here are the tutorials I promised:
How to use pixel trace in mtc
How to import svg files in mtc

Toy Box card

Since I've been neglecting my stamps, I decided to just open one of my stamp drawers, grab out a set, and make a card with it. Here's what I came up with.

stamps: Toy Box from Stampin' Up
cardstock: Stampin' Up
patterned paper: Die Cuts with a View (I think it's the recycle stack or something)
markers: Copic (used to color them and also I used it to [crudely] add color outlines to the rectangles).
buttons: I *think* they're from Oriental Trading and I used thin cuts of paper to make the 'thread'.

Easter Egg Boxes

I used my Silhouette and a neat Silhouette cut file to make these egg boxes. I added a bit too, and I'll explain that below the pics.





After putting the first box together I decided I wanted something extra instead of just the cut outs of the egg. So I added some glitter-here's how I did it. First, while the egg box was still on the mat (in Studio) I created an oval that was just a bit bigger than the egg portion of the box. I dragged the box off the mat and cut out the oval using some scrap cardstock for a template. Then I took some packing tape and stuck it to the shiny side of freezer paper just to have it on something solid while I cut it out. I used the template to draw the oval shape on the tape and cut it out with scissors. I removed the freezer paper backing and stuck the tape over the backside of the box so the sticky side faced front through the openings of the egg shape. I covered the sticky side with glitter (Art Institute and Doodlebug brand). Then I used the silhouette to cut the oval from paper that matched the color of the glitter and glued that to the back to make the colors pop more. In real life it looks much more sparkly-it's hard to catch that with a camera. I stole borrowed some Easter grass from my kids' baskets and we settled the eggs into their little nests. Then we were off to give them to Grandma and Grandpa (along with some decorated cookies). Paper is all from Stampin' Up.

My current project

I apologize for not posting much lately. I am working on this quilt and it's slow going-it's not like a card that I can turn out in one night (but there are people who can make a whole quilt in one day. I am not one of those people). It's for my friend Melissa and it will be (when it's done) a boxy stars quilt made with Moda Bliss fabric. I can't wait to see this come together some more-it's an amazing line and a great pattern.

So cheer me on because I have a hard time keeping up with my sewing.

More Silhouette cards

Can you tell I'm having fun with my new toy?? I ordered some of the Silhouette sewable interfacing so I am hoping to have a fabric craft done soon. I am also working on a quilt for a friend and will probably start posting a few pics of my progress (so she doesn't wonder what is up with her quilt).

Last week I wanted to try making a card using Silhouette's Studio software to cut from, but using an SVG file. So I picked out a design from the Lettering Delights Spring-a-ling set. I opened it in Inkscape, did a path/object to path (this seems to make it work better), and then saved as a dxf file. Then I opened it in Studio and went from there to resize. Then I made a shaped card base by doing an offset on the flowers and added a rectangle to the bottom. I duplicated the shape, mirrored it, aligned the two sides, and welded them to make the base. Then I cut all the pieces out with the Silhouette. I used Paper Trey Ink cardstock for the card base, Stampin' Up patterned paper for the flowerpot, Lasting Impressions and Stampin' Up patterned paper for the flowers, Bazzill cardstock for the stems and Stampin' Up cardstock for the flower centers. The gray on the bottom is Bazzill cardstock I cut in a strip (with my paper trimmer). I am loving the shaped cards and they're so easy to make in Make-the-Cut or Studio software.



On this next card, I wanted to try out the Silhouette's print and cut feature. So I found a graphic I liked from the Lettering Delights Harajuku Girls set and used the Studio software to print it and then cut it out with the Silhouette. My first try was about a millimeter off. I don't know what I did wrong but the second try was a success! I used Make-the-Cut to cut out the letters from a font called Mouseyer (I don't think the Studio software has the ability to load a font that isn't installed) and I also used it to cut the pink oval. Card base and oval are Stampin' Up cardstock. The letters and background paper are KI Memories patterned paper and the design is printed on and cut from Neenah Classic Crest cardstock. When I showed this to my 13 year old daughter, she got that look in her eye. I think she's already decided to give this to her teacher or one of her friends.

You're a Hoot

Looks like I'm really into birds these days! The next card I post will not have a bird. I promise. This card was made from some graphics by Nancy Kubo which I separated and traced using Photoshop Elements and Make-the-Cut. I cut it out with my brand spankin' new Silhouette SD. Paper is all from Stampin' Up and Bazzill.

You're Tweet

I decided to upgrade from my Cricut to a Silhouette SD. It arrived yesterday so I got it all set up to work with Make-the-Cut and today I made this little shaped card. I used tutorials from my friend Jin's website, underacherrytree.com, to make the shaped card base and used svg files from Lettering Delights to cut out the images. The bird is from the Twitter Park svg set and the letters are from the Sweet Nothings set. There isn't a "you're" in the set, so I combined images to make it and used an apostrophe from a regular font. The silhouette cut like a champ once I got the hang of it (I have a cold so it took me longer than normal. That's my excuse, anyway)! The card base is Paper Trey Ink 110# cardstock and the rest of the papers are from Stampin' Up. Everything cut easily with just one pass of the cutter (something I was concerned about but had no reason to be-while I was "learning" I cut clear through my mat somehow). Even the intricate parts, like the flowers on the wing, cut perfectly. I am very happy with the Silhouette so far!