Intricate 3-D Christmas Tree

Another old post from my old blog. I wanted to share the tree again because I wanted to show you first how beautiful it was.  Second, I wanted to show you that you can find designs and patterns to use with your electronic cutters from many places. Just keep your eyes open!

I just had to share a picture of this beautiful christmas tree!  I originally got the pattern from the 2010 Holiday, Issue 41 of Scrollsaw Woodworking & Crafts magazine. It has several more patterns of things I plan to use with my Make The Cut Software (Hmm, I think I need to go and find that magazine and see what those were!  I don't think I ever got around to doing more from that magazine!)  I have previously noted that Scrollsaw patterns are a great source for things to cut with an electronic die cut machine.  This pattern was created by Gloria Cosgrove. (She was also the creator of the "Treasures of the Sea" seashell patterns that I previously made into cutting files and shared on my blog. You can find that post here: Treasures of the Sea.)

You can find more of her work at http://www.papercuttingsbyalison.com/.)

Unfortunately, I can't share the pattern with you do to the magazine's copyright permissions.  : (  

I must also say that I cut this using "tagboard" that I found at Hobby Lobby.  It is a little thicker then cardstock.  I tried cutting with regular cardstock.  It is a little too flimsy.   If anyone knows where I can get a little thicker paper like tagboard in colors please let me know.  Or if you have suggestions of something even a little thicker then the tagboard, I would like to try it. The tagboard works, but I would like something a little more sturdy I think.

I tried cutting it on my Cricut Expression - didn't cut so well - either tore up the paper or left all the little pieces still inside and I was having to try and finish punching them out.  I have a Black Cat Cougar 18" die cutter.  It cut it out beautifully and I didn't have to finish punching out lots of little pieces!! I bought my Black Cat Cougar a couple of years ago from Sherri at thatscrapinc.com. I had a great experience and excellent customer service both before and after the sale. So, if you are interested in finding a good quality cutter, be sure to check with Sherri and check out their new line, The Silver Bullet Professional series. I haven't upgraded to it but I hear it's even better!

If you aren't familiar with Make the Cut software, I would highly recommend that you go to their website to learn more about it.   You can find it at http://www.make-the-cut.com/.  It allows you to do so much more with your die cutter. You will be amazed. You are limited only by your imagination!! You can check out their forums for more great ideas.  You can also use SCAL (Sure Cuts a Lot), the Silhouette Software, and other software packages to cut to a variety of different and excellent die cutting machines in a variety of price ranges so be sure to check out all your options and find a cutter and the software package that works best for you and your needs! I am always happy to answer questions on what I have and why.

As always, thanks for stopping by!  Hope everyone has a blessed holiday season!

Happy Birthday Book or Card from Royal Inspirations SVG

Hello again!  Two posts in two days!  A new record for me!  LOL  Well, at least for the past little while.  I'm going to try and get better, I promise.  I do have some things to share with you, just no time to sit down it seems to get it all written up, photos taken, and posted! Summer time seems to make it even more difficult.  We'll see if I can improve once school starts back next month!

Yesterday I shared with you a new site, Royal Inspirations SVG started by my friend Retta. On her site she has lots of wonderful files that you can obtain in 3 formats so she should have almost all of you covered.  Not only does she provide the files in SVG format, but she also provides them in Make the Cut (MTC) and SCAL formats as well so that should mean that she probably has a format that works easily for you!  She has files in a variety of categories and price ranges and even has free files for you to download and try so be sure to stop by and find some that will inspire you!

When I saw this Birthday "Book or Card" that Retta designed I just knew that I had to have it!  I wasn't sure when I was going to actually use it, or who the lucky recipient was going to be but I knew I had to get it and create it!  It's wonderful!  The one thing I learned however is that with something like this, you want to make sure that you have a really good sticky mat to ensure those beautiful letters stay put on the mat while you are cutting them!  I have a bad habit of trying to reuse mats over and over and over again even when I should stop and fix them!  I thought I could squeeze a few more cuts out on this one with a little help from my painter's tape but no go.  However, once I broke out a new mat, it was easy breazy and I was wondering why I had wasted my time and paper to start with!

Instead of using chipboard for my "book" backing, I choose to use some neon green styrene that KarenP had first shared about finding on the MTC forum.  It matched great with my green letters and added just enough backing to my pages.  It gives the book that little extra "pop"!  Best of all, it and Retta's files cut great on my Black Cat Cougar that I have been neglecting! 

Speaking of my Cougar, I Love my Cougar, but that doesn't mean that I'm not green with envy about those who are getting the newest cutter, The Silver Bullet,  from Sherri at That's Scrap, Inc. in the USA, Dawn at Thyme Graphics in the UK  and Jo at Cutting Edge Craft in Austrailia too! They look wonderful and I am hearing great things about how well they are cutting too!  Wish I could justify getting one too (I do love new gadgets and toys) but I will stick with my Cougar for now as it does everything I need and more.  I just need to use it more (then maybe I can justify a Silver Bullet too! : ) )  However, if YOU are in the market for a new cutter that will work with MTC and SCAL be sure to swing by and check out the Silver Bullet!  They may just have one with your name on it! But even better than the cutters themselves, is the customer service and support that each of these 3 ladies give, before, during and after the sale! To help justify that new purchase, be sure to check out all of Retta's designs at Royal Inspirations SVG and see what she has waiting for you to create.

As always, thanks for stopping by!  I will be sharing more creations made from some of Retta's files with you as I have other things from her shop that I thought were just too cute!  Plus, I have some of my own files to share with you soon too as soon as I can find more time!  That's the great thing about working with someone else's files, it takes a whole lot less time to actually "create" the end project!  See you soon (I hope!!)