Izbzee

trying a few new "to me" things

When I purchased the Skycut C24 a couple of years ago, I also purchased the embossing and etching tools.  I don't use them often, but a current project required use of the etching tool.  I was a bit wary and also glad that the acrylic blanks were fairly inexpensive, so ruining a couple wouldn't cause lots of worry.  

Here's the "test" result using a the Premium Monogram Font I found at Creative Fabrica.  

The steps to achieve this are pretty easy to do using SCAL and the Skycut.  
I chose an old grungy mat.  Not a lot of tackiness but using some redline tape  provided the tack needed to keep the 3 inch blank in place during the etching process.  In SCAL, I placed the image on the mat and set the X and Y to the bottom right corner at 11.00 inches.  Set the image to draw.  Hide the blank shape (the circle).  

As with most images, you may need to use line fill to complete the etching and fill in the shapes using the line fill option in the effects dropdown menu.  

Prepare the mat:  I placed the tape vertically on the mat so the tape was straddling the 11 inch mark on the right side of the mat and then straddling the 8 inch mark.  The strips were just a little more than 3 inches in length.  These strips held quite well for several etched pieced.  

Insert the etching tool into the holder.  Make sure that you have the mat and the post-it note stack (10 count) to set the height of the tool.  If you don't do that, the tool will drag across the blank and leave a few extra scratches that you really don't want!  Remove the protective sheets from both sides of the blank and center the blank between the two strips of tape.  Making sure that the blank doesn't extend beyond either 11 inch line on the mat.  Press the blank to the tape and to the mat to make sure it won't slide during the etching process.

Load the mat, and make sure that you have the tool centered at the bottom right corner in portrait orientation.  My Draw settings for this particular project was force 20, speed 6.   Click on Cut, Click on Draw -- and let the magic begin.  This etching took about 25 minutes.  Remember, I slowed down the speed a bit.  

Once the process has completed, remove the mat and carefully, remove the blank.  Wipe away the "sand," and clean carefully. 

Again, this is a test image and not the final version, I'm really happy with the outcome and plan on using the etching option for several other projects!  

Have a great day... thanks for dropping by and I hope you've carved out some creative time in the very near future.  

 

 

baby shower

Grandbaby 13 arrived a bit early... it's baby shower time!  I used the Photo Popup Card SVG File from Simply Crafty SVGs for them.  All 30!  Mom and Dad sent several pictures for us to choose from.  I chose one that used the portrait option and using SCAL 6 Pro I was able to use the Clip Path command and insert the pic right into the blank photo file piece.  Once the file and photo were grouped, I could copy and paste as many as I needed to fill a page.  These were printed on photo paper and I let them dry for 48 hours before cutting them. 




Some woodland background digital papers from Creative Fabrica as well as the black and white silhouette of a baby gnome were used. I used the pattern fill option in the SCAL software and filled the panels with the image and printed the panels on buttercream textured paper.  

I set up the gnome in png format as a print to cut option... sizing to fit on the front panel of the card.  After printing, I hand-colored each gnome using the colors in the photos we had and then set things up in SCAL to finish the print 2 cut.  This was a great stress relieving activity after a very stress-filled week.  ;)




The base of the card was cut using some Mossy Meadow from Stampin' Up.  I guess the humidity was still a little high and the first couple of cuts didn't cut as smoothly as I'd have liked, so I did some additional test cuts and finally got some settings that worked much better.... and finished cutting all the bases.  

Details for the shower are on the back of the vertical pop up piece.  

Assembly for the card is very easy.... and it folds flat enough to fit in a standard invitation envelope for mailing.  Feel free to watch the video found here  (scroll down the page a bit) to see just how easy it is!  

August cards....

Canning, making jam and dehydrating has filled quite a few of our days lately.  The garden is also beginning to produce so veggies are just around the corner and the fruit trees are showing their bounty as well.  HOWEVER, we have managed to squeeze in a bit of crafting time and now that a few of these are already on their way, I can share some of them:

My FIL turned 91 in July.  I've always wanted to make the expanding candle card and this celebration let us do it!  

It was fun and he enjoyed pulling it out and trying to refold it.....  I only lost one cut out of the 270 flame pieces.  Not bad!  The papers were from an Echo Park Let Freedom Ring kit I had some scraps left over from.  He loved all the plaids and prints since he lives in plaid shirts!  

Birthdays abound in August... so I got a little ahead of those and put a couple of them together early.  This one is for my Granddaughter who is turning 16.  She's had some health issues and thankfully, we're able to celebrate the fact that she'll be able to go a full year before having another MRI as her last scan was clear!  

I used several digital papers and images from Nitwit Collections and a tuxedo card base for this one.  It folds flat for mailing and then will pop open a bit to stand.  

The cuts for the two cards above were made using the Skycut C24 and SCAL 6 Pro.  Bearly Art Glue and Scor Tape were used as adhesives.  

My ministering cards for August were made using some unbranded dies - - I purchased the dies through Amazon.  I saw something similar on Pinterest and then decided to flip it to horizontal for about half of the makes.  I used distress inks and a blender tool for the background and some tombow markers for additional interest.  The stamp is from Bear Essentials by Ellen Hutson.

There's more -- but this is enough for today!  Hoping you have a creative day!