Tuesday 28 August 2012

my sd has a new user

My silhouette sd disappeared from her spot and magically reappeared next to hubby!! and he has been having fun with her...I gave him a lesson in how to use her and left him too it, but he says hes not a new user because he has watched me with her over the years...he used some card from my everyday stash and these are his first cards done all on his iwn (hes very proud of them and says he will make the christmas cards this year!!)


I think he did a good job xx but my best stash is under lock and key xx

thank you for looking love debby xx

Ive been playing for christmas

This month for the sil forum card challenge part of the challenge is christmas but not any old christmas card but I cant tell more than that for now...but obviously making christmas cards for the inspiration cards left me in the christmas card stash making mood....and this is what I came up with..

The flowers came from Craft Artist platinum and Daisy trail...it is easy to get the files into the silhouette software to do print and cuts with them...firstly open craft artist,. then choose blank project...then I tend to choose A4....after that choose your digikit...and open it...choose the elements that you would like to take into your sil software and place on the work space...goto file at the top left hand corner and goto export you can then export the page as a jpeg and save to your computer..you then have to find the jpeg on your pc and can then load it into your sil software. Once it is loaded into the sil go to trace and open that then do a trace (as yu would for a print and cut) but instead of clicking onto trace click onto trace and detach...do this seperately for every element on yur page...you can then remove the white background from the files and the bits left behind on the sheet you no longer need...you can then make a print and cut file as normal for your elements (Just remember though that all those elements will be in the one file and they wont be made as seperate files !!

I also found the lovely charm in CA and thought it would look nice on the wreath, then a simple doily from sil store finished it off nicely

Thank you for looking
Love debby xx

Friday 24 August 2012

Ligayas birthday card

I was trawling the net and found this card from http://ligayatg.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/photo-frame-birthday-card-for-lu.html  I love her blog !!

I thought it was a super card and it was inspiring to me!! Well a day or so later I was making the cards for the sil forum challenge and it came to me that I would like to make one for my mum...I then decided it would make her a nice christmas card and heres my take on Ligayas fabulous card!!




All that is left is to put the personal greeting on the heart shape, but I love this card and bow down to Ligaya!!

Thank you for looking
Love debby xx

another wedding card again!!

Ive been very busy making cards for next months silhouette plus forums card challenge and Ive been having so much fun with glitters and cammie but I cant show them here yet until I have set the challlenge so a few more days and voila! all will be revealed...

In the mean time, with my daughter being so lax in telling me she wants cards made for an occasion I thought I had best start rebuilding my stack of cards and I started with a wedding one as I know one of her friends is getting married next month and I havent been asked for a card yet ....so ive got in early!!

I have made so many this year and I know an awful lot of the same people are at all the weddings so Ive made a different card for each....which after a while becomes very difficult to find inspiration...but I found this file on http://www.ukscrappers.co.uk/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=203 and really liked it!!

Although the picture isnt too good because the sun was actually shining today! but i think you can just about see the picture ooops I had an accident and it blew onto the garden as you will see it needs a little tlc but heres the picture anyhows

The wording was done using the sketch in sil software, I loved the layers and cammie cut it beautifully. now to go try get the spot of mud off in the right hand corner, if it wont come off then flowers I think!!

Thank you for looking
love debby xx

Wednesday 22 August 2012

fun wall art

I have been having lots of fun with my cammie Ive been making cards for the september challenge over at http://s15.zetaboards.com/Silhouette_Plus/index/ the sil plus forum but I cant post them on here yet until Ive actually set the challenge for the members...no good giving anyone a sneak peak!! but lets just say Ive been having fun with glitter and flourishes lol

Inbetween making my samples Ive had some fun with my sil vinyl and my hallway now has a new fun look!!

I think I found this file in the sil store but Im not quite sure but I thought it was fun...I cut it . used my transfer tape to put the black on first and lined up the red as best I could and then stuck loads of stick people around the design just for fun!!

Thank you for looking
love debby xx

Monday 20 August 2012

I learned something new today!!

Whilst trawling the net I leaned something new today that could be quite useful for my Cameo work...I often hear people say that they dont know what settings to use because the standard settings in the silhouette software is designed for the american market and the paper/card weights are in pounds whereas we in the uk use gsm weights and it can be confusing for the learner to judge the weights well fear not any more there is a very simple way to find the settings...here goes...

open your file in sil software, go to file at the top left of screen, go down to Preferences, and then go into measuements, and then change it to centimeters, that then changes the paper weights to gsm

easy peasy when you know how...and will take a lot of guess work out of the equasion!!

Thanks for looking
Love Debby xx

Saturday 18 August 2012

Wish by me

Having had fun making the hello file Ive been playing again and this time came up with a star with wish inside..great fun...hope you like them heres the wish file

http://www.fileswap.com/dl/Z71vKXRjR8/wish_by_debby.studio.html


and here is a picture of both files here

Have fun and thank you for looking
Love debby xx

my first file

I have been playing with the software with cammie and followed a tutorial by Tina Fitch whereby you weld something into a frame and I made my very first file of this sort and I m very pleased with myself..Ok so its a simple one but I did it!!!

I am going to try and share it on here but as I have never had a file to share before then I must learn how to share them so another learning curve for me today!! Im sure there are many files like this one available over the internet but this one is special to me because its the first I have done and am making available to share...hope that someone can use it

http://www.fileswap.com/dl/H0QNCZ6r/debs_hello_file.studio.html

the file is a simple circle with the word hello through the middle

Thursday 16 August 2012

1 Heart bird box

I found these in the silhouette store and thought they looked rather sweet and after the 'disaster' of the carousel I thought they would be a good project to play with...


These were easy enough and such fun to play with...I used 250gsm card from the papermill co. and chose bright colours but I have seen these done in florals and they look quite sophisticated but I wanted to make them in 'happy' colours and I think I managed it....They were quick and easy to make and fun I think there will be a few of these under the christmas tree this year with little treats in for the family..

Although I had no instructions on how to..they were a dream to put together!!

Thank you for looking
love debby xx

Carousel

I have been a little lax lately with my crafting..it seems I have had a mental block with using my Cammie the cameo....I think its new machine syndrome because I just panic at having to use it!! So because it cost so much and because I had been looking so forward to owning one I have forced myself to use it and made some get well cards for my sister as she had an operation and I found it so hard to actually do one card let alone 2!!

I began to think that I had lost my mojjo and completely forgot everything I knew about crafting and the silhouette machines...so I trawled through the silhouette store to find something that appealed to me but that also had a degree of difficulty to challenge me and I found a sweet looking carousel.



I cut the file as it came and used one of my 'best' card for the horses (we are memories. Nonsense-splish splash from the white out collection) and startedto put it together and found that the horses were too big!! Should I ever make this again I think I would scale down the horses slightly...this disappointed me so much that I couldnt be bothered to decorate the carousel with the bling I had planned to do and I was sooo annoyed at having wasted a sheet of good card...although I still like the file and think with the proper adjustment you could have some fun decorating this one up....I think should I ever do this one again it will be with my grandson and I will let his imaginatioon run wild with the decoration...

Thank you for looking
Love debby xx

Monday 13 August 2012

My daughter

My daughter got ready for the wedding of her friend at my house,talk about stress!! After  trying on 5 outfits she chose a 6th one from my wardrobe!!! Then her hair wasnt going as it should and I ended up having a panic attack and couldnt breathe where it stressed me out so much! I think it was worth it in the end because she looked lovely and heres the pics to prove it...




Michael her partner was an Usher and he looked very smart in his suit...

Thank you for looking
Love Debby xx

Friday 3 August 2012

Wedding 3d and box

So my daughter is going to yet another wedding...this will be her 4th one this year and of course Mum has had to make all the cards!! So as her partner is an Usher at this one she said she wanted a spectacular card for this wedding....although she did then add every card Ive made for her to take to weddings have been Amazing....talk about buttering mum up lol...

This is what shes ended up with to take....

The file was from the Silhouette store it was in the new designs this week and I saw it and thought it was an interesting file and woo hoo I had a reason to play with it!!!!
 It was so very easy to put together but then I have played with a few files like this one before, but I still think it would be easy enough for a first timer...Having made it up and leaving it to dry I got to play with ribbon!! These bows I actually bought (!) I know I know shame on me...but they were sooo pretty and they were only £1 at The Works for 12!......bargain!

To fancy up the Top I did think of putting a small silk flower on each scallop but alas when you neeeeed it you can never find your glue gun!! so I compromised and stuck gold coloured pearls to it instead.........................
Then came the box...........



I used a contrasting colour, because I wanted the 3d project to stand out from the box and not blend in. I then used some more of the bows to tie it together visually, and added a horseshoe also from the works and also only £1 for 2 of them....I put the same gold pearls at the corners of the lid.

Thank you for looking

Love debby xx

Angel Policies

As you know by coming to my blog that I am an avid crafter and have lots of time on my hands to wander around the internet. Most of the sites I tend to visit is crafting in one way or another and even on facebook I have joined a few groups...mostly for inspiration for my beloved Cammie!!

I have noticed lots of discussions about copyright but no-one seems to mention Angel Policies....now I am beginning to think lots of people are overlooking these....now some companies just use the standard term of terms of use...and some seem to think an angel policy is the same as copyright....

So what is an angel policy?

An Angel Policy is basically a limited license that says how a rubber stamp/digital image can be used and any thing the manufacturer/artist wants to go with that license...This outlines what the crafter can and cant do with the rubber stamp/image and whether they can sale projects or not.

The next paragraph is from About.com I found it during my research on this subject and thought it couldnt be written any clearer and precise than this so I have included it here:

Some  companies have a very generous Angel Policy, which allows stampers to work with the stamped images without restriction and this includes creating products for resale. Other companies offer more limited commercial use of their images, for instance limiting the number of products that can be created from a single stamp. Some companies do not have an Angel Policy – this does not mean that there is a 'free for all' when it comes to the use of their stamps – far from it! It means that their stamps are sold for personal use only and not for commercial gain.

If you want to read their full article here is the link:-
http://rubberstamping.about.com/od/opportunities/a/AngelPolicy.htm

The craft industry is evolving at a quick pace at the moment and the artists and manufacturers have to keep up, and be inovative whilst not stiffling the crafters mojo?? With the development of the machines that are getting bigger and better some crafters are for going rubberstamps and moving to digital images..therefore the term angel policy is heard less and less but be warned it is still there and still relevent to the crafting community!!

So me being me I wrote to several companies about what there angel policies mean and what I as a crafter can do...I have had only 2 replies to date one from Crafters Companion which was very friendly and helpful and their response was very fast indeed and the other company was Teddy Bo who gave me a very nice reply....the other companies (3 of them ) didnt bother to respond yet and as I sent the emails 2 days ago Im not very impressed with them, but I wont name and shame them here because Im not here to do that....

So here is one of the Angel Policies that I have been reading this week...

Crafters Companion:...You Can::Use Crafters Companion stamps for creating personal and resaleable items as long as each item is Hand Stamped (no mechanical or Computerised reproduction in any form is allowed)

Items sold Must give credit to Crafters Companion on the back of the creation, and the original licensor where applicable

YOU CAN'T....
Relable or seperate and resell stamp designs
Use stamp designs as Company logos or trademarks
Promote or sell items made using the rubber stamps online

Reading this Angel policy it all seems pretty clear but the last sentance  in the you cants column left me a little confused as a blogger because I didnt really know what the implications for that maight be if I made cards and wanted to blog them the word promote was the problem...so off I went with the email and asked them as a forum member and a blogger and fbooker could I then post my cards on line and the answer was YES but I cant sell them on ebay or etsy or anything like that, but I can make them and sell them at craft fairs church halls etc but you will have to look at the policy for each stamp individually because they do change from stamp to stamp depending on the license that they hold from the artist...

So I suggest before using your stamps here and there you find out the policies on them and keep a count of just how many you are making so you dont go over the permitted allowance I only make a few with each stamp before it loses inspiration for me so not a problem for the average user but if you are selling then something to be aware of..and also some dont allow you to sell anything so thats important to know..its all in the angel policies so read them but dont be frightened of them the companies want you to buy their images and enjoy them!!

Thank You for reading this today I hope it at least helps someone as well as me hehe

Love Debby xx