All of my cutting file shares are free. Please do not redistribute or sell what I freely share. These cutting file shares are for personal use only.

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Thursday, March 14, 2013

The Things You Can Find and Make

I just finished cutting a card I made by using a fun template from Popupology. The PDF is free and made for a nice challenge. I changed some lines around and converted the once PDF file to  a nice Studio cutting file. I've always wanted to go to London so when I saw this St. Peter's Cathedral card I knew I had to give it a whirl.There are some great finds out there in the WWW (world wide web). I felt like I hit the jackpot.

Next, I started on some more Easter projects. Every year we host an Easter egg hunt, dinner, and of course make baskets for all of the children attending. I'm blessed to have such a wonderful husband who took the time to make Easter crafting easier.  I've been wanting a bow maker for a long time. I have a Bowdabra but it's not been my favorite. When I saw a post on the Silhouette Plus forum about the bow makers it made me remember what a pain it was to make all of the bows I made last year. I had been meaning to get one of these made but wasn't exactly sure what I needed. My wonderful husband took this on as a "no problem" project and made me one in under an hour. All we needed were things we already had laying around the house like a piece of left over wood which he cut down to about 10" and it is 1 1/2 " thick. I had a 3/8" dowel rod so he grabbed his cordless drill, a 3/8 inch paddle drill bit, made some markings on the wood to place each hole 1" apart. He drilled 9 holes and I can make a 1" to 8" bow. The bows turn out great! I couldn't leave it looking all plain so I grabbed a brush and painted it pink and the dowel rods white. I did learn something which should never be done. Do not place the dowel rods in the holes to let them dry. The moisture of the paint made the wood dowels swell a bit and they were stuck like glue. After it was nice and dry I was able to pull them out but this was no fun and I had to sand the dowel rods to get them to fit perfect again.

The day wasn't done. Knowing I needed lots of decorations I made a cutting file of an Easter chick and and egg.Using my trusty Cameo, I set up this cutting file as a Print and Cut. One I cut as a paper piecing and a smaller one as a plain Print and Cut. I'm hoping be getting more of them made tonight.

Peep books are one of the things I try to make for the little ones each and every year. I haven't got around to making these just yet. I can hardly believe Easter is so close and I'm always behind as usual.

This was a yesterday project. I was using my Cameo and thought....hmmmm... I wonder how many Silhouette Studio users don't know about some of the features which may come in handy so I made a video. I want everyone to learn all they can about the software so I make new videos when things come to mind but I always seem to leave something out that I wanted to share.

So, this is the day in the life of Debbie...lol. Thank you for stopping by and taking a look around. Hugs to all.


St. Paul's Cathedral Pop-Up Card


New Bow Maker


Paper Piecing Print and Cut Chicks


Paper Piecing Chick






18 comments:

  1. WOW, Debbie, the St. Paul's Cathedral is gorgeous. Will you show us how to convert the pdf file into a cut file, please? Or do you already have that somewhere. Thanks so much for sharing!

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  2. Wow is right! You've had quite a busy and productive day - that pop up card is gorgeous! I went to the site and downloaded a couple of the pdfs - we'll see how long it takes me to get frustrated with it all :-) I like your bow maker, too. I found something similar at Michael's in the wooden letter department for $2. I saw it posted on a blog a long time ago and had to go find one. I like my BowEasy but sometimes the dowel rod thingy is just the ticket.

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  3. Come to London in the summer - we still have snow! :)

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  4. Wonderful projects Debbie. The Cathedral is stunning. A very productive day.
    Thank you for sharing these great files.
    Hugs
    Helen

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  5. Shhh....Jackie, don't tell my hubby you found this kind of bow maker at Michaels for $2.00. I would hate to see a grown man cry...lol.

    Kaitlyn, I would love to go all over Europe. It's been a long time dream. I hope some day I can pop in and say hello. :)

    Thank you Helen. I couldn't share the Chick with Egg or the Cathedral file because my share network is almost out of band width again. I'll email them to you. Hugs, Debbie :)

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  6. Snoopyncharliebrown,here is a fabulous tutorial by Kay form her blog Cleversomeday where she explains how to use the PDFCreator software to convert files. After I converted the file to an .svg file I still had to spend some kind of time deleting lines and replacing them with perforated line but in the long run it worked out well. I wasn't able to share the files here on my blog because my previous file shares have been downloaded so much, I'm almost out of band width. I'm trying to hang onto what I have left until the end of the month.

    Oh, here's that link: http://cleversomeday.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/print-to-svg-to-create-cutfiles/

    I'll try to make a complete tutorial on converting and editing these kind of detailed PDF files.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Debbie, for the info. Will have to take time to learn that. ~ Manna

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  7. Your cutting files are superb Debbie thank you...I was so eager to get the Easter Basket files last night that I forgot to leave a comment...sorry...put it down to a slight "senior moment"...LOL

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  8. I saw similar bow makers, but what a price! Like you, I hauled out my drill, scrap wood and dowels and made my own. Following someone else's idea (sorry I can't remember who) I also drilled a hole in the base block so I can place the dowels inside and store completely flat. Love it!

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  9. Lovely card Debbie,thanks for showing your creations.
    Blessing's,Jocelan

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  10. Years before I owned my silhouette, I found a similar book at the library with architectural cutout patterns. I had no idea there was an entire genre devoted to this form of paper cutting. I now have another use for my silhouette that I would've never imagined had it not been for your site. I look forward to seeing template and in the meanwhile i'll attempt to convert a different pattern myself. (I need more minutes in my hours!)

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  11. That video is great , Debbie! I love your tips and I always learn something good! Thanks so much!

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  12. Thanks Trish, every time I make a video I think of sometihng I left out then tell myself..next time. I guess this is why I have so many made...lol I'm so glad you found it helpful.

    kcli, I would love to get that book. I've designed a couple of them by hand but an architectural book like the one you have sounds awesome!If you would like the cutting file for the St.Paul's Cathedral please email me using the link on the right hand side and I'll be happy to email it to you. converting these are a bit time consuming. I would have share the file but my band width is so low and I need to make it last until the end of the month.Hugs, Debbie

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  13. so much wonderful fun, thanks for sharing as always, hugs

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  14. The cathedral looks gorgeous & I am sure your former sister-in-law will love it. The bows look great too - I wish my OH would make me one - I suppose I could/should do it myself mind you. LOL. The chicks & egg are a lot of fun & very cute. Wonderful projects, Debbie.
    Tine :)

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  15. Debbie I love your silhouette tutorials on you tube. and I tried to join the Silhouette Plus forum, but it says my email is already being used. I have questions I would love to ask you, but I am blocked out from joinging your forum, makes me very sad. Please tell me how I can join or ask you questions for my silhouette cameo on this blog.
    My question is if I get to you. When I try to move letters like a monogram to slightly overlap my letters go too far I cannot slide them smoothly and slightly. I am doing monograms for cars and it is so frustrating.Please help

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  16. Hi pvandever, The problem with moving things slightly is most likely, you have the "Snap to Grid" on. Go to your "Grid" setting and un-check "snap to grid". It's strange the Silhouette Plus forum won't let you register. Would you mind emailing me? The link to email me is on the upper right side of my blog. I would love to get you registered and check into this issue. I'm so sorry you've been having problems. I definitely will try to fix it. Hugs, Debbie

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  17. Hi Debbie, just got a Silhouette cameo for Christmas from my lovely husband, I have been watching tutorials on you tube and found yours to be the best, and so easy to get to grips with,I shall be watching out for more. I have just downloaded the PDF for St Pauls as visited it as a youngster, and use to live about 59 miles away from it, would love to get your St Pauls file, as not yet got that good on any of the Silhouettes uses etc. anyway just really want to say thanks for sharing your tutorials been so helpful.

    Terri (Teresa)

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