My VERY Productive Day!

Today was a very productive day !

A Mother's Bragging Rights!

I just had to share the little bulletin boards that my son had to make for his Early Childhood class. The assignment was to come up with a lesson plan, and then build a bulletin board around that. Well, of course I let him use my Cricut ~ and they came out beautiful! Now he realizes just how long it can take to make something from start to finish. Each of these took MANY hours to complete. He just got his grades back last night - needless to say - and this is the bragging part - he got an 100 on both! So proud!

My First Attempt At SCAL

I had been hearing so many great things about the Sure Cuts A Lot program and cutting with the Cricut machine that I finally had to jump into the fire and buy one for myself. It has been a learning process - to say the least - and I am learning - slow but sure. This is my first attempt (so please don't laugh) at creating a file from a graphic I found on Google of my favorite mouse, Mickey!

I was quite please with it for a first try!

My Version of a One Cupcake Box

There have been many versions of the cupcake box bouncing around - here is mine. It will hold one, very nicely decorated cupcake. There is a front cutout for viewing the cupcake when the box is closed. Again this cutout could be interchanged with other shapes, as long as it remains the about the same size.

I'd love to see your creations!

Boxes - My One Cupcake Box with Window.cassell.cut

A Matchbook Purse

I know these have been done before but not yet by me! Here is a Matchbook Fold-over Purse. You place your goodies in clear bags (found at Walmart) and then staple them under the inside flap. Fold over the scallop top, tie with a ribbon bow and your done. How much easier could that be! A favorite of mine for a quick but cute goodies bag!

Purses - My Matchbook Fold-over purse.cut

A Box W/Attached Cover

Another box - one can never have enough boxes, I say - saw a similar one on Angel Stamper's blog and had to recreate one for the Cricut. I used a bunny cut out for the front of mine, since Easter is fast approaching; but any shape can be interchanged. Since it's not too big, I was able to make it within the 6x12 mat for the Baby Bug too! Enjoy!

Boxes - My Interchangable Cutout with attached cover.cut

My Love of Boxes Continues...

Here is rather cute, larger box for holding anything you desire to fill it with. It has a front cutout - which you could switch out for different occasions. It measures about 5" wide by 2" deep. This one is a little too big for Baby Buggers (sorry) and was made with Plantin Schoolbook. (This has been my cartridge of choice for making cutfiles with lately)

Boxes - My Interchangable Cutout with separate cover.cut

Mini Bon-Bon Boxes

These Bon-Bon holders were actually modeled after ones that I saw on the Scor-Pal site, Feb. 09 E-zine. They would probably hold a couple nuggets or something similar in size. Both holders are on the one file. They were made with Plantin Schoolbook with the Baby Bug mat. There is a page for both showing the scoring lines so be sure NOT to cut that page when making some! Enjoy!

Boxes - My Bon Bon 2-3.cut

A Big Bon-Bon Box

If you checked out Scor-Pal projects lately, you'll see in the Feb. 09 E-Zine, that this BonBon Box was made strictly using a Scor-Pal. I figured why not try to duplicate something similar with the Design Studio. Much easier to cut!

This is the larger - with the base measuring just about 2 1/2" square. Probably big enough for a Reese PB Cup. (Of course there is NO chocolate in my house when I need it!-LOL)

Made using Plantin Schoolbook - since I figured more people have that than George!

Boxes - My Bon Bon 1.cut

A Tiny-Teeny Box

I saw a similar box on Angel Stamper's blog and thought this would be easy to recreate in Design Studio. It's a cute little box for holding just the right amount of tiny treats. The finished box measures only 2" x 2". There are two files - one for George and one for Plantin Schoolbook. (Both on one file) It is Baby Bug compatible!

I think I will be making these for the kids in my classes - not too big and not too hard to make!

Boxes - My Candy Box.cassell.cut

Cards from Templates

Here are a few cards that I made with a template I purchased from "Hot Off the Press". One is called a Giant Spiral Card and one a Giant Flower Card. I got lazy with these and actually bought the templates instead of trying to make one. I am always looking for a different card to make and give.

My Harley Davidson Card

Here is a card I made for my hubby's friend. He loves Harleys! Thanks to Leah (BeeCherryLady) on the Cricut forum for the Harley Davidson logo file. The inside was made with the Paper Dolls cartridge - just changing some of the clothes to fit a Harley hog!

Finally Getting Around To Posting

Boy, it's been a busy week! I am really excited about my new program - Sure Cuts A Lot! I have been trying to absorb all the tutorials I can regarding using Inkscape and SCAL. Hopefully soon I will have some new files to share - but not to worry - I'll still be making files with the Cricut Design Studio too!

What's Next to Come?

I have been very busy this week making some new box cut files. Some that I have seen on the Scor-pal site and some similar to ones I have seen while surfing the net. I still have to run a few of them through the Cricut and test to make sure they will both cut correctly and assemble properly. I tried to make most of the files using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge, as I know not everyone has George & Basic Shapes. Many of the files will work with the Baby Bug!

I had an ah-ha moment when I finally figured out a way to Cricut and spend time with the family. Now that my laptop has the DS installed on it as well as my Desktop, I create my files on my laptop and then download them to my desktop through 4shared files.com - At least now I don't hear complaints that I am spending too much time in my craft room!

So...check back this weekend for a few new postings and cut files!

** Check back about mid-week - I just bought SCAL and have been playing around with it and had absolutely no time to download to my blog!

Stepper Box

I found this wonderful box while surfing the net for ideas. You can find a great detailed tutorial to make one here:

http://stampinterri.typepad.com/stampin_terri/files/fantasy_keepsake_boxes.doc I did make a cut file for all the different sized boxes you will need, although a file for this is not really needed unless you are going to make them in a large quantity. I used just my regular paper cutter to make mine! The cut file was made in George, but can easily be made in any cartridge that has a square on it.

Just wanted to share a really fun, fairly easy box to make that I think is just too cute once assembled.

Boxes - My Stepper Box.cassell.cut

House Box/Bank

Here is a cute box which can also be used as a bank. Just be sure to use really tacky tape if using this as a bank. I love Terrifically Tacky Tape for all my projects that I really need a good adhesive. I'd love to see what anyone does with this file as the embellishing ideas are endless!

Some hints for assembling:

I found it easier to embellish the house box before gluing it together because I could push the pieces down much harder than if it was already in its box shape. When scoring the scallop roof edging, score the short side at 1/4" and then turn and score the long edge at 3" (since the edging is 6" long this is half). Cut from the scalloped side just til you reach the other score mark NOT all the way through. This will allow the edging to bend over each other.

When gluing the roof on, I carefully place my hand inside the box from the bottom and this allowed me to put pressure on the house roof tabs onto the roof piece itself.

(Hopefully this wasn't confusing!)

Boxes - My House Savings Bank Box.cassell.cut