Designing with SVGs

Hey guys welcome to my little corner of the world! Today I am participating in Craftin Desert Divas Designing with Dies/SVGs Designer Creative Challenge.

I don't know about you, but I love me some Dies and SVGs! Today I am going to chat a little about SVGs, why I love them, and share my project using Craftin Desert divas Trat Bag Add Ons: Hippty Hoppity and Birthday Critters.

What are SVGs? SVGs or Scalable Vector Graphics are an XML-based vector image format for two-dimensional graphics with support for interactivity. When it comes to crafting this interactivity means it is turned into a cut file for use with machines like the Cricut Explore, which is what I own. My understanding is that SVGs can be used with other machines such as the Silhouette. There are several companies out there that offer SVGs for sale that can be imported to your machine, I got mine from Craftin Desert Divas.

While these files were meant as an add on to the Treat Bag Dies, it doesn't mean you can't use them for other purposes.

I saw these cuties and knew I wanted to make some mini note cards that I could pop in with a gift or into a loved one's lunch so I downloaded my files from Craftin Desert Divas and imported them into my Cricut.

I started a new projected and clicked on the upload icon to the left of my canvas.

This will take you to the next screen where you can upload your image or file.

And this takes you to yet another page where you can browse your computer or tablet for the file you will be uploading. 

The SVGs from Craftin Desert Divas all come in one easy to upload file. So all of the Hippity Hoppity critters are in one file and all of the Birthday Critters are in one file which is uploaded to your device.

I haven't made all the Critters into cards yet, I just started with my favorites. I opted to  leave off the birthday hats as I wanted to these to be all occasion, just because mini cards.

I added both sets to my canvas and then chose which Critters I wanted to cut out and sent them to my Cricut Mat. From there it was all about inking the edges, gluing my pieces together, and finishing them off with some patterned paper, white gel pen, and Wink of Stella!

For my Panda card I cut the image out of Neenah Classic Crest 80lb cardstock and black cardstock. I glued my images together with Ranger Matte Mutli Medium. I accented the Panda with a white gel pen some Wink of Stella, and did some light shading with Antique Linen Distress Oxide Ink. I made a 3.5" top folding note card and added some Doodlebug Cookies and Milk paper before adding the Panda with some 3M foam tape. 

For my Fox card I cut the image out of Neenah Classic Crest 80lb cardstock and some old rust cardstock from Stampin' Up!. I glued my images together with Ranger Matte Mutli Medium. I accented the Fox with a white gel pen some Wink of Stella, and did some light shading with Antique Linen Distress Oxide Ink. I made a 3.5" top folding note card and added some Doodlebug Cookies and Milk paper before adding the Panda with some 3M foam tape.

For my Bunny card I cut the image out of Neenah Classic Crest 80lb cardstock, black cardstock,  and some pink cardstock. I glued my images together with Ranger Matte Mutli Medium. I accented the Panda with a white gel pen some Wink of Stella, and did some light shading with Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide Ink. I made a 3.5" top folding note card and added some Doodlebug Cookies and Milk paper before adding the Panda with some 3M foam tape. 

If you have any questions about how I made these or about the SVGs feel free to comment below. Now it's your turn, go forth and make some adorable creations with these critters. Thanks for stopping by, until next time keep on crafting!

Let's Get Coloring

Hey guys welcome to my little corner of the world! Today I am participating in Craftin Desert Divas Let's Get Coloring Designer Creative Challenge.

Before I get to the challenge can we chat? Look I'm not trying to be dramatic, regardless of what my hubby says about me, but I thought I would warn you that today's card is inspired by true events. You know like in the movies.

I spent my weekend sick with what has to be the WORST summer cold EVER. Okay maybe I can be a little dramatic, but my cold inspired my card!

I spent a lit of time thinking about my go to items for adding color to my Digi Images. I'm a fan of most mediums, but today I grabbed for some of my alcohol markers. I think part of the reason I like alcohol markers so much is they make me look like more of an artist than I really am. You don't have to be an expert in using alcohol markers to give your images a little bit of depth. If you're just starting out two markers in the same color family can go a long way.  So that's what I did today; I grabbed two of each color in each of the color families I was using. I grabbed my Spectrum Noir markers and colored in my images and since I was using two colors per color family it took about 15 minutes to color in. I set my images aside and pulled out my Polygon Stencil from Craftin Desert Divas and got to work on my background. I tapped on some Distress Oxide Ink in Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, and Fired Brick. For good measure I used some of the Fired Brick with water and flicked over the front of my panel.

I layered my panel on some black cardstock, added that to my Lawn Fawn Chili Pepper card base, I glued the volcano and palm tree down flat to my card front. I then popped up the stegosaurus with some foam tape and finished it all off by adding some Lollipop Sequins and my cold medicine inspired sentiment.

 Products Used:
Stamps: Craftin Desert Divas Dino Stegosaurus Digital Stamp Set, Dino Triceratops Digital Stamp Set, and the Dino Tyrannosaurus Digital Stamp Set.
Paper: Lawn Fawn Chili Pepper Cardstock, Black Cardstock, Strathmore Bristol Smooth, and Neenah Classic Crest 80lb
Ink: White Gel Pen, Distress Oxide Ink in Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, and Fired Brick 
Accessories: Creftin Desert Divas Polygon Stencil and Lollipop Sequins.

I hope you enjoyed my addition to the Challenge. Now it's your turn to play along and post some of your art in the Craftin Desert Divas Gallery. If you're looking for some great Digi Stamps, don't forget you can sign up for Craftin Desert Divas Digi Stamp Club. For $7.00 a month you get $14.00 worth of Digi Credits.

Until next time, keep on crafting!

BIRTHDAY CARD STASH - DESIGNER CREATIVE CHALLENGE

Hey guys! Welcome to my little corner of the world. Today I decided to join in on Craftin Desert Divas Birthday Card Stash Creative Challenge.

Even with as much crafting as I do, I always find I’m in need of birthday cards. Let’s be honest, you can never have too many. This time of year I have a slew of birthdays coming up for various family members so this was the perfect opportunity to add to my stash!

I thought I would share what I do to streamline my card making process when I’m making multiple cards. I am all about putting cards together assembly line style. I like to do everything in groups. For example I will color all my images, then cut them all out, work on all my backgrounds, add my images, and finally add my sentiments.

For today’s project I printed out all my images from Craftin Desert Divas Space Cadet digital set, grabbed a lap tray, and spent a little time multi-tasking, in which I mean I was watching a movie with the family while I colored away. I’ve had quite a busy week, so to save some time I started up my Brother Scan N Cut and let it cut out the images. I threw all my images in a little container then set to cutting up a couple sheets of black cardstock. I knew I wanted to do a Galaxy background for these cuties but that can be time consuming, so I opted for the quick and easy galaxy background. I used my black cardstock and added some Distress Oxide Ink for some color and splattered some white gouache and some Dr. Ph. Martin's Iridescent Silver Calligraphy Color for “stars”. Next I added the images that were going to be flat on the cards with some Multi Medium Matte and added the images that were going to be popped up with foam tape; then added my sentiments. Last but not least I finished off my cards with some Fairy Dust and Lollipop sequins.

Project Supplies
Stamps: Space Cadet Digital Set
Inks: Distress Oxide Inks in Twisted Citron, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet, Mermaid Lagoon for the background. For the “moon” that the cadets are standing on Antique Linen and Hickory Smoke.

Paint: White Gouache and Dr. Ph. Martin's Iridescent Silver Calligraphy Color

Adhesive: Multi Media Matte and Foam Tape

Accessories: Fairy Dust and Lollipop
I have to say that this was such a fun challenge and I got some much needed birthday cards out of it. Don't forget you can join Craftin Desert Divas Digi Stamp Club and get $14 worth of Digi Stamps for $7.

Until next time, keep on crafting!