In The Beginning

2012-02-14T14:20:00.002+01:00

Yes!! We are just half a degree shy of zero and it is only 2 o'clock in the afternoon. There's still time to hit that "thaw" mark. (Several days ago it got down to -35 C which is -31F. Trust me that is double layers inside the house cold.)

Happy Valentines Day. Going on a date with hubby this evening. Had an extra coffee this afternoon so that I can stay awake past 9:00.

Time to put away the frills, hearts and lace. My freebie today is for the next card giving occasion - St. Patrick's Day. This was a big holiday when I was growing up (in an Irish Catholic family of 13.) Lots of good memories.

This is a decoupage sheet I did years ago when I belonged to a Yahoo group. (I don't know where I got the original image so if anyone is aware of a copyright issue, let me know and I will take the file down.) I redid it in Inkscape yesterday so that it is a print and cut. (It is in layers, so you can hide the cut lines when you print it.) The registration lines marks are for the cutting software I use (Signcut.) You should be able to delete them and copy the file into whatever makes your machine cut. The SVG file is here

Wycinanki - Polish Paper Cutting

2012-02-03T15:45:00.001+01:00

This morning it was -22 C. If it keeps going like this C will equal F. (If it does, I am staying in bed till Spring)

Today's freebie is a wycinanki from a template I found here. I traced it in Inkscape. The SVG is here.

This is one I finished up this morning. The black part is an SVG file. The colored parts are hand cut. A great tool I used is the Fine-Tip glue applicator available here. It was great for gluing down all the little fringe bits.

2012-01-31T12:18:00.001+01:00

Today is a good day to sit on my radiator and drink anything hot. It has been below freezing the last couple of days here, and it is expected to get even colder by Saturday. So, coffee in one hand and the other on my laptap I have just used up my morning.

I've been working on too many projects and finishing none of them. I made this frame as part of a project that I abandoned. I think I'll use it in other ways, though. Maybe a card front with some punched flowers?

Here's the link. SVG I've noticed that people are downloading mainly SVG files. Unless I have requests for other file types, I'm going to just upload the SVGS.

2012-01-21T23:15:00.000+01:00

Paisley.... I've always loved that word. Think I'll name my next critter Paisley. Imagine, Paisley the doe eyed milk cow, or Paisley Pig. Hmmmm

Enough ruminating. I have a sample of paisley parts for you today. It is from a bigger set that I am offering for sale on You Cut I Cut my Etsy shop.

svg dxf eps pdf

2012-01-17T10:15:00.000+01:00

I wouldlike to tell you about Peepoosh. She’squite an ordinary looking duck; black and white with brown eyes and a rather plainyellowish beak. She doesn’t quack, butmakes a honking sound, somewhat like a goose with a congested chest.

Once thereweren’t any ducks at Koszyce Farm. So, on a rather pleasant spring morning fiveyears ago, Wes set off to market with plans to buy a few ducklings. We’d raise them up over the summer and hepromised to eat them in the fall. A“few” turned out to be fifteen.

Weekspassed and the little balls of fluff turned into 8 pound pooping machines. I imagine you are unfamiliar with thephysiology of ducks. Let me educate you- they eat and poop at the same time, and they eat all day long.

Wes’ fatherlived with us then, and he said he would have no problem eating them, butneither Wes nor I would ever be that hungry. We did know that they had to go. Our neighbor Stan offered to do “the deed.” And in exchange took onehome to butcher later that week for his Sunday dinner.

A fewdays later our neighbor lady (who spends all her time sitting at the windowkeeping tabs on everyone) called us. She said one of our ducks was walking down the road. (Mind you, this duck can fly.) But there she was waddling down the middle ofthe road. She was going home.

She’sbeen home ever since. Two years agoshe got broody, and since there was no drake around, her eggs weren’tfertile. We kept taking them out of thenest. She got so desperate that she triedto hatch a box of walnuts that were in the barn. Finally we decided to buy fertile eggs forher. Whenever anyone came near she’dmake little peeping sounds, and hiss at them. And that is how she got her name – Peepoosh.

2012-01-15T12:58:00.000+01:00

We FINALLY have snow here in Poland. I'd like a week of it please, then Spring. Don't think I'm likely to get what I wish for.

Today's freebie is for those of you who feel green....Irish green that is. It is just two elements that you might use as you create your St Paddy's cards and pages. If you can't read Gaelic, it says "cheers." (I can't either. What would we do without Google?)

svg pdf dxf eps

2012-01-10T13:10:00.001+01:00

Just a note - only the current freebie is available for download. I'll try to do one once a week, so check back in occasionally. Also I'll take suggestions if you have something specific you are looking for AND it is within my abilities to design.

2012-01-09T20:18:00.001+01:00

Don't know about this Etsy thing - seems like a whole lot of work for things that used to be a whole lot of fun. I've listed a few things, so I'll see how it goes. My shop name is You Cut I Cut.

I'd like to share a free file. It is for a votive or tea light holder. The other designs in the picture are on Etsy. svg dxf pdf eps
My husband and I had a few interesting conversations trying to figure out how the pull tab mechanism in my mechanical valentine should work. I bought a book by David Carter that has working models, but things are not so simple as they appear.

When you pull the tab, the word "THINK" changes to "KNOW" and for those unwilling to commit to a relationship - it will change back too.

2012-01-03T13:21:00.001+01:00

Christmas is put away for another year, but I still have use for all that red and green paper. Valentine's and St.Patrick's are not far off. This year I've decided to try and sell a few projects on Etsy, (if I can get myself in a "production" mode again after of the oodles of Christmas cards I made.)

I've got a file for you today. Hearts and Hearts Created in Inkscape, I've saved it as an eps, dxf, and svg formats. It is three separate heart layers to form a basis for a card, or just a decorative element.

Don't know whats wrong with the download try these (keeping fingers crossed.)

https://rapidshare.com/files/943937305/hearts_and_hearts.svg

https://rapidshare.com/files/693837683/hearts_and_hearts.eps
https://rapidshare.com/files/4139338103/hearts_and_hearts.dxf

2011-12-23T12:19:00.000+01:00

So much for good intentions. I'm not going to beat myself up over it, though. Maybe sooner or later I'll get in the swing.

I do have a free file for you. It is a tri-fold oval card. It is in svg only. You can open it in Inkscape, which is a marvelous free vector graphics program. It has a bit of a learning curve; but trust me, if you take the time you will be so glad you did. The graphics on my card were free from .RAKScraps I imported them into Inkscape and created a print and cut file. I used my BlackCat Cougar to cut the embellishments as well as the card.
Tri Fold Oval Card template

2011-12-11T07:19:00.001+01:00

I'm busy into Christmas Card making. Thank goodness I have a Blackcat Cougar to do all my cutting. I also made some presents of paper cutting. The cuttings are a little smaller than A3. I drew the file on Inkscape, then used the Signcut software to cut them on my 13" Cougar. They depict facets of the lives of one of my brothers, my "real" sister and my dear friend, or soul sister.

I hope to get a file host set up soon, so that I can share some cutting files with you.

2011-12-03T08:56:00.001+01:00

Great Blog candy--- Have fallen in love with Marianne Products

Marianne's Design Divas

Back to Blogging

2011-12-03T08:30:00.001+01:00

I'm back. This blogging takes dedication,which I apparently have been in short supply of recently. Today I am starting my New Years resolutions early "I will put something on my blog once a week."

I've decided to have a hodge podge approach to blogging, rather than focus on one thing. So you will likely see a whole lot of paper-crafting posts plus a bit of sewing, pet loving, farm living, and who knows.

I love to play in Inkscape http://inkscape.org/ so I hope to post some free SVG cutting files every so often.