Wednesday, September 28, 2011

MTC/SVG Monday ~ even though its Wednesday!

Better late than never right? I do apologize for this not posting on Monday, I never finished uploading the pictures cause blogger was being a booger and I had an early appt. at the pain clinic, which we later found out was the a rehabilitation clinic, wrong place but had went thru the whole examination and telling the whole story and of course these doctors always have to check my reflexes and needless to say I am still recovering and it took everything for my husband not to get out the chair and do who knows what to the Doctor. But hopefully at the right Pain Clinic they will listen and I'll be better by then which is Oct. 10th.


Since I just LOVE Halloween and Disney I have a few more Images for you. These images are copyright and owned by Disney, I just simply colored them and made cut files out of them but Disney is the sole ownership of the original images.  If you do open the MTC files you will need to have the updated version of MTC, I must have opened them to check them and saved them in the newer version. I usually double check the files are complete and ready to share before uploading. I have the info below of the Updated version below. If you have SCAL or use the SVG files you won't need to worry.

MTC Update! 4.0.2 Beta Download Version 4.0.2Click Here.



The Cut Files for this week are:
Disney HalloweenTime Files :)
Please Don't share my files, please send people here to my blog for the links. Thank you

Minnie and Mickey behind the pumpkin

Pirate Mickey



Mickey and Pluto as witches

Minnie as a Witch

I have put all the files into a ZIP format file contains all of the images in MTC, SVG, EPS/AI File Formats.
Freebies expire after awhile and are removed as a Free download.

Sorry Freebie Has Expired

Check For $ale Tab or My Etsy Store for Possible Purchase


If you enjoy my files and would like to make a donation for my hard work and time, I'd greatly appreciate it, just click the paypal button below or on my side bar. If you can't afford anything at this time, I understand that too, but it would be greatly appreciated if you left a simple "Thanks" in the comment section. 

Donation button



 Until Next Time...
Happy Cutting!
TTFN Jill aka The Scrapoholic


Saturday, September 24, 2011

Sketchy Saturday!

A Sketch is an “idea” or “inspiration” to get a layout or card done. You can turn the sketches 90* either way or 180* to get a different “look” add a little more embellishments, use different embellishments or shapes to fit your pictures.
 Below the Sketches you will find a “Sneak Peak” of the Design Team inspiration this week, below each inspiration picture is the Design Team Members name! Simply click their name to go to their blog, facebook fanpage, online gallery to see the full Inspiration.

Layout Sketch:

Card Sketch:


Design Team Inspiration:
Please take a moment and visit each of their Blogs/fanpages and leave them some loving words on their hard work on thier wonderful inspiration, they would love to hear from you and how you enjoy their work. Thanks.

Sneak peak at Jann's card see full card -->Jann's Blog HERE 

Sneak peak at Jann's card see full card -->  Jann's Blog HERE 




Sneak peak at Sarah's Layout see full Layout -->  Sarah's Blog HERE



If you are inspired to get a card or layout done you can add a link to yours below. I love to see what others do with my sketches. 

Until Next time...
Happy Crafting!
TTFN Jill aka The Scrapoholic

Monday, September 19, 2011

MTC/SVG Monday

I've been slacking a bit on my every Monday getting a file out. This summer has not been much fun. Things are slowly settling down but still lots going on. Since my external hard Drive is still waiting to be fixed :(  which holds all my files and my other computer crashed and no longer has all my files. I've had to start from scratch. I am lucky that I have many older files stored online, the ones I have for sale. In any case, I have been playing around a bit in MTC and one set of files I have been dilagently working on still needs work they are being lil buggers but Since I just LOVE halloween I found some great Disney Images for you. These images are copyright and owned by Disney, I just simply colored them and made cut files out of them but Disney is the sole ownership of the original images.  If you do open the MTC files you will need to have the updated version of MTC, I must have opened them to check them and saved them in the newer version. I usually double check the files are complete and ready to share before uploading. I have the info below of the Updated version below. If you have SCAL or use the SVG files you won't need to worry.

MTC Update! 4.0.2 Beta

MTC is improving again! I just LOVE MTC!

Custom Mat Sizes
- Add custom mat size from the Mat Size combo box.
- Remove custom mat size by selecting mat then hitting delete key.
- No more "Please Wait... Rendering Mat" messages. Mats render extremely fast.
- Zoom from 10% all the way up to 1000% in a split second.
- Ctrl+Mouse-Wheel zoom now zooms centered.
- Create any size mat with custom Margins/No Cut Zones.
- Dark Blue mat has been replaced with Purple. Pink mat colors updated.
- Option to hide/show No-Cut-Zone margins.

Multi-Layered Conical Warp
- Create multiple layered/colored conical warps -- preview in color in un/rolled view.

Texture Sizing Simplified
- Holding your shift-key while sizing a shape from the corners will scale the textures properly.
- "Scale Paths" option added to the Select Texture dialog's Scale option.

Fuse-N-Weld Updated
- Completly rewritten
- Allows for customizable tolerance
- Note: Make sure to join the segments together before fusing them

Node Editing Tools
- Toggle tools by hitting the 'W' key, View>>Node Mode or clicking the Node icon in the upper right-hand of mat.
- Node Edit Tool: Edit line segments, Bezier segments, Bezier control points, Bezier/Line paths, insert/delete nodes, etc. (be sure to use right-click menu)
- Basic Shape Tool: Add basic shapes by clicking and dragging
- Bezier Draw Tool: Draw Bezier curves (Fat Path option included)
- Freehand Line Draw Tool: Draw freehand lines. Hold CTRL key to draw straight lines (Fat Path option included)
- Measure Tool: Measuring tape and protractor.
- Eraser Tool: Erase parts of paths easily (Inverse eraser option included)
- Knife Tool: Slice and dice paths.
- Select tools using hotkeys: F1-F8

Other:
Raster Image File Dialog Paste Button: Copy and paste images from Windows Explorer.
Reverse Paths option added to Advanced
Welding of Open Paths fixed
Simplifiying of Open Paths fixed
EPS importing fixed for certain files
MANY, MANY bug fixes.

4.0.1 Update:


Fixes crash when closing out a single project after node-mode was enabled.
All knot keywords have been replaced with the node keyword.


4.0.2 Update:


Fixes more crashes when closing out projects after node-mode was enabled.
Arrow keys now nudge line segments (Ctrl+arrow keys does a nudge X 20).
Clipboard fixes.

Download Version 4.0.2Click Here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



The Cut Files for this week are:
Disney HalloweenTime Files :)
Please Don't share my files, please send people here to my blog for the links. Thank you

Minnie and Mickey behind the pumpkin



Pirate Mickey




Mickey Pumpkin
Freebies expire after awhile and are removed as a Free download.

Sorry Freebie Has Expired

Check For $ale Tab or My Etsy Store for Possible Purchase





Design Team Inspiration



If you enjoy the Design Team Inspiration, please stop by thier blogs by clicking thier names under their projects photos and leave them some kind words. If you enjoy my files and would like to make a donation for my hard work and time, I'd greatly appreciate it, just click the paypal button below or on my side bar. If you can't afford anything at this time, I understand that too, but it would be greatly appreciated if you left a simple "Thanks" in the comment section.

Donation button



Until Next Time...
Happy Crafting
TTFN Jill aka The Scrapoholic

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Spotlight Sunday!





What is your Real Name?
Jann H Schott


What are you Known as in "forums"/"blogs"?
Well, Jannarama or Jann


 Short Bio ~
A 40-something mom of 2 daughters, 2 stepsons, a mini schnauzer and a Tibetan spaniel.  Wife to a wonderful man, Erik whom I've known for 8+ years, and been married for 3+ years.  He is my life, my love and my world!!  We live in Peoria, Arizona with my mother and my older daughter, with Erik's younger son visiting us every other weekend. 


My favorites:
Favorite color:  WHITE (yeah, really!),
favorite author:  LaVyrle Spencer,
favorite food: chocolate,
favorite soda:  Dr. Pepper (with lemon, please!),
favorite football team:  The Pittsburgh Steelers,
favorite baseball team:  The Cubs,
Favorite music:  Classic Rock


How did you learn to do Scrapbooking (or Craft?)
Basically self taught.  My sister in law sent me cards she created and I thought, 'hey, I can do this!'  


How Long have you been Scrapbooking (or Crafting?)
For about 2+ years now.   I've owned rubber stamps (not very many!) for quite a few years and would stamp stationery and envelopes.


What "style" would you describe your Personal crafting?
Style...Hmmmm. eclectic is a good description.  It's always an evolving process for me. I can HONESTLY say I have never ever duplicated a card I've created.  So each one is a one of a kind!!!   


Do you do any Digital Scrapbooking or other digital media art?
Well, I *DID* create a couple of photo books using a program called mypublisher.com  for my mom and me.  I wrote the info regarding each photo, laid it out, and had it published and bound.  One was for my honeymoon, one was for a cruise my mom and I took to Alaska, and one was about my dog, Daisy (the Tibby!)   Many years ago I was the newsletter editor/creator for my daughter's Girl Scout community and for their elementary school's PTA.  I also worked on the newsletter and website for a now defunct homeschooling group to which I belonged when I lived in Augusta, Georgia. 


What are your 3 favorite projects and why?
One is a side-step card I created using Stephanie Barnard's The Stamps of Life located here:  http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3045/5826919491_571755f4c9_b.jpg
It incorporated a new style of card I learned from my "Weekly Inklings" sent to me from Splitcoaststampers.com.  I love the colors (pink and brown)...and I got to play with Twine!


Another is THIS card: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5101/5827470040_f64e4abfd3_b.jpg which I gave to a friend of mine for her birthday.  The stamp set is from Stampin' Up which I borrowed from a friend.  I used colored pencils and odorless paint thinner to blend the pencils to soften the look.  I also enjoy the texture of the 'waves' behind the stamped picture.  That's from a Fiskar's texture plate I've had for a long time.  The ribbon is from Close To My Heart.  I bought the white color, because I can use my Bic Markers to change the color to anything I need. 


My 3rd favorite project is http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3640/5827469316_a4c2a2ec5e_z.jpg which is a birthday card I created using another stamp set from The Stamps of Life.  (I've been a club member for just over 1 year now with TSOL.)  This card has a hidden magnet that holds it together.  It was the first card I made using a magnet to hold a gateway fold card together. 


What are some of the drawbacks to the craft you find?
The competition for publication.  There are some who just HAVE That knack to make anything beautiful out of nothing.  Another drawback is wanting various items when I'm running out of room and money!!!  It also can be frustrating looking at all the supplies I own and I can't get anything to 'work' together!!! 


What are some of the enjoyments to the craft you find?
The pleasure of creating something that someone else will enjoy.  THIS is one of the main reasons I create cards and not scrapbooks.  I can give away my cards to others, via in bulk, or just mail them.  With scrapbooking, it's something that I would make for myself for ME to enjoy.   I also enjoy learning new folding techniques, and coloring techniques. 

Do you use sketches?
I do use sketches sometimes.  I like the challenges regarding sketches, and sometimes colors.   


Where do you find Inspiration?
A lot of the newer ideas have come from reading magazines or emailed newsletters to which I subscribe. 


Do you belong on any "Design teams" now or in the past?
No, the Scrapaholic's team is the first Design Team in which I've ever participated, and I'm thrilled I was chosen! 


When you lose your "mojo" how do you get it back?
I attend a 'card workshop' once a month at a friend's house. It's more 'assembling' than creating, but it's fellowship which is fine.
A challenge will spur creativity as well.


Can you briefly describe how your process of creating begins? Such as with color, theme, etc choice?
I have a lot of 'doo-dads' already made--such as background die cuts already made to grab and create, along with embossed pieces of paper.  If I'm looking at a word/phrase stamp set, I can usually envision a card.  I do find it's easier to create a card when I have a 'saying' in mind. 


What are your top 3 favorite tools?
Embossing heat gun
Sizzix Big Shot
Versafine stamp pads


What are your Top 3 favorite embellishments?
Ribbon
Brads
flowers


What are your some ideas you share with others?
One idea I stumbled upon is whenever I am creating 'phrases' with words to stamp, I will lay the clear stamps upside down (stamping side down) and arrange it on a non stick mat first.  THEN once it's laid out the way I like it, I press a clear acrylic block down on the layout.  This way I can just stamp it all at once instead of trying to line up each individual word to stamp.
--Whenever I buy something new (for instance, the Action Wobbles), I will share a couple with a few of my friends.


What advice would you give to a newbie just starting in this crafting?
I suggest to visit someone who has a plethora of items so you can 'play' with their stuff and ask questions while working with their things.  Go to craft workshops to experiment with various techniques and decide what you like.
I wish I had known this before I bought my electronic die cutting machine! I realized I just didn't NEED an electronic cutting machine. It sat more on the cart than it got used, so I gave it away to a charity, along with all the stuff that went with it (cartridges, supplies, etc.)  The charity got a nice donation, and I got it out of my house.
I finally figured out that  I would rather emboss with my manual machines and cut dies for backgrounds/sayings/pictures.  


Any organizational tips you'd like to share?
-Try to buy the same size/brand each time you buy containers.  This way they'll stack easily on top of each other.
-Buy a label maker & USE it!  I have labeled my inks on 2 sides so whenever it's stacked, I can read the name of the color.  I also took a sheet of white cardstock, and stamped a shape in EACH color on the sheet and labeled the colors.  So if I need a 'green' I will hold my project piece up against the greens to see which one will work best to coordinate.
-I buy plastic baskets and store many things in them.  Usually the "mart" stores sell them 2 for $2.00 for the regular size, or 3 for $1.00 for the slim baskets.  I will store projects in these baskets and just move the baskets out of the way when I need to work on a different project.
-Try to clean up after EACH and every project.  Yes, this is time consuming, but it sure is easier to start with a 'clean slate' so to speak when inspiration strikes. 
-Create folders on the computer browser for your crafting bookmarks.  For instance, I have "die cuts" in one folder, "Color techniques" in another folder, etc. 
-Something that I wanted to do for a long time, but never found the RIGHT thing was to take an old wine rack--the kind that look like diamond shapes that bottles can rest in, and use THAT for my drawing/coloring utensils.  I saw this done in someone's craft room and thought, "THAT is perfect."  The closest I came to that was a 9 drawer container I found at Hobby Lobby.  It sits on my craft desk and it works for now.  The drawers are being used as containers.  I have the front of the container supported on silicone 'feet' to prop the front up higher than the back, so the pens/markers/pencils gravitate towards the back of the shelf. 


Any Budget Cost cutting tips?
-Check out the "DEAL OF THE DAY" crafting websites.  I've scored MANY items at such a bargain price compared to retail with these places.  I have these websites listed under my bookmarks in its own folder.  I just use the "open all in tabs" option in that folder each morning to see what's available. 
-Wait for SALES, or COUPONS to use on things you want.  I'm a fan of pinkbydesignstore.com's stamps.  Today they had a sale of 15% off (coupon code required) and over a certain price point, they offer free shipping.  I've been eyeing a few of her stamp sets.  Since I'm a member of her Stamp of the month club, I get a discount...I ordered multiple sets, got free shipping and saved 15%, which ALMOST equaled another set of stamps.
-There are some items that you can buy 'gently used' on ebay.  Just make sure to read the fine print.  Some ebay sellers offer free shipping. 
-For things like colored pencils, I found some in the 'art' department that were SO much cheaper than in the Scrapbook section.  Same thing with some other tools. 
-Buy OFF season.  Now is the time to get winter holiday scrapping items at a good price.  Check the 'discount' stores like Kohl's, Big Lots, Tuesday Morning, etc.


What made you decide to start a Blog, website, Facebook Fan page, etc?
I had a personal blog, and realized I wanted to keep my personal life separate from my crafting life.  So I created one through google.  I love taking pictures and creating cards.  I figured I could combine these two hobbies to showcase my best work.


What are the web addresses to all your places?
My crafting website is http://snap-schotts.blogspot.com
I chose THAT name as a play on my last name (Schott, which is pronounced, SHOT, not SCOT) and "snap-schotts" because of the pictures I take. 
I'm on Facebook as http://www.facebook/jannarama
I'm also on Flickr as Jannarama


Do you sell any of your crafting projects?
No, I haven't sold any of my projects. 
I'm not in this for the money. 
I'm in this for the pleasure of creating and sharing.  





Until Next Time ...
Happy Crafting!
TTFN Jill (aka The Scrapoholic)

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Sketchy Saturday!


A Sketch is an “idea” or “inspiration” to get a layout or card done. You can turn the sketches 90* either way or 180* to get a different “look” add a little more embellishments, use different embellishments or shapes to fit your pictures.
 Below the Sketches you will find a “Sneak Peak” of the Design Team inspiration this week, below each inspiration picture is the Design Team Members name! Simply click their name to go to their blog, facebook fanpage, online gallery to see the full Inspiration.

Layout Sketch:

Card Sketch:


Design Team Inspiration:
Please take a moment and visit each of their Blogs/fanpages and leave them some loving words on their hard work on thier wonderful inspiration, they would love to hear from you and how you enjoy their work. Thanks.



Always Check out Jann's Blog HERE she always has a card or two every week for the card sketch :)


If you are inspired to get a card or layout done you can add a link to yours below. I love to see what others do with my sketches. I am working on putting my sketches into a E-Book to help raise money for my medical bills so watch for that to come out soon (i Hope if all goes well).

Until Next time...
Happy Crafting!
TTFN Jill aka The Scrapoholic





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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

MTC Update! 4.0.2 Beta

MTC is improving again! I just LOVE MTC!

Custom Mat Sizes
- Add custom mat size from the Mat Size combo box.
- Remove custom mat size by selecting mat then hitting delete key.
- No more "Please Wait... Rendering Mat" messages. Mats render extremely fast.
- Zoom from 10% all the way up to 1000% in a split second.
- Ctrl+Mouse-Wheel zoom now zooms centered.
- Create any size mat with custom Margins/No Cut Zones.
- Dark Blue mat has been replaced with Purple. Pink mat colors updated.
- Option to hide/show No-Cut-Zone margins.

Multi-Layered Conical Warp
- Create multiple layered/colored conical warps -- preview in color in un/rolled view.

Texture Sizing Simplified
- Holding your shift-key while sizing a shape from the corners will scale the textures properly.
- "Scale Paths" option added to the Select Texture dialog's Scale option.

Fuse-N-Weld Updated
- Completly rewritten
- Allows for customizable tolerance
- Note: Make sure to join the segments together before fusing them

Node Editing Tools
- Toggle tools by hitting the 'W' key, View>>Node Mode or clicking the Node icon in the upper right-hand of mat.
- Node Edit Tool: Edit line segments, Bezier segments, Bezier control points, Bezier/Line paths, insert/delete nodes, etc. (be sure to use right-click menu)
- Basic Shape Tool: Add basic shapes by clicking and dragging
- Bezier Draw Tool: Draw Bezier curves (Fat Path option included)
- Freehand Line Draw Tool: Draw freehand lines. Hold CTRL key to draw straight lines (Fat Path option included)
- Measure Tool: Measuring tape and protractor.
- Eraser Tool: Erase parts of paths easily (Inverse eraser option included)
- Knife Tool: Slice and dice paths.
- Select tools using hotkeys: F1-F8

Other:
Raster Image File Dialog Paste Button: Copy and paste images from Windows Explorer.
Reverse Paths option added to Advanced
Welding of Open Paths fixed
Simplifiying of Open Paths fixed
EPS importing fixed for certain files
MANY, MANY bug fixes.

4.0.1 Update:


Fixes crash when closing out a single project after node-mode was enabled.
All knot keywords have been replaced with the node keyword.

4.0.2 Update:


Fixes more crashes when closing out projects after node-mode was enabled.
Arrow keys now nudge line segments (Ctrl+arrow keys does a nudge X 20).
Clipboard fixes.

Download Version 4.0.2Click Here.

Thanks to Bryan for all the help.

Thanks to Ann for all the patience.

Thanks to www.letteringdelights.com for helping with the new UI icons.

And thanks to YOU for being a fan. We appreciate it.

We will be talking about 4.0 on the Tuesday webinar.

-andy.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I just downloaded it myself and haven't had a chance to play with it yet! I am excited to try some stuff out. I like the new lines inside the inch squares, that will help me alot! :)


Until Next Time...
Happy crafting!
TTFN Jill (aka The Scrapoholic)

More Giveaways and Contests!

I am having a DT Commenting Contest on Facebook. You can go to my Fanpage HERE.  My Design Team has not been getting much comments on their wonderful inspirations and hard work. If it weren't for my Design Team there wouldn't be much crafting going on my blog or Facebook as my life hasn't given me much opportunity too this past few months. I have 3 prizes and maybe more! Rules are really easy. Follow each DT member Blog or Facebook page, comment on their blog/FB page that your a new follower, post on some of their DT posts, post on my facebook page what your favorite project is, (which you will have to "like" the page to post on it), under the post with the link of the DT members blog. This ends Sept. 14th (tomorrow at midnight).

My Design Team Links


Melanie L  ~ Online Gallery HERE

Sarah's Blog  HERE  

Laura  ~ Blog HERE

Jann S ~  Blog HERE 

Jessica L ~ Blog HERE

Sabina F ~ Blog HERE

Jackie L ~ Blog HERE

                 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jann is having a Giveaway too, which is almost a double giveaway chance, since she is one of my awesome Design Team members!  You'll need to go to her blog HERE for more details!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also, You can check out These two blogs they are having a combined Giveaway!



Until next time...
Happy Crafting!
TTFN Jill (aka TheScrapoholic)

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