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Monday, June 29, 2015

I Lava You {shaker card}


I haven't been able to get the Lava song out of my head since watching Disney Pixar's Inside Out last weekend. I still can't believe that I cried over a lonely volcano! The song has been on auto-replay in my mind all morning and there is only one way to make it stop. I had to turn it into a card.


The kids are on Summer Break and finding time to play with my Cameo has been challenging. Still, I managed to get this shaker card done fairly quickly. Thank goodness for print-and-cut!



LD's new site is still wonky but I managed to find a volcano image from the Search feature. I had to modify the SVG by replacing its "meanie face" into a happy one.


If you have not watched the Lava clip from the Inside Out movie, stop here and don't watch the following video. I don't want to spoil the show for you. If you have watched Lava, and you loved it, go ahead and enjoy the song again. Not my fault if you get it stuck in your head. ;-)

https://youtu.be/-7mRPjfeJ38




Files used:
Volcano: Science Cut Its (SVG)
Test Tube (smiley face): Science Cut Its (SVG)
Blue Paper: Giraffing Out Loud Paper Pack (freebie)
Green Paper: Candy Long Legs Paper Pack
Font: LDJ Owl Scratch

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Freebies

LD released several new sets this morning. Their weekly freebie that is usually released on Fridays was also not available until today.

Click HERE to check out their new Imperial India collection.

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/product/search?search=imperial+india&AID=39954
 http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/product/search?search=imperial+india&AID=39954


LD also has a new "Earn-It-Free" collection. Be careful, the rules of this promotion has changed. Click HERE to see how you can get the entire Humming Along collection added to your LD account at no extra charge.


http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/news/article?ncat=4&news_id=78&AID=39954

H
ere are your weekly freebies:

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/product/search?search=imperial+india+crocodile&AID=39954
http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/product/search?search=imperial+india+crocodile&AID=39954


Click HERE or the image above to go to the LD site. Add the Imperial India Crocodile graphic and cut it sets to your cart and checkout. You pay $0.00!

The freebies are available until tomorrow (Sunday) night at midnight MST so make sure that you get them before they're gone.

Thanks, Jess for sharing the great tip on my Facebook page!

Silhouette Studio users, don't forget to claim your weekly freebie. Even if you have not updated your software and are unable to access the Design Store at the moment, click HERE to claim it from your browser. You may not be able to download to your software now but you will still be able to do it in the future after you managed to update.

http://www.silhouettedesignstore.com/?page=view-shape&id=80867

Thursday, June 25, 2015

The agony of installing Silhouette Studio v2.9.67 {aka v2 patch}


CAUTION: 
This is NOT a tutorial. I am just sharing my experience with installing Silhouette Studio v2.9.67. DO NOT attempt the steps outlined at the end of this post without the assistance of an advanced computer user.
=========================================================


the Initializing Screen.

Something is wrong. It has been a full 5 minutes and the initializing screen still isn't going away.   

"It shouldn't take this long for a program to start up.", I thought. If the never-ending Initializing isn't an indicator that there is a problem with the Silhouette Studio v2 patch, then the intermittent flashes on the computer monitor definitely were. The laptop's fan was going crazy and getting quite loud. My poor machine was trying really hard to work with this program but nothing is making the Initializing Screen go away.

I had to make the software stop whatever it was trying to do.

I tried to end the process but the flashing screen was making it really difficult to bring up the Task Manager. After too many attempts, I finally got lucky and hit "End Process" at the right time. Silhouette Studio stopped but this popped up:



I shut down the computer and enjoyed the silent computer (fan) for a few moments. I took a deep breath and started the computer up again. I sent an email to Silhouette Support asking for help.

Next, I sent a text message to Hubby, my resident tech support, who was at work at the time.

"Can I tinker with the graphics card driver on my laptop? My Sil Studio won't open after installing the v2 patch and their webpage is saying that I have to update my graphics driver."

"The problem is that there is no newer driver for your laptop."

:(

Silhouette had released v2.9.67 a day and a half ago. They say that Legacy users must install this in order to continue access to the Silhouette Design Store and to enter any licenses for any software upgrades. Silhouette has a track record of releasing updates before the bugs were fixed and I was more than a little reluctant to run the installation file. I had read that some folks did not have any trouble with this update and so after backing up my Library and License, I decided to take the plunge.

For the record, I am using the Acer Aspire S7-392, a laptop that I acquired late last year, and running Windows 8.1. I never had any problems using the Legacy version with this computer, so I didn't really think that a graphics driver would be the issue anyway. Besides, I thought that this update was only supposed to fix a credit card security flaw so what's that got to do with the graphics driver? Even Adobe Photoshop, a photo-editing software that is many times more powerful than Silhouette Studio, works perfectly fine on my computer.

Uninstalling Silhouette Studio


Anyway, I decided to turn to Facebook. I recounted my experience to my wonderful readers there and within minutes, I received many suggestions. Throughout the course of the morning, I tried every advice that I got-

I ran the v2.9.67 installation file again and selected Repair but that didn't work. The Initialization Screen still did not go away.

I rebooted the computer and restarted the program. Still, the Initializing Screen persists.

I ran the file again and selected Remove to uninstall the whole software. I rebooted the computer and re-install from scratch. I reboot and restart the program.

Initialization Screen.

I uninstall, and reinstall again, but this time I unchecked the option to auto-launch the software. I manually launched the program after installation but still...

Initialization Screen.

I uninstall, and turn off the Firewall. I reinstall the software, rebooted, launch manually...

Initialization Screen.

I have exhausted my options and I was feeling really discouraged. I decided to shut down the computer and wait for Silhouette Support to reply or Hubby to come home....

Are you kidding me?! Silhouette Support totally ignored my question!

Hubby arrived home shortly after I received the email reply from Silhouette Support. He flipped opened my laptop and started trying many things. Nothing seemed to work until he did this:

- uninstall and remove all traces of the graphics driver provided by the manufacturer of my laptop
- reboot
- update the driver by asking Windows to search for the latest graphics driver and downloading it from Windows Update.

http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-022355.htm
screenshot from the Intel Support site

After a lot of research, it turns out that when a manufacturer ships a laptop, they may customize their drivers such that generic drivers no longer install. In my case, when I try to update the drivers, the Intel drivers from Intel.com would not install. Instead, they would always point me back to find new drivers from Acer, my laptop's manufacturer. Unfortunately, Acer does not have an updated graphics driver for my laptop. Their Support site lists a 2013 version of the graphics driver as the latest usable version for my computer even though Intel has a newer version. When I try to update the driver, a message would indicate that my laptop is already using the latest driver, when in fact, it is not. The only way to update my driver was to remove all traces of the driver provided by Acer, and replace with the latest graphics driver through Windows Update as outlined above.

Uninstalling the graphics driver

What Hubby did for me may or may not work for you as everyone's computer is slightly different. Please DO NOT attempt to do the same thing unless you are or you have the assistance of an advanced computer user. My Hubby fixed my program by uninstalling the manufacturer's customized driver and replacing it with a generic driver but he advices that this is pretty extreme and not for the faint of heart. You really need to know what you are doing, if not your machine may not work properly after this.

Also, please note that not all drivers are available on Windows Update. If you are unable to locate a replacement driver for your computer, you will need to find the original driver that came with your machine from the manufacturer's website.

I am relieved and grateful that Hubby managed to fix the program but I'm still miffed by the fact that a graphics driver update would be needed for a patch that is supposed to only address a store security issue. Updating the graphics driver may sound straightforward, but for some users, it may not be as easy as Silhouette would like you to believe.

The hung Initializing Screen seems to be a common problem amongst v2 users. I came across many reports of that happening when I was looking for a solution to my hung screen. Interestingly, I did not see any v3 users complain of the same thing when they install v3.3.638, the v3 version of the security flaw update. I can't help but wonder if this is a way that Silhouette is using to get their v2 users to start using v3. I sure hope not as that would really suck.

-----

UPDATE:

After I had written and scheduled this article to publish, I received another email from Silhouette:


It seems that somebody at Silhouette Support finally bothered to READ my email and realized that their initial reply did not address my question at all. I appreciate that they attempted to help but Hubby had already tried the steps they outlined before they sent out this second email. Unfortunately, their suggestion did not work but updating the graphics driver through Windows Update did.

Success! Thank you, Hubby!!

Monday, June 22, 2015

NEW! Silhouette Studio v2.9.67 {patch for Legacy version}

Heads up, Silhouette users! The security patch for the Legacy version is up!

http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/faq/solution/silhouette-studio-version-release-notes#V2_9_67

http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/software/silhouette-studio/legacy-software

Silhouette says that the recent updates are necessary in order to prevent credit card fraud but the problems of the two initial updates for v3 have made me lose the confidence that this v2 patch will be bug-free. I have downloaded the file but I'm a little nervous to install.

For Legacy users, before installing the latest patch, I highly recommend that you backup your files. PC users, your Shapes Library and your SSDE License are located in the following locations. Copy the entire folders to an external drive to backup. Replace the folders to the same location to reinstate your library and licence key:

Shapes Library:
C:\ProgramData\com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio.8

Licence:
C:\ProgramData\com.aspexsoftware.Silhouette_Studio.license

Click HERE to download v2.9.67. Install at your own risk.

Good luck!

---
p.s. If you don't install the updates before June 23 (tomorrow!) you will still be able to use the program but you will not be able to access and download from the Silhouette Design Store. You will also not be able to enter new license keys to upgrade the software.


Saturday, June 20, 2015

New LD Cellar, Classic Dad Collection, and FREEBIE!

I'm still finding the new LD site a little confusing but the more I use it, the more it's growing on me. I did notice that while the "What's New" tab is gone, if you click on "Shop All", the latest additions to the store will show up on top. It's not quite the same thing as "What's New" but at least it's something.

That brings me to the new Classic Dad Collection. The new release includes 3 cutting sets (Classic Dad Cut Set, Classic Dad Bags Cut Project, and Classic Dad Cards Cut Project), 1 graphic set, 1 alphabet, and 1 paper pack.

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/cut-sets/cut-sets/classic-dad-cs-p13430c5c12&AID=39954

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/cut-sets/cut-projects/classic-dad-bags-cp-p13428c5c13&AID=39954

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/cut-sets/cut-projects/classic-dad-cards-cp-p13429c5c13&AID=39954

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/graphics/graphic-sets/classic-dad-gs-p13431c4c9&AID=39954

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/lettering/alphabets/classic-dad-al-p13433c1c2&AID=39954

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/graphics/paper-packs/classic-dad-pp-p13432c4c21&AID=39954

If you are getting any of the new sets, check out the bundles. They are usually a better deal and you can even use a coupon on top of it. The code Launched will take 30% off any purchase of $5 or more.

LD has also introduced The LD Cellar- "an area on the site that contains our product created before 2007. " and the Stellar Cellar Sale. Click HERE to check it out.

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/cellar-c23&AID=39954

Here's a freebie that they are giving away this Father's Day weekend:

project and photo by LD

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/cut-sets/cut-projects/round-gift-bag-cp-p13436c5c13&AID=39954

Click HERE or the image above to go to the LD site. Add the Round Gift Bag Cut Project to your cart and checkout. You pay $0.00!

The freebie is available until tomorrow (Sunday) night at midnight MST so make sure that you get it before it's gone.

{temp fix} How to access LD Checkout from the iPhone, and iPad

Many folks have reported that they are unable to checkout from the LD store when they use the iPhone or the iPad. LD is aware of the issue and they are working on a fix. In the meantime, you can access your cart directly by using the following link:

LD Shopping Cart

If you are using the iPhone or iPad to get yesterday's Friday Freebie, click HERE to go to the LD site.

Add the DB Daddy Dearest doodlebat to your shopping cart by clicking on the "Add to Cart" button.

Come back to this page and click HERE to checkout.

I realize that it is a little troublesome to have to go through the additional step to checkout but this is only temporary. LD is working as hard as they can to fix all the issues as soon as possible. If you have any problems with your LD account, you can contact them HERE.

Friday, June 19, 2015

Friday Freebies!

So LD's new page has been up for a few days now. Have you had a chance to browse it? I love the new look but there are a few things that I miss from the old site. LD still has a lot of work to do on their site and they are working on making their new page even better. Check out this page to see what they have planned.

Here's your Friday Freebie:

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/lettering/doodlebats/db-daddy-dearest-db-p6789c1c22?search=db+daddy+dearest&AID=39954

Unlike the free Giraffing Out Loud Collection which has been automatically added to the accounts of all LD customers, you must go through checkout process in order to get today's freebie. Just click HERE to go to the LD site, add the DB Daddy Dearest doodlebat to your shopping cart by clicking on the "Add to Cart" button.

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/lettering/doodlebats/db-daddy-dearest-db-p6789c1c22?search=db+daddy+dearest&AID=39954

Next, click on the shopping cart icon on the top right and select Checkout to start the checkout process. You must complete the transaction in order to have the set added to your account. The price of the DB Daddy Dearest set is $0.00 so you are effectively buying it for free.

Silhouette users, note that there are two freebies available in the Silhouette Design Store this week. Click HERE to get the Free Shape of the Week and HERE to get the Instructables Robot.

http://www.silhouettedesignstore.com/?page=view-shape&id=80868

http://www.silhouettedesignstore.com/?page=view-shape&id=82877

There will be another freebie from LD tomorrow. I'll post on the blog as soon as I know that it's available. Stay tuned. ;-)


Thursday, June 18, 2015

LD Launch Party! Time for Freebies and a SALE!

I'm lovin' the new LD site but it looks so different it's going to take a lot of getting used to. LD has said that there are still a lot of things to do to make the site even better but for now, they are celebrating the launch with a sale and a new coupon.

Use the coupon code: Launched to get an extra 30% off your purchase of $5 or more.

LD has also put several bundles on sale:


http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=http://www.letteringdelights.com/bundles/back-to-basics-alphabets-bundle-p11174c6&AID=39954

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/bundles/back-to-basics-font-bundle-p10975c6&AID=39954

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/bundles/big-bang-bundle-p10518c6&AID=39954

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/bundles/feeling-pretty-bundle-p11533c6&AID=39954

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/bundles/no-brainer-cut-it-bundle-p10821c6&AID=39954


In addition, everyone who has an LD account will get the $40 Giraffing Out Loud Collection for FREE. The files are already loaded into your account and are available and ready for download. To get them, just log in to your account, click on the item, and then select the download button located to the right of the product.

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/product/search?search=Giraffing+Out+Loud&AID=39954

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/product/search?search=Giraffing+Out+Loud&AID=39954

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

LD's new site is UP!!

HOORAY!!! LD's new site is FINALLY up!!!

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com&AID=39954

If you had bought a subscription, be sure to use it right away- just click on the product that you want and you will be able to either "Add to Cart" or use your subscription points.

Click HERE to check out the new LD page.

Another update to the update to the update {or new Silhouette Studio v3.3.638}

And so the circus of updates is still going on. Yesterday (June 16), Silhouette America released Silhouette Studio v3.3.638 to fix a bug in v3.3.632, the update that was posted on June 12, to fix a bug in v3.3.622, that was released on June 10.
http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/software/silhouette-studio


http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/faq/solution/silhouette-studio-version-release-notes#V3_3_638


Is your head spinning yet?

I have not updated my software and frankly, I have no intentions to. At least not yet. With every update that Silhouette puts out, it seems that scores of issues follow. For now, I am waiting to see the v2 patch that they have mentioned that they will be releasing by June 22. With all of these recent drama with their updates, I am not even confident that the upcoming patch will work properly but I'll be patient and will wait and see.

If you dare, you can get the latest Silhouette Studio v3.3.638 by clicking HERE (Scroll down the page to find the download).

Click HERE and HERE to see their release notes.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Getting real close!

OMG! There is finally some signs that LD's new site is actually happening! It has been too long since their "Failed to Launch" notice!

Thanks to a heads up from Junia Keila, I see that there is a "scheduled maintenance" notice up on the LD site. The page does not look like their old site at all! I have a screenshot of it below but you can also click HERE to see it.

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/searchprod.php?days=45&AID=39954

I never thought I would get so excited over a "scheduled maintenance" notice but I am so happy and so relieved that there is finally an indication that LD's new site is something real and is actually happening. I cannot wait until they put it together and launch the site that we have been looking so forward to! We have waited too long for this!

from LD's Facebook page

Friday, June 12, 2015

Friday Freebies!

TGIF! It's time for Friday Freebies!

http://interneka.com/affiliate/AIDLink.php?link=www.letteringdelights.com/font:ld_fat_jack-3515.html&AID=39954

Click HERE or the image above to go to the LD site. Add the LD Fat Jack font to your cart and checkout. You pay $0.00! The link to the download will show up after the "transaction" is completed.

http://www.silhouettedesignstore.com/?page=view-shape&id=81773

Silhouette Studio users, don't forget to grab your weekly freebie from the Silhouette Design Store.

How to tell what version of Silhouette Studio you are running.


With every update or upgrade that Silhouette releases, I would come across this question,

"How can I tell what version of the software I am running?"

It's really simple actually. Just start the program, click on Help on the top menu bar. From the pull-down menu, click on the "About Silhouette Studio..." if you do not have the Designer Edition,

Silhouette Studio, no Designer Edition.


or the "About Silhouette Studio Designer Edition..." if you have the Designer Edition.


Silhouette Studio Designer Edition in use.


The resulting pop-up box will show you what version of Silhouette Studio you are running.

I am currently using Silhouette Studio Designer Edition, version 2.9.45


The letter "d" at the end of the version number indicates that the Designer Edition is activated and in use. If you do not see a "d" at the end, it means that the regular Silhouette Studio is running.

That's all. :-)