Preschool classes started on Tuesday for my Baby Girl. For 3 times a week and 2.5 hours each time, she is kept occupied by her classmates and teachers. The rest of the time she will wait for her sisters to come back from school.
2:30pm every school day might as well be her favorite time of day because that is when I tell her to get her shoes on. It's time to get the twins. Her eyes would light up and she would grab her Pan-Dee and wait by the door. As much as the three bicker with each other, they are really the best of friends and my baby girl really misses her sisters so much when they are not at home to play with her.
Back on June 28, when I mentioned Nancy Kubo in a blog post, I bought the School Buddies graphics sets from Little Dreamer Designs. I never really got around to using it. Until now.
Using Adobe Photoshop, and Make-the-Cut, I arranged and "printed-and-cut" to put together this decorative piece. The school bus is from Lettering Delights' Get A Job graphic set, while the font used for the sentiment is once again LD's Buttercream. I love this font! The polka dot background paper is from LD's Around the World paper pack. The paper originally came in blue but I changed part of the paper to green by using the Paint Bucket tool in photoshop.
I may have finished putting the picture together but I still need a frame to go with it. Perhaps when my baby next go to preschool, I should just spend that 2.5hours at the craft store picking out a frame. For while they are all at school, no one realizes that I'm all by myself. Nobody knows that my favorite time of day is when I get to bring all of my girls home. After all, I am most happy when my babies are back.
Adorable project, and that pic of your daughters is amazing!
ReplyDeleteTerrific!! And ... I think those have to be the cutest little girls in the world. I can't believe how long I've been watching them grow in the photos you've posted over the years. :)
ReplyDelete~Joy~
Thanks, Amy. :-) I love that picture too.
ReplyDeleteHi Joy! I'm glad that you stopped by. They do grow up fast, don't they? It sure doesn't seem that long ago when I was posting their year-old pictures and then all of a sudden the twins are in second grade! Crazy how fast time flies.
ReplyDeleteLove the colors and the design!
ReplyDeleteBTW did you know that you can easily change the hue of the colors with Ctrl U in PSE? It changes all the color's hues, but with the polka dots it might be a little more accuarte in the details (the areas that are a blend vbtween the 2 colors) becuase it changes them too.
Fantastic tip, Nelda! I'm still trying to figure out PS and I will try changing the hues next time. Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteJin I tried to catch you on the MTC forum but you were already gone.
ReplyDeleteThe Ctrl U option will also save any shading that is part of the graphic. It is a very versatile tool.
In the print-n-cut technique that you use, have you ever tried using the left-over cardstack (not the cut-out, but the left-over part) as a template to help place the actual cut-out accurately? You would not need to hold it up to light or guess if it was placed well. Use the template portion to help position the cut-out before tacking it down with repositiotnable adhesive.
Just a thought. I hate to leave these suggestions in comments (they are not meant as critism, just some thoughts) but I could not find your email here or on MTC.
Nelda, don't worry about leaving your thoughts as a comment here. It's always a learning experience for me and I welcome all views, suggestions, tips, advice, opinions, and criticisms (both good and bad). :) You give awesome advice so criticise away! :)
ReplyDeleteI love your idea of using the leftover cardstock as a template. That's brilliant! I realize though that by making the cutout a bit smaller than the print, I can avoid the white border AND use the print as a guide to stick the cutout. No more holding up against the light required. LOL.
I have to figure out how to leave my email address on this blog because I have had several people mention that they can't contact me other than through the Comments section. I'm not sure how I can do that without spammers filling up my email though.
Jin, at the MTC forum, you are less likely to get spam if you enter your email in the profile area because people have to go look for it, it doe not just show up. I have my email listed there and have not had a problem with extra spam or junk mail. I have received a few off-the-forum questions, but nothing offensive (I was once asked about how to get illegal files but that was just once and I just deleted it)
ReplyDeleteI am having trouble with getting my ads for LD to show up on my blog, would you mind helping me? neldacnm at yahoo dot com BTW you can add your mail like this an you are not as likely to get spam either.
BTW, I have also used the Ctrl-U Hue setting to change the colors to some weird colors but ones that helped me to seperate an image when I bring it into MTC with Pixel Trace.
ReplyDeleteHi There! I have been following your blog for a little while, I love you work!!! I wondered if you have to have the MTC or SCAL to use the lettering delights? I have DS and would love to use LD but can't figure out how:( Any explaination would be appreciated! BTW, I love the actin you caught on your daughter's skirts in the photo! Completly Awesome!
ReplyDeleteHello, DS is a Provo Craft product that allows you to only use Cricut cartridges. MTC and SCAL are 3rd party programs that are not supported or endorsed by PC. MTC or SCAL will allow you to use cut out images that are not from cartridges (e.g. Lettering Delights) whereas DS will not. DS will only cut images from cartridges. However, note that using your Cricut with the 3rd party programs will void your warranty so I would suggest waiting for your Cricut warranty to lapse first before looking into buying MTC or SCAL. Btw, I would recommend MTC because personally I find it more user friendly.
ReplyDeleteThat's so cute!
ReplyDeleteHi Jin, I love your blog and projects... I would like to know if the files from Little Dreamer Design requires alot of clean-up?? I saw a few files that I would love to use; however, I don't really have the know how to clean them up but would love to be able to cut or print and cut using MTC. TIA
ReplyDeleteHi Nubian,
ReplyDeleteI approach the LDD images the same way as I do LD. I choose bold, non-detail types and I clean them up the same way as I do LD's. If the image has clean, solid lines and does not have a lot of details, chances are it is possible to clean it up for use in MTC.