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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Hurry! 40% off Entire Purchase Expires TONIGHT!



Today is the last day to take 40% off entire purchase at the Lettering Delights store. Just enter the coupon code "UnderTheSea" at checkout. The coupon expires at midnight TONIGHT so hurry and grab your SVGs, Graphics, and Fonts now. Click here to start shopping!


p.s. I just updated my Lettering Delights Gallery, click here to see what you can do with the Lettering Delights SVGs. ;-)



Monday, May 30, 2011

Yellow Ribbon


A couple of weeks ago, I came across this article. A little girl, just 4 years old, not letting go of her daddy's hand, as he lined up in formation at his deployment, getting ready to be shipped off to Iraq.


Even though that story was published over a year ago, my thoughts were with that little girl as I put together this card.


I modified the tree from Lettering Delights Treedle Dee SVG set and cut the layers out with Make-the-Cut and the Silhouette SD cutter. The sentiment was printed using the Lettering Delights TXT Longhand font.


Even though this card was inspired by a military-related story, I hope that anyone who misses someone can use this idea too.

To all the men and women who have served or are serving in the military, here's a huge "Thank You" to you.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!



Friday, May 27, 2011

LD Friday Freebie: Candy Roll Pencil

Image from Lettering Delights Facebook page.

Click here or the image above to download your FREE candy roll pencil SVG.
 
Thanks, Lettering Delights!


The Black Cat Lynx Review (Part 2)


 For all of you who have been waiting for my video of the Lynx, well, here it is:



In the video, I wasn't able to show you how the back of the cutter looks like. Here's a picture of the back. The picture also shows the 3 clamps.
This is the same cutting mat I showed in the video. This was a brand new mat that I only started using with the Lynx. The following picture shows the track marks left by the clamps.


As promised, here are the pictures of the cut outs:


These are the same cuts used in the Beatitude card. I have also cut out this exact same image with the Silhouette and the Gazelle. You can see those cuts by clicking here.


Like the Silhouette, the Lynx managed to cleanly cut out the narrow layer around the butterfly. Check out the thin strips.


It's a bird.....It's a plane......It's a Pop-Up Butterfly!


My Cutter Review Series is finally coming to an end. To all of you who have emailed me for a cutter recommendation, I am currently working on my closing post and I can't wait to conclude the series and share my thoughts with you.

Stay tuned. :-)




Thursday, May 26, 2011

MTC Beta-testing for Print-and-Cut to the Silhouette SD


I've been beta-testing the new MTC plug-in for the Silhouette SD for a few days now. If you are just trying out the plug-in (beta), here are some tips that may help you achieve a more successful print-and-cut:


Click on image to enlarge

I place my Registration Marks on their own separate layer and I keep it in LOCK and UNHIDE (eye open) position.


I prefer to set my registration marks close to the graphic so that the Silhouette's optical eye doesn't have to travel further than it needs to in order to scan all three registration marks. However, if you like, you can set your registration marks further out so that you don't have to move them around every time you change the graphic. Just set the registration marks in position, LOCK and UNHIDE the layer, and replace the graphic-that-is-to-be-cut as often as you like so long as the registration marks are outside the box bounding the graphic.

In the upcoming MTC v3.3, the registration marks will be automatic for print-and-cut and you will not have to manually place them yourself.  Andy will also add a 8.5" x11" mat option in the program to accommodate the Silhouette's mat size.

Click on image to enlarge
When pixel-tracing, and filling in the image with texture, adjust the threshold so that the cut lines are as close to the outline of the texture as possible. Make sure that the whole image is as fully filled as possible. When reducing the size of the traced image, be sure to also reduce the size of the texture in the same proportion. If the image is not filled completely, your final print-and-cut result will also reflect that and the cut will not look right. If you are not sure if your images was properly filled and traced, just zoom in and check before cutting your image out.


The above picture shows a sample of an incomplete fill. Deb has graciously allowed me to mention her beta-test and you can read about Deb's experience with it here:




Before Printing out the image, remember to set the Paper Orientation to Landscape


Before loading your mat, make sure that the screen on your Silhouette machine shows "Load w/Carrier". If it shows "Load Media", just scroll the left or right arrow buttons until it shows "Load w/Carrier".

The upcoming MTC v3.3 will have some really nice features built-in and the process of Printing-and-Cutting to the Silhouette will be simplified. Until the upgrade is released, do try out the (beta) plug-in if you current own a Silhouette cutter. Just watch Andy's video tutorial and follow it closely and you'll be good to go. Click here to download your MTC Beta Silhouette Plug-in.




You Rock!


I'm loving the new MTC (beta) plug-in for the Silhouette! So much so that I just had to use the print-and-cut feature to make this card for today's Joyslife Design Team Thursday.

I used Make-the-Cut and Lettering Delights' Harajuku Girls Graphic Set and Paper Pack with my Silhouette SD cutter to make today's card. The sentiment is from Joy's Father and Son stamp set. 

If you are interested in playing with the MTC beta plugin, look out for my next post where I will be showing you some tips on getting a successful print-and-cut with the Silhouette cutter.


It's a Ninja Birthday!



Tired of the same-old birthday party idea? Check out the new Lettering Delights Ninja Kicks Collection and have a Ninja Birthday!


The layers in the SVG set are super easy to put together. The set even comes with a 3D Shuriken cut file!


By the way, in case anyone is wondering, I made this greeting card by using Make-the-Cut and the Silhouette SD Cutter(before the new plug-in was released). All the other cuts were made with Make-the-Cut and my Lynx cutter (only just so that I can try the Lynx out). The cuts made by both machines were sharp and clean.


Just for fun, I made some cupcake toppers with the SVG set but since my kids are not big fans of cupcakes, I prettied up some Mochi Ice Cream instead. Yummy...



The Ninja Kicks Collection includes an SVG set, a paper pack and a graphic set. If you are picking the SVG set, don't forget to add the Scrap Samurai font to your cart too. That font works well with the Ninja Kicks SVG and Graphic set.


Don't forget that the 40% off entire purchase coupon is good until May 31. Just enter "UnderTheSea" at checkout to get the discount. Click here to start shopping!



Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Silhouette SD Beta Plug-in Available now!



MTC-Silhouette SD users! The days of using the printer driver to cut out your SVGs with Make-the-Cut are coming to an end, the Silhouette SD Beta Plug-in is now available! I have used it to cut out SVGs and for Print-and-Cut with the Silhouette. If you are up for it, just click on this link to get your beta plug-in. Bear in mind that this is just the beta version and there may be errors that will need to be fixed by Andy. If you decide to try the plug-in for print-and-cut, please watch this video first: 




To get your Silhouette SD Beta plug-in, just click on the following link:


Edit: Please note that there is an error in the wording in the video. If you are testing the beta plug-in, it is important that you not hide the registration marks. Andy can explain that better than I can:


Monday, May 23, 2011

New LD SVG: Ninja Kicks and Manic Monday Deal: Far Out Posies Collection

Check out the new Ninja Kicks SVG set from Lettering Delights! It's super cute and the layers are really easy to put together. I know that because I have already made a card with this set and I'll be showing it to you really soon. :-)


Also released today are the Ninja Kicks Paper Pack and the Ninja Kicks Graphic Set.


Click here or the image above to get your Ninja Kicks now. 

And while you're at the Lettering Delights website, don't forget to pick up today's Manic Monday Crazy Deal. Get the Far Out Posie Collection for only $4.00 (reg. $16)! The collection includes 2 fonts, 1 paper pack, 1 graphic set, and 1 alphabet. That's a deal that beats the Dollar Day sale price!


The Manic Monday deal ends tomorrow at midnight. Click here to grab your Far Out Posie Collection now!


p.s. Don't forget that the 40% off every order code is good until May 31. Just enter UndertheSea in the coupon code at checkout.




Cutter 3 of 3: The Black Cat Lynx


As some of you may know, my Black Cat Lynx was delivered on Friday May 20, slightly over 2 months after I have ordered it. This was the second cutter that I ordered after the PC-MTC lawsuit and it is the last of the three to arrive. I paid $529 ($499+$30 shipping) on March 15 and I was excited when the Fed-Ex truck finally delivered with it.

Now, before I show you the box, let me show you the package that I received 2 weeks prior. Sherri (That's Scrap Inc.) had mailed out to all her Lynx customers a Welcome Pack that included  a welcome letter, a BLACK (woo hoo!) USB cord, and 2 blades (45deg and 60deg). Also included was a chart that listed the types of blades and blade holders and their uses. It is a very useful guide and I was glad to receive it.


This is the box that the pint-size Fed-Ex delivery girl handed to me. The box was so big I could barely see her but when I asked if it was heavy, her answer was a chirpy "No. Not at all!" :-)


 The shipping label stated that the package weighed 28lbs but it felt more bulky than heavy.


Here is the box with the outer plastic covering removed.


The box was stapled closed and not taped. I easily removed the staples and was totally expecting to see another box inside but instead....


...I saw a "cat" looking straight back at me.


Before I could take the cutter out of the box, I had to first remove the cutting mat and a smaller box.


The smaller box includes a blue USB cable, a white Serial cable, the power adapter, 3 blades (2x 45deg, 1 60deg), a pen holder (for testing), 2 pen ink refills only (for testing), 1 original blade holder, and one cd. I knew from the welcome package that I had received 2 weeks ago that I really don't need the blue USB cable and the serial cable. Nor do I need the cd or the blades.


This is the Lynx out of the box.

And here it is out of the plastic cover. I found a red piece of vinyl under the cutter. Probably from the factory testing. 


Here is the control panel.


I really appreciate that this unit has the 4-way direction buttons. In fact, at first glance I understood what all the buttons on the Control Panel were for. In case anyone is wondering, the button in the middle of the 4-way direction buttons is to set the Origin (or blade starting point). 

I noticed that, like the blue cd that came in the smaller box, the screen of the Lynx is labelled "Vinyl Cutter". I'll talk more about that at a later time.

Here is the Lynx and the Silhouette together.  The Lynx is the biggest cutter that I have while the Silhouette is the smallest. I thought that in this picture, the Lynx looks like it's about to eat up the Silhouette. LOL!


"Nom, nom, nom,....."


The Lynx is almost as wide as the Cricut Expression but it is deeper (broader?) and is very much taller.  




The Power On/Off button is on the left side of the Lynx.


The Lynx weighs almost 19 lbs, and this includes the blade and blade holder and without all the packaging materials and cable ties.


Here is a closer look at the original blade holder and the blades that came with the welcome package.


The instructions to using the Lynx with Make-the-Cut must be downloaded from the Black Cat forum. I downloaded 2 sets of instructions: One is a 36-min long video tutorial that took me about an hour to download while the the second is a written manual for the Cougar cutters.  I only referred to a few pages in the written manual, particularly the pages about the testing pen and the blade holders. I was very impressed by how detailed the instructions are. The photos were clearly labelled (How refreshing!). The video tutorial showed me a lot of information. It covers everything from getting the cutter out of the box to making a cut with it from Make-the-Cut

The written manual comes in the form of  PDF file so although I am showing a small sample  of it here, the page can actually be enlarged until it's pretty big in Adobe Acrobat.

Thanks Dawn for giving permission to show this on my blog.

After putting the cutter on my table, and happy noticing that it did not leave any black marks on my white table, I decided to follow the instructions on the written manual and test the Lynx by using the pen that came with it.

The "pen" is really a ball-point pen ink refill in a black holder. As instructed in the written manual, I wrapped some tape around the holder so that the clamp can better hold it in place.


Using the same Provencial Princess frame that I had used for test-cutting on my Silhouette and Gazelle reviews, I used Make-the-Cut to get the Lynx to "cut" (i.e. to draw). The drawing turned out looking sharp. The two circles that I tested looked good as well.


Next, I switched out the pen for the loaded original blade holder. The video tutorial demonstrated using the Lynx with the Click Blade Holder but on the two times that I had asked to buy the Click Blade Holder, it was sold out, and so I was only able to use the original blade holder with this cutter.

The instructions that I downloaded from the forum were crucial in helping me learn the Lynx. If you have ordered the Lynx and are awaiting for its arrival, you may want to download and watch the Quick Start video first. Just sign into the Black Cat forum with the log in info that was emailed to you when you bought the cutter and download the video from the Manuals Section.