Free Cut File!!

If you've followed my blog at all you know I recently acquired at Cricut on Black Friday last year & I'm loving it!   

I've also made the leap and purchased the Makes-the-Cut (MTC) software program that allows you to create and cut your own images with the cricut...  Must say it's awesome!  

I plan on posting some of my own creations soon... I've already got several made and have had fund doing it!  I wanted to share one this week for you, but was unable to spend much time on my blog as family was much more important this week!

Since I haven't yet figured out yet how to link my own files to my blog, I've decided to go ahead and share one that I found to be cute and useful... I hope you enjoy it too. 


This cutfile comes just in time for Valentine's Day... Cute little gift bags you can cut out with your Cricut.  See image above.  You can get the files here.  Simply click on the white wording in the red boxes to select the files you want to download.  They are in svg format... so be sure to click svg when you load them into MTC to use.


These bags would be great for any time of the year... Just change the paper colors and accent/embelish them to the desired occasion.  I love multipurpose items!!  :)


They also have some cute embellishment ideas for Valentine's Buckets... these would be great to use in the classroom setting to collect Valentines!   Use the images on buckets like they've shown, or come up with your own use for them.... Either way... cute!

Find them here.

Theses files come from SVGCuts.com and is a site that I've seen a number of cute free files on worth saving for future use.

If you have Sure-Cuts-A-Lot, you should be able to use the files as well.

Don't know anything about Makes-the-Cut?  
Sure-Cuts-A-Lot?


Find more info about them here.  They are great programs that make your Cricut an even more valuable tool & they both offer free trials to try them out.

Enjoy!

Cricut Ideas...

As many of you know, I recently purchased a Cricut on Black Friday.  My friend Jill had one and I loved the opportunity to play with it when we made free time for crafting/card-making, so with the special deal at Walmart... I managed to get my own.




I have since purchased a program called Make-The-Cut (MTC) for my Cricut which allows me to use lots of free fonts, make my own images/files,  and use others as well.

There is also a program called Sure-Cuts-A-Lot (SCAL) which is very similar in function and many of the files I share will work with it too.



If you're thinking about one of these programs, you can find my SCAL vs. Make-the-Cut post here.  I wrote this post before my purchase of MTC.

I've enjoyed card-making for years, but with this new program and my Cricut... 

the cardmaking/crafting experience goes to a whole new level!  I'm loving it! 

Because of my new-found interest, I've decided to post free cut files for the Cricut on a weekly basis... although I may post more if I find several must share files at once :)  There are lots of free ones out there already worth sharing about.. and I've already enjoyed making a few of my own.

Hope you all enjoy this new upcoming feature.. and if you have any input or insight, let me know :)

Make the Cut: New Cricut Program

I mentioned a few days ago a new program that has been written for the Cricut....  

Make the Cut.

Make the Cut is a computer program that allows you to cut lots of images on the Cricut, & not just from Cricut cartridges either.  It is made so that you can import many different types of images and break them apart to be cut by the Cricut.  You can build layers, weld images, break images apart, rotate them, etc.

You can build your image pieces or layers right on your computer screen in the same way that you want to cut it out.... putting each design element where you want it so that you can cut them all at one time.  It gives you an image of your cutting mat so that you know exactly where to place each color of paper for each element.  Unlike the cartridges where you have to cut each color individually to be sure that you have the right amount of paper for each piece (unless you have Design Studio Software- Cricut's software that allows you to set up your cuts on the screen before you cut.  Only uses Cricut cartridges for images/fonts.)

I will be trying the software soon and will let you know my results.   I'm loving the idea of being able to cut my own images without the fuss of yet another program.... if you have any version of SCAL you have to break apart/set up images in Inkscape or another program and save them as an SVG before moving them into SCAL.

It's also great that your image availability is basically unlimited with this program.  No more buying expensive cartridges unless there is one you think you just have to have.  You can use many of the free fonts you find online as well... many of which include images as well.

I'm posting about this again because I'm a new Cricut owner and I'm looking for ways to make my investment even more affordable and fun.  When I bought my Cricut (on Black Friday I might add... lol) I knew that SCAL existed and was considering purchasing that instead of cartridges to make the most of my money.  I hadn't yet  purchased it with the holidays coming up.

My friend Jill told me about Make the Cut and I'm glad she did!  

I think it's going to give SCAL a run for it's money and I'm excited about it.

Thanks Jill!

I will have to mention too that I sent an email to the owner of the site and got a response very quickly!  It is a new program, but I feel safe that the developer is truly making a go of this.  He has a small message board on the site page for questions, concerns, etc and is quick about responding to people there and is making changes in the program per peoples requests.

I asked about updates to the program and was told via email that updates will always be free!!  He believes all software is a work in progress and doesn't think you should have to pay for the same idea twice.... Love it!

There is currently a discount on the program since it is new and just getting started.

They are asking $77.97 for the program, but retail price is noted as $129.95.  

There is currently a discount code available for the program that gets you 10% off.  It is good through 1/1/10... so get in quick if you think you might want it.  If the program goes as well as I think it might, he could easily raise the price once he gets all the final tweaking done!

Discount code is FRUM-7C6P 

If you want to try the trial version first... you can find it here.

Cricut Software.... SCAL vs Make-the-Cut

 Off topic...

I don't usually talk crafts, but may do so more now that I have a Cricut :) 

I've been contemplating the purchase of SCAL (Sure Cuts Alot) for my new Cricut for a few weeks.  I was actually prepared to purchase it, but with Christmas coming up didn't have the time to invest in playing with it right now and thought I might be frustrated with having another addition to my new toy that I didn't have time for.

For those of you in the dark about what I'm talking about....
The Cricut is basically a printer that cuts.  You have to purchase cartridges that allow you to cut different shapes/fonts to use with scrapbooking/craft projects.  These programs I'm talking about make it possible to use fonts and images that are not on cartridges, and even make your own which in the long run saves money if you use your Cricut much at all as the cartridges are very costly!!

On with the story... a new program! 
My dear friend Jill alerted me that there is a new similar program available now called Make-the-Cut.  There have been some discussions about it on a message board, but it keeps being shut down and I was unfortunate to not have been able to read it.

The Makes-the-Cut program is possibly a bit more user friendly for those that want to use an image on their cricut that is not already in the right format (SVG).  This makes it easier to turn your school or business logos, etc into an image that is quickly and easily cut on the Cricut.  To do the same thing with SCAL you would have to import the image into another program such as Inkscape and convert it into an SVG image before you could load it into SCAL and cut it.  This seems to me the main advantage to Makes-the-Cut.

SCAL (Sure Cuts Alot), on the other hand, has been around for awhile and has had time to get many of the bugs worked out.  It also appears to have possibly a few more features that Makes-the-Cut does not.

I have not had the opportunity to try either of these programs and would like to hear your opinions about them.  If you've used them and had good/bad experiences... leave a comment and let us know what you like or don't like about them.

Haven't heard of either one?  You can find them below.  Each has a trial you can use that will work same as the regular program, but will cut a line through the project rendering it unusable (thier watermark).  I may find myself trying each one with the trial before making my decision & I will try and post about them when I do to let you know what I like/dislike about each one.

SCAL (Sure Cuts Alot)
Make-the-Cut

If you have a Mac... SCAL is your only option right now unless you're running a program to make it compatable with Windows... like mine :).  Make-the-Cut doens't yet have Mac version.  

Let me know what you think!!