Yes, It's been awhile - my new toy

Yes, it's been awhile since I last posted. Just busy, busy, busy. And it will just get busier.

My newest toy, my Silhouette SD. Boy, is it slick!! I've had it since July and been learning how to use it along with MDS and Inkscape. I never thought I would get into graphic design (though this is cheating graphic design). I'm so enthralled with my Silhouette SD, I have gifted my Cuttlebug and DS and one DD are selling die cuts and punches on ebay.

My next step is to post my cutting designs on this blog. So, stay tuned. I'll try to post a pic of one of the designs I did today. (Just hope all the technology communicates properly and I know what I'm doing.) Ha! I did it. I took the pic with my Blackberry (new - for me - Blackberry 6 OS), emailed it to myself and then uploaded it.

Anyway this is one of my designs. There has been a learning curve with all the programs, but with a lot of help from videos and yahoo groups, I'm getting the hang of all of them. My big leap today was designing in Inkscape (which by the way is a FREE illustrator program and I LOVE IT!) learning that to go from concept to final image I had to go through several PATH steps (thanks to Carolyn at CuttingTimes), i.e. Path>Object to Path, then >Stroke to Path, then >Union after using the Bezier tool to "draw" swirly lines.

I chose the Silhouette SD over other cutters for several reasons: primarily price. It's a great little machine for $180 or so. It takes up so little space is another reason. No cartridges and I can design my own designs or import others. (Yes, I can import SU! images as jpegs, trace them and cut them out, which is WAY COOL!! The first time I did that I thought I had died and gone to heaven.) It doesn't have the cutting real estate that some other cutters have and it doesn't have a lot of pressure to cut heavier materials. But I figured that for my first machine and understanding it limitations, it would be the machine for me. It does cut through SU! cardstock which is a real plus for as that is my favorite cardstock (though sometimes it does take two cuts to get the job done.) And the final selling point that came out just prior to my purchase is I should be able to cut fabric on it. I haven't tried that yet. Actually, right now, it is working away at one of SU!'s Delicate Doilies stamps. (That was a bit of nightmare to clean up the nodes, but we'll see how it does.) It is noisy but youngest DD and I think it sounds like a funky orchestra (and hey! it does sound better than some music out there;o).) (Oops! The doily looking image is what I just cut - still learning how to upload and insert pics.) It's an okay cut, but it needs some work.

So, stay tuned for more adventures in Pauline's digital world!

My Digital Studio

This is just a quick post. I've been reading about a lot of digital programs out there, scrapbooking and die cutting. I just have to put in a quick plug for My Digitial Studio by Stampin' Up! is fun.

I initially had a problem with it as we upgraded our computer and MDS wasn't compatible with the upgrade. But SU! tech support sent me an email and I did what she said, and VOILA! It works like a dream!

I haven't had much experience with digital card and scrapbooking programs. In fact, I purchased this back in November when SU! ran a great deal on it. I didn't have time to play to learn how to use it and didn't take much time to explore youtube (imagine that?) to find help. But in May, we were taking a road trip so I watched the vids that are at mydigitalstudio.net and played for a couple of hours while on the road with the program. I have to say I was very pleased with the scrapbook pages I created. Granted they are very simple (and yes, once I get my act more together I'll post some) but they look good. Since then, I've made quite a few cards and I am VERY happy with the results.

Unless you're very much into making your own elements and very graphics savvy, I would say this program is a good buy. I LOVE IT!!! And the people on the mydigitialstudio.net are very helpful to find more sophisticated ways to use the program. I really can't say enough good things about this program and I've really just touched the tip of the iceberg.

Hoping to post some pics soon.