Before we get started, if you are here looking for the freebie and a fun little ‘last minute gift’ idea,
please scroll down until you see the words “This Week’s Extravaganza” in big green letters.


And now . . . This+That: Christmas Past!




 Comes in SVG/STUDIO/DXF/AIv8/PNG


Here’s a few tips about the kit:

Ornament
Adhere red polka dot to same-size cream background. Adhere that ensemble to the slightly larger ornament. Adhere ornament top, wrap ribbon around ornament and adhere to background.

Noel
Adhere music to background. Wrap string over left edge and top-right corners. Secure lightly to back to hold in place while adhering NOEL. Layer light red sleigh piece with darker red sleigh piece. Play with the placement of the sleigh with the runner before securing it all down.

List For Santa
Adhere ‘List For’ on top line of notebook paper and ‘santa’ on second line. Add ribbon tied to paperclip and adhere to background. Adhere ‘cookies wrapper’ one space below ‘santa’ (see image). Wrap ribbon around ensemble.

Christmas Tree
Make sure you use your paper piercer to help poke out the smaller ‘radius’ areas.

Church on a Snowy Hill
Adhere white solid church behind brown background. Adhere snow piece on top of brown background. Adhere to background and add the extra trees as shown.

Let It Snow
Create a dimensional ‘button’ by using a .75″ circle punch to cut four more cardstock circles. (You can also use the punch to cut out the button image.) Adhere all pieces together. Adhere in this order: snowflake,  ‘snow’, ‘let it’, button.

Peppermint Candy
Adhere in this order: cream ‘wrapper’, cream circle center, red twisty candy. Note: the extra cream circle center isn’t absolutely necessary, but it gives the piece more dimension.

Reindeer
Adhere reindeer card with reindeer on top. Staple on upper-right side, if desired.

Normally I create two posts with all this information, but due to all our fun activities this week, I’m combining it all into one.




BREAK IT DOWN

You can use this kit with many of the digital craft cutters out there, such as Silhouette, Pazzles and Cricut. Anything that can use an SVG/STUDIO/DXF/AIv8 file. If you are using Cricut, you’ll need to use something like Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) or Make The Cut (MTC). These programs allow you to use SVG files with your Cricut. However, Provo Craft has made it so these two programs cannot work with the Cricut anymore, so if you didn’t get either program purchased earlier in the year (like spring 2011), then you won’t be able to use it with Cricut.

And if you don’t have a digital craft cutter? No worries. You can create it digitally! There are PNG/JPG files in this kit as well.  THIS POST has some great information on how to do that.


Distribution and Use of the File

I’ve have to use alternate file saving choices with my This & That kits due to my current method of distribution so I can still email the files once you’ve purchased the kit. It comes as a link to a ZIP file, so use something like WinZip or StuffIt to extract/open the zipped file once you’ve saved it to your hard drive.  If you are on a Mac, you can double-click the ZIP file and it will open automatically.

There are two specific directories containing all the files needed to create the TRAY project as shown using printouts for some pieces and your digital craft cutter for the other pieces. One directory is called “TRAY Print Files” and the other is called “TRAY Cut Files.”

I need to keep the file size down by NOT including the printable items as Print & Cuts for Silhouette. But most of the printables are straight cuts, so they should be easy to work with.


Here’s what you get:

  • Two printable composite files in PNG format only. These composite filenames start with “tt” to indicate the “This & That” project.
  • Two composite files of the cuttable shapes. These composite filenames also start with “tt”.
  • Individual cuttable files named according to the descriptive style of shape for easier sorting. These files are made for all uses and are not sized and trimmed for the 7gypsies tray.
  • The same cuttable shapes as PNG files for all you digital crafters.
Due to file size issues, there are no individual files for the printable images (in the composite files), with the exception of a few of the more ‘important’ images. I thought it might be nice to have them larger than the print file in case you wanted to use them on a larger scale. Use the Crop tool in your photo editing software with the composite printable files if you want to use them individually.

The two printable composite files look like this. 


These files you print on your printer and trim using a paper trimmer or scissors as needed. Most of these are the background pieces for the slots of the 7gypsies tray.

I’m confessing something here. Don’t you just sometimes go, “Why didn’t I do it this way in the first place?” Rather than specifying the usual sizes of these two images–like I’ve done with a year’s worth of kits– because they varied in size, I actually saved them AS an 8×10 so there should be no question and no problem when taking it to a developer.

Wa-ha??

Just want to do a big ol’ DUH right now. Sometimes, the ol’ brain just gets in the same routine and then finally it has an ‘aha’ moment. Wished it would have been sooner. ;)


The two cuttable composite files like this, but not in color.

These are the files you’ll use with your cutter (Silhouette, Cricut, Wishblade, Pazzles, etc.) to cut your cardstock pieces and layer with the pieces above in your 7gypsies tray.

All these pieces–which are sized and trimmed for the tray–are separated into the appropriate cardstock colors. This is how you will see the two files when you pull them up into your cutting software (no color though). All you need to do is Ungroup/Break the image and/or move the unneeded shapes out of the cutting area and cut.

Some of the other software programs, like MTC or SCAL, may adjust the size of the image when importing. If this occurs, resize it proportionally.

The tt_christmaspast_cut1 file is 7.32″ wide and the tt_christmaspast_cut2 file is 7.36″ wide.


Here’s a few more project tips:

  • Use a photo paper or presentation paper to print your printables at home. I like using Epson Ultra Premium Photo Paper (Matte or Lustre) or Epson Premium Presentation Paper (Matte). Or, take it to your local photo devleoper.
  • The printable background pieces can only fit into the square for which it was designed.
  • Double cut your images by copying and pasting the image on top of itself in your cutting software. That way you can be assured of a clean cut, especially on the small images. Another nifty trick is to use vinyl. It cuts nicely, plus you don’t need adhesive.
  • If this is your first time working with a This & That kit, HERE is some information on the magnets I use so that I can easily swap out the pieces all year long.


Where to find the tray.

While there are many places you can purchase the tray, you can find it on the 7gypsies website HERE or on Two Peas In a Bucket HERE. I purchased mine from Archivers. Note: I’ve discovered that all printer tray’s are not created equally, so you may have to trim a fraction off here or there. I usually set the back piece in its square first just to see if I’ll need to trim anything off.


I think that’s it for the This+That for today!

 


This Week’s Extravaganza!


Okay, so let’s get right to it and show you what else our darling Miss Laura made!

[ Shapes | oddsANDends. From Lori | Ribbon Cards (SVGs on Lori’s site. Also in Silhouette store.) ]

I think this is such an adorable idea! Laura, did you say you were sending those buttons to me? ;)

Okay, here’s what Laura really has to say:

I have a few best friends that are scrapbookers, and I like to give them a small gift at Christmas. When I saw Lori’s 4 Ribbon Cards, I had the fun idea to make some “embellishments cards”, that I could hang on a metal ring. I cut the ribbon cards from white cardstock, and embossed them with my Cuttlebug. I adhered two card, back to back, to make them a bit more sturdy. I dug out some pretty embellishments, in coordinating colors, and added them to the cards. Brads, buttons, ribbons, and bakers twine worked really well. I cut the “Bits & Pieces” from Kerri’s Odds And Ends kit, and adhered it to the front of one of the ribbon cards. I think this makes a cute little gift, that my friends can then put to use on their projects. 


And now for that ever-so fun free thing that keeps happenin’ this week!

You can download it for free–today only–HERE.

This is no longer available as a freebie, but you’ll be able to get it in a kit at the end of the week! :)


Don’t forget to enter the contest in Monday’s post (below).
And check out all the goodness on Lori’s blog….some really cute stuff from Carolyn!

Here’s all the details: