Op Art Card (file and explanation)

Here is yet another variation of the "mystery" file - this is what will cut if you use the file without hiding any contours.



The card topper was created using only this element from the Sesame Street Font cartridge - repeated in five rows of seven and welded to create a single piece.



Because of the "glitch" in the software that does not keep a contour hidden if you hide only a single line of an item, you will need to "rehide" the lines each time you use the file. Just left click to select the line and the right click and choose "hide selected contour" from the bottom of the pop-up menu.



If you hide the outer line of the oval in alternating squares in a 4-3-4-3-4 pattern, your preview will look like this.



It is best to remove the cut from the bottom up - by lifting this way the ovals that are not connected at the tops will come off the mat nicely.



When you attach the cut to the 5 x 7 card you can use adhesive on all of the tiny lines to hold the cut down securely.



This is the card with the topper attached - ready to add additional embellishments or to use "as is" - there is a lot of flexibility with this design.



I tried my best to get the file to work so that you wouldn't need to hide contours each time you open the file. In the past, I have been able to use a workaround for this problem - here is a LINK to the post with the entire explanation on how to do this. I have been able to place two images directly on top of one another to "keep" the line I want to hide hidden when I reopen the file (you need at least three lines in the design for this to work).

Apparently the trouble arises when you try to use this fix on multiple welded shapes - the software goes haywire and can't figure out what to weld and in which order.



Above and below you can see two of the many "bad welds" I got when I tried over and over (adding items in different orders) to get this to work.



This is so frustrating! There is no logical reason that you should not be able to keep a single contour hidden - or that you shouldn't be able to use the "hide contour" feature on a pasted image without closing and reopening the file!



I made a lot of test cuts - now I have a nice little collection of ovals to use on other projects! I save the bags from the Studio G and other mini clear stamp sets and then use them to keep small offcuts together - sometimes I even use them!

So here are the important directions!

The file is set up with the first page to be used for cutting - you will need to hide the contours in whatever pattern you like before cutting. The second page of the file is exactly the same but the items are not welded. You can hide the contours you want to hide and then change the preview color to "audition" different color combinations. Page three is just a rectangle to represent the card base and you can vary the colors for the preview on this page as well. The final page is a blank page for viewing the preview.

Here are a few screen shots of various previews







It is fun to play around with the various combinations!



Be sure that you are on page one when you actually cut the file - if you cut from page two you will end up with a mess like this (The phone rang and I got distracted!).



Here is one more variation. In this version, I hid the opposite set of contours (3-4-3-4-3 pattern) and when I placed the topper on the card I bent back each oval slightly to get the raised effect.



Be sure to keep the adhesive only on the edges of the topper and the solid squares.



Here is a close view of the raised ovals.

If you look at the Sesame Street Font cartridge you will see that there are a lot of shapes that could be used to create unusual designs - have fun with them!

Op Art 5 x 7 Card Topper