Original designs and color experiments...

Happy Thursday!  I hope you are having a great week!  The weeks with a Monday holiday always seem to fly by for me  - does that happen for you too?  I do have a lot of things that I want to finish up today so this will be a quick post.

I have been doing a lot of exploring with the Silhouette Studio software.  One of the differences between the Silhouette and the Cricut is that you need to work with your design on the computer and then send it to the machine to cut (instead of using images on cartridges).  The basic program is free  - an upgrade was recently made available as an optional purchase but so far I haven't tried it.  One of the main things the upgrade will do is to allow you to open SVG files - many of these are available for purchase from various sites online.   I am enjoying creating my own files in the basic version of the program.  I will probably upgrade to get some of the other design tools that have been added, such as rhinestone templates, sketch tools and some extra knife styles for cutting edges.

I have always been fascinated by color and pattern and it is a lot of fun to change the colors of a design to see what a different effect can be created.  There are three color variations of exactly the same design in this post - which do you like best?

This design was created from a shape that I drew using the tools in the Silhouette Studio program.  These designs are the sorts of things I like to make in the Cricut Design Studio but I am limited to working from a shape on a cartridge and it takes much longer to create the effects that I can make with just a few clicks in the Silhouette Studio software.

I like the ability to create designs that are truly my own creations - this card has another medallion snowflake that I made using the Silhouette Studio program.  If you missed the post about this card, you can find it HERE.

It is interesting to see how the world of electronic cutting is evolving as more and more machines and software programs become available.  There is truly something for everyone - it all depends on your individual needs and preferences as a crafter.  I enjoy working on the computer so there are many more options available for me to try.  If you prefer to stay away from using a computer, the Cricut is probably still  the easiest and best option for you.  Even with the Cricut, you will need to use a computer to do the required updates to the machines.

Dover Publications

I have mentioned Dover Publications several times on my blog - I just wanted to give you another reminder - particularly since they have some great images available as free downloads this week.

Dover will send you an email and links to free sample images every week - all you need to do is to sign up on their site - here is a LINK to the sign up page.  You can find this week's free samples HERE (this cute group of pumpkins is one of the samples available this week).

You can use these samples for digital projects or as printables.  They also offer some SVG files and many black and white images that can be converted to cutting files for machines like the Silhouette.  I am not affiliated with Dover in any way - I have enjoyed using their products for years and just want to make sure that you also know about them.

I made bread and an old fashioned apple pie this week - and took lots of photos of the process.  I am working on my family recipe project again - so there may be some more food and recipes posts on the blog from time to time.  I was happy to hear from several of you that you tried and enjoyed the Swedish Apple Pie - it is so quick and easy to make and so delicious!

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