DIY Planner Dividers: Uploading images to Cricut Explore

I have been a proud Cricut owner since the original baby bug came out way back when. There have been times when my loyalty waivered and I considered buying another type of electronic die cutting machine, but I am glad that I stayed the course. The Cricut Explore has added so many new features that have helped explode my creativity. I am constantly coming up with new things to make with my Explore.

Even having owned 3 prior Cricut machines, my Explore sat on the corner of my desk still in the box for three whole months. Every time I went in the studio I would see it sitting there, waiting to be discovered but I would just look away and get our my beloved Expression. Finally I mustered the courage to tackle whatever learning curve lay ahead and brought my shiny new wonder out into the light. I have not touched my Expression since.

Many people have asked me if they should upgrade to the Cricut Explore and I have answered in this way, "where will you be using it?" If it is going to sit on your worktable connected to your wifi then by all means you will love it. If you are planning to take it to crops with you there will be added task of ensuring that you will have stable internet access.

So for those of you that have made the plunge let's discuss uploading images to Cricut Explore.

There are two types of images that you will upload directly to Design Space (the Cricut Explore online design software) first of all images that you want to cut as a silhouette (which tends to be most projects) and images you want to use the Print then Cut feature for.

Lets look at a basic image upload first.

I usually begin by doing a quick Google search for images in the topic I am working on.  Often Google pulls up copywritten images so it is important to check the use policy on an image before your borrow it. If you are leary about breaking copyright another great resource is Karen Watson's The Graphic Fairy. She collects and restores vintage pictures that she distributes free of charge.

Using my original example you should end up with a screen like this:

See those images with lines through them or watermarks, stay clear of those. Choose the image you like and click view image. Right click and save the file somewhere you won't forget.

Open a new browser and log in to your Design Space account. Start a new project. Once your fresh page has loaded click on the tab to the left of your screen that says upload image. Then go ahead and click the blue button to begin the uploading process.

Browse to find the image that you saved then choose simple image and continue.

First thing zoom in so you can see what you are working on. Using the magic wand click on any white spaces to remove them. Pay close attention to small spaces like curls, fingers and ribbons. Sometimes there will be a grey outline in the image, I like to remove that as well in order to add more detail to the cut.

Once you have carefully removed the unwanted areas click continue. This will bring up the screen where you can rename, add tags and decide how you are going to use the image. In this case we will click save as cut image and then save.

After the image saves it will appear in your uploaded image library. You find this library by clicking the upload image tab. Once you scroll down, your image should be the first one in the line up. Click on it to load it and Voila, you can cut your image out as normal.

DIY Planner Dividers Using Gecko Gals Ephemera

Are you a planner addict? I used to be. When I worked in an office and had meetings to attend and important tasks to complete. After I began working from home I fell away from using a planner and graduated to the big calendar on the fridge and post it notes on my computer. Very professional.

The truth is I missed having my planner. I still have countless meetings and tasks that in hindsight are far more important than the ones I was responsible for in my twenties.

Last year I printed many of the lovely printables I found on pinterest. I found that it was costing me as much in ink as it would to just break down and buy a planner.

This year I decided to go with the "Color Crush" planner from Webster Pages. It is beautiful. I love the monthly and weekly calendars, there is plenty of space to write in. The downfall, I wish there were more pages for capturing ideas. So it looks like I will need to go back to Pinterest to find a few more add ons.

The one thing that I did love about my printed planner from last year was the dividers that I had made. Having my favourite images right in my planner is very inspiring to me.

Last year I used my Cricut Explore to cut out the pages and then just adhered to images I liked. This year I decided to get a bit more savvy and I uploaded the beautiful images from Gecko Gals directly into the Cricut Design space and used the print then cut and slice features to create beautiful layered dividers.

This week I will begin a mini series to walk you through uploading digital images to Cricut Design Space, Using the Slice feature and Print then Cut to create these beautiful planner inserts. Tell all your friends that got a Cricut Explore for Christmas to join us as I show you how to used each of these really fun features.

Be sure to sign up for my newsletter as I will be sending out freebies this year and you wont want to miss out.

Happy New Year!

January Challenge: Gecko Galz "All that Glitters"

Happy New Year Friends. I hope that your holidays were wonderful and that you are looking forward to 2016 with an optimistic view. The holidays were busy around here as well. It's always busy when the children are home from school, my husband is home from work and everyone we know seems to pop over to say hello. Its a wonderful time of year that reminds me of our many blessings.

Between Skylander quests and origami overseeing, I had a chance to get a tiny bit of creative work done.

I created this beautiful card using the new High Society paper from Gecko Galz. The exact paper is HS09. I also used the beautiful image from the Pretty Portraits 2 Collage sheet.

You will need:

1. 5x7 card base or cardstock to create one
2. Red cardstock of your choice (I used Bazzil)
3. Glitter glue
4. floral spray (I found mine at the dollar tree in with the Christmas decorations and chopped it up)
5. rolled roses 
6. handmade hat pins

Making the Card:

1. Cut your red cardstock to 4 3/4 x 6 3/4 to create the large mat
2. Cut the High Society paper to 4 1/2 x 6 1/2
3. Cut red cardstock to 3 3/4 x 2 3/4 to create small mat
4. Cut image to 3 1/2 x 2 1/2
5. Create two rolled roses. I used the CTMH Artiste Cartridge and then inked them using Tattered Angels Glimmer mist in scarlet and cranberry.
6. Adhere large red mat to base.
7. Adhere design paper.
8. Arrange flower spray and paper roses and adhere to card.
9. Adhere focal image to small mat and attach to card using foam squares.
10. Insert hat pins under the edge of image or spray and adhere.
11. Using a fine tip glitter glue, trace the flourishes on the design paper.
12. Allow to dry completely.

Enjoy!

Gecko Galz Seasons Greeting Challenge

Aren't the challenges on Gecko Galz so much fun. I wish that I had known about them sooner as I am having a blast creating all these new styles. 

This challenge was of course a Christmas Challenge. I really like the way it turned out. I find challenges that don't limit colour choice are much easier for me.

Material Used:

• Gecko Galz Oh Christmas Saying OCS09
• Do Crafts Denim Lace
• American Crafts Cardstock
• Close To my Heart Colonial White Card Base
• Close To My Heart Artiste Cricut Cartridge Rolled Rose
• Ebay Leave
• Old Paper Distress Ink
• Crayola Pencil Crayons 
• Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers
• Stickles
• Flat Back Pearls

1. I always start by colouring my focal image. It sets the tone for the whole card. Depending on the colours that come out of it determines what supplies I will use on the card. 
2. Double mount the focal image on dark and then lighter blue cardstock creating a 31/2x31/2 square.
3. Cut a piece of cream cardstock 4 1/2 x 3 3/4 (I ran mine through my cuttlebug to add some dimension). Ink the edges with Old Paper Distress ink and attach it to a piece of dark blue cardstock.
4. Attach the blue lace to the blue and cream layer, securing the lace on the back with a piece of tape. Attach the layer to  the card base.
5. Using Foam squares attach the focal image to the card base. Be sure to add a bit of extra pressure where the foam squares attach to the lace. 
6. Arrange your leaves and rolled flower to the bottom left corner. Add three half back pearls to the bottom right of the focal image.

Ta-Da....you are so creative!