Cut Apart Cards Used for Card Making

 I don't do pocket scrapbooking, but I have bought a variety of the cut-apart sheets that are intended for pocket scrapbooking. I figured they could be used at least for card making. Do I actually use them for card making? Rarely. Today, however, I got out a sheet of BoBunny Petal Lane Love Notes cut-aparts. I have leftovers that will hopefully be used later to make additional cards, but today I needed 5 cards, all the same, and I had an entire pack of the already mentioned Bo Bunny cut-aparts  that I'd bought from Tuesday Morning long ago. It's pretty simple, but I got my 5 identical cards made. I thought about adding some bling, but these need to go through the mail, and I didn't want them returned for insufficient postage. I used Queen & Company Foundation dies to make the card base, and the Hello sentiment. I love it when a card is quick and easy, but still looks decent.

Turning Clip Art into Cutting Files: Is it Legal?

One of the reasons that I love my Silhouette is for tracing images, which I can then use for crafting. You can trace a photo and turn it into a cutting file, but for those who aren't as familiar with tracing images, it's easiest to start with free clip art, coloring pages, etc. Some fully colored images can also be used.

As anyone who has followed my blog probably knows, my DH had a widow maker heart attack almost a year ago, which he thankfully survived. His recovery has been slow, and we spend a lot of time every week going to two different types of physical therapy. He is improving, though, and one of the things that gives him hope and encourages him to work on his recovery, is the hope of going to Disney World when he is well enough. He watches a lot of Disney YouTube videos, and I spend time designing what shirts we want to wear. 

In 2017, we took a family trip to Disney World. I made 27 different t-shirt designs for various family members, each one a unique creation according to their preferences. I started with free clip art from the internet for some, and bought Cricut Disney designs for others. The ones that I made with the Cricut designs were definitely the nicest.

What do you do, though, if you want to do a specific kind of design, but it's not available as a cutting file? This is where the trace feature of the Silhouette software comes in handy.

The Silhouette video on tracing specifically states that you shouldn't use it on proprietary designs. I'm sure their lawyers were thinking that they didn't want Disney lawyers to come after them, and they have a good point. You will see Disney cutting files online for sale by individuals, who have essentially created unauthorized cutting files for sale using internet clip art. Before long, the Disney lawyers usually shut those entrepreneurs down. However, when we went to Disney with our very unique home made Disney shirts, no one at Disney gave us a bad time about it, and a few of the shirts were really well done. They were home made, but the last ones that I did looked professional. The more shirts that I made with heat transfer vinyl, the better I got. I assumed that since it was for personal use, it was legally acceptable.

Apparently, it's not legal. Will the Disney lawyers go after home crafters who just make their own t-shirts but don't sell them? Probably not, since there are a lot of people trying to sell the products which is a truly blatant copyright issue. However, technically you are supposed to get permission from Disney to even make a shirt only for you, unless it is one of the licensed Cricut designs, and I kind of doubt that Disney will grant permission, even if you go through the hassle.

Will you actually get into trouble? Will Disney folks deny you entrance to the parks or throw you out for a home made but professional looking t-shirt, with their lawyers in hot pursuit? Probably not, but I wish I knew the answer to that. Some of the Cricut designs are great, and would certainly be legal to use if you've bought the cutting file. I've bought quite a few. But I've also found Disney designs that I like better, which aren't available, so I have to decide if I am willing to take the time to make them if wearing them to the Disney parks could land me in legal trouble or get kicked out.

Leather Key Tags

Yes, I have been AWOL. Due to tight finances, I decided I needed to make at least some of my Christmas gifts. I was in such a rush that I forgot to take photos of most of my projects, but below is a photo of the leather projects that I made for older grandkids. Life got crazy busy the last few months but seems to finally be settling down.

I cut the leather tags using my Silhouette Cameo. I had to use the deep cut blade and cut the soft, relatively thin leather several times. The HTV designs were traced from images I found on the internet. I heat pressed them to the leather, used leather glue, eyelet, and jewelry tools to complete the projects. The sword in the flames is an image from a video game our oldest grandson likes to play. The other two are a Red Panda and Wolf are favorite animals for another grandson and his partner. The leather tags are soft and flexible. 

 

Queen & Co. Christmas Door

Tonight Demo Donna did a live class. Those who were interested were given a list of Foundation dies, what papers to cut, how many, etc., which we were to cut ahead of time, making our own class kit.

During the class, she showed us how to put it together. I did the wreath slightly different, but not a lot.

The panels of the door were supposed to be more dimensional, using foam tape, but I liked it better without as much dimension on the door panels. I didn't have gold glitter cardstock, so I used a gold foil instead.

Favorite Christmas Cards from CARDtober

One favorite was created for a challenge by another hostess, which required using as many different types of paper as possible. This was my card:

I used Queen & Co. dies from a variety of sets. Unfortunately, this one took far too much time to reproduce for making a lot of Christmas cards.

Another favorite was one that I did for a challenge example when I was hostess:

Rocker cards are fairly quick and easy, although adding a shaker can affect whether they are balanced and rock well, or are off balance (which my snowman shaker was). This one did rock well.

I used a cutting file that I had created on my Silhouette, and a couple of Queen & Co. dies, along with one of their stamps. 

This one would be easy to reproduce, but would cost more due to the shaker.

The bow on each of the cards is from their Heartfelt Holiday kit. I absolutely love this 3D bow!

2021 CARDtober Challenge #31 Leftovers

This challenge was to use at least one or more items "leftover" from making one of the previous 30 challenges. I had made this shaker, intending to use it for the Winter Scene challenge, then decided to use the stamped winter scene instead. I also decided to do it as a rocker card, a nod to my final interactive challenge that I posted as a CARDtober hostess.

2021 CARDtober Challenge #30 Water Scene

This challenge was to have some kind of water scene. The twist was to include some kind of plant life. 

I have wanted to do a shaker with fish that have some movement, but stay mostly in place instead of upside down. I saw one of the big name paper crafters do this with invisible thread, but I don't remember which one. I used the Queen & Co. Fish bowl, plus Hero Arts stamps (fish and tall plants) and Stampin' Up stamps (sand, small plant, both are old & retired). I used a shimmer card stock for the fish bowl.