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Engraving Accurately with Print and Cut

When engraving a predefined shape, it can be difficult to achieve consistent alignment. Print and Cut Registration Marks to the Rescue! To download the Sure Cuts a Lot and SVG files used in this demo, click here. Prerequisites Completed Print and Cut calibration with the blade in the left tool holder. Completed Dual Tool alignment calibration with the blade in the left tool holder and the engraving tool in the right tool holder. Note: I always calibrate in mm. The offsets for my embossing tool are x(-1.8),y( 1.6).  The offsets for my engraving tool are x(-1.8),y(1.5).  Your offsets may vary.  I …

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Font Licensing the Cheap and Easy Way

I have had so many conversations related to typography this week that I thought it might deserve a blog post.  Being an active participant in a lot of online groups, one of the most frequently asked questions I see is “What font is that?”  I’ve learned to visually recognize fonts I don’t even own or use because of the repetition, but things become popular for a reason, right? Typography is one of those things that experiences trends.  Handwritten, brush scripts, and intensely curly fonts are especially trendy and popular right now.  If you’re reading this, you probably already know that choosing the right font …

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Ian the Off Kilter Crafter Goes to London

Off Kilter Crafter Ian asked me to create a guest video for his YouTube channel while he’s away visiting London. Earlier this year during a trip to Texas, Ian came out to meet up with our group of crazy friends. He’s a great guy and I eagerly accepted his offer! Materials List Union Jack Stencil Distress Stain – Tarnished Brass Distress Ink Pad – Salty Ocean Distress Ink Pad – Barn Door Ranger Emboss-It Pen Clear Perfect Pearls – Forever Blue Perfect Pearls – Forever Red Spellbinders Horsehair Embossing Folder Project Info I created the stencil in Sure Cuts a …

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Etsy Trolls

As an Internet-oriented crafter, I’m exposed to a whole lot of wonderful things and ideas. Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook offer a plethora of inspiration. We’re inundated with visuals, words, and ideas that seep in to our subconscious and inform our crafting sensibilities. It’s a beautiful thing.  Sometimes, though, we end up recycling old ideas without realizing it. I’ve seen a number of people claim to have had their idea for lawn dice stolen from others.  Who made them first?  I’m not sure, but it appears Pressman sold their first commercial set back in 1994.  Yahtzee’s trademark dates back to 1956. …

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DIY Missing Puzzle Pieces

For Christmas, I bought my husband a 1000 piece puzzle thinking we could while away the remainder of winter putting it together. Long story short, there was a missing piece. One single, solid orange missing piece. We called the manufacturer and they asked us to identify the row and column of the missing piece. It all seemed so easy, so smooth. Filled with hope we waited for an envelope to arrive with our missing piece. Instead, we received a box with another complete puzzle. Great. After at least 6 separate attempts at sorting pieces, we came to the conclusion that …

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KNK Force | Carving a Rubber Stamp

Another nifty thing we can apparently do with our KNK Force cutters is make stamps! Watch the video below for a quick overview and read more about the materials, instructions, and see screenshots of the whole process after that. Materials List 1 4×6 Speedball Easy Carve carving block 1 Dremel 105 Engraving Cutter bit Preparation The rubber stamping block should adhere well to a clean,sticky mat on its own. I suggest placing cardstock scraps over the open areas to prevent waste material from sticking to your mat. Less to clean! Instructions I used Sure Cuts a Lot for this, but this approach …

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Making Cards for Guys

I was invited to participate in a YouTube card making video collaboration with 25 other creators. We are each producing a card making video — a card for a guy. There are some great prizes available for the viewers, but you have to watch each video and collect a secret word. The final video in the series releases on on Sunday, June 5th and will contain instructions on how to submit your entry along with the complete list of secret words and hopefully win big in a Rafflecopter giveaway! Here’s my video, but note that there are other videos before and after mine! Several folks have …

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Cutting a Vinyl Record on the KNK Force

A few KNK customers have been curious about whether their machines could be used to cut a record, the other kind of vinyl, so I decided to try and wanted to share the results. Anytime I cut plastic, wood, or any other potentially messy material I like to use what I call a “trash mat” and it just so happens that Amazon has a 2 pack of Cricut mats on sale for $7.19!  I usually clean my mats weekly, but sometimes I have a particularly messy week so it’s always helpful to have some spare mats kicking around. How To Start …