Hi, Connie here today. This layout was inspired by the February sketch in the Canadian Scrapbooker It’s a Sketchy Challenge and the new Kaisercraft Shine Bright collection. The latter turned up in my mailbox as part of the latest Scrap Shotz monthly kit and the colours were so striking – bright yellow and black and gray – perfect for some older soccer photos in my collection. I knew I wanted to create a soccer ball to use as the circular element suggested by the February sketch and quickly realized that my Sizzix Eclips2 electronic die cutting machine could make that soccer ball an easy thing. I simply googled ‘soccer svg’ and found a lovely free soccer ball cut file on the internet. I imported the file into Ecal (the software used with the Eclips2) sized it appropriately and then cut it out on a couple of different colours…
Sizzix Eclips2 – Using SVG files Today I decided to try using some free SVG files I found on the internet. An SVG file is kind of a universal format that can be imported into most electronic die cutting machines. The possibilities are endless and files are widely available – there are even some free cut files on the Canadian Scrapbooker website! Check these out here http://www.canadianscrapbooker.ca/cut-files/. If you google ‘free svg files’ you will begin to get an idea of some of the images that are available. There are even more wonderful svg files available for a small fee. A couple of great websites that I have discovered so far are http://www.misskatecuttables.com/ and http://svgcuts.com/blog/. In order to cut svg files with the Sizzix Eclips2, you must upgrade the Ecal ‘lite’ software that comes with the machine to the full featured Ecal software. This costs around $60 but having it…
Pull out your Sizzix Eclips2 There are thousands of different free fonts that are available on the internet and they can be easily installed and cut with the Sizzix Eclips2 using the free Ecal Lite software that comes with the machine. I can see that I will soon need to upgrade the ‘lite’ software so that I can cut svg files, but that will be the topic of future blog posts. Today I am focused on installing, resizing and welding a font to make a title for a scrapbook page. This blog post isn’t meant to be a comprehensive step by step tutorial but will give you an idea of what is involved. I found it easy and wanted to share my first attempt. I’m sure, like anything else, it will improve with time and practice. If you’re interested, there are some excellent videos on the internet that will guide…
Eeek!!! I have always wanted to join the world of DIY electronic cutters but have been a little intimidated by what I feared was a steep learning curve. Although reasonably computer savvy, I am a busy working mom who lacks any skill at putting machines together and doesn’t have a lot of time for fiddling with details or learning complicated software. Well, I have jumped into the electronic die cutting water with a Sizzix Eclips 2 and I will write a series of blog posts describing my adventures right from getting it out of the box to cutting simple shapes, importing cut files and maybe even create and modify my own designs. We’ll see how it goes. It looks sleek and powerful and sounds like an awesome machine. The Eclips 2 has an enhanced motor with industrial strength gears for speed, precision cutting and reduced noise. It will cut all…
