Mojo Monday, MyMemories and Cricut Explore Print Then Cut

Hi all!

I have been loving my Cricut Explore and the newest capabilities of Print Then Cut. I have had this feature on my Cameo for a long time, but the Explore does it so very well! And of course, with the SVG import---the sky is the limit!

It is the time of year when I think about cards....cards and more cards! My favorite go to place for ideas is Mojo Monday. The blog is chock full of ideas and there are sketches! Today's design is made from Sketch 353:

Remember, I said, "SVG Files?" Well, have I got news for you! Michelle My Belle has converted this great sketches into SVG Files! Just bring into your software and size! 

Download the SVG File 

Something else that I have realized is that my stash of usable images is huge! I was looking through my digital scrapbooking files and found sooooo many great graphic embellishments and matching papers. I absolutely love the My Memories "It's Snow Time"  by Connie Prince! And it is perfect for this project!

Cricut Design Studio makes file sharing so simple. I am using a 4.25 x 5.5" card for the base of this project. If you are a CDS user, you can download the basic 4.25 x 5.5" card for Design Studio here.

On to my card.....

First, I created my papers from digital files in preview. It won't be long before this feature comes to design studio, but for now here is my work around. I use a MacBook; I know Windows has a similar feature, but cannot remember what it is! In preview, I sized the papers to 50%. This created a block about 6" square. 

Here they are! Okay, I forgot to size the blue one.....

Time for fun! I love the ice skates with this MM digital package! So, I selected New File and UPLOAD image. (Remember UPLOAD means it comes from YOUR stash. INSERT means it comes from CRICUT!)

Follow the online directions. SELECT : Continue to step one. 

Choose SELECT. This will take you to your hard drive and all of your files. 

Choose the file desired. Like I said, the skates appealed to me. 

My selected file shows in the preview window. This is a graphic and I want to Print Then Cut this file; I have had the greatest success with selecting COMPLEX IMAGES. Then select: CONTINUE TO STEP 2. 

The graphic image appears in it's own window. This image is a PNG file and has no background. If it were a JPG and I wanted to delete the white background I would choose the indicated tool. This tool would let me select and delete the background, leaving only the image. 

Finally, SELECT : Continue to step 3. 

This is when it gets exciting. Note the red line.....that is where the machine cuts. I usually add tags that indicate which digital collection I used. 

Now to bring in Michelle's card file!

Select VECTOR UPLOAD.  Navigate to the file you desire and select it. 

The files will appear in the lower part of this window. To open them in the same design space, click on the image. When a green corner with a check mark appears the items are selected. They also appear in a small line next to the green button. Click on INSERT IMAGES.

Once the images appear on the screen, select the card. 

Ungroup the selected items. I deleted the parts of the SVG file that I did not want to use. 

I stacked the remaining parts to look like the sketch and recolored to more closely resemble the papers for my card.

I then grabbed the corner square of the selected card and sized as indicated. Notice the gray square.....
It will be the sizing guide for my skates.

I moved the gray square to the side, selected the skates and sized to fit on top of the square.

Replace the square with the skates and voila! Cricut Explore makes it so easy from this point! 

Use your printed digital papers when the software asks for the closest color. Embellish as desired! So easy and so precise! And this card will make someone else's memories last for a long time! 

Until nest time!