Print, Cut, Fold, Repeat

I've been working on the spring garland every few moments here and there. Tomorrow, I'll have the completed project and the files for download. I'll have both Silhouette files and printable files (for those of you without a Silhouette machine). The garland comes in three color ways, all bright hues for spring.

 

 

The design process for me, is an iterative one. I go through so many different tests: changing colors, changing fonts, changing dimensions, over and over. I print, measure, cut, and re-cut with a little folding and gluing thrown into the mix. It's both tedious and fun, detailed and creative. It challenges both sides of my brain - the creative side through design and the logical side through using software to bring the design to life.

The '.studio' files for this project are print-and-cut files (they are first printed on your printer and then placed on the cutting mat and sent to the Silhouette for cutting). I love this feature of the machine. Here's the thing: with all of the paper, cardstock and fonts available, the Silhouette is a powerful crafting tool. But, with the print-and cut feature and the designer edition of Silhouette Studio, this powerful crafting tool becomes an even more powerful creative tool. My mind reels with excitement and possibilities!

That's one of the reasons I started writing this blog - it's a place to document and share the creative excess that goes on in this brain I try to manage. As I continue to write and share, I hope to get faster at the turnaround of design projects (more downloads!) and better at taking pictures (please forgive me these pictures as I took most of them in a hurry to get to the nursing facility).

 

Keeping it real with this picture of the floor of my studio. It gets like this really quickly once I get into a groove. Designing isn't always neat and pretty, peeps. As a matter of fact, most of the time it's downright messy!

 

 Check back for your spring garland tomorrow.