by Sandy McCauley | Jun 22, 2010 | Uncategorized
I am SO very proud to announce that Kitty Finn is now selling cutting files at Visual Designs by Chris.
In February, I taught a KNK retreat in Scottsdale and Kitty was one of my attendees. After the retreat, Kitty told me she felt so overwhelmed the first night that she had to make a decision… drive back to LA or head to the bar and drink a couple of martinis! Fortunately, she chose the martinis! 😛 The next day, she faced more classes and more design challenges, but at some point, she got hooked and suddenly what seemed so overwhelming the first day turned into fun and excitement the second day. By the end of the weekend, she was ready to go home and start designing her own files. And now, several months later, I am SO thrilled to announce that Kitty is now a member of Chris Durnan’s team of designers and has her first files ready to sell. Here is a link to see her files:
Kitty’s Cuttings
Also, Kitty is looking for some volunteers to test cut other formats of her files. Specifically she would like to have someone who owns a Silhouette cut her GSD versions and someone who owns a Cricut (along with SCAL or MTC) to cut her SVG versions. You can reach her at Scvfinn@aol.com. if you are interested in helping.
Kitty, I wish you great success at Visual Designs by Chris! And I look forward to seeing you again at the San Diego retreat in October. 🙂
by Sandy McCauley | Jun 16, 2010 | Fabric
One of my favorite things is when a customer takes the Klic-N-Kut outside the box… and I don’t mean just unpacking it! lol I’m referring to the proverbial box where a KNK is used to create something amazing and outside the boundaries anyone else has tried. And that’s the topic for today’s post.
Janie bought her KNK Groove-E back in February for the purpose of cutting fabric appliqués to be ironed onto petticoats, slips, robes, etc. She sent me an assortment of fabrics to test cut, along with some intricate designs. Upon seeing her expectations, I was a bit unsure that the KNK or any other digital die cutter could produce the results she wanted. But I gave it a try and my cuts turned out beautifully! I pressed the fabric onto ThermoWeb’s Heat ‘n Bond first and then removed the backing sheet before pressing to the mat. The adhesive from the Heat ‘n Bond against the Easy Tack adhesive on the mat created excellent stability for cutting. I used Accugraphic’s fabric blade, along with (depending on the fabric) 2 or 3 passes at a speed of 400 and a force setting of 120 – 140. Because of the angle of the fabric blade, I also change the Overcut and Trailing Blade settings to 30 and 40. Here are some photos from my own cuts of one of the thicker fabrics Janie sent to me:
So, Janie ordered her Groove-E and I provided her the free classes so that she could master the machine and learn how to use KNK Studio, as well as import EPS files and download/install TTF fonts, etc. She has since created such a unique assortment of items, that I asked for her permission to put the photos into my gallery so that the readers of this site could view her amazing work! Here’s the link:
Janie’s Appliqués
If you would like to see other items in Janie’s store:
Sarafina Dreams
Finally, I want to thank Janie for sharing her photos with us. Janie, I can’t wait to see more of your future creations! Good luck!
by Sandy McCauley | Jun 12, 2010 | Events and Retreats, Retreats
October 8 – 10 is the weekend where you will learn how to design anything you want to cut AND improve your cutting skills! So, head out to San Diego’s Mission Valley and attend demos, classes, and workshops that I will be presenting along with a few other attendees with expertise in specific areas.
The cost of the retreat, excluding hotel, is $375. The event will be held at the Sheraton Mission Valley. You get 5 excellent meals, free goodies, classes, demos, cutting materials and a ton o’ fun. We’ll start at around noon on Friday the 8th and you’ll receive a full schedule upon arrival. At 4 pm we’ll have a chance to meet, then dinner served at 6 pm, followed by a class, demo and workshop. Saturday the 9th will be action packed with classes, demos, challenges, games, and 3 full meals. On Sunday the 10th, after breakfast, we’ll have one more class and workshop or demo. Participation in all classes and demos is optional, so you can head out, at any time, to enjoy the beautiful weather and San Diego attractions, if you like.
First time ever we are offering a $50 discount for up to three attendees who’d be interested in providing a demo or make-and-take for everyone at the retreat. Interested? Just email me with your idea and we’ll discuss. We also encourage you to bring your laptop and/or cutter, but it’s not a requirement to join us as we will have extras available and will seat everyone for sharing, as needed.
Your hotel room and travel expenses are separate. We have a wonderful deal with the Sheraton of $99.00 per night single or double occupancy. If you live locally, you are not required to stay at the hotel. Check this out: this rate is valid for three days BEFORE and three days AFTER our event, so here’s your chance to get this fabulous deal for the entire family. Rooms must be reserved no later than September 1 to lock in this rate. You must mention the ‘Klic-n-Kut Retreat’ when you call the Sheraton directly at 619-260-0111.
This weekend retreat is available for up to 25 attendees and we’ll have a waiting list in case of cancellations. So reserve your spot by making a $100 deposit via Paypal to Chris Giannoulas, our event organizer at stellarstationery@gmail.com. The deadline for the non-refundable $100 deposit is August 15. If you prefer to pay by check or money order, please contact Chris at this email address for further information. Final balance of $275 will be due by September 8. Deposit and retreat fee is non-refundable unless we can fill your spot on a first-come first-serve basis.
For questions about the hotel, making payments, special needs, please contact Chris Giannoulas at: stellarstationery@gmail.com.
For info about class content and demos, please contact Sandy McCauley at :
smccauley45@cox.net.
Hotel information: Sheraton Mission Valley San Diego
1433 Camino Del Rio South
San Diego, CA 92108
619-260-0111
sheratonmissionvalley.com
by Sandy McCauley | Jun 2, 2010 | Free Files, Free Videos, Hot Keys, Shortcuts
KNK/ACS/KNKGE/DM offers the ability to set up your own hot keys (menu and tool shortcuts) to make your use of the software faster and easier. I’ve been aware of this capability since writing the first KNK user manual over 3 years ago, however, it’s only been in recent months, since using the single-letter alignment short cut keys (T, L, B, R, C, and E) in rhinestone designing, that it dawned on me just how incredibly useful it would be to set up more of these single strokes for other functions that I use repeatedly. So, I started making a list of my most-used functions and matching up letters for the hot keys that would be easy to remember, such as:
A for Array
D for Cutting Defaults
E for Export
F for Fit Object to Path
G for Delete all Guides
I for Install Fonts
N for Notes
O for Outline
etc etc
So, to encourage all of you to do the same, I created a short video showing how to do this:
Setting Up Hot Keys
I also created a list of suggestions. Note that in same cases I’ve listed several options, so that you can decide which assignment would make the most sense. For example, where I used “F” for Fit Object to Path, you might prefer to use “F” for Flip or Install Fonts. The idea is for you to pick what is most useful for your work AND will be easy for you to remember.
Suggestions for Single Letter Hot Keys
And then, so that you can have your own cheat sheet to use until you have your new hot keys memorized, I created a form with the 26 letters of the alphabet listed, along with the other available keys you can use to set up additional shortcuts. Note that Ctrl 0 – 9 are available, along with the keys: Home, End, Page Up and Page Down. However, in some releases of the software, Ctrl 4 and Ctrl 5 have already been assigned to Layout>Arrange and Distribute>Align to Selected>Equal Vertical Spacing and Equal Horizontal Spacing, respectively. I have decided to release those two and assign V and H to those functions instead, because they are SO very useful in rhinestone pattern tweaking. : )
Custom Hot Key Cheat Sheet Form
Next, if you also want the complete list of ALL shortcuts in the software, then here’s the latest list that I have and use in the releases of the user manuals. If you know of any others not on my list, then please let me know. I like to keep the list current:
All Software Shortcuts
Finally, here’s a list of my all-time favorites:
Favorite Short Cut Keys in KNK Studio
Whew… enough on the hot keys? If not, then let me know what I missed! 😛
by Sandy McCauley | May 29, 2010 | Align, Free Videos, Rhinestones
What is “Align to Last Object?” Well, for the first 3 years of using this software, I didn’t really think about it. However, after I started helping my rhinestone customers learn the various methods of creating and editing patterns, I discovered that the shortcut keys of “R, L, B, and T” could be very handy for aligning circles either vertically or horizontally. The only problem was that I could never figure out exactly which circle was being used as the reference point, i.e. which circle was the “last object.”
I did figure out that if I performed a marquee-select of a group of objects, that the last object was always the last one in the group either to the left or to the bottom of the selection. But that really didn’t make the function all that useful since the last one in the marquee-select could very well NOT be the one I wanted as the alignment point. So, I posted over on CADLink’s Forum, received a response, and now understand how to preset which object to use as the reference object for alignment. This makes the function a LOT more usable. Have a look at the video:
Align to Last Object
This function will obviously be very handy for those tweaking rhinestone patterns, especially when using the hot keys of: L, R, T, B, or even the C and E. But others who are doing design work in KNK, ACS, or DM will probably also occasionally find the need to align objects specifically to another.
Before I close, there have been a few changes made to this site in the past fews. First off, Chad added a Testimonials section to the lower left hand column. He also added a new Gallery plug-in and I’ve converted over one of the photo albums: 20 Plus Materials Cut on a Klic-N-Kut. See if you like the new format. I’ll gradually get the other albums converted. Finally, the video capturing software used for today’s video is Camtasia Studio 7 and does it ever ROCK! It allows me to add features such as showing which keys I’m pressing on the keyboard, larger cursors, zooming, titling, and more. Thanks to Melinda Stolarek for convincing me I HAD to have it! 😛 I’m still using the one month free trial, but will bite the bullet and order it when the trial period runs out.
