ScanNCut | Color Recognition Scanning

ScanNCut | Color Recognition Scanning

IMG_0660

I seriously cannot wait to get a into one of y’all’s hands! Today’s feature is RGB Color Recognition Scanning.  I know it’s a mouthful, and for many people it’s not super clear upon hearing those words.  The previous ScanNCut could scan color…couldn’t it?

Well yes, it could.  But the is able to detect slight color differences and create cut files from those subtle differences.  It’s not always an all or nothing difference between the grayscale scan and the RGB scan, but as you begin working with it, you’ll see the amazing detail the RGB scan can capture.  Let me go ahead and show you with this gold star example!

I used my snowflake stamp from the Custom Stamp Kit to do a gold foil snowflake on this yellow piece of card stock.  

First I scanned using grayscale:

IMG_0626

You’ll see it didn’t pick up my snowflake like I want it to. 

IMG_0623

I went back to my Direct Cut Scan screen and changed my setting to the RGB Color Recognition Mode.  

IMG_0627

ðÏú5µòDz?sV#u±?y¾Óû’%ÎS?÷ùx{k?ÄÉFúnR³ÿÕÊô?vdî@ÈëÞ8ǵÁ? ãÒ«?:òòG5ë¢?~ß*@v?ºcÙ]?ÐtÝ"[fÞ?{?5Û±f(À?e[zN;¨Ûã²µ?àäÊLä·7vïszÑ.êÜ»#?£J­Ô­?Bq¦1ñ?º]ïÐLÿ]ìæù -ì§?çí?ø?ÏQÕ"F}ZnáeÝT2?0xa}íP¢ÌÜ?GV·Óà·²?Kgù´JÁ/º# »ÕÇèúTÛm¶ß2¢©QA´Í?¶khɹVt?â D?xv²ô&ÇH?Ñ4K?qgmw2%³O+É»ºNXä¼>?ú´;"Ä?iWvë^J?nïÂ]à»êçÀå7@úÔ¹?!l?7?çVg/9T?A¸üNâ??ÉwçÓ ;jrÊ"Õ D6ü{À²¦Jªñ?ÅF>µ5ö÷$UÖ?G¶¿?[wÞG*ç+¨Ý!Tp?dfÿ?]?ó$-ª?z¹ÌSÛ²±ln?Á )ÇxT*Û ZÙêPÏ3¬Kįº¥W( Àb{9ÞOKþckG9?ÿ´è@íYó$CÔO¾?C+DyQC>Yén·mµFîë?1¯;êsº=áI#ä}aúÝníÉç)ãä+ÌÄz+Àá] Ɛ¤r7 ¬Ýçtu’$º?´?ee=®ÎKºmýJá¼d°×??¢;¤5Ûxï1$?uÐA?°¼â^le?? ìf?,ìãIRNwAfyy??>ªø??²f?¿SÂÏr?¶?óHºn¦çMI$9ìÁY´l?­tNNñüi$SW?qL·¥e PªUr3»Çyæ½ðïc?Z¦PÇÕ g8½?Áø8¥þìÿ¯þ£ZÏb¦·¨Ð¯ÙdYÛL¨*C’?%¹Ö®v?ÈêÓfS?Cå û×r·?9÷?ùüg¨ÇMj!#­P~°øÐ&}ei%ÞËé¿4Ä?ÛÀˍÒ?[Ü+áõRK,¯»?º¸@½$$?ú[iÇ¿ódS?Y_Ò)`û?­ºKè?r[[d î?þøZ®,»s7?1iµ[rqmµd¤÷¨sîߤç/ÂÉx½ËícsKk©YÏÚÏbdlðõZaÉO?fy!·Ô?=.üú%$ªà×CÍ%$$úÔ¡?1 Ïu?w?º¼lþ¥Ë?YíùÙ÷úN?©?±ìu´Ìm5¬Ð]A?«?n?Äà±=Õíø~bÄ¡,Nv¤ÑoWç]?0JÙï]Ü??ÊsôØk&>òõc?RO$?`5xãrKÜ??l>¥¨Iµ÷÷Óü?ªAÖ1ܺnG"£®bnßo?}wí&¿O£ÒÂ2þ.M³ÙøñEüû§ôF~S§Ãü:Y¤äº~#¤Å}¥ß[¼3Ú@ÓJ]zQD¬Æ4?G¸Di:½îÊöYßswz¿/ÍûUK÷_$W?<çõJQý;¿ì}ǽS?Ä?å3¾~C'E»z?Ì4?d ?õl?NAáX´êÒýãú?u]àÝ®ò8?ÖdÐrÖä68?úÍtÆG4¢M¨iv·Ño?Äê0²wã?î~­tÂträǸÿÓæÛEaeq«6?³·í­êz?f?ÚÞ;[LKJþ?Õì/íQ«*FÒ¯B-¥è?ZÑ?7 7;ª:Ùm¬Mìv»$ou(êS%ã£.?Õ±Ïx:àý¸­?Bh?´£Ý(>cýê·??ÛL?ru>ú7?>?uݺ}´÷ ¡?Âð??")îB`½Aý?Z »^çõä|?{ç7Ì?æ(`QA¹?Ràw)ö½-¨72A¬É?ÔjØõ?6y,zÜ`?m×ُíF×Ü7.Á;-²KSØ?Xü”>

Voila! You’ll see from the screen below that you have a few new options with the RGB scanning and a few scanning options that are similar.  You can still Ignore Object Sizes smaller than the size you indicate and change the contrast of the scan.  You can also change the number of color differences the ScanNCut looks for.  

IMG_0630

I just wanted to zoom in so you could see the detail it grabbed around the perimeter of the snowflake.  I’m in the Direct Cut scanning setting, so I wanted to only cut out around the perimeter of the snowflake.  I could have had the pick up even those tiny white spaces inside the snowflake!  From this point I put a .04″ edge around the outline as my cut file, and I cut out the snowflake.  

IMG_0639

Seriously took me a few minutes!  And the detail is amazing!

IMG_0631

IMG_0649

Tomorrow I’ll be back and sharing some of the crazy detail you can cut out with fabric!  I have a few tips on doing so, and I’m excited to share them with you, of course.  

Today’s comment entry:

What feature or accessory I’ve shared so far excites you most?  (links below!)

Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4 / Day 5 / Day 6 / Day 7 / Day 8

kaciasignature

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ScanNCut | Felt

ScanNCut | Felt

IMG_3683-Edit

Happy Tuesday!  Are you sick of me yet?  Probably. ;) Today I’m back sharing about cutting felt with your ScanNCut or ScanNCut2! I have a lot of people asking about felt, whether I’m at conventions or replying to comments and emails.  

When asked if the ScanNCut will cut felt?  My answer is always yes. 

When asked what type of detail one can get cutting felt with the ScanNCut?  My answer is always, it depends. 

The word felt covers such a myriad of fibers: wood, bamboo, polyester, rayon, or maybe a blend of all of that.  I’m working on a material dictionary for you all, and it will include details about settings, testing, and specific blends and brands of materials.  If there is a specific brand of felt you want to see, just let me know!

Today I’ll be sharing how the ScanNCut performs with three different felts: 100% wool, a wool-rayon blend, and a stiff poly craft felt.  

IMG_3685

A few tips when cutting felt:

  • Use a Standard Mat with a Fabric Support Sheet.  If you are cutting a lot of felt, consider prepping two mats.  When one gets too fuzzy, use a baby wipe to remove debris.  While that mat dries, use the other mat to continue cutting. 
  • I find that almost all felt cuts better when the cut file is run 2-3 times.  Running a few times allows the blade to get through the fibers a bit at a time. 
  • If you are cutting something extremely detailed, consider using Terial Magic.  I am obsessed with this product — you’ll see the detail I am able to achieve with fabric in the next few days — as it turns materials with a fiber into almost the feel of paper. Best part?  It’s easy to apply and it washes right out!  Just be sure to test it first — I tried it on this wool-rayon blend and it worked beautifully.  For the snowflakes pictured in this post, I didn’t treat any of the felt.  
  • Oh! And I always use the standard blade, not the deep cut blade.  I find I always get a smoother edge using that Standard Blade.  

 

IMG_3675

Stiff Poly Blend Felt

(Similar felt)

This felt cuts beautifully with the ScanNCut.  The fibers are so bonded together it doesn’t warp at all when removing it from the Fabric Support Sheet–nor does it leave many fibers behind. 

Settings: blade 7; pressure 5; speed 1.  I run the file at least twice.  

IMG_3672

Wool-Rayon Blend Felt

(I purchased this felt)

This felt cuts really well, but you need to be careful when lifting it from the Fabric Support Sheet.  Be  sure to use your spatula to lift instead of pulling, as the fibers allow for tearing.  

Settings: blade 8-9; pressure 5; speed 1. I run this file 2-3 times.  

*If you have just a few fibers left to cut through, I often keep the blade depth the same but lower the pressure. 

IMG_3670

100% Wool Felt

(I purchased this felt)

This wool felt isn’t as dense as other wool felts I’ve used.  It’s about 2mm thick, and I think the fibers are a bit looser.  It still cuts, but I wasn’t able to get as crisp details as I would have liked.  

Settings: blade 11; pressure 5; speed 1; I run this file at least 3 times. 

IMG_3679

Today I’m going to make some felt mistletoe to hang!  I’ll be using the felt from this etsy shop!

Today’s comment entry: Give me some felt craft ideas!  

kaciasignature

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ScanNCut | Stamp it All

ScanNCut | Stamp it All

12-Days-Day-Seven

I hope you all had an awesome weekend!  I’m back today with Day Seven of our 12 Days of !  You better believe I’m not finished with the gold foil.  #sorrynotsorry

But today I’ll be sharing the new with you!  

IMG_0445

Each stamp kit comes with the stamp silicone material and the stamp plate.  Design and cut your stamp, place it on the stamp plate, and reuse over and over!  I seriously love this new product, and I’ve definitely learned a few things and have some tips to share. 

IMG_0440

  • Use the deep cut blade. 
  • Let up on the blade pressure, increase blade length.  The following are my preferred settings:
    • Depth: 6-7
    • Pressure: -2
    • Speed: 1
  • Designs with long cut lines are more difficult.  The hello stamp below was difficult to cut due to the long line from the h.  It’s possible, just takes patience and tweaking to get the settings right.  

IMG_0446

I decided to use glue on my stamp design….to apply gold foil, of course. ;)  Simple place glue on your stamp, stamp into place and set foil on the glue.  You can use a bone folder (or the spatula from your works great!) or run it through a laminator.  I’ve become laminator obsessed (yes, in addition to foil obsessed), so of course I ran it through there!  

Just be sure to fill the envelope first before running it through the laminator, because it’ll seal the envelope for you.  

….not like I accidentally did that or anything….

IMG_0454

IMG_0461

day 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 

IMG_0459

I love the way the stamp foils!  Next up: a robot stamp, of course. ;)

Today’s Comment Entry: What type of stamps would you create?

kaciasignature

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ScanNCut | Let’s Draw with Glue

ScanNCut | Let’s Draw with Glue

IMG_0530-Edit

Happy Sunday!  The sun is shining beautifully this morning, and I’m about to walk to church with Jones.  I love being able to walk!  

Yesterday was Day Five of our Twelve Days of ScanNCut2!  I shared with you the new Universal Pen Holder that is now available and compatible with all ScanNCut models!  Today, I wanted to go a little further and share how I’m using the Universal Pen Holder….

to draw with glue!  And add gold foil of course.  I’ve really been trying to reign back my foil use for these 12 Days, and I’m shocked I held out until Day 6!  The remaining days might be chalk full of it: just warning you! ;)  I cannot stop! It’s fun and it fits the season.  

But really, I think gold foil fits any season.  Don’t you think? ;)

I digress.  Let’s dive in!

IMG_0419

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: I’m not an expert in the paper crafting world.  I’m not really an expert in anything, but I love learning and exploring.  When I saw how well the Universal Pen Holder drew with gel pens, I went on a hunt for a gel-glue pen!  I found these pens and went to work!

I decided to use the glue as a bond for these foil sheets.  You could also use these pens to have your ScanNCut Machine draw the glue down for intricate paper cuts.  If it were me, I would edit the file in ScanNCutCanvas to make a glue line just within the cut line.  As I’m writing this, I’m realizing that I need to try it!  So you can be expecting that…sometime.  

But back to all the gold and all the foil.  I tried a few different techniques, and I have some works-well and doesn’t-work-so-well ways of doing this.  

So first I wrote the word hello and scanned it in to my ScanNCut Machine to create the cut file.  

IMG_0436

I used one of the built in envelope designs on the ScanNCut2 machine (I love all the new designs!) to cut a cute envelope and then wrote the word with the glue on the front.  

IMG_0475IMG_0472

Tip: I find that increasing the drawing pressure helps when writing with gel pens! (or gel glue pens, in this case!)

IMG_0430

Remove from the mat and place a sheet of foil on top.   Here is my favorite foil!  The rose gold is also super gorgeous!

IMG_0474

Here is where I tried a few techniques:

  1. No heat, bone folder pressure

IMG_0426

So the first test I used a bone folder to transfer the foil.  It worked okay.  I found that the glue was inconsistently dry, so it smeared in some places and didn’t stick in others.  Totally expected.  I think it would work fine with a smaller design.  

2.  Laminator (or iron) 

IMG_0476

Super simple, after placing the foil, I ran my project through the laminator a few times.  VOILA! Consistent transfer on the entire design.

IMG_0477 IMG_0485

I also made some gift tags! 

IMG_0506

Drew the pattern with pencil first for placement.  Love this Universal Pen Holder so much!!

IMG_0507

Drew my design with the glue pen and placed foil. 

IMG_0518

Ran it through the laminator.

IMG_0520

Placed it back on the mat, did a background scan for placement, and cut out the tags. 

IMG_0525

10 minute project and 6 cute little tags later!  #cantstopwontstop

Guys.  My mind is seriously racing with ideas! 

kaciasignature

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ScanNCut | Universal Pen Holder

ScanNCut | Universal Pen Holder

IMG_3542-Edit

Happy Saturday!  Keeping things super simple this weekend, in hopes that you all are enjoying the weekend with people you love.  It’s the first weekend in December!  And kind of our last lazy weekend before all the holiday parties start kicking into high gear.  Last night Harlow and Andy made these cookies — I’ve already had four for breakfast.  That’s okay, right? 

You don’t have to answer that. 

On to Day Five of our 12 Days of ScanNCut!  Whether you have the on your wishlist or you own any model, you need to add the to your wishlist!  This thing is flying off of the shelves, and I’m not surprised at all.  I’m not a huge scrapbooker or paper crafter, but just like ScanNCut is allowing me to try things like applique, I’m also experimenting more with various pens and paper projects.  The is a big reason why!

IMG_3507

The Universal Pen Holder allows you to use almost any pen or marker with your !  To get an idea of the circumference maximum, a standard sharpie is just a hair too big.  But those gel pens, Faber-Castell pens, Tombow pens…they all work!  Tomorrow I’ll be sharing something a little out of the box that I use with my — I can’t wait to share it with you!

Fun tip: for pens that are a little too thin (like the gel pen pictured above), wrap a wide painter’s tape around the pen to allow the to grip it better! 

IMG_3512

Did you know that on ScanNCutCanvas you can set lines to be Drawing Line and Cutting Lines?  Makes it so fun to incorporate both into a project seamlessly.  You can download this simple Holly & Berries design at the end of this post.  I’m going to make some gift tags with it, I think!

IMG_3515 IMG_3527

Drawing projects are a great way to use older mats that are losing their stick.  I always keep painter’s tape near by for these projects!

IMG_3542 IMG_3549

So given that I’m new to all the fun pens out there in the world — I have an online handwriting class that I’m going to start soon, I’m so excited! — what are your favorite pens?  I’m working on some text for the to write that I’ll be posting for you all very soon!

HOLLY & BERRIES DOWNLOAD

Today’s comment entry: What projects would you create using your Universal Pen Holder?  

xo
kaciasignature

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ScanNCut | 12×24 Mat

ScanNCut | 12×24 Mat

IMG_0345-Edit

Happy Friday!  Harlow and I saw the Boston Ballet perform the Nutcracker together last night.  We had such an incredible time, even though we sat in traffic due to a bad accident on the way into Boston and had to do a crazy shuffle of the Jones due to a late meeting that Andy had.  But we did it — really only because of the cool and calm of Rachael.  Thank you, Rachael!

IMG_0359 IMG_0351

So today is Day Four of 12 Days of ScanNCut!  I really could talk about so many things today–detail cutting, different materials, using ScanNCutCanvas–but I’m going to talk about the ability to cut items 12″x24″ in size.  

The ScanNCut and ScanNCut2 come with the standard 12″x12″ mat.  (Each machine and package contains different mats and number of mats, so be sure to check before you purchase!)  You can also purchase additional 12″x24″ sized mats in three levels of tackiness: low tack, middle tack, and standard tack.  Additionally, you can add 2 Fabric Support Sheets to cover the longer mat as well.  

New to the ScanNCut2 comes the ability to scan 12″x24″ mat as well as cut.  There are a few caveats, so let me explain:

  • You can cut using the 12″x24″ mat using any ScanNCut Machine.  There are some fun tricks to cutting even larger than this, and I’ll be sharing that with you early in the new year. 
  • The only machine able to also scan the 12″x24″ mat is the ScanNCut2 CM650W.  This machine is available for purchase from Brother Dealers. 

I shared a few other projects using the 12″x24″ mat here and here!  

I made this bow pattern as project for the 12″x24″ mat — it can be scanned in just like any paper pattern you may have!  But lucky for you, I have it right here for you to download as well. :) 

LARGE SNOWFLAKE BOW PATTERN

Screen Shot 2015-12-04 at 8.44.35 AM

DESIGN ONE

Screen Shot 2015-12-04 at 8.45.09 AM

DESIGN TWO

My original design was full of snowflakes in the loop portion of the bow.  In theory…and in my head….it was gorgeous.  It’s a lot of trial and error over here.  

IMG_3500

I’m going to keep playing with it.  It might have been how stiff this material is or how large I made some of the snowflakes.  Oh well!  I removed all and some of the “snowflake lace” in the patterns above, so choose and download whichever you choose!

IMG_0333

For this bow, I used a new-to-me material.  I don’t think it’s super new in general, but some of the colors might be.  My mom found it and sent it to me!  It’s called Kraft-Tex, and it is a fabricy-leatherlike-paper.  It’s weird. It’s awesome.  And it cuts beauuuutifully.  This is the first I’ve played with it, but of course when I saw how well it cut, my mind has begun going crazy with ideas!  It apparently can be softened to more of a leather feel, but I haven’t attempted that yet.  

My cut settings: blade, 7; pressure, 2; speed, 1. 

IMG_0376 IMG_0353

Happy Weekend!  I’ll be back over the weekend for days five and six!  

DAY ONE

DAY TWO

DAY THREE

Today’s question for entry: what would you create using the 12″x24″ mat?  

kaciasignature

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Be the first to hear about new patterns, tutorials, recipes and freebies from Kacia!

PATTERNS. TUTORIALS.

FREEBIES. PROJECTS.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest