If you’ve spent any time in crafting groups, you’ll have seen the same question come up time and time again: “What’s the best software for creating SVG files?”
The answer is rarely as straightforward as people hope.
One person recommends Adobe Illustrator. Another swears by CorelDRAW. Somebody else insists that Sure Cuts A Lot is all you’ll ever need. Then someone jumps in to say that Inkscape is free and does everything.
So who’s right … ?
Read More »
A while back I did a series of posts with the catch-all title of “Worldwide Wednesday” where I interviewed folk from around the world and from a diverse range of create genres and whilst it fizzled out a while back, mostly due to “life” getting in the way, that spark to reignite this form of content literally dropped into my inbox with an email from Zack Buchman.
As the founder of Uncute™ and Furry Puppet Studio, Zack Buchman has spent years creating puppets, creatures and characters for television, music videos, brands and all sorts of projects in between. So when his email dropped into my inbox, I was curious so I popped together a list of questions and sent them over. What came back was a life story that I think you will agree is fairly unique.
Come with me on a journey as we get to know Zack, his beginnings, his influences, his achievements and his determination to live a creative life!
Trust me, you will be in awe.
Read More »
Well, it took a whole new version of my favourite digitizing software to reignite the itch to stitch and this also inspired me to make a small upgrade to my machine embroidery kit! It my first time doing this and it was so exciting!
The anticipation… the positioning… the gasp… uttering phrases like, “ooh… that’s tight.”
I did warn you …
Read More »
Ten years ago I set off on a journey around the United Kingdom without fully understanding where it would lead.
Looking back, it seems I’m still doing much the same thing. The vehicle may have changed, but the adventure continues…
Read More »
If you use a Brother ScanNCut machine, there’s some important news you’ll want to be aware of. Brother has officially announced that the web version of Canvas Workspace will be discontinued in October 2026.
Before anyone panics though — this isn’t the end of Canvas Workspace itself, and your projects aren’t disappearing overnight. In fact, Brother appears to be shifting toward a more desktop-and-mobile focused ecosystem built around Canvas Workspace PC and Artspira.
Here’s a simple breakdown of what’s happening and what it means for ScanNCut users.
Read More »
With 73 available colours, the Distress Ink range from Ranger Industries and Tim Holtz has to be one of the biggest and most widely used range of inkpads out there but, how many times do you want to create a blended gradient but don’t want to waste that precious ink or cardstock?
Well, I’ve been coding away and have managed to put together a nifty little tool that will help you play, visualise and test out colour combinations before you ever commit blending tool to inkpad.
Read More »
As you may have seen over the last few years I managed to send myself down a digitizing rabbit hole using the very impressive Hatch Digitizing software so when I saw that there was a new version released recently I just had to download and take a look.
Here’s a quick overview of what is new and how I plan to get back into it after a wee while away…
Read More »
It’s one of the most commonly talked about topics when it comes to creating SVG cut files – which software is best. In this post I share a list of my top 5 choices for alternative software design suites for creating SVG cut files for Cricut, Silhouette and Scan N Cut machines.
Read More »
As a valued reader of this little community I wanted to share a little about what you might be missing if you have a Brother Scan N Cut, Cricut or Silhouette cutting machine – and to offer you a very enticing opportunity.
Read More »
Over the years I have been asked about “the best” this, or “the best” that and I have always found that difficult as this is often subjective however when it comes to re-tacking my Scan N Cut mats, I have found one product that is streets ahead of the others, and it will save you money!
Want to see what has me so excited … ?
Read More »
The other day I wrote a blog post about the buzz surrounding changes at Affinity. Well, the wait is over. What was all the excitement about? A lot if you are part of the marketing team at Affinity.
Affinity now has a new logo, oh, and they have decided to give the software away for free. Well, mostly free, for everyone, forever. Not entirely sure why but, there you have it.
Anyway, in the spirit of “full-circle” and closing off the question that I asked the other day, let’s have a quick look.
Read More »
For those of you that use Affinity Designer to create your SVG cut files, you may have noticed the “buzz” around the date, 30th October.
Why? Well, no-one seems to know, so here is a bit of a potted history of the journey so far to see if we can figure it out …
Read More »
If you have been thinking about signing up to my Patreon page, then this weekend might just be the time as I am offering 25% off all new annual subscriptions. Yup, 25% off – but you’ll need to be quick!
Read More »
Some exciting news for Scan N Cut owners! Dreaming Tree (the very talented design team behind a lot of awesome SVG cut file projects) has made the decision to move to Creative Fabrica.
You might have already heard about this but weren’t sure what it meant for you. So here’s the very simplified low down…
Read More »
In the first of a series of video tutorials I would like to show you how to design a gift bag in Canvas Workspace for PC® and make it cut ready for the Brother Scan N Cut.
Hopefully along the way you will pick up a few tips and tricks too!
Read More »
GENTLEMAN CRAFTER 
You must be logged in to post a comment.