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Post by mrsfizzes on Aug 31, 2017 18:49:35 GMT
Hey guys! So I had a thought recently after watching some videos on making very realistic terrain. I saw someone using tiny ivy vines from miniNature to add to jungle trees, and I loved how they looked. But it also made me wonder... could I make those at home myself?
Now, I have a Cricut, which if you don't know, is a machine I see a lot of people using to cut out shapes for scrapbooking and other paper crafts. Mine is one of the newer models which allows me to find or create my own images, import then, and just cut them out. This thing is super detailed, and I've gotten some tiny cuts on it in the past. So now I'm thinking... I may very well be able to cut out my own leaf shapes out of cardstock.
Has anyone tried this before, with any success?
Even if no one has, I'm happy to experiment and see what I can create. If anyone has any shapes they want me to try to cut, just send a link my way and I'll see what I can do!
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BasedOdin
Cardboard Collector
So many ideas.... So little time....
Posts: 8
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Post by BasedOdin on Aug 31, 2017 19:06:20 GMT
I'm actually a technician for the bigger versions of these machines for a living, I'm sure it can be done, knowing the capabilities of the cutter. I'd be interested to see what you come up with!
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Post by mrsfizzes on Aug 31, 2017 19:23:26 GMT
That is insanely good to know! I'd thought about just doing some leaves in different shapes for clutter and clump foliage. I've also thought about making one long chain sort of thing. So you would essentially have a horizontal line on the bottom edge, and the top edge would be grasses, maybe with some flowers on one end, and perhaps tapering down toward the other end. Then, you could roll it up into a little bundle, splay out the grassy edges, and hot glue the flat edge down on a base. It would make something like a tuft of grass. I could also see doing this with jungle plants... I must design things. Edit: did up a quick little design: i.imgur.com/GU4ebFN.jpg
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BasedOdin
Cardboard Collector
So many ideas.... So little time....
Posts: 8
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Post by BasedOdin on Aug 31, 2017 20:23:06 GMT
That's a great idea!
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Post by margaret on Sept 1, 2017 3:27:10 GMT
If you find that this doesn't work to make the ivy leaves, you might try to find a birch tree in your neighborhood. The bracts from the female catkins ["cones"] make very nice palmate [ivy] leaves and you can tint them. Just pick up the dried catkins off the ground and crumble them gently in your hand to separate the bracts. Pick out the central stem and toss it.
pinthemall.net/pin/55b092e9303da/
P.S. - not my original idea - the post is one I found a while back
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guppy
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 202
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Post by guppy on Sept 1, 2017 5:44:03 GMT
If you find that this doesn't work to make the ivy leaves, you might try to find a birch tree in your neighborhood. The bracts from the female catkins ["cones"] make very nice palmate [ivy] leaves and you can tint them. Just pick up the dried catkins off the ground and crumble them gently in your hand to separate the bracts. Pick out the central stem and toss it.
pinthemall.net/pin/55b092e9303da/
P.S. - not my original idea - the post is one I found a while back Your idea or not that's pretty freaking epic!
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Post by skunkape on Sept 1, 2017 14:54:41 GMT
There are a lot of guys who used to frequent the World Works Games forums that used some kind of cutting machine. Now, World Works Games made lots of cardstock terrain and the company made cut files for various cutting machines on the market. I don't remember if anyone used a Cricut machine, but they were constantly cutting 110 lb cardstock for those models. Unfortunately, the owner of the company started doing computer game design and the company hasn't made anything new in quite a while.
But back to your original question, I think you would be able to use the Cricut to make leaves, not sure how small you'd be able to make it but that should work.
Margaret, that's an epic idea, thanks for sharing!
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Post by mrsfizzes on Sept 1, 2017 15:34:55 GMT
Cleaning today because my in-laws are coming over -- then I shall make up a design for the ivy leaves, set up my machine, and see about cutting out some of them in varying sizes as a test.
Any idea of a good size to make these?
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Post by margaret on Sept 2, 2017 4:26:55 GMT
The biggest ivy leaves are about 4 inches long - approximately the size of my palm. Like many of the props we make for RPG play, they are going to have to be oversized compared to the scale of your minis. A larger, tropical relative of ivy perhaps? So as small as you can make them, while still keeping them large enough to handle.
The birch tree bracts are about 4 to 5 mm long, and you wouldn't want to try to work with anything smaller. I have to use fine-point forceps to work with them. Fortunately for me, my profession required manipulating tiny plant parts with fine-point forceps, so I have had lots of practice.
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Post by sgtslag on Sept 3, 2017 2:35:56 GMT
Gorgeous technique you shared, Margaret!
The Cricut could be a fantastic tool for making leaves, if it can make them small enough. Make sure to update us as to how it goes, or does not go... Cheers!
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sotf
Advice Guru
Posts: 1,084
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Post by sotf on Sept 3, 2017 2:57:39 GMT
One thing I would suggest for use with making Ivy or the like is some of the lighter cardstock for the paper with the cutter, perhaps, if your cutter can handle it, get some of the heavier backed foil that you can find in some craft stores for certain scrapbooking projects. Sure, they're sticky when you peel the backing off, but the heavy foil might work close to how brass etchings do.
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Post by luckyjoe on Sept 4, 2017 15:27:00 GMT
Great idea. I did something similar once using a paper punch I had of a lizard. It's feet looked like leaves, so I would punch out a bunch of lizards from colored construction paper and then cut off the leaves/feet with a knife. Very time consuming. I imagine a Cricut could really speed up the process. And I think DM Scotty did a video using a rolled strip like you pictured to make some plants, too. Anyway, really looking forward to seeing what you come up with. Here's a pic of my lizard feet /leaves if interested: imgur.com/a/LCXX9
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Post by margaret on Sept 4, 2017 16:31:01 GMT
They do look like leaves!
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Post by mrsfizzes on Sept 5, 2017 1:46:14 GMT
They really do! That's hilarious and very intuitive!
Please excuse my slight absence-- I made a leaf blank in Gimp2 by taking a picture of a leaf I found, tracing an approximate design, and uploading it to the Cricut design space, but then my in-laws showed up for their visit, and ended up not leaving until well after bed time for me! Then I had to work the next day, and I ended up picking up some extra shifts, so I am admittedly quite tired!
After a good night of rest, I will be tearing through my crafty room to get everything set up, and I'll test cut some of these leaves, dang it! If it ends up working, I want to make about 5 slightly differently shaped leaves, and cut out a bunch of them in varying sizes all in one go. Then I will likely take forever picking them off the mat and putting them into a little bottle for later use, haha!
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