Visual Designs by Chris

Chris Durnan

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That happy sound of “yeah and woohoo!!”

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So I am in between mode this morning. So much to do I don’t know where to start. I just retruend from the retreat and my Dad is coming in to town from Wisconsin on Thursday. I am so looking forward to seeing him. Yesterday he called to tell me he rapelled off the side of a 100 ft. building for one of his classes at work, a first responders class. He had called me the night before and laughingly had told me about it. I think he was giggling some out of nerves, but overall at the end he said “I’m not a chicken, I’ll do it”  His call to say he had accomplished the task was filled with yeah and woohoo!! It purely made me smile. It was the best.

I heard alot of that in the retreat this past weekend. I watched those who understood a step or a task in the Klic-n-Kut software that they didn’t before it was elation and alot of yeah and woohoo! It was awesome. It was one of the highlights of the weekend to see so many get excited about what they are learning and applying it to their individual wants for their crafting. Really it was just phenomenal. Creating cutter files is one of my passions. So when I see others enjoy it. I just beam from the inside out.

Here are some pictures from the retreat… Thank you Barbie… I haven’t downloaded all of mine yet so Barbie let me snag hers…
This is Sandy and I…

Here is Kathy P., Lynn K. The coordinator and Sandy.
And this is a new found friend. Barbie sat to the left of me at the table.
When she came in and showed me this picture on her really cool litte camera…
I exclaimed… “BARBIE, why are you HOLDING a cactus????”
She laughed at me and had that little twinkle of mischevious in her eye.
Well that twinkle was enough said.
This was the cupcake tree that Judy made. Inside of the “cupcakes” were little lights with cactus cut out of clay. These were made by Judy. just awesome. I must say when Judy left the retreat for the night. Chris G and Terri E and I sat there for about 20 minutes trying to get them back together. You have to fold them under eachother. I was chatting and playng with it and not paying attention and VOILA I got it.
I was so excited we were jumping up and down… and all of a sudden I tucked 4 of them back together so they were closed. WOOHOO!!!  Such little things make me purely happy.
These were just beautiful and up close is the added detail touch.
Judy gave one to my kiddo as I was leaving the retreat.

He was super thrilled and played with it until he fell asleep on the way home to Tucson.

I have more pictures, but these are the first I have available..
Hope you like!!!
Oh and for my gluten free friends… Here is a recipe sent to me by my friend Jan Bryson for gluten free artisan bread. I am seriously considering a bread maker for my birthday. So if any of my gluten free friends have one or can suggest one that would be awesome.  Thank you to Jan for sending this my way.
Have a wonderful day!
Enjoy!
Chris

Chris Durnan, designer at www.visualdesignsbychris.com
GSD KNK WPC AI SCUT files for your personal digital cutters for use with scrapbooking, cardmaking and other hobbies. Whatever your creative mind can come up with!


My files work on many machines. Some of them are: Klik-n-kut, Pazzle, Wishblade, Silhouette, Cricut, Craft Robo. Some of the software involved with these machines are: Funtime, Scrapbooking, WinPC/Signlab, Inkscape, Create & Cut, Illustrator, KNK Studio, Robomaster, DesignMaster and the list goes on….. Enjoy!




And our cutter file “freebies” are kept in the forum. We add to them as we can.

My picks for today: To see more about these visit my picks page listed on the right and why I like them.

New Double Layout using CD00583

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To start of the month, I have created a double layout using Chris Durnan’s CD00583 – Kangaroo with Sparkle , just one of the many Animals with Sparkle files that Chris has created.
These are photos taken from a visit we did back when I was doing Childcare. We took the children on an excursion to a Kangaroo Sanctuary, in Yongala in Mid North South Australia, where the children were able to feed the Roos and get up really close to these gorgeous creatures. We even saw a few Joeys (baby kangaroo) which the children thought was wonderful.
 

This file from Chris was perfect for this layout! I love the way the Sparkle allows the background to show through. This is a digital personal cutter file, but has been used here on a digital layout, and worked perfectly!
Thanks for looking,
 
cheers, caz
Have a great day wherever you are!

I am home…Wow!

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What a fantastic weekend!  I attend a Klic-n-Kut Retreat hosted by Lynn K and instructed by Sandy McCauley of http://www.iloveknk.com/ I learned tons. And had tons and tons of fun. It couldn’t have been better.
Lynn K. the coordinator provided a very smooth and fun event with lots of unbelieveable take homes. you should see this bag she handmade for everyone with a tutorial on how to apply the many layers of vinyl on it and so much more. And Judy had these phenomenal cupcakes in a cupcake tree with a handmade clay cactus. This cactus was cut on her machine even! Just awesome. I so wish I had gotten a picture of the cupcake tree before we started winning all the pieces.

I, also, met Lynn C from Silhouette Users, Jen the Hacker, Barbie, Kathy P., Chris G, Susan, Helen, Cindy, Polsia… and more and more … All of them were so much fun and such a joy to chat with and just have a good time.

And Sandy ran demos and classes from start to finish all day and all night. I couldn’t soak up the info quick enough. I tried, but thank goodness there was a manual and class notes provided so I can refer to it.

And to wrap it all up this high energy power packed lady walked in and took over the end of the retreat it was Barbee the owner of Etch-All. A spit fire of a lady with two great helpers and a few projects for use to work on with the Etching Cream. She inspired me.

A high note for me. My hubby finished his work and was able to come up and hang out at the hotel and do a little shopping with my kiddo. He came down on Saturday night to the retreat when we all were done and was eyeing that KNKMAXXXXX 24 inch. Which just made my heart sing! hahaha. we shall see but it was fun to show him up front a close a group of people who truly enjoy what they are doing and learning and all the fantastic samples Sandy had to share. 

My hubby also took me to dinner with the kiddo on Saturday night while the gang at the retreat had pasta we went to Picazzo and had gluten free Pizza. So yum yum. I even took a gluten free cookie back to the retreat.

All in all it was a jam packed and exciting weekend. I should have pictures coming my way from those who took them. and I have pictures of my own to download and post. So as soon as I get them I will share them here with you. And also pictures of my wonderful goodies and more!

Thank you again to Lynn K. And Sandy McCauley. Words cannot express how the weekend rejuvenated me and excited me about what I do. Their extra touches, planning and efforts just made it phenomenal!

Enjoy!
Chris

Chris Durnan, designer at www.visualdesignsbychris.com
GSD KNK WPC AI SCUT files for your personal digital cutters for use with scrapbooking, cardmaking and other hobbies. Whatever your creative mind can come up with!


My files work on many machines. Some of them are: Klik-n-kut, Pazzle, Wishblade, Silhouette, Cricut, Craft Robo. Some of the software involved with these machines are: Funtime, Scrapbooking, WinPC/Signlab, Inkscape, Create & Cut, Illustrator, KNK Studio, Robomaster, DesignMaster and the list goes on….. Enjoy!




And our cutter file “freebies” are kept in the forum. We add to them as we can.

Adding some More Talent to the More Team….

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Welcome Welcome Welcome 
 Announcing…
So we are adding some more talent to the store. Kristal and LisaJane!
But don’t forget to keep an eye out for their new files.
Stop by and say Hi!
And also… Sharon is hosting
our weekly challenge this week.
And Kristal of Digi kitty is jumping in right away with a free digistamp to go with the challenge. So stop on in and see what you can do with the challenge.

Our challenges are to help you get cutting and creating and not just collecting. So we can’t wait to see what you create…

We are coming to the end of taking requests for the Charmed Challenge… so don’t forget to check that out!

I am off to pack for the weekend Retreat! I will miss my guys tons and tons, but time to go play with the KNK. One of the few machines sitting on my craft room bench.

Have a wonderful wonderful weekend!!
and Enjoy!

Chris

Chris Durnan, designer at www.visualdesignsbychris.com
GSD KNK WPC AI SCUT files for your personal digital cutters for use with scrapbooking, cardmaking and other hobbies. Whatever your creative mind can come up with!


My files work on many machines. Some of them are: Klik-n-kut, Pazzle, Wishblade, Silhouette, Cricut, Craft Robo. Some of the software involved with these machines are: Funtime, Scrapbooking, WinPC/Signlab, Inkscape, Create & Cut, Illustrator, KNK Studio, Robomaster, DesignMaster and the list goes on….. Enjoy!




And our cutter file “freebies” are kept in the forum. We add to them as we can.

Wow. Really a Couple days. WEW!

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So here we go.. countdown to KNK Retreat. This is my first retreat really. I am excited and nervous. I am sure it will be tons of fun. My son and hubby are planning great things in their guy time at home. I myself am wondering what the heck do I take? Well I will have to work on that list later.

So if I am a little slow to blog the rest of the week. You will know why.. I am in a frenzy in my craft room piecing things together to take to do in down time and I am trying to get some new files up in the qmc and the next grab bag for March all pulled together.

So basically. .. woohoo!!! Busy busy. That time when I am super happy and super busy!!.

If you have any tips for retreats, I would definitely take them. Although I am not sure I will take a mini-dresser with me full of supplies. I plan to take the pieces to finish my card swap which is due by April 1st. Then I would be ahead of the game woohoo!! And other then that. who knows. but can I saw this…wooohoo!!

Well I am off to finish a gluten free cupcake for breakfast. I made some last night and this morning I came out to the kitchen and my kiddo had jabbed his “cupcake holder” in the one he wanted. It is this little plastic turtle on a stick. Apparently that one is off my list of “I can eat”. I had to giggle because it is the one with the most frosting and biggest. Love that kid. The health fanatics of the “blog reader world”  are probably in shock. A cupcake for breakfast. Much like the ingredients of a pancake .. a cupcake.. hmm yum.. Yeah after you haven’t had one for about a 3 years any time of day sounds good. I had the betty crocker gluten free yellow cake mix. It was cold here in the house so i thought why not bake some cupcakes. heat up the house with the oven. Does dual duty. Anyways. can I say this. YUM YUM. was just as good as I remember a cupcake to be. Well I am off to finish it and get some paperwork done and files…

Have a super fantastic day!!!
Enjoy!
Chris

Chris Durnan, designer at www.visualdesignsbychris.com
GSD KNK WPC AI SCUT files for your personal digital cutters for use with scrapbooking, cardmaking and other hobbies. Whatever your creative mind can come up with!


My files work on many machines. Some of them are: Klik-n-kut, Pazzle, Wishblade, Silhouette, Cricut, Craft Robo. Some of the software involved with these machines are: Funtime, Scrapbooking, WinPC/Signlab, Inkscape, Create & Cut, Illustrator, KNK Studio, Robomaster, DesignMaster and the list goes on….. Enjoy!




And our cutter file “freebies” are kept in the forum. We add to them as we can.

The grin .. what I see…

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Okay so we were talking in the forum… And most folks in the pictures from yesterday (scroll down) see the dogs pulling and going crazy. I see these… this is what makes me giggle and smile. The pure pleasure from my little boy laughing and giggling as he tries to make his idea work, but doesn’t want to miss out on the action. I hope you Enjoy. I know I do. Love my life.
Enjoy!
Chris
Membership Club $10 for 20 plus files SVG GSD KNK WPC AI SCUT

A boy & his dog.. a rope & a ball ..

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Well my kiddo spends a lot of time outside and playing with his border collie. This is their latest adventures. Our horses have a horse ball that horses can play with. Our horses have no interest, but they are hard plastic and thick so they are perfect for the dogs to chase and beat up. Cost less the normal dog toys and last even longer. Really Fantastic to have. Well my son attached a rope to the ball in hopes of seeing what she would do. Well Freckles the border collie loved it. Spent a lot of time dragging it around and having it chase her as she ran faster and faster to get away. So next enters a new idea… My son tied the ball to an old cart I had for the back of a bike. As you can see from the pictures.. He couldn’t stop giggling and yelling her on. A few times she got it going with him in it and he kept yelling YAH YAH like a true wagon driver with a full team of horses. I couldn’t get pictures of that as I was giggling to to much as I was watching.  I came home a few days later from dropping the kiddo off after school and I saw the cart running around our circle drive without it’s driver but with it’s dog team of one in full delight as she dragged this cart behind her and her ball in her mouth. She was having a blast. I did tell my son he had to take the ball off the cart when he wasn’t around so she wouldn’t drag it somewhere it shouldn’t be. So she now just brings you the ball and rope at a full run when you come home from anywhere. I drove over it the other day and it folded in half but didn’t pop. It isn’t filled with air, but the plastic is thick enough to hold the rubber ball shape with a handle. So it didn’t pop. Which I was thankful for.. but in my review mirror I could see her stand their in curiousity. She stood and looked at it and dragged it slowly down the drive in her own fashion of a funeral procession for her loved rope and ball. Well the ball POPPED! As it reset itself back into the ball shape and she shot off the ground like the cat in tom & jerry. And then ran around fast as could be dragging the ball. She really adds some fun and giggles to our life. And most important a lot of giggles for my son! Hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.

 

 

Enjoy!

Chris

http://visualdesignsbychris.blogspot.com

 

www.visualdesignsbychris.com

 

Membership Club $10 for 20 plus files SVG GSD KNK WPC AI SCUT

 

 

CD00663-You are Invited

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   I have a new grandbaby (No 4) coming in July.  I had been contemplating on getting started with the shower invitations.  And when Chris posted this file up in the QMC..I thought “Wha-la”..that’s it!  So, after building some parts and ideas together, I first made this one. Little did I know how unexperienced I really was with ‘pastels’.  It has taken me sometime, and several back-offs, and then I made the decision to quit beating myself up and put this together.  It still isn’t to my ‘Wow’ stage,  and I  will continue to work with it, and may change it all together. I let myself get all flustered with it.  I had to remind myself scrapbooking is to enjoy and have fun!  You don’t make it a ‘forced job’, or let it overcome you. It’s supposed to be a pleasure, and if you don’t like how your project turns out, step away, think on it, and something fun will pop in your mind.  It isn’t always going to come out perfect and it isn’t always going to ‘WOW’ you, the thing we must remember, is..having the pleasure of creating.  The file ‘You are Invited’, cut out wonderful, and is so versatile, for any event! I just love it! Thanks again, Chris! I always get pleasure out of your files, and seeing everyones differnet versions. And.. if there’s any tips on working with pastels, that ya’ll may know..heyyyy.. I would love hearing any lil’ tidbit I can to learn.  Learning is growing, right?  Have a great day! (psst– we got sunshine in our forecast–YAY!!!!  No snow!)  =)

  Melody Powell

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Crafty Gadgets on CBS

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Supposedly on CBS on the early show Friday morning.. There will be a Crafty Gadget and Cricut will be one of the entries in crafty. I will be interested to see what their other “crafty” thoughts are… and also interested in your reviews. things you have or don’t have. visit us in the forum with your comments.

Or maybe you have a better suggestion as to a gadget…  Love to hear them all so I can add them to my birthday list in June. I know it’s early, but I have to prime the kid to tell the Dad. haha. Actually Dad does pretty well. But I am the research person… So let me know what is your GADGET of choice if it isn’t on CBS.  Visit us in the forum!

If you miss it. Usually they are on their website. so maybe you can see it that way if you miss it. Probably here on their gadgets page.

I love gadgets!

Enjoy!
Chris

Also, Our Grab Bag is still listed in the store… VIsit Here to see the files you get for a teeny tiny price. 12 zips. lots of cuts. 3 designers. Never to be in this collection again after March 1st. Enjoy!

Chris Durnan, designer at www.visualdesignsbychris.com
GSD KNK WPC AI SCUT files for your personal digital cutters for use with scrapbooking, cardmaking and other hobbies. Whatever your creative mind can come up with!


My files work on many machines. Some of them are: Klik-n-kut, Pazzle, Wishblade, Silhouette, Cricut, Craft Robo. Some of the software involved with these machines are: Funtime, Scrapbooking, WinPC/Signlab, Inkscape, Create & Cut, Illustrator, KNK Studio, Robomaster, DesignMaster and the list goes on….. Enjoy!




And our cutter file “freebies” are kept in the forum. We add to them as we can.

New Challenge.. Great Day.. Almost the weekend.. woohoo!!

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I have decided it is gonna be a great day!!! So with that.. What a better way then to start a new challenge. The new challenge this week is “show us your grab bag” take your February Grab Bag and post a project using one or all of the files included. The winner of a random draw will win next month’s grab bag. So what do you think? Pull out the grab bag. It’s early in the a.m. for me. So I am headed off to bed again to see if i can even just get a few winks.

I saw this on a magnet the other day when out browsing with the hubby… and I think it was on a coffee mug to. I really liked it. I have been trying to find the company online so I could order some magnets for my favorite things for my family for the holidays… Anyways… I just liked the quote and made me think about barriers in life .. it went something like this… “What would you attempt to achieve if you knew you could not fail?”  … made me pause and think.

Have a wonderful day!

Enjoy!
Chris

Chris Durnan, designer at www.visualdesignsbychris.com
GSD KNK WPC AI SCUT files for your personal digital cutters for use with scrapbooking, cardmaking and other hobbies. Whatever your creative mind can come up with!

My files work on many machines. Some of them are: Klik-n-kut, Pazzle, Wishblade, Silhouette, Cricut, Craft Robo. Some of the software involved with these machines are: Funtime, Scrapbooking, WinPC/Signlab, Inkscape, Create & Cut, Illustrator, KNK Studio, Robomaster, DesignMaster and the list goes on….. Enjoy!

And our cutter file “freebies” are kept in the forum. We add to them as we can.