Disclosure – post in collaboration with Design Bundles

Can you believe I’ve had my Cricut Maker for over a year now? It’s my favourite cutting machine and I love looking for my next craft to make. I’ve been kept busy during lockdown with my crafting and I’m so thankful that I already had enough equipment and materials to keep me busy crafting. With birthdays and anniversaries, I’m never short of people to make for. The only thing I don’t have are the svg files to use on my machine.

Why SVG files are an essential tool for crafters

I’ve written a few posts on how to use the Cricut Maker and the Easy Press but I don’t think I’ve ever written about svg files before. So just in case you don’t know what a svg file is, then let me tell you a little more about them and why svg files are an essential tool for crafters.

What is a SVG file?

The acronym svg stands for Scalable Vector Graphics. According to Wikipedia “Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is an Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based vector image format for two-dimensional graphics with support for interactivity and animation. The SVG specification is an open standard developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) since 1999.”

Who can use a svg file?

SVG is, essentially, to graphics what HTML is to text. They can be created and edited with any text editor or with drawing software which means they are an essential tool for crafters like me.

How can you use a svg?

Like PNG, a SVG file is the preferred file type for a digital cutting machine, like a Cricut, Silhouette or Sizzix. With my Cricut I’ve been able to cut out designs on vinyl, card, fabric, felt, leather, paper and I’ve always used a design saved as an svg file.

Can I create my own svg?

I would love to be able to make my own svg files but I haven’t quite got there yet. Instead I’ve bought them from places such as Design Bundles, it’s a really great place to find free and paid for svg files.

They have thousands of files for every project you can think of, from home decor to school work, birthday cards to Christmas gifts and every celebratory day in between. In fact, Design Bundles is just as useful as a source of inspiration as Pinterest is. The company was founded in 2016. Today you can browse over 150,000 Marketplace Products and save on their Curated Design Bundles which have up to 96% off the Regular Retail Price. The Design Marketplace allows us crafters to the work or independent designers.

We’ve been crafting a lot with recycled pallets recently. They are such a great source of material and easy to upcycle for the house or garden. My most recent make is an upcycled pallet sign for our front porch. We seem to spend a lot of time on our front porch and it needed a little something to jazz it up. I found a great collection of vertical Welcome svg cuts on Design Bundles. The collection included 5 different designs which I thought were great value, so I bought them and uploaded my favourite one to Design Space.

I re-sized the svg to the shape I needed and cut it out from white vinyl, suitable for outdoor use.

I had already prepared my wood and painted it. The weather has been beautiful recently and it dried quickly. Then I carefully lined up my letters and applied them to my wooden porch sign. This was such a quick and easy project and I had a lot of fun browsing files. In fact, I also picked up a couple of extra ones for some Fathers Day crafting!

I hope I have explained a little more about svg files, and how they really are an essential tool for crafters.

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