Changing The Text on The Okadee Macrame Designs

 

Modifying the Okadee Layered Mandala Macrame Files

https://bit.ly/3rUd1BT

So far I have made the Mountains, the dragonflies, and several of the sunflower designs.

My last version of the Sunflower one was a complete disaster - that ended up being something I like so much that I plan to make more - I think with a light wood back, they will work as bow holders, a great baby shower gift!  

And if you ever think, as some of you sometimes mention, that I have it all together over here..  scroll down and read about how I got to this design.  :-)

But first, lets look at how to change the text.  It's really easy!  

Upload the svg, then look in the layers panel and delete the top two layers:

The Welcome Text, and the Black Base Piece with the Welcome offset.

Now technically you could just work with the next black base layer.

But I recommend that instead, you select that layer, and choose duplicate.

Either right click and duplicate, or use the duplicate icon in the middle top of the layers panel - it's the two squares with a plus sign, right before the trash can

By duplicating, we have a version to work on, but the original is preserved, "Just In Case".

Hide the main file, or move it out of the way - we will only be working with the new duplicated item for now.

Add your text.  Thicker script fonts work best - I'm using Tingler Script (NOT FREE) here.

I still weld by my script text, completely out of habit.  It appears this is no longer necessary - Cricut no longer cuts between each letter in script text if you do not weld.  Old habits die hard, and I have no idea what Cricut may change in the next update - so I'm just going to keep welding at this point.  :-)

Change the color of your text to a light color, like white, so that its super visible.  No matter what color you want to cut this from later, for this step you want it to be easy to see against the background.

Then place it over the image you duplicated, keeping your text a little low - you want a good overlap of the text with the base.

Select your text, then choose the offset option.  On a desktop, that's shown up at the top, to the right of the Flip option.

I left the offset at the default .25 size.

Select the base piece, and your new offset.  Do NOT include your text - just the offset and base.

Then choose combine/weld (or unite - unite would do the same thing)

It will look like your text disappeared, but it's still there, below your newly welded image.  You can see it in the layers panel, select it, and bring to front.

Unhide the original svg, and place your new pieces on top, to make sure you like how they look.

Ignore where the ladybugs are - they are completely separate pieces that you can attach wherever you want when you make this.

You can delete the top black piece on the original svg now - the one that does NOT have the offset of your text.  That's an extra top layer you do not need.

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ASSEMBLY

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There's a pdf file included with the download that has all the instructions for you.

I have only ever used "regular" cardstock, I've never purchased the heavier weight.  With the exception of the one I attempted to wash (seriously - I make some of the most ridiculous decisions when I am rushed... and I am, unfortunately, rushed a LOT.) these have all held up great.  

Do not get carried away when putting this together - you only want to attach the back pieces, with the bar at the bottom for the cord.

Typically what I do is glue all of the top pieces together (no bottom bar - shown at the top in the above photo) and all of the bottom pieces [ shown at the bottom of the above photo] together.  Then I run my cord, and after the cord is on there, I  glue the top and bottom sections together. 

This is how easy the cord tying is. Fold the cord in half, pull the loop through the top, then pull the tail up through the loop.

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The Mistake I Ended Up Loving

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I actually like the ribbon so much more than I like the macrame cord!  And it takes a lot less ribbon than cord - so this is much faster. 

I've never really figured out the fraying of the macrame cord when making these.   I'm just not good at it.  I keep meaning to buy a hairbrush (natural curls, so I don't use a brush) but I never do

The Beautiful reason I own horse brushes

Just ignore the fact that they are standing in a field of alfalfa and not in a pasture with a fence, like they should be...

So, I got the brilliant idea to try a horse brush - I own those.   The first one went pretty well, I was pretty impressed, but thought a different horse brush would work better. So I tried a different brush... that hadn't been thoroughly cleaned after brushing the horses.  I'm telling you, I wanted to bawl. It was such a ridiculous mistake - I should have noticed, should have checked... 

SO much dirt, on my white cord... but then, after a few minutes of wallowing in my self loathing...  I think I can save it! I have this brilliant [HA] idea that I can put the top paper part in a ziplock bag, and just wash the cord in the sink, without getting the paper wet.  

You know, rather than just untying all the cord and using fresh cord, or untying the cord and washing it then retying it..  Like a rational person.

 It might, actually, have worked, if I hadn't then tried to hang it on the line to dry. The wet cord was too heavy, and tore the paper right off. 

So... I tied ribbon around a skewer, added wooden beads at the end of the skewer, and hot glued it all to the back. 

Now I'm going to visit my parents (who have a full woodworking shop in their basement,  and who put all of their tools away when they are done using them, so it's easier than finding the tools and clearing a space in my husbands shop) & see if I can cut thin wooden backings.

 I know some of you will tell me the knife blade on cricut can do that - but seriously, that's SO far beyond my attention span, and  beyond my faith in my cricut machine, especially when I have access to real tools can do it in minutes with no fuss. But I'm thinking that if the back piece was cut from wood, I could glue the paper to the wood, and when I tie the ribbon around the wood and paper, it will be plenty strong enough to hold hair bows, making these a great baby shower gift!

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