Free Stuff

Copyright Free Photos

January 23, 2009

Often, as pattern designers, we’re always on the lookout for photographs to create patterns from.  Unfortunately, this can be a sticky situation when using someone else’s photographs.  Unless you were given explicit permission to use a photographer’s picture,  you may be in violation of copyright law.  But before you throw in your pattern-making hat, there [...]

Read the full article →

WP Clipart

January 20, 2009

Finding free clip art for our patterns can be tricky at best.  Most clipart sites require monthly memberships or expensive bundled downloads.  Even then, the clipart may not be royalty free.  Thanks to a reader’s suggestion, I became aware of WP Clipart, a website that specializes in public domain clipart.  Their entire collection is available [...]

Read the full article →

Arabic Calligraphy Patterns

January 12, 2009

One of the first forms of word art was calligraphy.  The beautiful swooping lines are certainly an eye pleaser.  Its no wonder why calligraphy is so well received and certainly offers a great scrolling opportunity. RealfEZ creates beautiful wordart in Arabic calligraphy on his website Arabic Calligraphy For You.  He’ll turn your name into a [...]

Read the full article →

Scroll Saw Fonts

August 28, 2008

There is no such thing as too many fonts. Scrollers love them! But often we have to modify our favorite fonts in order to get them cuttable. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were some fonts designed specifically for scrollers? Well, Mike from Scrollcrafters has come through by offering 3 different fonts for your computer. [...]

Read the full article →

Wooden Scroll Saw

August 9, 2008

Imagine you’re at a craft fair, selling some of your creations. You’ll get some traffic, sure. But what if you brought your scroll saw with you and demonstrated your techniques. You’ll get a lot more traffic. But imagine pulling out a homemade, foot-powered scroll saw made with various hardwoods and polished to a high sheen. [...]

Read the full article →

Scroll Saw Stand Plans

August 8, 2008

Almost as important as the saw, is the stand the saw sits on. If it isn’t at the right height or angle, your neck and back won’t be happy with you. You could buy a commercial stand, but where’s the fun in that? Michael Martin (aka Nailbender) has provided a nice set of plans for [...]

Read the full article →

Vintage Scroll Saw Catalog

May 1, 2008

The cool thing about vintage scroll saw patterns, is that it can serve for inspiration for more contemporary designs. Browsing old patterns can give you a lot of new ideas. Combining old styles with new styles could really set your design apart from others. You can easily borrow elements like motifs, style, and function to [...]

Read the full article →

Dover Clip Art Samples

February 22, 2008

Its hard to find good free clip art on the internet. The websites that have good clip art want to charge an arm and a leg to use their clip art. Even then, you are only buying limited rights to use them. I think that’s why I really like the books from Dover Publications. They [...]

Read the full article →

Dingbat and Font Resources

February 6, 2008

Last post, I talked about using Dingbats in your designs. Sarajane listed a few of her favorite sources for Dingbats. Just Google the word Dingbats and you’ll find hundreds of webpages that have Dingbats available for download. Many of these websites are cumbersome to use, however. But I was able to put together a list [...]

Read the full article →

Key Chain Font

January 8, 2008

Do you need to scratch that scroll sawing itch without jumping into a large project? H’bout making a few key chains? Ron Brown has created a True Type font to download for free. This font is especially good for making key chains. Best of all, you don’t need a graphics program to create your patterns. [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →

Monthly Archives

Categories

  • Around The Web (243)
  • Pattern Workshop (33)
  • Podcast (39)
  • Website Updates (38)