More amazing work by Freekhand. I love his use of line. Also check out his blog here.

Each year I struggle with the handmade pledge as I seek the most appropriate gift for the people on my gift giving list. This year I’m trying to take it a bit more seriously as I order items from artfire and yes, even, etsy. In some cases it’s necessary to order an item from a small business. I ordered a gift for my brother from a small online business as well as part of Christie’s gift from another small online vendor. I prefer, as in real life, to purchase from a mom and pop shop than from a big box store. This is my preference, but sometimes it doesn’t work.

Sometimes getting my brother the weirdest gift I can find requires shopping at amazon.com, after all the only place I can get him a back hair groomer is there or Wal-Mart.

Way back in 2009 or even further back I picked up a copy of Make the Cut a fabulous software that let me control my Cricut craft cutter. I was able to cut anything I wanted and items of my own designs. Awesome.

Well that was fun, until Provocraft decided they didn’t want third party software controlling their machines. Then sued the makers of Make the Cut. Make the Cut was tied up in court for years. Googling the company shows several lawsuits. Eventually the software was locked down and the code needed to make the software able to work with the cricut was locked out. If you upgraded your copy of make the cut past MTC 4.1.0 it can’t be hacked to work. You also need to install the pccplugin which you have hopefully saved on a thumb drive somewhere.

Make the Cut is now abandonware. The developer has allowed the site to come and go it is currently up and you can download the software, though there are reports in the forum that the new serial numbers no longer work. The forum and site are up now, I was unable to get any assistance from the owner for getting my reg key. I used their automated system and it did not work. I also have not received an answer via their support ticket system. According to several users on the forum, the user has not responded to anything on the forum for over 5 years at this point (writing this 12/2020).

If you have access to the computer you had Make the Cut installed on you can use these instructions to attempt to retrieve the registration code. I was able to successfully reboot my nearly dead old laptop and pull the code out. Then I emailed it to myself AND saved the MTC4.1.0 installer, pccplugin, and reg code to thumb drive. This will get stored in a safe place and I’ll also back these files up to the cloud. And you should to.

I’ll update my old posts about MTC. Apparently now you need to use Sure Cuts a Lot, but I do not think it can be hacked to work with the crapcut. Again I salute Provocrap with a middle finger salute. We should be able to use the Crapcut with any software in the same manner we use a printer.

Use these links at your own risk:

• https://archive.org/details/MakeTheCutVersion4.1.0
• https://diydata.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/cricut-cutter-with-usb-it-can-be-done/
• https://www.dllme.com/dll/files/pccplugin_dll.html

An no I will NOT send you copies of this stuff. I’ve provided the links, follow them.

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Again Freekhand. We call learn athing or two from this guy.

This will be the longest 3 days in the history of my job*. The 3 days before Thanksgiving include long hours, lots of organization, and lots of work. Last year my Mom had open heart surgery and I missed the hub bub of the holidays. The 4 days she spent in the hospital were rough and the weeks immediately after the surgery we even more difficult. It’s hard to believe it’s been a year and she’s doing so well.

Take a page in your art journal and give thanks, a few days early, because we all know on Turkey Day we’ll all be too busy with friends and family to do it right.

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It’s got to be about the passion, the dream, and your end goal. Forget the haters and focus on what you want, not negativity.

That’s been my chorus since the interaction with my unthinking coworker. It’s amazing that one interaction has affected me so much that I’m thinking about it a full 24 hours later. I’m a simple woman who will normally forget an inconsequential interaction moments after it’s over.

This stuck with me, I think mostly because it’s so similar to things I’ve heard in the past and perhaps too close to my internalized fears.

Another part of her comment that I want to explore is her derisive attitude toward the “internet.” If I opened an art studio in my garage (currently filled with bike and moped parts) and held classes I’m sure she would not look down upon my classes. It would look to her like an old fashioned business, something she could understand. When you take stuff to the internet it’s often see as less than the brick and mortar version. Not to be arrogant but take a moment to examine Amazon, eBay or any one of the hundreds of other successful internet ONLY businesses to see that internet businesses work. They are successful.

Will online education be successful? I think it can be, even when it’s not affiliated with a university. For profit education is always suspect when compared to “school based” education but let’s face it most Universities and Colleges are no longer non-profit. When you add to them corporate advertising in foyers, sponsorships of sports, there is a lot of profit in the higher education system. Just because it’s disguised doesn’t mean it’s not there. That being said, inexpensive art classes via the internet draw people into art. People who may have a dormant interest may take an online art class and it may awaken their appreciation of the arts. I think that’s the ultimate goal of online art classes should be to do that. Awaken the artist and awaken the appreciation.

On that note check out this piece on the Boston’ Philharmonic Orchestra’s Benjamin Zucker.

Every time I sit down at my computer I’m intensely aware that on the other side of the information super highway are people who read my blog, take my classes, and are members of artjournaling.ning.com I want to take a moment to say:

Thanks, you rock.

Each and everyone of you inspires me and supports me in what I do.

I am humbled that people want to read/listen to what I have to say. I’m grateful that you are here again and again. I’m in awe of the submissions for my art project. When you comment on the blog I appreciate it more than you know.

Here’s my promise, I won’t get to full of myself and if I do, you can tell me. I like honesty in a relationship, and hope you do too. I like to talk and I’m glad you like to listen and I’ll never take that for granted. I hope to always “keep it real.” If I don’t you know what to do.

I’ve had some great response to my post, “They Fear your Success.” The one that got me thinking and reflecting more upon that post was one from my friend Sarah* over on FB:

I heard the best quote recently about women in the workplace in regards to sexism and men: "men don't give power to each other, they take it. if you want power, take it." i think that thought really works with many aspects of life and following dreams…we have to take it, own it and make it…

Frankly her thought and quote does work with the workplace and following your dreams.

As I’ve followed my dream and passion I’ve worked really hard. It’s not easy to do an online class, keep a blog, or set time aside for the studio. In fact it’s a lot of damn hard work. It takes organizational skills, the effort to make it work, drive, and ambition. Without the drive and the ambition I’d not be where I am, doing one class per semester period and gambling what one could say is a good stable job for something that may have a questionable future. Let’s face it everyone who reads this blog, buys my journals or takes my classes might decide I’m a donkey and stop. And this dream I’m working on could all come crashing down.

Let me tell you what my dream is, define it and put it out there: My dream is to teach art online, work on my master’s degree, and paint. It’s simple until you look at the future extended out from that. Can I make ends meet teaching online art classes? Maybe, I know several people who do and I think I can do it too. I have an art show coming up, my first since college graduation, which pisses me off and fills me with excitement at the same time. The master’s degree can be worked on while I’m working on classes and the show. My ETA for entry is fall 2012. I have plans for the degree. I want to teach art in person too, perhaps an adjunct teaching position, perhaps some workshops. Who knows?

What I DO know right now is that teaching these art classes, online, which my coworker dismissed so carelessly, makes me happy. I love doing it. Besides art it’s one of the few things that really make me happy.

And that’s the core of what my coworker was getting at, my happiness, dismissing it. Dismissing the online aspect of what I do is, well, it’s just stupid, empty headed and without thought. An online job is a job, regardless of being self employed or getting paid.  (As Sarah more succinctly stated.)

Some people are afraid of the happiness of others; it forces them to examine their own misery, unhappiness and regrets.  I can’t give my coworker happiness but I can strive forward toward mine.

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I discovered Freekhand on flickr quite sometime ago and love all  his work. His journal flips are no different. Amazing work, you shoudl head to Youtube and subscribe.

“The substance of them is hatred for any man who loves his work. That’s the only kind they fear. I don’t know why.”  Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead

In my life I’ve encountered little of what Hazel Dooney refered to as “tall poppy syndrome.” The above quote from the fountainhead addresses it too. I’ve mostly been able to surround myself with friends who are allies against the “man” and the monotony of the DayJob, they all wished they were somewhere else too. Discussions of art and music are more common at company gatherings than discussions about business or the bottom line, at least for those of us on the front line. I have no idea what it’s like for the bigwigs in the office, those I spent nearly 6 months working with them I saw nothing from them than diehard dedication to the job. Though I know several of my good friends who also work in the office, for which I was a terrible match, have outside interests.

In my circle of peers, even those who have climbed the corporate step ladder with me, I’ve encounter mostly closeted artists and musicians, desperately seeking their break. Some have given up and seek only to enjoy the arts. As such my friends and coworkers have always been supportive of me.

My schedule is from 32 to 36 hours a week, some weeks more as needed. I work those hours to allow me more time to work on my classes and art, which I refer to at work as “my second job.” In my mind I usually also refer to it as “my real job.” Today I made the comment about “my 2^nd job” infront of someone who has never heard me use the term. Squinting at me she stated, “What second job?” To which I replied, “I’m self employed, my art classes.” In a derisive tone she said, “Well, that’s online!” At that very moment I wanted to smack myself in the forehead or bang my head against the wall; instead I said “Well, I get paid to do it and I do HAVE to be physically there for the class, which is live.”

I haven’t felt that kind of derisive attention to my chosen profession in years, possibly since high school, when I told someone I wanted to be an artist and I was told “That’s retarded, you should go into physics, you’re good at that.” I believe that same person suggested I go for the paper company scholarship, which is funny, because all the paper mills in Maine have closed down and move to China. Yet, here I am teaching art online while my classmates that worked for the paper company are out of jobs.

My point is, though I had put my head up my arse about it, is that people still fear the passion, they will ridicule you and fight you for attention and try and force you to failure.