 |
 |
 |
|
Words & Phrases
|
|
100%, and, from:, Limited Edition, Look Here, No. (as in the abbreviation for Number), Original, the, To:, and Top Secret.
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Old Fashioned Fonts
|
Over the past six or seven years, my youngest daughter has asked for the same thing
for Christmas – an antique-styled typewriter. Although she still hasn’t received
it, she now has access to something that will fill the void – Printing Press, the new cartridge by Kerri Bradford.
With an eclectic collection of letters from various alphabets, you can now create
the look of some of the old-fashioned fonts with your Cricut. What makes this font
set so exciting is that while the fonts are styles of the past, the overall look
of them together is widely used today. It’s obvious that even the Creative Features
are designed to perfectly complement the individual letters. (My favorite is the
Clip Feature.)
Trying all the features, keys, and foundations will increase the versatility of
Printing Press. One thing I tried was cutting out a word
with all capital letters. Then, I used the Real Dial Size key and cut the word out
again. Here is how it came out:
I love the height differences in the first example but the letter-on-domino appearance
of the second example will be great to play with, too. Also, adhering the words
on either a much darker or much lighter background makes the details on the letters
pop out.
While my daughter might not yet be able to experience the clickety clack of the
typewriter keys, she will hear the Cricut-y chirp of a cut well done. Printing Press is a winner!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ideas for Any Holiday
|
After spending the last month making Christmas-related placecards and tags, I thought I’d share with you some of the fun and timely treasures I’ve found. Feel free to change these projects to fit any holiday or theme.
Tag-making: With Tags, Bags, Boxes and More, I cut out six different tag shapes, all of them at 5.5”. Then, with Printing Press (and a coordinating paper), I used the Clip Creative Feature to cut six of the word “to:”. I attached each of the ‘to:’ paper clips to the tags, which left room for me to handwrite the name of the recipient. Flipping the tag over, the Cricutted paper clip leaves the perfect little frame to write “from:” and my name. Adding star brads, ribbon, and some gel pen squiggles finished off the tags.
Placecards: Using Tags, Bags, Boxes and More, I cut twenty 5.5” square boxes out of acetate (I used clear transparency sheets). Then, with Printing Press, I cut the monogram (of the gift recipient), using the Character Shadow Creative Feature. I used gold and silver posterboard for the monogram since it has a rich, metallic look. Finally, after gluing the letter to the front of each box and filling it with Almond Roca, I tied a gold and silver ribbon around the box, with the bow at the top of the box. It’s the perfect placecard for our holiday dinner table; small enough to fit nicely on the charger plate and big enough to hold a yummy treat!
Last idea: As a little gift to the neighborhood kids who carol at our home and using Tags, Bags, Boxes and More, I cut out a bunch of the ‘crayon’ boxes at 5.5” (I used Christmas print cardstock). I glued the sides and bottom of the boxes closed but left the top open. I filled each box with a regular-sized Hershey’s bar. The kids’ Cricutted names were glued on the front of the boxes and were finished off with a miniature bow. If you want a really neat look though, you could tuck in 5 or 6 candy sticks of different flavors (the candy cane type without the hook on top) in place of the chocolate bar.
What creative ideas have you come up with? Have you adapted an idea you’ve read about in the Chirp? Please post them in the Cartridge Explorations Section at the Cricut Message Board.
Happy Holidays,
Lori Baer
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Samples
|
|
This week, I decided to share with you a trick I use to find the perfect font set for a specific project. Much has been said on the message board about how to keep track of what you have in your library from keeping the handbooks at your fingertips to printing 8.5 x 11" copies of the individual handbooks. Here's what works for me. Instead of printing the entire graphic set from the online font handbooks, I chose four different letters (E, G, T, W). From the online handbooks, I printed out only those pages. Then, on those pages, I wrote what set it was from. I inserted the pages into sheet protectors and organized them by putting all "E" pages together, all "G"s, and so forth. Since I have all the font cartridges (except for the much-hoped-for, rare Doodletype!), I did this for all the sets. 
If you choose to try this method of Cricut library organization, decide for yourself what letters of which you want samples. I chose "E" because it is an oft-used letter and for it's single-line height when lower cased. The "G" was picked for its 2-line height (below the main line) and because the lower case letter comes in many different appearances. The "T" was used for its 2-line, (above the main line) look and its frequent use. Finally, the "W" was used to identify clearly which font sets have rounded, sharp, classic, or funky features.
|
|
|
|
|
|