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Cartridge Overview
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All of the cartridges have two Creative Features in common. They are Shadow and Blackout. The function of these two keys are exactly the same in all circumstances: Shadow perfectly mats the original graphic and Blackout gives you a general shadow of the original but with no interior cuts (such as the two holes in a capital letter B).
Discovering the rest of the individual cartridges Creative Features is like embarking on a scavenger hunt where you shriek "ah ha" every time you try out a new one. Doesn't it make you excited to find out what new ones the Cricut team will come up with next?
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Samples
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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.
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Shaping Up
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Now that we have a plethora of shape cartridges to sort through, it's time to find a way to organize them. It takes precious crafting time to flip through each handbook, looking for the perfect piece to finish a project when we can have that information right at our fingertips, in a single binder, box, or maybe even a cd.
I love simple organization ideas, and for me, that starts with big, black binders. With each shape set, I looked through the handbook to find a single page that shows the Creative Features for that cartridge in full use, such as page 102 (elephant) in Animal Kingdom. Online, under the products tab at Cricut.com, I found the corresponding page from that handbook and printed it out. This gave me a brief overview of the artistic style and content from the cartridge, as well as an example of the Creative Features. On the bottom of the page, I wrote the title and artist name as a reference for that page. In my binder is at least one printed page (8½ x 11") for each shape set.
The next step in my quest for simplification included cutting out samples of specific shapes, using Linda Scott's Cheat Sheet by Alpha. She and others have posted about this list often on the MB and I find it a valuable organizational tool. Using the list, I chose items that I would be using a lot, such as bookplates, butterflies, cards, hearts, and "I love you". Setting the size at 3", I cut samples of each one, some with shadows or other Features. On a single page, I glued all of the bookplates, referencing the cartridges used, the Feature, and the size (3"). Then, I inserted it into a page protector and added it to my binder. Repeating these steps for the other items previously cut, I ended up with over 20 pages of frequently used shapes. When I have a couple of free hours, I'll add pages that show shapes that I think are particularly awesome, such as the 'hydrangea' in Walk in My Garden to this section in my binder.
There have been several posts on the Cricut Message Board about alphabetizing precut shapes, keeping a running list of all the Cricut shapes, and even cutting out ALL the shapes a cartridge has available, gluing them onto paper and filing them away. Find what works for you, then adapt and streamline as your library grows with each new cartridge. Feel free to share your ideas and pictures with us - we'd love to see what you do for craft spring cleaning!
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Don't Forget About
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Okay, it’s the cartridge we all have, but have we really taken a look at what’s in it? The letters are the perfect all-around font, but it’s the shapes that are intriguing. At first glance, it appears that the shapes are repetitive. It’s the second look that shows what’s really there!
On page 15 of the George handbook is a graphic of the key overlay. Looking at the grey shapes, you’ll notice there are 2 squares (R and T keys), two rectangles (Y and U keys), two skinny rectangles (I and O keys), and two triangles (A and S keys). The difference between each of the two shapes is the same for each set. The first shape has squared corners and the second shape has rounded corners. It’s just that easy!
The designer of this cartridge is Cecelia Harris, and it seems she has thought of everything necessary to complete George and Basic Shapes and to save us time while using it. The rounded corners on oft-used geometric shapes as well as the traditional squared ones are just a couple of the great ideas found in George.
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Features in Common
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Many Cricut users have purchased all of the cartridges currently on the market. Using coupons, sales, the internet, LSS’, and TV shopping shows, the country’s going buggy in a big way!
Not including the special cartridge available through QVC or George and Basic Shapes, there are six font cartridges and six shape cartridges. The fonts include: All Mixed Up, Base Camp, Jasmine, Mini Monograms, Stamped, and Teardrop. The shape cartridges are Animal Kingdom, Beyond Birthdays, Celebrations, Christmas Cheer, Doodlecharms, and Tags, Bags, Boxes & More.
All of the cartridges have two Creative Features in common. They are Shadow and Blackout. The function of these two keys are exactly the same in all circumstances: Shadow perfectly mats the original graphic and Blackout gives you a general shadow of the original but with no interior cuts (such as the two holes in a capital letter B).
Discovering the rest of the individual cartridges’ Creative Features is like embarking on a scavenger hunt where you shriek “ah ha” every time you try out a new one. Doesn’t it make you excited to find out what new ones the Cricut team will come up with next?
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