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Let's start digging!
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One of the first things I do when I get a new cartridge is pull the handbook out
of the binder and open up to the project shown inside. This gives me an idea of
what the artist had in mind for their product.
In ZooBalloo, the friendly purple hippo immediately made me
smile and I was hooked. Even after following the links to see the pictures on the
Cricut™ website, I was not prepared for the charm and detail in this new cartridge.
It really is two cartridges in one, having both a font and shape set.
You will fall in love with the animals created by David Walker Studios
(he also did Paper Pups). They are a different style than Animal Kingdom, a previously released cartridge. While there’s
a few of the same animals in both, ZooBalloo contains some lesser known animals (such as the
much-wondered-about narwhal) as well as ones we loved in our youth (the unicorn
and elephant).
Also included in this set is an expanded set of words. Now we can cut out the number
4, the word “four”, and even the word “number”. Take a look at the new words available
and you’ll be saying and cutting “hurray” right along with the rest of us.
While there is much to be explored in this new cartridge in the future, there’s
one other thing to be mentioned this first time around. I believe that one of the
biggest attractions of ZooBalloo will be the scenery elements of snow, mountains,
clouds, and waves. The practical and creative applications of these are going to
be so much fun!
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Words & Phrases
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Congrats, Happy Birthday, it’s a Party, Oh Baby, Thanks, and Welcome.
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Scenery!!!
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Oh, happy day! With the release of David Walker Studios’
ZooBalloo, we now have a new collection of animals, plus mountains, clouds,
snow, waves, AND another font set.
The Creative Features and Foundation Keys add even more variety and versatility
to what you can do.
The six Features are: Lower/Layer, Silhouette, Card, Box, Shadow, and Lower/Layer
Shadow.
- Lower/Layer – Enables the lower case alphabet, cuts the actual words for numbers
(such as ‘one’ or ‘two’), and when used with the Shift key, cuts out the detail
layer for the shapes
- Silhouette – Cuts the outline of the letters and characters as if it were a line
drawing
- Card – Cuts a rectangle card blank with the shapes and letters on the card front
- Box – Allows you to cut the shapes and letters inside a square frame
- Shadow – Cuts the shadow for all uppercase letters, numbers, and animals
- Lower/Layer Shadow – Cuts the shadow for everything the Lower/Layer Feature (see
above) can cut
The inclusion of scenery and embellishments in
ZooBalloo allows the opportunity to complete a project without the need for
any other background or detail. There are elements such as a vine, grass, trees,
and a branch that will complement any layout you might use the animals for. Check
out pages 82 – 131 of the handbook for a complete list of the designs available.
The wonderful combination of shapes and letters on this cartridge make
ZooBalloo a must-have for your Cricut library. You’ll be so glad you have it!
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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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