PUT YOUR FINGER ON IT!

December 2010 is here! Pretty soon we will be welcoming in a new year. But first, we'll be celebrating all the holidays before New Year's Eve. Christmas is for children...of all ages. Cliché, but true. As a kid, my siblings and I spent each evening of entire month ritualistically looking through the seasonal gift section of the winter catalogues. We made a game of our perusing activity. As we turned through each page, studying each toy displayed thereon, someone would holler out "I call that one!" and quickly point to a picture of a toy on the page. This game was pretty similar to the contest of calling out "shotgun!" before going for a ride in the family car. Of course, we didn't receive everything that we had "called" but we did receive some of the treasures we had been putting our fingers on all month long. (Mostly because our mother was quietly eavesdropping on our activity.)

'Tis the season for giving. That particular old catalogue is gone now, but a game pretty similar to the aforementioned one continues in the shopping section of our website every day. Slapping a hand down on a page has been replaced with clicking on a mouse. There are so many wonderful Cricut treasures here www.cricut.com which you will help make your crafting life complete. Come and find your favorite gifts to share with friends, loved ones, and yes, even yourself!

This week, be sure to enjoy clever crafty tips on turning soap dispensers into a great gifts and check out Crafty Kimber's cartridge exploration of the Winter Lace, Snow Angel, and Trim the Tree cartridges. As always, I wish you well in your crafting adventures.

**Header project made by Kay Rogers using the Joys of Season cartridge.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

FEATURED PROJECTS

MESSAGE BOARD HIGHLIGHTS

This week's highlighted threads are:

• Pink Christmas Deer
• Santa Cards
• 'Tis the Season, Winter Frolic
• Over the river and through the woods
• My Singing Penguin Trio
• Inspired Heart Christmas Card

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

Name: Roxana Reid
About: I am a mother of three and have been crafting most of my life. I started with knitting and sewing, and about five years ago started scrapbooking and card making when I bought my first Cricut. I now have two Cricut machines and an abundance of cartridges.

Roxana's Project: Christmas Lawn Decorations

YOUR NOTABLE TIP

This week's great tip comes to you from message board member shmamaof5!

Simply use your favorite holiday or Christmas themed cartridge and some vinyl to transform a hand soap dispenser into a great gift! I used different colors of vinyl. I have a Gypsy, so it was pretty easy to set up, save, and print.

CARTRIDGE EXPLORATION

This week has been exciting! I have started to get in the Christmas mood. My tree is all decorated, and I must say that it looks fabulous! I have a few small decorations still to hang around the room, and I need to spruce up the stockings that are hanging on the fireplace; they're just plain white. This week, along with all the decorating, I still spent some time playing with my Cricut. I think exploring these cartridges also helped me to get in the Christmas mood! Today I will talk about the Winter Lace, Snow Angel, and Trim the Tree cartridges.

All three of these cartridges can be used to decorate your tree. I used the Snow Angel Imagine cartridge to make myself a Cricut Imagine tree at work (see photos). I wanted something that would be easy to set up, and using the Cricut Imagine was as easy as pie. I love this new Snow Angel cartridge! It is full of wonderful Christmas and snow related images. You could use these for some easy tags (who says a tag for a present has to be a certain shape?); cut out some of the ornaments in whatever colors you want, add your personal message, and tape to your wrapped present--so easy! Some other images included are: stockings (three different styles), mittens, hats (cute tag idea), coats (also a cute tag), 3 types of village houses, snowman, girls and boys dressed to play in the snow, Santa's sleigh, 3 adorable reindeer, 2 types of presents, 8 different styles of snowflakes, three types of trees, and a bunch of poinsettias. Bonus content is two 12x12 scrapbook pages, a 3-D box (here is an easy way to give away small gifts this year), and the words "Peace & Joy" (cut these out and string them together with ribbon to make a banner for your wall). You will receive 20 fun Christmas style pattern papers, and 10 solid colors that you can use to create your own images. When I was making my star for my "Work Christmas Tree", I used another cartridge and then used one of the patterns from this cartridge to color it and then cut it out (I actually cut two of the images and glued them together at the top, then set them on the top of the tree). If you are looking for a stocking stuffer, this cartridge is a must have!

Winter Lace is part of the Seasonal exclusive Cricut collection. This cartridge is all about snowflakes, and gives you 20 different images to choose from. You can cut out the first layer and use that design, or cut out the solid image located on the overlay under each of the designs. Add some ribbon and decorate your tree with them. Another idea is to hook the sides together and make a long chain to hang over your window. Want a great project for the family? Have the kids pick out which snowflakes they want, give them some easily removable tape, and let them decorate a wall. Need an easy tag? Cut out the solid snowflakes and use them. You also receive ten different images that let you make 3-D snowflakes. Add some clear string or fishing wire, a small sewing straight pin, and hook them to your ceiling. Now you have 3-D snowflakes hanging down in your room!

"Trim the Tree" describes just what you get with this cartridge. This cartridge is full of images that you can use to decorate your tree, or make those personal cards. Use the solid images to make adorable journal tags for your scrapbook pages. Images include: Santa Claus head, presents, tree, reindeer, sleigh, ornaments, bow, bell, candle, peacock, star, iceskate, candy cane, holly, and a wreath. Here is another example of a Christmas tree decorated with this cartridge (see pic). The designs have tons of details and can be slightly difficult in pulling off of the Cricut mat, so go slowly and gently! Use your tools and you won't have trouble. I pulled a few off the mat using my nails and ripped a few (yikes!), and so had to cut those images out again, but I learned my lesson!

I hope you enjoyed reading this exploration as much as I did creating it. Happy crafting and may the holiday spirit be contagious!

Crafty Kimber

HELP FROM THE EXPERTS

Customer Service is Hopping!

We are happy to help each one of you as you call in. Please know that there are times of the day that are more busy than others. Here are some things that would help us to better help you:

- Be sure you are near your Provo Craft product that you are calling about
- Are your products registered (if that applies)?

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Need some help? Provo Craft Customer Support is here for you! Never hesitate to call in (1-888-922-4725 or 1-888-92ccircle for Circle questions); we have people ready to help you! We are currently open Monday through Friday 7am to 6pm Mountain Time. If these hours do not work with your schedule, please send an email to support@provocraft.com.


Have a great week!

From your Customer Support Sweeps:
Mark, Colby, Brittany, and Becky, "The Floor Sweeps"

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child."
~ Erma Bombeck