BACK TO BASICS

Many crafters are not fond of bugs, especially spiders. Call it arachnophobia or whatever you please. Little crawly critters are not welcome indoors. I think it is funny that a little bug can be so intimidating and cause such a ruckus until someone comes along, smashes it, and carries it off in a little piece of tissue paper.

On the same note, there is one type of bug in house that we all love. We enjoy spending hours playing with them and would gasp in horror if someone were to smash and carry it away in tissue paper.

Crafters have watched as the Cricut bugs have become more and more sophisticated and saavy as they assist us in our crafting adventures. Although we are fond of these little cutting wonders, some might feel intimidated or shy away from using them. Sometimes, a course in getting back to the basics is just the thing we need to get crafting again. If you are feeling rusty, feel free to check out these Cricut tutorial video links from our website. Simply click on the Cartridges, Cricut, Cake, Gypsy, or Infomercial tabs to view the various tutorials. There is no shame in going back to the basics.

Take crafting at your own pace and become comfortable with all the ”tech saavy stuff” as you go along. Your Cricut pals on the Cricut message board are also more than willing to share their ideas, support, and helpful tips with you along your Cricut crafting journey.

Our friendly support representatives are eager and able to assist you as well with your Cricut questions and concerns. So please feel free to call or email our qualified customer support team when you have a question or need assistance with a Cricut issue that is “bugging” you. Call 1-888-922-4725 or 1-888-92ccircle 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. Don’t worry about bothering anyone because what bugs you bugs us, and we want to help.

Be sure to check out Crafty Kimber's cartridge exploration of the Ornamental Iron 2 and Sweet Shop – WM Cricut Cartridges in today’s Chirp. Read about helpful Cricut tips and glean great crafting ideas from Cricut message board members in this week’s newsletter.

As always, I wish you success in your crafting adventures!

Lonna Joy Smoot- Editor, Cricut CHIRP!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

TIPS TREASURE CHEST

Q: I am sooooooo excited. I have just made my first cuts with craft room. I am using my little netbook since it is even more mobile than my big laptop. My question is...How do I load my many carts to craft room so I can combine carts. I have a gypsy also with all my carts on it. The craft room is awesome. Also do I change pressure and speed on my cricut? I have found no way in craft room yet. YE HA I am having fun!

A: You can't link your carts to Cricut Craft Room yet. That feature is still coming. In the mean time you will be prompted to insert the carts you've used in a design one by one before your Cricut machine starts to cut.

You should see the speed and pressure settings after you press the cut button.

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

Name: Sharon Ivanauskas

Instructions: Cut out two darker shades of flowers using the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge. I used Autumn Terracotta and Barn Red cardstock cut at 2.5" and used the rose 3D flower (shift function, font function, then the fleur-de-lis button). The lighter shade flower was cut out using Honey cardstock, cut at 2", the same flower style.

When they are cut, simply roll the flower and adhere using liquid glue. I used liquid glass, you could also use a hot glue gun or other liquid adhesive. Leave flowers to dry.

Pin the flowers to the styrofoam wreath using the pins and keeping them tight together.

Materials Used: 12" styrofoam wreath, 2" pearl headed pins, liquid glue, cardstock, Close To My Heart Art Philosopy Cricut Cartridge.

MESSAGE BOARD HIGHLIGHTS

This week's highlighted threads are:

• First Day of School Layout
• Lots of memories...
• Tutorial Posted--Summer Junk Journal
• Hangin with my Peeps
• Sophomore Year Layout

CARTRIDGE EXPLORATION

For some reason I decided to attack and reorganize my craft room this week. I have a small craft room with tons of stuff in it so being organized is very important. I first started getting organized by doing some research to see how other people organized their Cricut cartridges and supplies. I found a bunch of different ideas and decided that I loved them but I needed to focus on what would work best for me. I found some storage bins that were only a dollar and bought a bunch, then spent the next few hours going through my cartridges and putting them in order of the categories. I alphabetized the handbooks and overlays, then placed the cartridges to the right of the books. This process may not work for everyone but now that I have my new Cricut Expression two machine I don’t really need my handbooks or overlays anymore so it will work best for me now that all I have to do is pull out the cartridges to use. Another idea that I loved was using a thin curtain rod to put your ribbon on; if you are like me then you have a ton a ribbon in different colors. My sister dose this with her ribbons and loves it, one tip that she told me was to use a pin with each color of ribbon so that it will stop the ribbon from unraveling.

Along with getting organized I also spent some time exploring “Ornamental Iron 2” cartridge and “Sweet Shop??? a Cricut Lite cartridge. I love this new candy “Sweet Shop” cartridge it’s absolutely adorable. A few examples of the images on this cartridge are: candy, ice cream, chocolate strawberries, pretzels, popsicles, cupcakes, cake, succors, Ice cream Sunday, and candy jars. You also can cut some images with words that say “I Want Candy”, “Cookies”, “Sweet”, ???Chocolate” and “Candy Store”. The “I want Candy” image is perfect for a candy jar- which is exactly what “Royal Things” did on their website, see photo for the candy project that was created – so cute! Other projects that would be so cute with these images are cards, party invitations and scrapbook pages. This would also work great for decorating a little girl’s bed room or nursery, make sure to cut the images out of vinyl then use sparkle glue on top of the vinyl to add that special touch.

“Ornamental Iron 2” is a fun metal style cartridge. What I mean is that you can cut tons of images that look like metal iron gates, fences, etc. As you can see from the photo, the style and lines of this art have a feminine old English look to them. Projects that these images could be used with besides scrapbook pages are: cards, invitations, mirrors using vinyl, picture frame accents, windows using vinyl, vases, candles, and as frames for a scrapbook page, etc. Many of these images can be layered to help the designs standout. Simply use the Lace 1 & Lace 2 features to cut out different layers of the design. This cartridge is a full Cricut cartridge and comes with six creative features, which are: Lace 1, Lace 2, Lace 1 shadow, Lace 2 shadow, base shadow, and font. The font that comes with this cartridge is upper case letters and numbers, each of the letters have some sort of a swirl or style that fits the look of the cartridge. Some of the images remind me of snowflakes- is it too soon to be thanking about decorating for Christmas? Joy with “Obsessed with Scrapbooking” created a card using this cartridge, see photo. You could even use some of these images as tags for labeling the totes that are holding your crafting supplies. I guess I should get back to organizing my scrapbook room- I so want to get starting on my scrapbooking but can’t find anything in my room. That???s why I started de-cluttering my craft room so can get down to business.

It’s time to wrap up another exploration, check back next week as I continue down my road of exploring new cartridges in the Cricut world.

Crafty Kimber

HELP FROM THE EXPERTS

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!
Customer Support

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Stick to the basics. Hold on to your family and friends - they will never go out of fashion.”
- Niki Taylor