COMING SOON TO A DINNER TABLE NEAR YOU

Thanksgiving will be here in only a few short weeks. Preparations have already begun for the big event. My entire family will be meeting at a sister's house to partake of the grand feast this year. A similar scene will be occurring in many other homes that day. Amidst all of the munching and mingling, it is most important to take time to count our blessings with gratitude. I'll be surrounded by most of my blessings on that day and will be sure to capture some snapshots of the people I love most doing some of the things they love best – enjoying good company, eating good food, enjoying family traditions, and creating happy memories. We here at Cricut would like to wish you a warm and Happy Thanksgiving filled with full bellies and many happy memories!

Be sure to check out Crafty Kimber's excellent cartridge exploration of the Art Philosophy-CTMH and Fancy Frames Cricut® Cartridges in today’s Chirp. You’ll also read more helpful crafting tips and glean 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!

TIPS TREASURE CHEST

Today’s great idea comes from message board member MelodyLane. Thanks for sharing!

“I was cleaning up and decided I needed a new ribbon holder. A light bulb came on above my head, and this is what I made. I have the cut file you can download on my blog so you can make your own.”

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

Name: Tammy Edwards

About Me: I am a wife, mother and grandmother (a young one, of course) who loves using my Cricut to create scrapbook pages and cards. I have recently begun doing a few other projects. The Cricut makes creating easy!

Instructions: I created this Fall / Thanksgiving banner by using Cricut Craft Room and the Elegant Edges cartridge using the "book" feature and "swirl1" on page 25. I then stretched the design to make it longer and was able to get a decent shadow for it by making another layer just a little bigger all of the way around. I used Elegant Edges for the scalloped ovals, to which I added letters that were cut using the Storybook cartridge, and embossed using my Cuttlebug.

There is a fall tree between the words, which was cut using the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge. I also cut pumpkins from Create-A-Critter to embellish the portion of the banner with the tree. Next, I added some flowers from my stash to embellish some of the letters and punched butterflies. Last but not least, I cut one of the awesome rolled flowers from the Flower Shoppe cartridge to add to the banner.

Cartridges Used: Create-A-Critter, Storybook, Stretch your Imagination, Elegant Edges, Flower Shoppe

MESSAGE BOARD HIGHLIGHTS

This week's highlighted threads are:

• Gift Album for New Baby
• Fall Thank You Note
• Etched Glass Hurricane Lamps
• Scarecrow Side Step Card
• Autumn Wishes

CARTRIDGE EXPLORATION

Crafting with one arm has been more of a challenge than I thought, but I did finish my sister’s wood project, which she has now and is very pleased with. Now to move onto more holiday crafts and get Christmas presents started. This week I was able to explore Fancy Frames and the Art Philosophy exclusive from Close to My Heart. These are both adorable cartridges and you can do so much with them.

“Fancy Frames” is a cartridge full of frames in a variety of shapes. This cartridge is part of the Cricut projects Collection and you can cut 20 different styles of frames. You can also cut two different stands to hold the frames as well as cut six picture frame mats that can be cut thick or thin in a rectangle, oval, or round shape. At first I wasn’t sure why you would cut these mats, but as I continue cutting out the frames I realized these could be cut to fit any of the frame designs that come with this cartridge. I also realized that the mats themselves can also be layered on top of each other. Here is a fen cut way to display those fun holiday photos without the expense, all you need is cardstock and this cartridge—so easy. It seems everywhere I look banners are so popular and as I was playing with this cartridge I thought the frames would make a great banner background, see photo. I followed the pattern in the handbook for a key, but kept the inner frame part. I needed this so I would have something to glue my letters too. I taped it to the background, which is practical but not very creative. I think my project turned out really cute. The letters came from the “Art Philosophy” cartridge; I think I will also add some fall leaves for that extra special touch.

The other cartridge I explored this week was “Art Philosophy”; this cartridge is only sold by Close to My Heart. The artwork for this cartridge is very simple and that’s why I like it. This is a full cartridge and the six creative features included are Layer, Decorative Layer, Tag, Card, Font, and Font Layer. Some examples of the art included are flower, sun, diamond, banner, star, butterfly, home, leaves, rectangle, triangle, bird, tree, oval, key, square, cupcake, and heart. Let me point out that you can also cut eight different boxes and two envelopes; these can be found under the “Font Layer” feature, top row buttons on the keypad. Included with these features are ten borders that will be perfect for cards or scrapbook pages. Another exciting project using this cartridge is the six different rosettes that can be found on the “Font” feature, bottom last three buttons. To cut all six rosettes make sure to use the shift key with the same buttons, see photos. A few tips in creating the rosettes: always start in the middle, and if you have a quilling tool use this to roll the flower around its self. The picture on the left is with the flower rolled tight then glued to the base. The center picture is where the flower is rolled tight then let loose before gluing. The picture on the right is where I started rolling the flower in the center, and you can see this didn’t work as well. As I was playing with this cartridge, I thought, It’s about time to start making Christmas tags. You can easily cut cards or tags, make banners and cut shapes for Mother’s day, Easter, summer, fall, Christmas, the Fourth of July, Valentine’s Day, and Birthdays. There are so many projects you can do with this cartridge it is amazing. I can’t wait to make some time so I can start making my Christmas tags.

Well that wraps up this exploration. Check back next week as I continue playing with new Cricut cartridges. Happy Crafting!!

- 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

“Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.”
- Edward Sandford Martin