Tweens ‘n Teens

Let’s face it - the kids are growing up. True, these might be the days of drama, mood swings, acne, and braces, but they are also the days of developing one’s own sense of style and fashion. Our little chicks are growing into beautiful swans. Common interests, values, and family bonds are of utmost importance to us during those tween and teen years. We look for opportunities to spend time with them in an effort to create lasting, happy memories which all will enjoy reflecting upon in years to come.

Need some help? Cricut products are generation gap proof! Both of you will enjoy crafting together with Cricut regardless of whether you prefer to use the words “swell”, “jim dandy”, “groovy”, “totally cool man”, “awesome”, or “sweet”. You can always expect to end up with a great looking project! Whip up stylish and sleek projects for any occasion that are more meaningful and memorable because you made them together. Cricut is highly regarded in anyone’s book regardless of whether you call that book a smash, junk, or scrapbook. Having a Cricut pal in common can sure come in handy at any age!

Be sure to check out Crafty Kimber's excellent cartridge exploration of the Page Pals Cricut Craft Room Exclusive in today’s Chirp. You’ll also find quick tips for updating your Cricut Expression 2 machine 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!

TIPS TREASURE CHEST

Helpful Cricut Expression^® 2 Update Tips

Today’s tip comes from helpful message board bug guide, Narelle. Thanks for sharing the tip.

Q: So I tried updating my Cricut Expression 2 machine, and now none of my cartridges will work with it! An error sign pops up every time! Not only that, I am having issues using the Cricut Craft Room™ because every time I do a window pops up and says "CCRBridge Has Stopped Working" and shuts down. I've turned off ALL my firewalls and added the site to my computer?s list of accepted sites, yet I can never get it to work! Any suggestions?

A: Is your Cricut Expression 2 machine relatively new? If the serial number ends in 1000 then Provo Craft has released an update to fix a problem with those machines just recently, February 13. You should be able to update your machine using Cricut Craft Room.

If it doesn't have that serial number, the first thing I would do is do the update again. If that doesn't help then you can try resetting the machine:

1. Turn the Cricut Expression 2 machine off
2. Plug your Cricut Expression 2 machine into your computer
3. Open Cricut Sync and turn your Cricut Expression 2 machine on
4. If you're prompted to update select *Don't Update Now*
5. In Cricut Sync select Help, then select Troubleshooting
6. Answer the questions as follows:
   1. Yes
   2. No
   3. No
   4. No
   5. Yes
7. When prompted hold down the *Home* button, *Pause* button, and the *Power* button together. You should see a blue screen.
8. When the troubleshooting is complete disconnect the Cricut Expression 2 machine from your computer and see if the same problem exists.

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

Name: Hanna Grace

About Me: I am a stay at home wife that loves to create art to make our military housing feel like home.

Instructions: As I was wandering through a craft store for inspiration, I ran across these cute 5"x5" stretched canvas squares. I thought they would make some great wall art if grouped together. I wanted some dimension, so I bought the 3"x3" squares to glue on top.

I painted the larger squares a shade of sea foam green and the two smaller squares a metallic gold. I hot glued the two smaller squares to the larger and arranged them diagonal from each other.

I used my two favorite cartridges: Straight From the Nest and Give a Hoot.

Butterfly/Branch square: I cut the cherry branch at 4.5" and bent the branch to contour down the sides of the canvas square. I cut two sets of the flower layer and used some of them to paste to the bottom canvas. I also used some of the centers and glued them on the round "flower buds" to add a bit more color. The butterfly is 3" and pasted on the gold square.

Now my favorite, the all butterfly square! Here I cut 5 butterfly images out at 3", 2.5", 2", 1.25" and 1". I used my bone folder and bent them being careful not to fold them over all the way. I glued two on the gold square and three on the green.

Ok, on to the phrases... I cut the "Fly" shadow and phrase at 2.5". I like to use all my paper whenever possible, so here I actually cut out the flourishes from the larger butterfly scraps and glued them to the corners of the squares. I also cut around the smallest butterfly and pasted that to the other corner.

Now, I manually cut this out with scissors but I am sure you can use the Cricut Craft Room to cut around it using the solid image. "Butterfly Kisses" is one of my favorite phrases. It’s something my mother used with me and I hope to use with my children. The phrase and its shadow is cut at 2.5". I again used the flourishes from the butterflies, on the corners. I originally thought I would group these canvas pieces together, but looking at it now I think they could be really nice in a single row or even as separate little artworks. I only spent $10 on this project so it was well worth it!

Cartridges Used: Give a Hoot, Straight from the Nest

MESSAGE BOARD HIGHLIGHTS

This week’s highlighted threads are:

• High School Football
• With Love 12x12 Double Layout
• Sugar And Spice
• School Spirit Week
• Teenage Daughter Birthday Card
• Hamburger and Fries Birthday Card

CARTRIDGE EXPLORATION

This week I have been reminiscing about when I was a teenager and my favorite memory comes to mind of me reading tons of books. I guess you could say I was a regular bookworm. I would read history, fiction, fantasy, and mysteries. One of my favorite ways to relax when I am not playing with my Cricut is to curl up with a good book and a blanket on the couch. This week I decided to explore the Page Pals, one of the Cricut Craft Room Exclusives because it is perfect for the teenagers in your home who love to read or have to read their school books, lol.

This collection comes with nine different types of bookmarks. Now, thsese are not your typical bookmarks because they fit on the corner of the page, so no more folding down the corners if you are not done with the book. Most of the designs are animals, for example there is a cow, a worm, a frog, a bird, and an owl. The rest of these designs are a teacher, a monster, a book, and the word “read”. I fell in love with the cow and the worm, so I made a few of these to use as bookmarks.

One thing I want to point out when using Cricut Craft Room, make sure you get all the layers. Here is a simple formula (note you will press the same design button for each of these steps), first step is your base layer (no layer button is pushed or the shift button). The next step is to press the shift button, and the third step is to turn off the shift button and press the layer button. Fourth, press the shift button while the layer button is pressed. Glue all the layers together and you have your very own page pal. To help you get started I have a cut file for you with each of the layers set up so all you have to do is press cut. To open the cut file, just unzip the file after you download it and click the Import button, it's the button located to the left of the New button in Cricut Craft Room after you login, double click the unzipped file in the window that comes up and then double click on “page pals” in your project list to open the cut file.

If you are looking for a fun project to do as a family, create Page Pals together and let everyone pick out their own paper, cut the images together as a family and let each person glue their own project. Another idea would be to make them and give them away to your friends. Get creative and add extra embellishments or cut all the layers out and have each friend assemble their own project. Whatever the situation may be these Page Pals are easy and fun to create. Check back next week as I continue exploring cartridges from the Cricut collections. 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 Cricut 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

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.”
— Les Brown