Everyone can create fun holiday memories of their own by taking the opportunity to attend or participate in the various church and community events of the season with friends and family. I had the opportunity to attend an adorable holiday music concert at a local elementary school with my family this week. The program was filled will familiar tunes and messages of the season. There is something about cheerful children singing yuletide songs that really gets the holiday spirit rolling. The audience was packed with parents, grandparents, friends and family who were all there to support their children and take a few billion pictures of their little performing elves. The scrap booking potential was enormous. Cricut products can help you create a plethora of wonderful inspired pages which you will be proud to display in your memory books. What are you waiting for? Let's get scrapping!

Seasons Greetings :-)

Todays's tip is from message board members MeFlick and Gemini_Heather

Q. I just discovered that the Cricut can do glass etching but I am not sure on how to do it. Can you do it with the original Cricut? What tools to you need? What is the technique? If someone could help me and give me a run-down on how it works...that would be great. I am thinking Christmas presents for everyone so any help would be appreciated.

A. As I understand it, you cut out your "stencil" with your cricut on vinyl (those clearanced wall pops for example) or some other "sticky" like contact paper. Clean your glass. Adhere the stencil to the glass, then apply "etching cream" (this can be found at most craft stores and Walmart) per directions on etching cream bottle.

Here is a link to another thread about glass etching that may help too.

I can't believe that Christmas is around the corner. All the sudden, I realized that I am so far behind in getting ready for Christmas. I still have to create something for my stocking stuffers--"oh, what to do, what to do!" I think I would like to create something using Cricut and candy, but my creative juices have come to a halt for the time being.

In this exploration I will finish wrapping up Hello Kitty Greetings cartridge. To recap the creative features for this cartridge are: White&Fur/Bow&Nose, Clothes/Clothes, Silhouette, Card, Shadow, and Blackout. For obvious reasons, two of the creative features are designed to help build the different images through layers. Each feature has an image that will help you cut out clothes or hair for each of the different images. One of the creative features that I love on this cartridge is the Card feature, because each of the different images can be cut out like a card. The "present" image would make a great tag for your Christmas gifts. The graduation image under the Card feature is the graduation hat for the card. My brother graduated from college this last week. This image would be great to tell him how proud of him I am--I will have to cut one of these out. There is an image with "Hello Kitty in a Car". When you use the Card feature, you get the shape of a car for your card. This would be great for a little boy's party invitation or may be an accessory for a travel scrapbook page. You could open the card and read tid-bits of the vacation inside the card, a hidden journal tag. This would look so cute! The Luggage card would be perfect for the child that is heading off to college. Pack the card with some money inside luggage to pull off a big surprise. This would also work great for a special trip to tell someone that you are thinking of them. Don't have time to make those special Christmas cards?--here is a cute, quick idea. Using the Card feature cut out the snowman card add the extra layers and Boom! You've a Christmas card. The "Cherry's" card would be perfect for summer picnic invitation. The cup cake would make a great birthday party invitation or even a hidden journal tag for scrapbooking that special event.

In this cartridge you have a "books and apple" image that would be perfect for a Teachers Appreciation Day. The Hello Kitty cheerleader would look great on an elementary cheerleading scrapbook page. The saying "School Spirit" could be used for elementary or middle school to help build morale or school spirit.
Some other cute ideas that you can use with this cartridge are:

- --iNilda-- created the cutest Christmas Elf bag. This would be great for a small gift. I love it!

- DeborahW created something similar as iNilda, but I thought it was so adorable.

- Papergirl1107 created the cutest card using this cartridge. You have to check out this link to see her creation.

There are so many options for you to use this cartridge, and now that DesignStudio is finally updated I can start creating layouts for you using this software. I am so excited that all the cartridges are finally on DesignStudio. If you have not updated your version please click on this link to update your software.

Happy Holidays and Happy Circuiting!

Crafty Kimber

The Cricut Create was released after the DesignStudio, so when you go to update the firmware, it will not list the Cricut Create as an option. DO NOT select the original Cricut (12x6) machine--it will make your machine freeze up. Instead, go to the website and download the newest update of DesignStudio. After you've downloaded the update, the Cricut Create will be an option. Just follow the instructions from there and everything should go smoothly. If you have selected the original machine by mistake, don't panic. Your machine will freeze up, but there is no permanent damage done. Just download the newest version, select the correct machine and update the firmware and everything should be normal. If you have any trouble or further questions give Cricut Support a call (1-877-727-4288) or send them an e-mail (support@cricut.com).