THE TERRIFIC TRIO

No need to be bummed thinking the holidays are over. The holidays of 2010 are just around the corner and Cricut can be your crafty companion for every one of them! Cricut has released three new Seasonal Cartridges! These limited editions of Cricut Seasonal Cartridges would be a wonderful addition to your library of Cricut cartridges and are sure to please! Curious? Simply click on the name of any one of the terrific trio for more details! You'll be able to view more information about Love Struck, Easter, and Mother's Day at our nifty "Cricut Cartridge in a Minute Series" of introductory videos. What are you waiting for? Start clicking!

Love Struck Seasonal Cartridge is filled with twenty-seven Valentine's Day themed images. Ranging from hearts to kisses to words, this cartridge also includes cuts for four 3D objects (envelope, heart, mailbox, and box). Click here to view this addition of "Cartridge in a Minute".

Easter Seasonal Cartridge is filled with twenty-nine Easter themed images. Ranging from a crucifix to eggs to lambs, this cartridge also includes three 3D objects (basket, cupcake holder, and box) that are great for almost any Easter project. Click here to view this addition of "Cartridge in a Minute".

Mother's Day Seasonal Cartridge is filled with thirty Mother's Day themed images. Ranging from flowers to flourishes to borders, this cartridge also includes cuts to create a Mother's Day banner. Click here to view this addition of "Cartridge in a Minute".

ANNOUNCEMENTS

FEATURED PROJECTS

MESSAGE BOARD HIGHLIGHTS

This week's highlighted threads are:

• Cutest Lil Crab Layout
• Shadow Box using Pagoda
• Baby Genius
• Tutu cute!
• Mothers Day 2003
• Hello Kitty Valentine

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

Name: Dawn Wilkinson
About: I am not working right now and I have a lot of time to create. I live with my husband Larry and our beloved dog Katie.

Dawn's Project: Birdhouse Wall Clock

YOUR NOTABLE TIP

Today's tip comes from message board member KreativeKrafter. Thanks for the clever tip!

"Someone may have suggested this already, but here goes. Keep your Cricut mats when they are not sticky enough to use them with the machine. They make great work surface craft mats. If you put the sticky side down, it helps to keep the mat from moving and the back side is great for protecting your work surface. Easy to clean off the stray ink marks and tape residues."

CARTRIDGE EXPLORATION

I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday! My sister was determined to get some scrapbooking done on Christmas day; she even went as far as getting everything set up the day before so she would be ready to go. Once the kids had opened presents, they played with their new toys and my sister was able to get caught up a little on her scrapbooking. I thought this was a great idea so I am sharing it with all you guys so you can make plans for next year.

This week I'm exploring Paisley. Some of the images include: dragonfly, ladybug, snail, giraffe, bumble bee (all these images would be perfect for a baby's room, cut out of vinyl), a frog (this would be perfect for a Valentine's Day card), an owl (so cute for a "thinking of you" card), and Russian stackable dolls. Paisley's creative features are: Layer 1, Layer 2, Button, Card/Tab, Word/Word Blackout, and Shadow/Word Shadow.

Glancing through the cricut.com message board I see there are some questions about the Card/Tab feature. CherylBecker1 used this feature with great success (see picture or click here). It looks sleek, and will make cards really fast by cutting the outline of your chosen image. For instance, one of the little girl outfits has a card that is a big round flower; you could place a picture of your kids on the inside of the card so that when you close the top you will see the photo through the flower-shaped cut-out.

The other cartridge I explored is Sweet Treats. This cartridge has all sorts of food items that you can use for your scrapbook pages, journal tags, or a card/party invitation. Creative features include: Layers, Shadow/Blackout, Tags, Cards, Cupcake Holders, and Party Favors. Every time I play with this cartridge, I wish I had kids. It's just not the same to make party favors for a dog party. I love that you can now make your own cup cake holders using whatever paper or cardstock you wish, then use the same paper for a cute card and a party favor. Some of this cartridge's images are: cup cakes, layered cake and presents (perfect for a birthday or wedding), flowers (ideal for a tea party or Mother's Day social), and fireworks (just what you need for 4th of July, or New Year's photos). Phrases include: "happy birthday", "that takes the cake", "hip hip hooray", "make a wish", etc. and there is a range of numbers zero to nine.

Most of the creative features are self-explanatory, but I love that a Tag feature was included in this cartridge. You can use these for presents, journal tags, bookmarks, or accents behind photos on your scrapbook page. You could even make a chore chart with these tags! Here is a project that I loved from the message board: thescrapmaster created a really cute favor (see picture above or click here).

Don't forget to upload your projects on to the message board so everyone else can enjoy your wonderful creativity. See you next week!

Crafty Kimber

HELP FROM THE EXPERTS

Hi everyone,

It's AdminBecky. Myself and the other Customer Support Floor Supervisors will be helping with the Chirp by answering 2-3 of your most pressing questions per week. Shh...about this as I haven't told the others yet.

As we help the Customer Support Reps we are asked all kinds of questions. So in hopes of helping others that may have a similiar questions:

Q. I have some of the newer cartridges, and I use the Cricut DesignStudio. I have updated my firmware and the new cartridges do not show up on DesignStudio. What am I doing wrong?

A. To get your newest cartridges to show up you will need to do the new update. This will give you the latest version of the DesignStudio software. First I need you to uninstall your current DesignStudio program from your computer, you can go through control panel or wherever to do an uninstall. This is so you can start fresh and nothing will mess with the new program. Once that is uninstalled, then I want you to go to your start menu and go to Documents or My Documents depending on your OS. Find the "Cricut" Folder. If there aren't any projects delete the whole folder. If there are, then I want you to copy and paste them to a temporary folder that you name Projects or something along those lines. Do not put "Cricut" in the name. Then you can delete the folder. After that, download the latest program here. You will need to create an account on the website if you haven't already (they are free). Next click on the first "Download" button and install the program.

Q. Can Cricut DesignStudio work without cartridges?

A. The CDS package does state that the cartridges are required. The Jukebox is not required, but it is nice if you frequently use many cartridges at one given time. On the CDS software packaging along the bottom in lavender the box states:

"Software: The Microsoft.NET Framework 2.0 is required to run Cricut DesignStudio. If the .NET Framework is not already installed. Cricut DesignStudio initiates a prompt to install if for you.

Cricut: Works with all Cricut and Cricut Expression machines.

Cricut Cartridges: Works with all Cricut cartridges.

***Applicable Cricut cartridges are required to be inserted into the Cricut machine to cut content that has been selected from within Cricut DesignStudio"

Watch for Question and Answer from the Sweeps:
Mark, Brightly, Michelle, and Becky, "The Floor Sweeps"

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present."
~ Albert Camus