NOW THAT TAKES THE CAKE!

Some of my earliest memories of Valentine's Day are of the elementary school card and goodie exchanges. My sisters and I took great care to decorate our individual mailboxes as lovely as possible in an effort to win the class prize of "Best Valentine Mailbox". After the school day was over, we would count all of the Valentine cards and candy we had been given and wonder which classmate liked us the most.

Valentine greetings have been popular as far back as the Middle Ages. In fact, the oldest known Valentine card is on display at the British Museum. It is estimated that over one billion Valentine cards (commercial and handmade) are exchanged during this grand holiday of love.

Family, friends, classmates, and lovesick saps alike all participate in giving and receiving Valentine greetings. The 14th of February is just around the corner and I still have much more cookie baking and card making to tend to. Last week, Crafty Kimber's cartridge exploration featured the Sweethearts and Love Struck Seasonal cartridges. The wheels in my head began turning. This year I think I'll use the Sweethearts and Love Struck Seasonal cartridges to accomplish this task.

This week, be sure to read Crafty Kimber's cartridge exploration on Tie the Knot and Songbird. You'll also enjoy clever tips about using glitter in your projects and get some great seasonal crafting ideas from featured projects. All in all, you're bound to find something to enjoy in today's newsletter.

I wonder if one of my handmade Valentine cards will be on display in a museum centuries from now. Hmmm...makes you think doesn't it?

Enjoy your Valentine Day,

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Don't miss the opportunity to see the Cricut and new cartridges and consumables in action! Here are are the dates and locations for the next month:

Livonia, MI ~ 2/5-2/14
Springdale, OH ~ 2/5-2/14
Lacey, WA ~ 2/12-2/21
Salt Lake City, UT ~ 2/12-2/21
Overland Park, KS ~ 2/12-2/21
Shelby Township, MI ~ 2/19-2/28
Cincinnati, OH ~ 2/19-2/28
Tumwater, WA ~ 2/26-3/7
Murray, UT ~ 2/26-3/7
Lenexa, KS ~ 2/26-3/7
Kirkland, WA ~ 3/12-3/21
Sandy, UT ~ 3/12-3/21
Silverdale, WA ~ 3/26-4/4
Lehi, UT ~ 3/26-4/4

FEATURED PROJECTS

MESSAGE BOARD HIGHLIGHTS

This week's highlighted threads are:

• My paper flowers with Cricut
• My 1st post!!! cricut VDay shirts
• Valentine Ghirardelli boxes
• My version of the lollipop flower
• Be My Tweetheart...So excited about this card
• ~~ SWEET ~~

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

Name: Amy Morris
About: I've been married for five years and I'm a mom to two great boys. I love most crafts but absolutely adore scrapbooking and card making. I recently started teaching classes at my local scrapbooking store and have been having a lot of fun with it. It seems like I cannot get through a project without using my Cricut. It's the best!

Amy's Project: Valentine Box

YOUR NOTABLE TIP

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

In response to the query: "I'm new to all this crafting stuff and decided to try glitter on something last week. What an awful mess I got into! Is glitter always this messy? Any advice/help would be so appreciated! I've got glitter and glue and the glitter just didn't want to stick where it was supposed to!"

"I love glitter! It loves me too; follows me all over the house, sometimes it insists on going in the car wtih me, to friends houses, etc. We've a very close relationship.

My favorite glues for glitter are glue gel pens (like a gel pen but with glue in it--perfect for writing), and those 2 way glues. The key with those is to let it dry and get tacky (turn clear) before adding the glitter.

The keys are patience, no fans, use a tray or piece of paper underneath, and wait till your glittered item is dry before tapping off the glitter. Then you can funnel it back into your tube, jar, etc. Once it's dry, you can use a small makeup brush or soft paintbrush to brush away all the loose glitter on your project--again the key word is DRY, DRY, DRY!

If using the wetter, thicker glues try a sponge brush, apply a thin even coat and then an even coat of glitter.

I prefer fine glitters over coarse sugary glitter for cards and stuff, but for ornaments I like the sugary stuff.

Good luck, and happy sprinkling!"

CARTRIDGE EXPLORATION

Don't you hate it when you are in a crafting mood and you create all these great projects, then you look at the area where you have been working and it's a mess? Yes, I forgot to bring the trash can to my craft area and I made a mess. Thank goodness that the vacuum was close! I am sure none of you crafters ever make a mess when you are working on a project (wink). This week I am exploring the Tie the Knot and Songbird cartridges.

Songbird is a wonderful addition to the Font category. This cartridge comes with five different fonts; four of these have the letter in the middle of a shape. For example, the Bird feature has the letter placed in the shape of a bird. This is great for titles on scrapbook pages. The other creative features on this cartridge are: Birdhouse, Perch, Flower, Flowerpot, and Shadow. The Perch feature is a variety of images (see photo). As you can see in the picture, the accent image was added to the bridal shower announcement and the cup cake holder. This project was created by a friend of mine and I thought it was a great example of what this creative feature could be used for. There is selection of frames and phrases, for example: "early bird", "hen pecked", "lovebirds", "birdbrain", and "peep". This whole cartridge is focused towards birds and flowers; it will add a touch of spring to any project. For other project ideas, or to post your own creations, check out the message board forum dedicated to this cartridge.

Tie the Knot is a great cartridge focused towards wedding items. This is perfect because a good friend of mine is getting married and now I can keep up my creative image with a memorable card for her wedding gift. I love all the different swirls that are included on this cartridge; you have five different kinds of swirls, five different kinds of flowers, a couple of birds, a snail, a snowflake, wedding glasses, a ring, and a wedding bell. You have a handful of phrases: "RSVP", "I Do", "Just Married", and "Celebrate". The creative features that come with this cartridge are: Tag, Invitation, Card, Monogram, Monogram Shadow, and Blackout/Shadow. I really like how one image can be used as a tag, invitation, and card (see photo) which gives you a nice combination for a wedding, bridal shower, baby shower, or any fancy party. Some examples of 3-D images that come with this cartridge are: single cake box and favor boxes (heart, petal, bride, and groom). Looking for some hearts or images for Valentine's Day projects? This cartridge has some great heart images and other images that will be perfect to use for this special day. For more ideas, or to show off your projects upload them to the message board under the Tie the Knot forum.

Check out next week as I continue exploring and crafting with two of the Cricut cartridges from our huge Cricut list. Happy crafting!

Crafty Kimber

HELP FROM THE EXPERTS

Please welcome Brittany to the ranks of the Floor Sweeps! You may know her from Rebates, and as AdminBrittany on the message boards.

Here are the top question/answers in Customer Support this week.

From Brittany:

Q. When using the Cuttlebug Die Cuts with the Cuttlebug Machine, are marks going to be left on the plates?

A. Yes, there will be an imprint of the image on the plate that is next to the paper when you push it through. In order to cut the image out from the paper, there has to be enough pressure to go all the way through the paper. Thus there is usually enough pressure to also press the image into the plate. This does not affect the ability of the Cuttlebug machine. However here are a few tips that will help:

1. You don't want to cut out an image in the same spot every time.
2. After a few cuts you can flip the plate over and use the other side too.

From Becky:

Did you know that there is a message board forum for each Cricut cartridge? To find the message boards, click on the Community tab along the top.

Take some time to explore the message boards. It is amazing to see what is created! You will discover that many of your fellow crafters are more than willing to help with questions about your Cricut, information on the latest products, and often instructions are posted with the pictures. You might just make some new friends!

From Michelle:

Q. Does Home Decor qualify for the rewards program?

A. Home Decor does not qualify for the rewards program due to it previously being bundled with a machine. To see a list of which cartridges qualify, you can go to www.cricutrewards.com.

Have a great week!

From your Customer Support Sweeps:
Mark, Brightly, Michelle, Brittany, and Becky, "The Floor Sweeps"

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Oh, if it be to choose and call thee mine, love, thou art every day my Valentine!"
~ Thomas Hood