A BEAUTIFUL SPRING DAY - ONE WAY OR THE OTHER

This writer recently enjoyed a weekend stroll along the riverside greenbelt. Sunbeams danced along the water and birds sang happy tunes. Spring had arrived in this part of the map and everything that moved or breathed was drawn outdoors to celebrate the beautiful vernal day. Little ducklings and goslings were quite adorable as they paddled behind their mothers through placid currents and waddled along the sunny banks. The whole of nature seemed at peace on that perfect day.

Actually, this very sweet recollection is almost too good to be true because it is NOT true. IT SNOWED -- a whole lot! That's right - white stuff, wind, and cold slush everywhere! Placid ? not so. Ducks froze their cute little curly tail feathers off and the only two legged creatures to venture out on purpose where bundled up with coats, boots, and umbrellas. April showers I could understand but April snow blizzards -- no, no, no!

It was pointless, however, to be upset over matters out of my control. So I retreated indoors to be a part of an environment I could enjoy. A scrapping layout of my own warm, sunny beaches with a Cricut-like, springy version of what the weather should have been like. Cricut flowers blossomed everywhere and yes even birds sang...that was really me whistling, but I'll give myself points for imagination and creativity. You could say I enjoyed my own beautiful day in a Cricut kind of way.

This week, be sure to read Crafty Kimber's cartridge exploration of the Robotz and Printing Press cartridges. You'll also enjoy practical advice on getting the most desirable cuts out of frosting sheets and glean savvy wisdom in "Help from the Experts". As always, I wish you well in your crafting adventures.

Happy Crafting!

**Header project made using the George and Basic Shapes, Walk in My Garden, and Doodletype cartridges.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

FEATURED PROJECTS

MESSAGE BOARD HIGHLIGHTS

This week's highlighted threads are:

• Adding Dimension
• Mother's Day Card
• Birthday LO using mother's day cart
• Mother's Day Mini Album
• mother's day layout using Nursery Rhymes and Picturesque
• WIMG Mother's Day

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

Name: Glorajean
About: I have a wonderful husband and two beautiful daughters. I love to scrapbook, make cards and paper craft. My Cricut and Gypsy make all of these things easier. I love them!

Glorajean's Project: Baseball Mitt Shape Card

YOUR NOTABLE TIP

Guidelines for cutting frosting sheets!

Getting the right amount of shortening, proper cutting speed, and pressure is very important for frosting sheets.


- Always start with a clean, dry mat.
- Apply a generous coat of shortening using a pastry brush. If shortening is white, you have too much.
- Only take one sheet out at a time. Reseal the bag to keep the other sheets fresh. Remove from backer paper. Ensure that the frosting sheet you're working with is still flexible and pliable. If it's dry or frozen it will just crumble.
- Apply shortening to the back of the frosting sheet using a pastry brush.
- Apply the greased frosting sheet to the greased Cricut Cake mat. Smooth out all air bubbles (use the smoother in the Cricut Cake Tool Kit). You will be able to see air bubbles and areas without shortening more easily with frosting sheets since they are somewhat transparent. The frosting sheet will appear wet and you may be able to see the brush strokes where shortening has been applied. Lift the frosting sheet and apply shortening to any areas you may have missed, if necessary. Make sure to smooth down and get out all the air bubbles.
- Using the directional arrows on the machine, move the cutting blade about =BD" from the top and side edge.
- Start cutting using medium speed and pressure. You may need to adjust the pressure. Use just enough pressure to cut through the frosting sheet but not into the mat. For best results cut images 3" or larger. More intricate images may cut better at larger sizes.
- To prevent drying, store cut shapes in a sealed bag until ready to use.

CARTRIDGE EXPLORATION

I think I have gone into my craft room more this week than I have in months, and I know that it's because I organized it. I can sit in my craft room and stare at all the lovely papers and craft supplies. Such a beautiful sight--hehe. I have ordered a Cricut Cake machine and I am waiting for my order to show up. Now, do I want to keep it in my kitchen or store it in my craft room? I can't wait to play with this machine and experience what it's all about. This week I finally got to explore the Robotz cartridge, which I have been dying to try out.

The Robotz cartridge has an adorable selection of robots to choose from. My favorite are the dog robots. Why? Because I have two dogs of my own! As usual, I flipped through the new handbook to check out the creative features and all the images. The features are: Layer 1, Layer2/Shadow, Retro Botz, Window, Font, and Font Shadow. I was slightly confused between the regular Robotz and the Retro Botz and decided to look on line for some tips from all you Cricut fans. I love the community message board and go there for ideas all the time. There I found a post from craftsbygloria where she cut out the same Robotz twice using the two different features (for more info click here). I love all the different kinds of robots that are included on this cartridge, plus you get numbers and the alphabet. The window feature can be used in conjunction with the robots (see pic). This cartridge is perfect for boy scrapbook pages, parties, cards, presentations, or spending some quality time with the kids. Your sons will love gluing the pieces together of their favorite robot. Since there is a lot of gluing I would try the Retro Botz with the kids first before you try the regular robots. This cartridge also comes with some 3D robots. TheScrapoholic from the message board has created a Robotz tutorial for putting the 3D cutouts together--click here to see the post and download the tutorial. Thank you TheScrapoholic for putting this tutorial together!

Printing Press is now on the retired list. If you don't have this cartridge yet, you might want to pick it up soon before your chance is gone. This is a great font cartridge and has five different font styles. The creative features are: Character, Tall, Clip, Framed, Character Shadow, and Tall Shadow. The Clip feature is one of my favorite features and I used it a lot for titles in my scrapbook pages when it first came out. I also like the Character letters because they are perfect for presentation posters and bulletin boards. This cartridge comes with some phrases: "Limited Edition", "Top Secret", and "Original". The solid circles and squares are perfect for journal tags or to use as labels under your photos. I love the box-like look of each letter, they are perfect for titles (see pic) on any scrapbook page.

Check back next week as I explore another new Cricut cartridge. Happy creative crafting, see you next week!

Crafty Kimber

HELP FROM THE EXPERTS

Here are the top question in Customer Support this week.

From Becky:

Q. I can't seem to submit projects for the Chirp! What should I do?

A. This has been fixed. The link to Create and Win is now working, if you have a project you would like to submit to the Project Corner and Spotlight Winner. We will need: a short bio about you and a picture of you, a description of your project and what cartridges you used, and a picture or two of your project. If you have any trouble, contact Customer Service and we will assist you.


Have a great week!

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

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Don't knock the weather: nine-tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation if it didn't change once in a while."
~ Kin Hubbard