Cricut and Tifie Making a Difference
'Tis the season for giving so I thought it would be proper to bring to your attention a wonderful bundle available to you right now at cricut.com. Provo Craft® and our friends at humanitarian organization, Teaching Individuals And Families Independence Through Enterprise (Tifie) have collaborated to bring you a wonderful opportunity to make your holiday season much brighter.
"In an on-going effort to support the vision of Tifie, Provo Craft is proud to offer a special bundle on Cricut.com available through December 31, 2009. All proceeds will be directly donated to support Tifie projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The
Provo Craft/Tifie Bundle includes: Cricut Expression® personal electronic cutter (an educational essential), Animal Kingdom Cartridge (create your own paper safari), Winter Woodland Cartridge (build a thriving village), YourStory Book Binder (publish your own books), and three album covers.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, education is often memorization and recitation. Most Congolese schools are crowded with 50 children per classroom and teachers have little access to simple teaching aids like paper, pencils, and books. Because importing books is costly, Tifie supports the development of teaching techniques that help children create their own books. The benefit is twofold. Children experience a more purposeful way of learning, beyond memorization, all the while creating more relevant learning materials to share in their classrooms. To learn more about Tifie's philanthropic efforts, please visit
www.tifie.org."
Cricut® and YourStory
TM Book Binder are absolutely fabulous Provo Craft products! Team these two together and discover what incredible creations await you!
Happy Crafting :-)
Lonna Joy Smoot
- Editor, Cricut CHIRP!
ANNOUNCEMENTS!
Grand Opening-Costco #625 Strongsville, OH
1st DAY the Costco opens is Wednesday, November 18th (We will be there 11/18-11/22)
We have now confirmed 4 additional Costco Road Shows this November & December. Can you also announce the following Road Shows and the fact that Provo Craft be offering incredible deals on the Cricut Expression, several Cricut accessories, and a variety of our newest cartridges this holiday season.
Costco Event Locations and Dates
- Road Show-Costco #784 Grand Rapids, MI 11/27-12/6
- Road Show-Costco #342 Naperville, IL 12/4-12/13
- Road Show-Costco #774 Lake In The Hills, IL 12/15-12/20
- Road Show-Costco #744 Wyoming, MI 12/15-12/20
PROJECT CORNER AND SPOTLIGHT
More Winners |
Name: |
| Sandy |
| About: |
Hi, I'm Sandy but you might know me as Sandry on the MB. I am a SAHM with 2 adorable girls (1 1/2 yrs and 7). I have been so happy with my Cricut. I have had it since its debut a few years ago. It has expanded my creativity and made crafting even more fun. I use the Cricut, and now the Expression and GypsyTM for all sorts of projects. I especially like to use it for my Brownie troop. I love the help and ideas the MB members provide. It's a great source of information. Keep up the great work!
I was recently able to upgrade to an Expression and get one donated to my daughter's school through the 4YourSchool program (Thanks Provo Craft!). I was holding a workshop for the teachers to introduce them to the Expression, so I decided to help out my daughter's teacher and have an example for the workshop using the same wall. By using this wall as an example, I was able to show a snapshot of what could be done with this great new creative tool. |
Sandy's Project: Fall into...wall |
| Picture: |
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Cartridges Used: |
Alphalicious, Don Juan, Doodlecharms, Doodletype, Gypsy Wanderings, ZooBalloo, Plantin Schoolbook, Sesame Street Font |
| Instructions: |
By using Cricut DesignStudio® I was able to make a tree that was over 5 ft tall and a bushel basket 2 feet wide and over 3 ft tall. I was able to maximize the size of my tree and basket by using the 24x12 mat and one of my favorite CDS features. I enlarged the shapes and let them "hang off" the mat as I copied/pasted them to multiple pages and manipulated them to cut in larger "sections" that I later pieced together (see photo of CDS screen shots). I use this feature on almost all of my projects. (I think this sold my Principal on buying DS for school).
Everything is laminated to allow them to be reused. I laminated the tree in its separate sections so it was easier to store. The words Writing, Math, and Reading are welded and laminated separate from the basket so they can be used for other projects in the classroom.
The apples have the kids names written on them but are not laminated. I have plans to fill the basket with pumpkins for Thanksgiving (or turkeys with something each of the kids are thankful for, the possibilities are endless). I think the basket can easily be reused for many themes by changing the shapes inside. I already have plans to change the tree to a pine tree just by adding a top layer and the same goes for spring.
The writing wall used leaves sized to fit letter size card stock using my Gypsy and were tucked behind the poems the kids wrote about fall. I tried my best with the photos but the hallway is narrow. I hope you can get the idea of what the wall looks like. I also had to avoid the fire extinguisher on the wall. Safety first! Thanks for looking! |
MESSAGE BOARD HIGHLIGHTS
This week's highlighted threads are:
CARTRIDGE EXPLORATION - Old West
(Click banner for project instructions!)
Get ready for an exciting time in the Old West! This rustic cartridge has two full fonts with shadows plus two additional fonts. With over fifty icons ranging from covered wagons to wild horses, you will have everything you need to cowboy up!
The cartridge includes: Flourish, Board, Rope, Icon, Shadow, and Flourish Shadow creative features.
TIPS TREASURE CHEST - Details about Updates
By now, you have heard the exciting news that the next release of the Cricut App, the Gypsy Sync Software, and Cricut DesignStudio are available now. Here are some details about the Cricut App updates. If you haven't registered Gypsy already you can get started now at
www.cricut.com/gypsy. Once you've registered you'll be able to get the latest Gypsy update! Cricut App:
Added Features
- You can now share files between Cricut DesignStudio and the Cricut App on your Gypsy.
- The Cricut App now supports multi-page design. You can now design new multi-page designs on your Gypsy.
- By holding down the Zoom button and selecting an image on the keypad, Gypsy will now display a full screen preview of the image so that you can see the details of the image without having to go to the mat screen.
- The name of the cartridge displayed on the keypad window now shows in non-bolded red text if you do not own the cartridge. If you own the cartridge it shows in bolded dark green.
- On the keypad screen, if you tap and hold an image in the image queue, the cartridge name to which that image belongs will be displayed. Clicking the cartridge name switches the keypad to that cartridge.
Enhancements
- Welding preview is now faster and shows a progress bar.
- Welding preview no longer has to be redrawn when you zoom in or out (you can now enter preview mode and zoom without having to wait each time you zoom).
- Dragging large groups on your mat is now faster.
- Load and Unload button on the cutting menu is now smart. If you have a mat loaded in the Cricut the Cricut App will only display the "Unload Mat" button. If you do not have a mat loaded it will only display the "Load Mat" button.
- Updated keyword database.
- Updated the warranty to expand the warranty coverage form 6 months to 12 months (please read the warranty for details).
- New firmware for the Cricut that enable some of the features above and improve the reliability of cutting.
Fixes
- All reported welding issues have been fixed.
- The selection boxes that appear around images and groups have been improved so that the show correctly even when they spill over the edge of the mat. The boxes display while they are being dragged. They do not show when at rest.
- The Cricut remembers if you are in mm or inches after you shutdown and then restart.
Stay tuned next week to learn more details about the Gypsy Sync Software and Cricut DesignStudio updates.
TECH SUPPORT NOOK - Q. What does Real Dial Size do?
A.By default, your Cricut will cut letters and shapes proportionate to each other. However, if you want to 'break' this proportion and get any letter to cut the literal dial size, use the Real Dial Size button. For instance, with a dial size of "2" selected, a lower case "a" will actually cut about approximately 1" to fit proportionately with any other cut letter. With Real Dial Size selected, that same "a" would cut at a full 2".
QUOTE OF THE DAY
| "I love scrapbooks. They are one of the finest ways of dejunking life and abode... A good scrapbook is interesting and inspiring even to the stranger... Well put together scrapbooks and photo albums have warmed more hearts than any bound book... Without a good scrapbook, much that's memorable in life is forgotten or damaged or lost...." ~ Don Aslett |