Christmas Cheer
Every week I have something to be thrilled about. This is one of the reasons why I'm grinning today. Remember that little USB port on the back of your Cricut? Remember how we kept telling you there were plans to make the Cricut machine compatible with a computer and take advantage of its strengths. Remember, how we informed you, the details of how, when, and what this would be weren't known quite yet but we would inform you when that time comes. You waited patiently for further information…well patients has a reward! The time has come! The Cricut Design Studio is here!
"Cricut DesignStudio software, is an exciting new way to connect your original Cricut or Cricut Expression machine to your computer! Using an on-screen cutting mat, this program allows you to explore, design, and cut the complete Cricut Cartridge Library. What You See Is What You Cut! With a user-friendly interface and the ability to save your innovative creations, you'll discover that the Cricut DesignStudio is a must-have addition to your Cricut cutting system!"
Check out the links to our new releases in the announcements below. You'll be grinning too.
Happy Cricuting,
Lonna Joy Smoot- Editor, Cricut CHIRP!
PROJECT CORNER AND SPOTLIGHT
More Winners |
Name: |
| Tracy MacIntosh |
| About: |
| I've been doing handcrafts for as long as anyone in my family can remember. Currently, I'm "temporarily" retired so there's plenty of time to use my Expression and get caught up on those scrapbook pages. My family has gotten used to a Cricut sitting on the kitchen counter. In fact, it's usually cutting while I've got dinner cooking! |
Tracy's Project: Twelve Days of Christmas |
| Pictures: |
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Cartridges Used: |
Tags, Bags, Boxes and More |
| Instructions: |
| These boxes are for my son's Secret Scholar present exchange at his high school. The National Honor Society members secretly trade gifts with a faculty member throughout the school year. The secret scholars are revealed at the end of the school year, just prior to graduation. I used Tags, Bags, Boxes and More for the gift boxes and Joys of the Season for the Twelve Days of Christmas motifs. Using the Expression set in "Portrait" and "Fit to Page" modes cut the Square Box. The box will cut out at 8 3/4" resulting in a finished size of about 2 7/8". I used a fairly heavy cardstock and highlighted the box edges with coordinating chalk ink before assembling. The rest of the project was cut using JOTS as follows: Cut the numbers and shadows at 3/4". Cut the partridge, French hens, goose, lady, lord and milk maid at 2 1/4". Cut the drum and calling birds at 1 1/2". Cut the golden rings at 1 1/4". Cut the flute at 3/4". Cut the turtledoves at 1 3/4". Finally, cut the swan at 2" and trim off the water. Cut the water using the "layers" feature at 1 1/2". Cutting the swan at 1 1/2" results in the swan being too small and getting lost on the box top. Mixing the two sizes is a good compromise! Chalk the edges of the pieces before assembling them and add small dots to the figures that have eyes, such as the turtledoves. This is a small touch but really adds a lot to the finished project. Assemble the individual elements using a fine tip glue pen (you will have some very small pieces so tweezers might come in handy!) before gluing them to the box lids. I found that using an old Cricut cutting mat made a great work surface for this project. It had enough "stick" to hold all the small pieces and keep them from getting lost. As I cut I organized the pieces on the mat, chalked them, glued them together and then glued to the boxes. After each step I returned the pieces to the mat so I always knew where they were. We will then fill these with small gifts, such as candy, ornaments, etc. ? one gift for each of the Twelve Days! |
CRICUT BOARD
This week's highlighted threads are:
TIPS TREASURE CHEST - Revolutionary New Release!
Cricut Design Studio
What you See Is What You Cut!
Cricut DesignStudio puts you in control! Explore the content of the Cricut cartridges, searching by keyword and previewing new cartridges. Then using an on-screen cutting mat, determine each character’s size, style, and placement. Combine cuts from different cartridges and quickly weld, shear, flip, kern, and duplicate characters. Save your designs to use later or to share with a friend!
Once you have finished and saved your exclusive designs, you can: Insert your Cricut cartridge(s) into your original Cricut or Cricut Expression machine when prompted Cut or Draw your design using your Cricut or Cricut Expression machine Enjoy and Share your delightfully unique creations!
TIPS TREASURE CHEST - Return the Blade to its Starting Position
If you ever have the need to return the blade to the page starting position and don't want to unload the mat, you can press the Load Paper button. This will return the blade housing to the upper left corner of the paper that is currently in the Cricut.
CARTRIDGE EXPLORATION -
This week has been a crazy week getting everything up for the Holidays. I got my tree up and decorated, plus I added some new lighted reindeer to my front yard. Everything looks so festive and pretty. I also
worked on my Christmas cards using the new "Joys of the Season", this is a really fun cartridge. I explored the snowflakes and used a cotton weave sticky paper for the layer that goes on top of the snowflake (see pic). I am so proud of my little Christmas card that I made some extras to use as thank you cards for people that have helped me out this past week. I love Christmas and everything that goes with this special holiday. The creative features that come with this cartridge are: Layers, Ornament, Tag, Card, Shadow, and Blackout. I played with the layers feature this week because I wanted to see what all the images looked like.
I took some extras cards that I had made during the summer and added some Ice skates to it to make it look festive. When I got done I was so glad that I didn't throw those extra cards out because they looked
so cute (see picture). I took this same idea and used the Santa's sled in place of the flower and it look so good I had to make a few more to give to my neighbors as their Christmas cards. This cartridge has four different types of snowflakes and they would look so cute hanging from a tree. I have decided that I want to cut some more to add to my tree; I think it will look really cute.
One of the exciting discoveries that I found on this cartridge under the layers features is with the "Home" image. When the Layers button is pressed the image you get is a forest of trees. This would look so cute on a card-center it in the card and add Happy Holidays at the bottom and your Christmas card is finished. These same trees would work with any other fall or winter pictures. The snow globe on that same page in the book comes with two layers under the "Layers feature". Cut the second layer out of vellum and add a child’s picture between the layers for a different way to frame one of your favorite photos. The sled would look great on a card and you can also use this as a journal spot to point out something interesting on your scrapbook page.
Another interesting idea with this cartridge is that you get all the images for the "12 Days of Christmas". I have so many memories of my youth in producing each of these 12 days of Christmas for a school teacher. This was something we did as a family and it was a lot of fun to drop off candy and cookies. One of my favorite days was the "7th" day; we use marshmallows for the swans and put them in hot chocolate so the marshmallows looked like "7 swans a-swimming". Some other ideas that you could use these fun images with are: The 2 turtle doves would look great on a Valentine’s Day or a wedding card. The French Hen images would make a really cute farm setting for a party or summer photos. The calling birds would look great on a wedding card and the geese a-laying would also look great around farm or fall pictures. The drum image and pipe image would work great on a music invite or announcement. The lady dancing is a little ballerina and most young girls are into some sort of dance. This image would look great on a scrapbook page next to any professional or (just playing around) dance photos.
Other images that come with this cartridge are stockings, a fire place, candle, holly, four different styles of reindeers, presents (which could be used as birthday presents as well), a bell, rocking horse, toy soldier, and a train. There are other images as well but this should be enough information for you to go to the website and check out the images. If you love Christmas, this cartridge is a must-have. I can't wait to finish playing with the other features and continue exploring this cartridge. Happy Holidays and good luck in your shopping as you get ready for Christmas.
Crafty Kimber
TECH SUPPORT NOOK -
Q: What if my Cricut is missing and/or didn't come with an item it was meant to come with?
A: Please call us Toll-free at 1-877-727-4288 Monday through Friday 7am to 6pm(MST).
QUOTE OF THE DAY
| "After twelve years of therapy my psychiatrist said something that brought tears to my eyes. He said, 'No hablo ingles.'" ~ Ronnie Shakes |