Create Your Heart Out

Thanks to all of you who entered my contest this month. The constest is now closed. The winners will be posted tomorrow.

Also, don’t forget to check out the Pink Journey giveaway, which starts tomorrow as well.

If you can think it… you can Cri-cut!

For Septembers contest, I am giving away a Pink Journey cartridge, in honor of Scrap Pink on September 26. I’m also going to be giving away a prize everyday from September 1 thru September 25.

In honor of Breast Cancer awareness, I’m making a bunch of mini card kits. They’re pink and will have ribbons and bows and they’re the perfect way to honor the women you know who have fought with this disease. I’m giving away one of these card kits to a lucky reader each day for 25 days. There will be a new kit every six days for a total of four different kits, and each kit will have 3 mini cards along with a box to keep them in.

There are two ways to enter:

• Every day at 9am I will publish a post for the daily Card Kit Giveaway. All you need to do is leave a comment on the post and you are entered to win that day’s kit. One person who commented will be chosen randomly every day to receive a kit, and be entered in the contest to win the Pink Journey Cartridge.
• In the daily post there will be a link to my eBay page. Randomly throughout the day I will list 5 more kits for $1 each, including shipping. Purchase a kit and you will are entered. If you don’t see one right away, keep checking back, as there will be 5 listings throughout the day.

Here’s the contest rules:

• The list of the 6 winners will be posted in the following day’s Card Kit Giveaway post.
• You can enter the contest once a day every day, but only one entry per day. So if you purchase a kit on eBay and you win one, you will receive both kits, but you will only be entered into the drawing once for that day.
• Because the card kits are a deal at $1, and I want everyone to have a fair chance, you may only purchase one per day. You can purchase one each day if you’d like.
• The winners of all contests will be notified by email, so regardless of which entry method you choose, you’ll need to have your email registered here at the site to enter. We want to be able to notify everyone that they’ve won.
• On September 26, I will do a random drawing (remember, 6 entries per day for 25 days=only 150 entrants. Not bad odds.) and the winner will receive the Pink Journey cartridge.

Look for the first post on Sept 1.

Good Luck everyone and remember, if you can think it… you can Cri-cut!

Time for another free file! This one is another cute card design I did using my George cart.

Think your Cricut is only good for cutting? Think again.

You can draw with your Cricut as well. There are some conventional ways such as Cricut color inks. The Cricut color inks are great, but they are essentially markers. What if you want a thinner line? There holders you can get to attach to your machine and switch out the pens and these are great, but if you don’t want to go to the trouble of finding or making one, there are also Quickutz Silhouette Pens. They are made for the Silhouette which is similar to your Cricut, but these pens actually fit in your Cricut machine, and they are pretty inexpensive and easy to use. Both the Cricut color inks and the Quickutz pens come in several different colors and you use them with your cartridges just as though you were cutting. As you can see in the above photo, I took my Quickuts apart to see if you can just refill it with a regular pen of that size. Although I have not yet tried it, I think it might work and I’ll keep you posted when I do.

UPDATE: I went to Staples and bought some gel pens. I took them apart and cut the ink part to fit the Quickutz and it worked beautifully! No more pen holders for me!

The images on the top were done with the Cricut colored inks, the bottom done with the Quickutz pens.

If you can think it… you can Cri-cut!

If you saw the ad from AC Moore saying they have the new Cricut cartridges for a great price, but don’t have an AC Moore near you, have I got a deal for you.

CreativeXpress.com has the new carts for the same price, plus free shipping. They also have some other carts at great prices too, so before you head out on a road trip you might want to check here first. You might find something you have to have that you didn’t even know you need!

If you can think it… you can Cri-cut!

If you haven’t entered my contest this month, you have missed out! You don’t have to miss out again!

Login to see what you’ve missed out on, and to enter if you haven’t already!


If you can think it… you can Cri-cut!

Do you buy lots of pop dots in order to give your cards and projects a 3D effect? I used to as well, but when I realized the cost of them, I figured out how to make my own. All you need is your Xyron, and some fun foam. Watch the video for step by step instructions!

If you can think it… you can Cri-cut!

Want to paint your Cricut but don’t know what color you’d like?

Afraid that the neon green you’d choose might not look as good when it’s done as it does in your head?

Have no fear, just check out my handy guide which shows you a few options.

Special thanks to Cricut.com mb user Faithfule for use of her photos for this project.

Good luck and remember, If you can think it… you can Cricut!

I had the pleasure of teaching a class in Warren, Ohio last week, and we had so much fun!

We started with a Cricut Basics but then moved on to a class designed around the Wild Card cart.

The girls all got a kit with the pieces to make three cards that I created using the cartridge. We had so much fun assembling each one.

All in all, it was a fun day with a group of great ladies I hope to see again!

So Provo Craft made the images from the new Pink Journey and Gypsy carts available on Design Studio. While the Pink Journey cart is available with the new Pink Cricut at Michael’s, the Gypsy carts won’t be available until the
Gypsy is released. I have some screen shots of some of the new images from these carts. More to come, but check these out now!

First up the Pink Journey:

Gypsy Font:

And finally Gypsy Wanderings:

These are only some of the 700 images per cart available. I will post more as I look at them myself, so keep checking back!

If you can think it… you can Cri-cut!

I get asked a lot about the difference between the ATG Gun and the Glue Glider Pro. Although I own and use both, I understand that not everyone is as product crazy as I am and will only be able to choose one.

I’ve rated both the ATG and the Glue Glider  in each of the following categories: Cost, Ease of Use, Portability and Quality.

• We’ll start with Cost:

ATG:

The upfront cost of an ATG is going to set you back about $40-60 depending on where you find it. The  refills are  going to run about $10-12 or less depending on which model gun you have. This is for 36 yards of adhesive.

Glue Glider Pro:

The glue glider is significantly less upfront as you can find them for less than $20. The refills however can cost almost the same price, but are in lengths of 65 ft, which is roughly 20 yards as opposed to 36 for the ATG.

Overall, while the ATG cost more upfront, your ongoing costs are less, therefore if you continue using this product, you will spend less in the long run.

• Next up, Ease of Use:

ATG:

The ATG is clunky and heavy, and when your first start using it, takes some time to get use to. Once you get past the learning curve, you’ll probably find no problems with it, however for really small projects it can be a little more difficult, but not impossible.

Glue Glider Pro:

Smaller and lighter, it definitely makes gluing small intricate details a snap, but to do larger projects, it can be a pain.

The Glue Glider Pro is the winner here, but not by much. If you do mostly small detailed projects, the Glue Glider Pro is probably your best choice here.

• Portability:

ATG:

Because of it’s size and weight this is definitely not what you would choose if you are going to take your gun to a lot of crops. Unless there were no other options, or you have lots of extra room in your bag, portability is not it’s best feature, although it is not out of the question to take it with you.  

Glue Glider Pro:

Portability is one of it’s selling points. You can tuck the small gun in your craft bag with all your other stuff and you won’t even know it’s there. Just don’t forget to pack it, or you might not know until you get to your destination that you don’t have it.

If you’re a scrapper on the go, you can’t go wrong with the Glue Glider Pro.

• And finally, Quality:

ATG:

Although the ATG is heavy and can be bulky, to me that is a sign of a well made product, that doesn’t feel like it will break if you drop it.  As far as the adhesive itself, because the ATG was designed for framing, the glue is the best there is, hands down.  You’ll find it will stand the test of time, your projects won’t come apart and the pieces won’t roll up. You’re paying the large chunk upfront for the quality.  

Glue Glider Pro:

Although it’s lightweight, it does feel as though it’s made well and will hold up for the long haul,  and the the adhesive does a decent job.

• Final Result:

The ATG, while bigger and bulkier than the Glue Glider Pro, seems to be a better product for everyday use. If you could only choose one (and what fun is that really?) I would go with the ATG, UNLESS you are using it solely on small projects or traveling excessively.  If you have the money to spend upfront,  the refills are less expensive and you don’t have to change them as often, so you’ll spend less in the long run, and you’ll also probably have a product that will last longer too, bringing your long term cost down even more.  This is one of those times where you get what you pay for. Although the weight and size of the ATG is a little hard to get used, especially if  you’ve used a smaller gun first, you just need to get past the learning curve.  Most paper crafters I know say after that initial break in, the ATG is their number one choice for adhesive.

Hope this helps, and remember, If you can think it… you can Cri-cut!

I recently joined a Paper Doll Swap. What is this you ask?

It’s a fun way to get ideas, create new projects and meet new people.

For this swap, the subject was Paper Dolls of the World. Everyone was assigned a country, and had to make paper dolls of that particular nationality using their Paper Dolls cartridge. I got Mexico.

Each person designs and makes enough paper dolls to give each other person involved a set. They are then mailed to the host of the swap by the due date set by the host. After she receives all of the dolls, she then mails out large set containing one of each of the sets of dolls sent in by each participant. The end result is you get a variety of designs and projects for your one.

The deadline for this swap was August 30. I finished mine and have sent them already. Now I’m just waiting excitedly for my package of Paper Dolls of the World. I’ll post more when the swap is finished, but since mine were done, I just couldn’t wait to share with you.

Keep an eye out for Part 2 of this series where I’ll show you all the other dolls from the other countries.

If you can think it… you can Cri-cut!

If you remember my post about Paper Bouquet: Using Paper Punches to Create Beautiful Flowers, you’ll remember that I designed a 3D azalea. This time, I did a dogwood. While I do like using the various punches, sometimes it’s easier not to.

To download the file, you’ll need to register and login.

If you can think it… you can Cri-cut!

For those who are new to scrapping and especially Cricut, I want to let you know about my favorite kind of cardstock. There are lots to choose from and one of the questions I get asked over and over is “What’s the best?” as well as “Why do you choose this brand?” Well I can tell you that I’ve used a lot of different brands, but consistently I choose
Bazzill cardstock. It’s a little bit pricier than most, but this is one of those cases where you get what you pay for. It’s high quality, and the colors are great. If you’re using it in your Cricut,  I would recommend the Smoothies or Orange Peel textures.

Another question I get asked pretty regularly is about the Disney colors. Since I have made lots of the Disney characters, I have compiled a list of the colors that I refer to so I know which colors to use to get the true look of all the different characters. Today I will share with you.

If you haven’t used Bazzill cardstock, give it a try, you won’t be disappointed. If you want to make the Disney characters, but don’t want to fuss with finding the true colors, bookmark this page Read the rest of this entry »

For my Cricut Club in September, I have decided to use the Stand and Salute cartridge and do an Exloding Box.

What’s an exploding box you ask?

It’s a 3-D photo frame. You can decorate it anyway you want, I chose a red, white and blue patriotic theme.

I’ll be doing several classes in September. Check the events page for more details.

For this project you’ll need:

• Xyron adhesive
• Bonefolder, Score-pal, or Scor it
• 2 way zig glue
• Tape runner

If you can think it… you can Cri-cut!!