MEMORIES FROM THE TREETOPS (THE FAMILY TREE)

My family enjoys yodeling.  Now days we are closet yodelers, but as children, we yodeled from the tree tops...literally!  Our favorite yodeling tree was a tall old weeping white birch tree in our yard.  We memorized every branch and twig of the birch and were able to scale to the top as fast as a cat.  Incidentally, this same tree served as a favorite background for many family photos.  It also appears in many pictures of past birthdays, graduations, and other family events. 

While going through some old family pictures, I noticed just how much we used that “old yodeling tree.” You could say it was the “family tree”.  The great old tree has been gone for nearly a decade now, but thinking about it has inspired me and my Cricut pals to create some great layouts dedicated to fun memories of days gone by. 

This week, be sure to check out Crafty Kimber's exploration of the Cricut Expression® 2 and check out some fun tips from message board members.  As always, I wish you success in your crafting adventures.

*Header project made by Kimber Jepperson using the cartridges: Vintages Papers, George and Basic Shapes.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

MESSAGE BOARD HIGHLIGHTS

This week's highlighted threads are:

• Hap-Bee Birthday
• Best Time of Your Life
• Balloon Card
• True Cricut Cake
• Who Said Pie?
• My Spring Window
• Wedding Card

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

Name: Sandy Suarez
About: My name is Sandy and I have been married for 20 years. I am the mother of 4 boys and love anything that has to do with crafting...especially when I can use my Cricut.



Sandy's Project: Cricut Bug Birthday Candy Holder

Cartridges Used:
- Celebrations
- George and Basic Shapes
- Gypsy Font
- Happy Hauntings

Instructions: I made these for our last crop night. My scrapbooking friends just loved them, especially since we were celebrating a birthday.

1. Cut Candy box on Cricut Expression® (fit to page)
2. Gypsy Font shift: 3.0 inches for antennas on bug
3. Mouth: 1.70 inches
4. Eye's circles from George and Basic Shapes 1.24 inches green
5. 1.12 inches white
6. 1.0 inches white eyes
7. .35 inches circles green (2 of these)
8. Antenna balls circles from George and Basic Shapes: .48 inches green (2 of these)
9. Celebrations: party hat 2.25 inches
10. Party favor 2.25 inches

I cut off the stem on both sides of the candy holder. Layer as shown in picture, fill with candy and enjoy!

YOUR NOTABLE TIP—CRICUT CAKE^® AND COOKIE DOUGH

Q. I have a question about the foundation keys found on some cartridges and how to use them with creative keys. The manual describes it this way - creative key + foundation = creative key on foundation. I have tried to this and it does not come out as described in the manual.  I have watched the DVD and still don't understand.

A. Like Scrapalette said, the foundation keys work in conjunction with the Creative Feature keys. You have to use the right foundation key with the right Creative Feature key to get it to work. Here's an example using All Mixed Up.



Make sure Real Dial Size of turned OFF. Cut the square foundation shape out from one color of cardstock.
Without changing the size press the 2nd Creative Feature key (square), press the letter a from the DS keypad and cut it out using a different color of cardstock.

Remove both pieces from the mat and when you layer them you'll get this:





The last two examples above use the Shift version of the Foundation keys.

CARTRIDGE EXPLORATION

The highlight of my week is sitting down with my Cricut. I love exploring the new cartridges and working a new craft project at the same time. This week I was able to get my hands on the new Cricut Expression® 2 machine, my first thought when I pulled the machine out of the box was it didn't have a power cord, and then I discovered the false bottom. I soon found the power cord and my blade housing so I could start crafting.   This week's exploration will be about the machine itself; I will also explore the cartridges that come with the machine in future articles. In flipping through the Cricut.com messageboard I realized there are a few questions regarding the cartridges that come with this machine, I will address as many questions as I can on these four cartridges.

When I first plugged in the power cord I saw all these buttons, it was a little intimidating not knowing what all these buttons would do, but I am one of those button pushers so that's what I started doing. I soon found the pause and power buttons; these buttons are located on the right of the machine if you are facing your Cricut Expression 2. The other two buttons on the left are for the home page and zoom, once you press the zoom button make sure to touch the image on the screen that you want to zoom into. Then your image will fill the screen so that you can view it bigger. I remembered hearing, the sticker that is on the screen cover is removable, so I took off my white screen cover and then got stuck again because I found knew buttons to figure out. To help me figure things out quickly I pulled out my manual, I was very grateful for page 3 because it showed me all the buttons with the name of what the button did.  If you flip further on in the manual then you will also find the buttons with further detailed explanations.  I think I am going to pull page 3 out of my book and tape it on the inside of my Cricut Expression 2 door. This will give me quick access to what all the buttons do until I have them all figured out.

A few new things that come with this machine that you can't do on the original Expression is: 1) the Cricut Expression® 2 comes with a light next to the blade housing, you can turn it off and on under the settings button (this is the button that has a wrench on it.)  Hit the arrow button twice and then you should see on the bottom of the four buttons a circle that kind of looks like a world and an image of the Cricut Expression® 2 machine with a circle over the corner. This is the button that you want to use to make any adjustment to  inches or mm as well as tell the machine that you want the light to turn on during cutting, always stay on, or always stay off.  This is a good spot to tell you that any time you are telling the machine what you want it to do, make sure you hit the save button, this button is always on the bottom right of the screen.  The button with the red “X” mark is your cancel button so if you are afraid that you did something wrong, hit cancel and start over. That's how I figure everything out. Note the button with the machine and a paper with an arrow is the button that will load or unload your paper. Notice that the arrow changes once you have loaded your mat with paper.

The button with the star in the square is where you will find your cartridges.  Once you have pressed this button, then the screen displays the overlay style that you are used too. Next, touch the screen with your finger (I've noticed when I use my nails that the screen doesn't react as well) and watch the image appear on the top bar. Notice on this screen that again there are buttons that are hard to figure out.  Let me try to explain what each of these buttons does.  The button with the “X” mark is a “Clear All”, the two buttons next to the “X” mark are your undo and redo buttons.  The button with the angled arrow is a return button, and the button next to that is your space bar. The last button with a lower case “x” in a box is your backspace button.  The last button on that row is in the left corner and is the button that lets you access all the other cartridges.  You can also plug in your Cricut Imagine® cartridges or Legacy cartridges, or use the arrow button to access one of the four cartridges that comes with the machine. Once you have chosen all the images you want, then press the home (it looks like a circus tent) button and watch your images show up on your screen mat.

The last button that you need to be aware of is the cut button—yes, this button has a blade for the image.  Once you have selected this button choose the thickness of your paper and which blade housing you are using. Please note that you can also use your deep cut blade housing and blade with this new machine.  You will still need this deep cut blade housing if you are cutting chip board, magnet paper, and any other thicker type of paper. You can program the machine under settings to save the different types of blade housings and also program the machine to remember your settings if you are cutting chip board. Note that the machine already has a vinyl (kiss Cut) setting for when you are cutting vinyl. Now before you press cut check the larger three buttons, the button with the blade plus five lines on it represents the cut speed, to change the speed press the button and then move the plus or minus buttons to the correct number that you want.  The middle button is the Cut pressure button, you can make adjustments to this by simply pressing the button and then moving the plus or minus buttons.  The last button is your multi-cut feature; this should always stay at one unless you are working with heaver or thicker paper.  Now press the cut button and watch your image take shape on your cardstock or paper.

Crafty Kimber

HELP FROM THE EXPERTS

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"I don't have to look up my family tree because I know that I'm the sap." 
~Fred Allen