In my neck of the woods we celebrate a holiday called Labor Day. On June 28 of 1894, the United States Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories. Since then it has been a day off for most workers complete with popular activities which include picnics, camping, barbecues, and in some areas, even fireworks. Unfortunately, my clan likes to celebrate this holiday by working our brains out. Somewhere along the line, the name Labor Day was taken literally and it became part of the three-day-weekend at the end of the Summer that we got all of the odd projects done that we had promised ourselves we would get done by the end of the Summer...things like hedging the bushes and trimming the trees, cleaning the storage bay, painting the basement, digging a really big hole in the backyard...you know, little projects like that. We haven't had a lot of picnics this way. This year I am hoping to start a new tradition and mix it up a little. I have plenty of scrapping projects that I have promised myself I would finish before the end of the summer...hmmmm. The weather man says it is suppose to be a rainy weekend anyway. Perhaps my Cricut pals will help me justify scrapping up a storm of my own.

This impressive machine is also compatible with all of the existing Cricut cartridges. Creative Features built into every Cricut cartridge allow you to add special effects to characters. There are literally thousands of custom combinations you can use to make each project uniquely your own.

Ok, this week I did something really funny. I have this patio door that's clear glass. The other day I decided that I had to clean off the children fingerprints that were all over the door. The door went from really dirty to clean. The very next day, it was early in the morning when I went out that door and then came back through it a few seconds later. Someone had closed the door and, yes, I ran smack into it, my nose hurt so bad. The other funny story is that my roommate did the same thing two days later in the evening. That's when I decided to take matters into my own hands and pulled out my little Cricut bug. I figured that I could create something with vinyl and place it on the door so this little situation would never happen again. I pulled out my DesignStudio, (I need to give him a name--hummm, what do you name a computer software? I will have to think about that.) Selected one of the Accent images from Storybook cartridge. I welded the image together a few times to make a nice border. My little project turned out really cute (see pic). I've attached the cut file.

The last two creative features that I haven't discussed yet in the Storybook cartridge are: Accent/Frame and Accent Blackout. Both of these features compliment each other very well. Each of the letters and numbers can know have a different look. When you press the Accent button you will get the lower half of the letter or number to help give your special title or word an extra pop. The accent style has some extra curls to help fit the storybook style. The accent blackout is the background feature for the accent button. This blackout provides you with the sold design that fits perfectly behind your letter or number. If you choose to use one of the words that comes on the cartridge, with the accent button pressed your word will be cut out in a box with a cute leaf design in the corners. The words "AND" and "THE" have a design outside of the square that changes the look and style. With the Accent button pressed the phrases are all place in side of a marquee design. When you press the accent blackout then you get the sold shape of the marquee. The "Thank-You" image would make a great book or even an invitation.

With this same Accent/Frame button you also get the images in a frame setting. These are perfect for accenting pictures or even journal spots on your scrapbook page. Sometimes the image will be placed in a circle, oval, or a square. These frames would even work as backgrounds with the included phrases or words. The dandelion frame is so cute, and once you add the accent blackout for this same image and your scrapbook design will catch everyone's attention. One of my favorite designs is the branch with leaves that look kind of like aquarium leaves. With the Accent button this design comes with a nice frame. This was the image that I decided to use on my patio door

Check out next week as I continue to explore the Cricut Cartridge library and come up with a name for my DesignStudio.

Happy Cricuting!!
Crafty Kimber

A: This feature enables the user to accurately position the blade over the center of a desired area (photos, etc.) in preparation for the cut.