NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS / ORGANIZATION
With the beginning of a new year, it is normal to make plans for the future. I’ve made a resolution to organize my memories better. It is good for people to look back at the events of the past year and take a tally of all of the big and little events a person has taken part in over the year. When you really think about it, there are a whole lot of simple but sentimental moments that add up into something special.
When was the last time you had a tea party with a four-year-old, spent an hour in a tree house, built a snow fort and participated in a snowball fight, went ice skating on a frozen swamp, threw a surprise party for a loved one, hunted for huckleberries, or enjoyed a picnic complete with deviled eggs and fried chicken? A list of random happy events like this could go on and on. Everyone has their own list of favorite moments and memories. Many of them have snapshots that have captured the event. It would be a shame not to preserve them to share with your loved ones and future generations. Organize them and scrap them! But while you’re at it, scrap them with Cricut class and style!
We here at Cricut are really big on helping you save those memories and events. Cricut® products are second to none when it comes to helping you realize your crafting potential and create what you want, when you want it. Everyone has tales to tell. Share your story. Don't let another special moment be forgotten. Save it and save it your way, with Cricut.
Be sure to check out Crafty Kimber's excellent cartridge exploration of the Noah’s ABC Animals, Snow Day, and Go Canada Cartridges in today’s Chirp. In this newsletter, you’ll also find a great tip on Cricut Cartridge usage and glean great crafting ideas from Cricut message board members in this week’s newsletter.
As always, I wish you success in your crafting adventures!
Lonna Joy Smoot - Editor, Cricut CHIRP!
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CARTRIDGE EXPLORATION
With the New Year here, it is time to start getting rid of old clothes that I don’t wear and clean out my old crafts that I haven’t finished in years. I have plans to organize my cardstock papers because I am in a huge mess and I have a goal to finish organizing my craft room. This week I explored Snow Day, Noah’s ABC Animals, and Go Canada.
When I first looked at the “Snow Day” cartridge, I was reminded of all the snow memories I had participated in when I was younger. The cartridge lets you cut ten images of snow that consist of making a snowman, ice skating, making an igloo, sledding, shoveling show, throwing snowballs, and making a snow angel. I decided I wanted to make a snow globe and thought this cartridge would be perfect, and then I was stumped with how to put water into a snow globe using a paper image. In the end I did create my snow globe using a paper image but I added fake snow. I cut the background image six times so my figurine would be stable, I used hot glue to glue my figurine to the base, I then added glue over the hot glue and placed handfuls of fake snow over the glue. I painted the base layer and added some tulle for a softer touch. Now I have a winter globe that I can still shake and the snow goes everywhere.
“Go Canada!” is a wonderful full cartridge, here are some of the items that you can cut: ice and hockey skates, curling images, a moose, a bear, Canadian flag, a tree, Canadian syrup, igloo, ski boot and skis, fish, wheat, and snow hats. The six creative features are Layer, Phrase, French Phrase, Font, Font Shadow, and Monogram. Some examples of phrases that come with this cartridge are: “Eat Sleep Skate.”, “Born to Ski! Forced to work”, “British Columbia”, “Alberta”, “Sugar Shack”, “Happy Birthday Canada!”, and “Fly Free!”. Just a note, that when you use the shift button with the “Phrase” feature you are able to cut the shadow layer for each saying. With the “French Phrase” features you can cut all the same phrase but in French – how cool! The monogram feature is each letter and number centered in the Canada Leaf.
If you enjoyed the retired “Animal Kingdom” cartridge, then you will love this cartridge as well. “Noah’s ABC Animals” is a cartridge that is full of a wide variety of animals, an ark, Noah and his wife. Some of the animals in this cartridge include a bear, an alligator, a camel, a chicken, a cow, a deer, ducks, a donkey, a fox, an elephant, a hedgehog, a hippo, a lion, a mouse, a monkey, a lizard, an owl, a penguin, a parrot, a quail, a squirrel, a turtle, a vulture, and a zebra. The creative features included with this cartridge are: Layer, Font, 3D Layer 1, 3D Layer 2/Shadow, 3D, and Phrase. Now you can cut these animals flat for scrapbooking pages, cards, party invitations as well as cut the same image 3D for cupcake toppers or place them on a cake for a decoration. Use them as a craft project at the birthday party. Cut the flat images from material and create some animal pillows. As soon as I saw the duck I realized that I wanted to create a duck pillow with little babies – I think that would be so cute. You could also create a matching game by cutting two of each animal for the game or match up the letter to the correct animal. Yes, these would be for younger children but so much fun, don’t forget to laminate the images after you have gone to all that work. One other thing I need to point out is the handbook comes with instructions on how to glue the 3D items together. Thank you Provo Craft for providing instructions with this cartridge. I also need to mention that you can cut 3D doves with this cartridge; these would be perfect for a wedding anniversary cake or as decorations say a banner or table centerpiece. This is a must have cartridge – I hope you love playing with the images as much as I have done.
I also spent some time exploring some Cricut Craft Room™ Exclusives, did you know that you can now purchase the New Year’s Eve 2012 digital pack, it comes with masks, fireworks, clock, and party hats- use these images when scrapbooking those fun New Year’s Eve photos. Have you ever visited San Francisco? I have and now I have some fun die cuts to finally scrapbook my photos. If you are looking for images that deal with music, check out the Musical Instruments Craft Room Exclusive. With it you can cut a drum, a piano, a guitar, a saxophone, a trumpet, or a violin. These are perfect for parties, school announcements, homework reminders (I grew up playing the piano), and on posters. They are adorable.
This wraps up another exploration – I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have enjoyed spending time with my Cricut. If you haven’t set any New Year’s goals, now is a good time to set some, or maybe think about cleaning out the craft room – lol. Happy Crafting!
Crafty Kimber
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