With the beginning of a new year, it is normal to make plans for the future. It is also common to look back at the events of the past year and take a tally of all of the big and little events you have 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 snap shots that have captured the event. It would be a shame not to preserve them to share with your loved ones and future generations...so scrap them! But while your at it, scrap them with class and style!

We here at Cricut are really big on helping you save those memories and events. Our 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.

Happy Cricuting :-)

Did you know that you can insert the cartridge either direction? Even though the label indicates a specific "front", the cartridge actually works both ways. This may prove useful if you ever have a cartridge that has difficulty reading when inserted. Just flip it around and try again. (Powering off first is recommended.)

Over the last two weeks or so I've been exploring the Sesame Street Friends cartridge. In this exploration, I will explore the Sesame Street Font cartridge. As always the first time I open the cartridge I look through he overlay and the handbook to get an idea of what will be in this cartridge. Yes, you can see some of the images or phrases that will be in the cartridge on the back of the binder, but the hand book shows you all the creative features as well as the images and other stuff. The creative features that come with this cartridge are: Layer Non-Shift/Layer Shift, Sunny Day, Blackboard, Shapes, Shadow, and Sunny Day Shadow. WOW! Looking at the features I realized that this cartridge comes with four different alphabets, shapes, and you get two shadow features for two of the font sets.

The characters that come draped around the letters and numbers are: Elmo, Big Bird, and Cookie Monster. You also get some extra images of each of the above characters in a variety of poses and actions. For example, you can cut all three characters heads out. Elmo is reading a book and he is waiving his hand; Cookie Monster is eating cookies; and Big Bird is clapping his hands. This cartridge is so cute, I wish I had kids to scrapbook. I wonder if I could get away with scrapbooking my dog's pictures with Sesame Street characters--hummmm, something to think about. First off, let me describe to you the basic font that comes with the cartridge. The letters are full capital size, and each letter has one of the above characters peeking around from the letter. The numbers are in the same style as the letters. In the same font, with the shift key pressed you can cut the shape of the letter out in another color. All three characters are being used to hold the numbers in their hands, sort of like the numbers are on display; the shift key will cut each of the numbers out separate without the Sesame Street character.

Now, that I have talked about the basic font that comes with the cartridge, your letters and numbers can even look better, with the Layers feature. You can cut the different layers out for each of the characters that you need for the letters or numbers. I can't wait to start making titles and sidebars for my scrapbook pages using this cartridge. One of the extra images that comes with the cartridge is Big Bird holding a circle in his hands. This image would work great as a frame, place a picture inside and bam! You have Big Bird holding your child in his hands. Elmo is holding a square, and Cookie Monster is holding a triangle, either of the images would make great frames. Then use the shadow features to help the frame stand out on your layout. In fact, you can use the shadow features for all the letters and numbers throughout the cartridge.

BunnyLover from the Cricut message board designed the cutest card--I just had to share it with all of you.

Check out next week as I continue to explore this cartridge share my hints and ideas on what you can do with it. Happy Cricuting!

Crafty Kimber

A: The first thing to do if you get this error is to make sure that all programs and windows are closed when you install your DesignStudio software. You will also want to make sure that your firewall is temporarily turned off. All these things can interfere with the installation process.

If you try this and you still get the error, give us a call at 1-877-727-4288 weekdays between the hours of 7am and 6pm, or you can e-mail us at support@cricut.com.