I was recently treated to a unique recitation of "The Three Little Pigs" courtsey of my brother's two girls. The 4-year-old performed most of the verbal telling of this fine tale whilst the 2-year-old tot stood close by waiting not so patiently to chime in for the "knock! knock! knock!" part of the story followed by "Little pig, little pig! Let me come in!". Each time the big bad wolf approached a pig's house, she eagerly patted her little hand on the piano bench with such enthusiasm and joy. Big sister was much annoyed with her younger sibling's off cue interruptions so her father reached down and gently guided her hand to pat the wooden bench at the appropriate times. It was clear that the opportunity to participate in that moment brought joy and fulfillment to her young life. Her participation in the story will also be the source of a sentimental smile in mine.

I'm continually impressed with just how much little people are capable of learning and understanding. Grant them an opportunity to "help" you from time to time. Children have such wonderful imaginations and can also enjoy taking part in the creation of crafting stories, cards, and projects. Yes, they can be messy little pigs and even destructive if given free reign of the Cricut and crafting materials (this is not advised). But with patient, guided, supervision and instruction, their efforts can become a valuable and memorable part of your crafting experience.

Not unlike their adult counterparts, children are fascinated by the Cricut machine and products. Especially the buttons. From time to time it wouldn't hurt to let your tots press a Cricut button or two as instructed. Otherwise, they will continue to push your "buttons". Kids are easily pleased and satisfied with some of the simplest tasks like pushing the big cut button, peeling a shape or letter from the mat, or gluing it in place. Collaborative crafting efforts like these can become simple joys and the source of treasured memories of precious quality time spent with you. Look at it as building more than a project. This time spent together can promote the development of greater common ground with your little ones. They grow up so fast and won't always be there at your side, driving you crazy, begging to be a part of things that are special to you. So wash the sticky goo off of those little paws and let them into your crafting world from time to time. Father's day is coming soon and a card crafted by the kids is sure to be a hit with dad. Remember, paper is cheap and crafting orphans are easily pleased. Who knows You may inspire the next generation of creative geniuses.


Happy Cricuting :-)

Message board member ClaudiaHolcombe has shared some clear instructions for making a joy fold card and DawnHendrix has provided a diagram of this fun card. Thanks Claudia and Dawn!

Our group of 3 got together today and made lots of JFC's. We even worked out how to get the most out of a 12X12 sheet of cardstock. If you are interested here goes.
1. Cut 12 X 12 card stock into an 8 1/2 X 12. Turn it where the 12 inch side goes horizontally and cut 4 1/4 X 8 1/2 piece.
2. Repeat cut...4 1/4 X 8 1/2
3. Cut a 3 inch by 8 inch strip
4. From the strip you had left from the original cut in step 1, cut an 8 inch strip. Then cut this strip 3 inches wide. This will give you the card stock pieces for 2 cards with a 3 1/2 inch by 4 inch piece to use for use in embellishing.

Is this as clear as mud? Try drawing a diagram and it will help maximize paper use.

That said here is my second card.




Additional Instructions and information about Joy Fold Card's can also be found at:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/joy_fold_card/
http://www.scrapjazz.com/topics/Techniques/Cardmaking/1964.php

Why is it that we look through craft magazines for ideas for scrapbook layouts, but rarely ever use any of the ideas we see? Or maybe that's just me. Sometimes I will find the most adorable layout and then I will copy it. I love to see what creative ideas are out there. I think that's why I enjoy browsing the Cricut message board--to see what all you creative people have made. I am always very impressed what you Cricut fans can come up with using the Cricut Cartridges. For example, some ideas that have been created using the Lyrical Letters cartridge: kissakoala from the message board created a Father's Day Card, I love the design and layout of the card; to see what she created follow this link. Another example that I love is paperblossoms from the message board created. She designed a scrapbook layout using this cartridge and it is a great example of the different things you can cut out using this cartridge.

In this exploration I will explore the Loop Dee Loo and the Connected fonts. As a review all alphabets come with upper and lower letters, a full set of numbers, and some symbols. There are some shapes, phrases, and images also included. The Loop Dee Loo is an interesting font set. I love how it curls and there is a loop or curl somewhere on each letter. This style is very feminine and easy to look at; it would make a great font for a scrapbook page. The shape that comes with this font is a solid and outlined square. Images and phrases that come with this font are: a heart in a box, cup of coffee in a box, flowers, "Mom's Special Day", home, "With Gratitude", swirls, "Ta, Da", "How Old", "?", "I Love You", heart, stork, "A Baby Shower", "You & Me", "Hi Friend", coffee cup, "Feel Better Soon", and a solid cross.

In the Connected font, the lines are straight and there is a line at the end of each letter. The letters are wider than your typical font letters. I love the lines of the upper case letters. The shapes you get are a square outline and a rectangular outline. Images and phrases that come with this font are: small and medium flowers in a square outline, a leaf in a triangle outline, "Merry Christmas", "Thank You", dragonfly, balloons, "Congrats", star, firework, "Happy Birthday", "Love You", solid heart, "Summer", dandelion flower, solid flower, "Warm Thoughts", "Hello", butterfly, swirls, and "Peace & Comfort to You".

This cartridge is so much fun to play with because there is so many different types of items to discover and explore. You can create a ton of different types of cards, scrapbook pages, school reports, home decor items. Check out next week as I continue exploring this cartridge!

-Crafty Kimber

A: The mat may be worn out. Each mat will last anywhere from 30 - 50 full-page cuts, depending on the size of cuts and what kind of paper/cardstock you use. You may be able to get a few more cuts out of it by pressing the paper or cardstock onto the mat extra firm. At some point you'll need to discard the mat and use a new one.