I recently spoke with a sister, who lives out-of-state. She lives out in the countryside and mentioned that there has been so much rain for so long that her kids got tired of staying indoors. When the rain cleared and sun came out (for a brief moment) they ventured into the yard to complete some yard work. The children decided to make some extra sunshine by putting on swimsuits and creating their very own "mud bath." They were reported to have been covered from head to toe in mud! Even the toddler jumped in unannounced still wearing her complete outfit of clothes! Instead of getting all upset, she thought about how that moment would be remembered in years to come. What a fun, unpredictable moment...simply perfect for capturing with a camera and preserving in a precious moments book. I can hardly wait to see the crafty pages she makes to share that spontaneous event with the rest of the family. The Cricut is good at handling a whole lot of things. "Spontaneous" just happens to be one of them!

Today?s tip comes from message board member HollyCartier. Thank you for sharing your fun tip.

"I've been using the ink markers to draw (outline) a design before cutting it out. Some designs, like the tea crate in the My World cartridge, have a lot of detail when drawn with the markers. However, after the design is drawn, some of the detail is lost when you cut over it. To save the ink details in the design, I have been using the shadow version of the design so that when I cut it out I am only cutting out around the edges (like outlining) so none of the inside detail is lost. When using CDS I label the first page "Draw Page" and then create a second page as "Cut Page" to remind me to change from the markers to the blade.

I have recently done this with the treasure chest on the Word Builders: An Ocean of Words cart and thought I would share my idea with the MB. Previously, I had cut over my tea crate design in the MyWorld cart and lost the word "TEA" that I had drawn in with the ink when I cut over it with the blade. Now that I have prepared a "Cut Page" using the shadow image of the design that I want to cut, I no longer end up with some of the ink detail missing. The "Cut Page" mirrors my "Draw Page" by using the shadow image placed in the exact position as it is in the "Draw Page." The CDS makes this procedure so easy! Before I had CDS I did it manually but it was very time consuming.?

-Holly

Example:

This week has been a busy one. What with the weather turning warm and all, I felt I needed to finish planting my vegetable garden. So, my time was very limited in exploring the Cricut Cartridges this week, and my Cricut bug (aka Eddie) was probably feeling lonely. The time I did find to play with Eddie I decided to explore the Wedding Solutions Cartridge because I have so many friends that are getting married and I thought now would be a good time to get those wedding cards made. I guess it is spring time and there is something about that spring bug that drives everyone toward marriage.

Like the other Solutions cartridges in the Cricut family this cartridge only has two creative features. You get the Shadow and Blackout features to compliment all the images on this cartridge. Some of the images that come on this cartridge are: wedding couple, cross, church, wine glasses, tux hat, wedding rings, wedding dress, swan, hearts, flowers, hearts, the word "love", wedding cakes, books, bells, swirls, banners, cards, tags, and envelopes. WOW! There is a lot images that come on this cartridge. Then as I was looking at the images I realized that you could use some of these images for other special occasions, like birthdays, Valentines Day, and Mother's Day. The borders and tags would look great on a scrapbook page or any package that is being given for a special occasion.

Other ideas that you are going to love on this cartridge, are the two different type of boxes, the many different types of swirls, and cards. You could even use parts of the tags or cards as a frame for a scrapbook page. The umbrella image would look great next to any beach pictures or maybe for a little girls birthday party invitation. The balloons and presents would work great for any birthday party card or as wall decorations. With the use of the big Cricut 12" X 24" machine you could cut out huge balloons to help decorate the walls of the party. All the images have a layer that helps give some dimension to your Cricut image. Its amazing what you can do with this cartridge. I thought I could only make a wedding card but after exploring what this cartridge has to offer, I now can see that you can create a lot more projects than just wedding stuff.

I love the ideas that you can insert this one cartridge and cut both the card and envelope for your special occasion. I know that other Cricut cartridges have this idea as well, but when it comes to making a lot of cards all at the same time, I find this feature very useful. The Cricut makes card making so easy to use with just the simple press of the right button--first checking to make sure your paper size is correct, then checking to make sure your blade housing is set for the right thickness of paper. Once that is all checked you simply press the cut button and you end up with a wonderful card. If you are not a big card maker then the Cricut can change your life or view on making cards.

The image that I am using to make all my wedding cards is really very simple. One of the images on this cartridge is the letters "Love" in a stamp setting. I cut the image out along with the layer portion, then added the shadow image for the same image. I glued this to my front of the card, and?added some ribbon. WOW! You have a great simple card that everyone will love. All of these images would look great on a scrapbook page for any occasion, now I just have to start collecting wedding pictures so that I can scrapbook them using this cartridge.

Well my time is up and I still have so many cards to make to prepare for all the weddings I have to go to later this month, Happy Cricuting, and see you next week.

Crafty Kimber

A: Cricut Color? Inks (markers) expand the possibilities and versatility of the Cricut. You will be able to use the Cricut cartridges in conjunction with your inks to draw your favorite shapes! The Cricut Color Inks are the same size, and are interchangeable with the blade housing. Simply remove the blade housing, and insert the marker! It?s just that easy. To use the Cricut Colors? you replace the Blade Housing Assembly with the Cricut Colors?. If you need assistance click here for simple instructions.