Changes

Lonna Joy Smoot- Editor, Cricut CHIRP!

ANNOUNCEMENTS -

Michaels stores will be running a special Yudu demonstration session on October 24th from 11-12 pm. Come see how you can use this fun creative tool from Provo Craft. Buy a Yudu and for a limited time you can get a $50 Michaels Gift Card. See the Michaels stores for details!

Don't miss Cricut demostrations at Costco!

Costco #388 Oak Brook, IL: 1901 W. 22nd Street, Oak Brook, IL 60523
Dates of show: 10/9-10/18

Costco #628 Grafton, WI: 950 Port Washington Road, Grafton, WI 53024
Dates of show: 10/23-11/1

Costco #370 Merrillville, IN: 1310 E. 79th Avenue, Merrillville, IN 46410
Dates of show: 10/23-11/1

Costco #371 Bloomingdale, IL: 505 W. Army Trail Road, Bloomingdale, IL 60108
Dates of show: 11/6-11/15

There will also be some great deals on cartridges, so be sure to pick some up while you're there!

PROJECT CORNER AND SPOTLIGHT

More Winners	Name:
	Joyce Wagoner
	About:
	Wife, mother of two, and grandmother of two. Help Desk Coordinator for community college. Love to craft, scrapbook, and design/create items for friends and home. Cricut has become my best friend when designing and creating.
Joyce's Project: Beach Quilt
Picture:
Cartridges Used:
Life is a Beach
Instructions:
Using the Life is a Beach cartridge and cardstock, make templates of sea creatures and nautical items. Choose fabrics of your choice for the quilt. Cut 9 - 8x8 blocks for the background of the quilt. To make the appliques, use other coordinating fabrics and Wonder Under for the sea creatures to be appliqued on the quilt blocks. Take the template and trace shape on the Wonder Under side. Cut out sea creatures and iron them on blocks you have already cut for the quilt. Use fabric of your choice for the sashing and back of quilt. Cut backing and batting to the same size of the front of quilt after sewing blocks and sashing together. Sandwich all layers and pin together using safety pins. Use seam binding to finish off edges of quilt for a clean look. The Cricut makes this project come together fast and easy.

CRICUT BOARD

This week's highlighted threads are:

• Witch's Brew
• Water [makes] waves Beach LO
• Pumpkin Patch
• Pumpkin Possibilities
• another school lo
• 1 page Halloween Layout
• Happy Halloweenie Page
• Boo Crew

TIPS TREASURE CHEST - Kleenex Box Ribbon Holder

Today's great tip comes from message board member gj. Thanks for sharing your clever tips with us gj!

This last week I realized that soon Christmas would be here and felt that I need to get started on my Christmas shopping. I spent one evening crafting my Christmas cards and playing with the Yudu, the silk screen machine from Provo Craft. I am so excited to give my gifts to my family.

Today I want to explore the cartridge A Child's Year Cartridge. At first when I picked up this cartridge I thought it would be all about kids and I wasn't sure if I would use it very much. Now that I have started playing with it, I can see lots of areas where I would use this cartridge.

This cartridge is full of different silhouettes of children's life experiences. For example, you have children playing in the water, gardening, playing in the rain, holding hands, playing with animals, birthday parties, baseball games, playing in the park, playing at the beach, reading a book, playing an instrument, doing crafts, dressed in Halloween costumes, playing in the snow, playing with birds, playing with other kids, playing with toys, and playing in a bubble bath.

The creative features that come with this cartridge are: Monogram, Icon, Card, Tag, Front, and Shadow. Let me describe the Icon feature and some of the images that come with this feature. The Icon feature gives you images for Christmas, birthdays, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Summer, Fall, Baseball, Ice Cream, Beach, Fourth of July, Graduation, and Back to School. Some examples of the images that come with this feature are: graduation hat, crayon and apples, baby grand piano, violin, pumpkins, flying witches, snowflakes, leaves, birds, animals, dog bone, tea pot with tea cup, hearts, 3-leaf clover, present, candle, birthday cake, flowers, rain drop and umbrella, base ball hat, beach ball and star fish, crab, flags, watermelon, books, turkey, and holly.

Some of my favorite examples of projects that are found on the message board:

- Pinklady50 from the message board created a beautiful fall card (see pic) using the fall leaves from the Icon feature.

- TheresaTurner2 created the cutest Halloween bucket using the pumpkin and fall leaves from the Icon feature.

- Mom2_3gr8girls used some fun children garden silhouettes to give a personal touch to a lamp.

There are so many ideas on how to use this cartridge; I can't wait to continue exploring the other features. Check out next week as I dig into this cartridge a little more and discover what else comes with this cartridge.

Crafty Kimber

A. 1) The first and easiest solution would be to increase the cut pressure. Do this with the "Pressure Dial" found on the left side of the Cricut machine.

2) The blade height may need to be adjusted, particularly if you are trying to cut through thicker stock. Refer to "Adjusting the Blade Height" in the Cricut User Manual.

3) The blade may be getting dull. The biggest key to a great cut is a sharp blade. Try replacing the blade. Refer to "Changing the Blade" in the Cricut User Manual.

4) Is the blade 'sticky' when trying to remove or insert it into the blade housing? - It could be a defective blade. Try another blade to see if it is smoother.

5) The blade housing could be the problem if every blade sticks. Another blade housing should be tried.

As always, customer support is on hand to halp you with any problems you may be having. Call them toll free at 1-877-727-4288, or e-mail them at support@cricut.com.