A HOT CHOCOLATE AND CRICUT KIND OF DAY

My, oh my! It is frrrreeeezzzing outside! I love winter and all the outdoor activities that come with it, however, on deepfreeze days like this my only desire is to be in one place...indoors. I love kicking back in the cozy house, where I can crank up the thermostat and crank out the crafts with my Cricut pals!

You can be sure I am not alone in this activity. Let it snow and let the wily winter winds blow. While Old Man Winter and Jack Frost are having their heyday outside, we Cricuteers are warm and toasty indoors whipping up a batch of hot chocolate and beautiful creations that warm the soul.

FEATURED PROJECTS

MESSAGE BOARD HIGHLIGHTS

This week's highlighted threads are:

• Circle for Friends Card
• A Sympathy Card to Share
• Pair of Paisley Owl Cards
• Sister's birthday Card
• Get well soon card... VERY bright!!!
• MISS YOU...PAISLEY GIRAFFE
• A Hoppy Hello ? Paisley

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

Name: Margi Lunn
About: I have been crafting since I was 11 years old and I have been scrapbooking for 3 years. My husband gave me a Cricut machine for my birthday three years ago and I immediately fell in love with it. I love scrapbooking for my family and friends.

Margi's Project: Hello Kitty Album

YOUR NOTABLE TIP

Today's tip comes from message board member ShellyDeblock. Thanks for the clever tip!

"This past weekend I wanted to sand a piece of paper to distress it so it would match the other papers I was using. My little pieces of sand paper were way too harsh and were tearing up my paper so I asked my DH what else we had that I could try. He came up with one of those sponge sanding blocks used for drywall. They're dark red in color and have a very light grit to them. The sponginess makes it have some give so it doesn't tear up my paper. It worked so well I told DH he's not getting it back. He even said it could be washed if ever need be."

CARTRIDGE EXPLORATION

This week my dogs have seemed needy, or maybe they're just jealous of all the attention my Cricut gets. Who knows? These days I put my dog on my lap and play with my Cricut at the same time. This way my dog thinks she is getting attention and I still get to play with my Cricut (yahoo!). Please, no one tell this secret to my dogs.

This week I explored Simply Sweet. This cartridge is part of the font Cricut family; it has a full upper and lower case alphabet. The basic font style is thin, pencil-like lines. The creative features are: Tab, Blocked, Stitched, Heart, Shadow, and Blockout. The Tab, Blocked, Stitched, and Heart features are all letters inside of shapes. I love the Blocked style, because the lines are not even square blocks. You could also use the Blockout feature for journal tags on your scrapbook pages or even as mats for pictures. The Heart feature would be cut for Valentine's card or a title for your scrapbook page. Some basic images are also included. For project ideas, see the "Featured Projects" section of this newsletter.

The other cartridge that I explored was Winter Woodland. This cartridge is packed! It has shapes, phrases, letters, images, and numbers. Now is the perfect time to get those Christmas scrapbook pages finished and this cartridge is a wonderful compliment for all your projects. Some of the images included are: snowflakes (four different styles), trees, branches, flowers, buildings (four different styles), snow men, winter clothing, and ice skating, reindeer, and birds. The phrase "Let it Snow" would be a great title for a card. Use "Frosty Kisses" for a tag and give your loved one a bag of chocolate kisses! This is a perfect way to show someone that you care about them, and who doesn't love chocolate (besides my sister). The creative features are: Layers, Shadow/Blackout, Tag, Card, Font, and Font Shadow.

The other really exciting element of this cartridge is the 3-D buildings. You can make your own village! DianaTuttle1 used this cartridge to make a Christmas village (see picture or click here). I love this idea; I think I want an Easter village to sit on top of my piano!

I hope you all pick up one or both of these cartridges and have fun exploring all the fun projects you can make with them. Check out www.cricut.com to purchase your cartridges or the message board for great ideas on using them.

Happy Crafting!

Crafty Kimber

HELP FROM THE EXPERTS

Here are the 2 questions that have been asked a lot during this past week:

Q. How do I use the Cuttlebug dies?

A. To cut with a die cut on the Cuttlebug, you will need this sequence (going from what is on bottom up to the top):

A plate (on the bottom)
B plate
Die Cut (foam side facing up towards you)
Paper
B plate (this is the very top of the stack)

** Tip: Place the die in the middle of the plates. That will help it go through the machine easier than if it is close up to the front of where the plates go into the Cuttlebug machine.

You can find the sandwich matrix here. There is also a message board for the Cuttlebug.

Q. How do I use Cricut.com credit?

A. To use that credit, you will go to cricut.com and sign in. Go through and find the product(s) you wish to purchase. When you are ready to check out, you will enter the order just like you would normally without any credit. There is no coupon code or anything like that. At the end, when it asks if you would like to pay with a credit card, you will need to select to pay with "Cricut Credit. This will then bring up a screen where you can enter the amount that you want to use for that specific order. If the order amount is more than the credit you have, you can pay the remaining balance with your credit card.

Have a great week!

From your Customer Support Sweeps:
Mark, Brightly, Michelle, and Becky, "The Floor Sweeps"

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather in spite of ourselves."
~ Victor Hugo