RESISTANCE IS FUTILE

It is officially Spring now. In nature and on the farm springtime is all about babies, cubs, pups, kittens, colts, calves, goslings, chicks, owlets, tadpoles, lambs, bunnies, fawns, cygnets--you name it. They all show up in the spring. Babies of all species can make the average onlooker say "Ohhh how adorable!" I'm biased but, I'm inclined to say the most interesting of all little animals is the human baby. Let me explain.

These little beings have the capability to turn any adult into a babbling idiot regardless of age, gender, or number of years spent in school. Call it baby magnetism or chubba lubba goodness. Whatever you call it, it's powerful! None, are immune to the baby's big eyes, chubby cheeks, and fat little dimpled fingers. Many a highly educated individual has been found enthusiastically exclaiming, "Ahs seu poo poo!", "Da woo woo doo doo!", "Iee wuvoo!", while cuddling a babe or hovering over an infant. Sometimes this behavior is rewarded with a giggle, a jiggle, or a burp from the amused wee one. This random reward system, or as my psych 101 book calls it, "variable ratio schedule of reinforcement", is addicting. But let's be truthful here...we goo and coo and make a grand fuss over an individual who is really just smirking at us and then demanding we change their diaper and feed them. Maybe if we are really good and say something else like "Is a biiiga widdah baybey boo. Can euwah smiley whiley?" the child will reward us by slobbering or a spastically waving its legs or hands. What an absolutely fascinating and wonderful phenomenon!

We can now scrap all about these moments. Cricut is fluent in baby babble talk. All you have to do is type in your babbling and press "cut". Cricut will do the rest!

This week, be sure to read Crafty Kimber's cartridge exploration of the Give a Hoot and Preserves cartridges. You'll also enjoy practical advice on cutting thin metal. As always, I wish you well in your crafting adventures.

Happy Cleaning!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Say hello to our new cartridges:

Robotz
Create a Critter
Nursery Rhymes
Independence Day (Seasonal)
Summer Vacation (Seasonal)
Summer in Paris (Seasonal)
Elegant Cakes
Holiday Cakes
Birthday Cakes
Cake Basics (with the Cricut Cake machine)

All cartridges are available in stores in mid April! Download your Cricut DesignStudio update here.

Also, say goodbye to:

Stamped
Tags, Bags, Boxes and More

They?re retiring, but you can still get yours before they?re gone!

Follow this link to see the email announcement.

Don't miss the opportunity to see the Cricut and new cartridges and consumables in action! Here are are the dates and locations for the next month:

Silverdale, WA ~ 3/26-4/4
Lehi, UT ~ 3/26-4/4

FEATURED PROJECTS

MESSAGE BOARD HIGHLIGHTS

This week's highlighted threads are:

• Springtime At The National Zoo
• Spring Joy
• BABY CARDS
• Little one
• Baby Page

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

Name: Diane Campbell Payne
About: Hi, I'm Diane from Concord, Massachusetts. I enjoy all sorts of paper crafts, digital scrapbooking, quilting, and photography. The Cricut machine has changed my crafting life! I particularly enjoy working with the Cricut DesignStudio program and thinking of new ways to use all of the wonderful cartridge designs.

Diane's Project: Easter Eggs

YOUR NOTABLE TIP

Today's tip comes from message board member HeatherSpear. Thanks for sharing your tip, Heather!

"The Cricut Expression can cut the super thin metal sheets you can find at craft stores. I spent a long time on Saturday trying to get the settings correct, but to best cut the lightest sheets:
-the pressure should be max
-the speed medium
-the cutting blade set at its highest setting
-and multi-cut should be set at 2

To cut through the thicker sheets, the multi-cut needs to be increased to 4. I hope this helps someone else."

CARTRIDGE EXPLORATION

This week I have been organizing an Easter egg hunt for an event and using my Cricut to make center pieces for the refreshment tables. Since I was crafting with my Cricut a lot this week, I decided to also explore these two new cartridges, Give a Hoot and Preserves.

Preserves is all about fruit. It's perfect for making jams and jellies look creative and cute. Now I'm not a big on canning fruits and vegetables, but that could be because I've never learned how (he he). This cartridge makes me want to learn how to preserve--not to keep for myself, but to decorate then give to my neighbors. The creative features are: Layer, Word, Card, Label, Lid, and Tag. As you can tell from the creative features, you can now make a cut lid, label, tag, and card to accompany your jar of jam or fruit. Some of the images that are included are: pears, apples, apple core, nectarine, strawberries, dragon fruit, peaches, cherries, apricots, melon, avocado, mango, papaya, fig, pineapple, and kiwi. Some words included are: "marmalade", "syrup", "cobbler", "bread", "lime", "fruit salad", and "smoothie"--and that's only a few. There are still many to choose from if you are scrapbooking or making a cooking book. All the fruit that on the cartridge have the accompanying word that you can cut out as well. There are lots of circles and squares that can be used for backgrounds behind your photos.

Give a Hoot was the other cartridge I was lucky to explore this week. It is full of animals, trees, and Green movement images. The creative features are: Layer, Accent, Phrase, Border, Charm, and Shadow. The Layer, Shadow, and Border features are obvious. Some of the phrases included on this cartridge are: "Earth Day Everyday", "Friend of Nature", "100% Organic", "Grow a Garden", and "Plant a Tree", to name a few. See photo for a couple additional phrases. Some images are: bear, earth, trees, hummingbird with flower, nest, bumble bee, fox, earth heart, rabbit, owl, birds, deer, and squirrels. This cartridge would be great for school teachers, environmentalists, and anyone who loves animals. I love the style of this cartridge; I can't wait to scrapbook with it! Would it look out of place if I use some of these images with my dogs? Hmmm--that is something to think about. When you get a chance you must pick this one up, you will love it!

Check back next week as I explore another new cartridge that you will definitely want in your Cricut collection. May the creative thoughts start flowing!

Crafty Kimber

HELP FROM THE EXPERTS

Here we answer the top questions in Customer Support this week.

From Mark:

The new Gypsy update is available! Gypsy build number 0169 and 0170 is now ready for download through Gypsy Sync. This is a cartridge only update and includes the following:

-Robotz
-Create a Critter
-Nursery Rhymes
-Independence Day (Seasonal)
-Summer Vacation (Seasonal)
-Summer in Paris (Seasonal)
-Elegant Cakes
-Holiday Cakes
-Birthday Cakes


From Brittany:

Did you know that we have added some new resources to cricut.com? There are digital manuals, helpful links, and many other great resources. If you haven't noticed already, go take a look and see what you can find!

Have a great week!

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

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Diaper backward spells repaid. Think about it."
~ Marshall McLuhan