LAZY DAYS OF AUGUST

We are heading into late summer now and the seasons will be changing soon. True it's only August, but before we know it, the weather will have changed and the colors of autumn will have arrived. School will be starting soon. Parents are buying school supplies and clothing for the upcoming school year, and children and teachers are relishing every vacation day that they have left before they all go back to school.

There is a noticeable increase in the number of backyard barbeques and swimming parties as well. Many crafters and scrappers have begun to switch gears and are producing projects with adorable autumn motifs. A special kind of buzz or excitement is in the air. You can feel it...almost like a new beginning. August's summer lazy days are an enjoyable part of the year. Be sure to take advantage of them in whatever fashion you are accustomed to.

This week, be sure to read Crafty Kimber's cartridge exploration of the Happy Hauntings and Winter Frolic cartridges. Enjoy another clever tip for removing tiny paper scraps from your cutting mat and glean savvy wisdom from our customer support Floor Sweeps as they share their answers to the top queries of the week.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Cricut machines are now in Best Buy^TM!

FEATURED PROJECTS

MESSAGE BOARD HIGHLIGHTS

This week's highlighted threads are:

• Summertime BBQ
• BBQ With Block Party
• Whats Cooking? Layout
• 90th Birthday Scrapbook Album
• Beach Layout
• Summertime LO

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

Name: Wendy Porter
About: I live in Hampshire, UK. I have had my Cricut for about nine months, and every card I make has a Cricut element in it. I love it!

Wendy's Project: Get Well Card

YOUR NOTABLE TIP

Today's tip comes from message board member PamelaFarrell. Thanks for sharing your tip!

"To remove tiny scraps of paper stuck to the mat after cutting, take a piece of packing tape about 4" long. Wrap it sticky-side out around your index and middle finger tips, then just swipe all the little bits on your mat, rotating the tape around when it gets full of bits. This is much easier than using a tool or fingernail, and helps the mat retain it's own stickiness."

CARTRIDGE EXPLORATION

Where does the time go? It seems like I just sat down and to write last week's exploration, and here I am again. It's a good thing that I love to play with my Cricut so much! This week I got to explore Happy Hauntings and Winter Frolic.

(As a quick side note: Makin' the Grade is retiring, so make sure you pick it up.)

Happy Hauntings is a wonderful new cartridge that is all about Halloween! It has a wide variety of images: Dracula, skeleton, Frankenstein's monster, mummy, cat, witch on a broom, headless horseman, house, ghost, ten different frames, bat, cauldron, owl, coffin, trees, fences, a few 3-D boxes, 3-D tree, 3-D coffin and house. There are great instructions on how to assemble the 3-D house because it is slightly more complicated to assemble. Thank goodness for the pictures that comes with the instructions in the handbook! I'm in love with this cartridge. It has ideas for a party for all ages, plus decorations for that party. The coffin images would make a great invitation (use your Gypsy to make a card, welding two of the coffins together, making sure one of the coffins is a reverse image). The creative features include: Layer 1, Layer 2, Phrase, Spooky Font, Vampire Font, and Vampire Shadow. Maria Odessa Guevara from the message board cut out the 3-D house and tree (see pic or click here). She did such a wonderful job! I can't wait to make a Halloween village for the top of my piano.

The Vampire Font uses the top four rows of buttons for letters. This font has an old English style to it, but it has drops of blood attached to each of the letters so they look spooky. You can cut uppercase letters, numbers and some symbols. Some examples of phrases included are: "Enter if You Dare", "Beware", "Ghostly", "Mysterious", "Spook", and "Trick or Treat". Also, check out the complimenting Cuttlebug folders that match this cartridge perfectly to make those unique, easy cards.

Winter Frolic was the other cartridge that I explored this week, and it is all about the snowy days. The creative features included are: Layer, Tag, Border, Phrase, Phrase Shadow, and Shadow. Some examples of images included are: bird, beaver, boy and girl making snow angels, snowman, boy sleighing, singing carolers, presents, elf outfit, stocking, tree, angel, Santa, North Pole, penguin, mouse, birds in cage (this image could also be used for Valentine's Day card or a wedding card), donkey, shepherds, Mary, baby Jesus, Wiseman, sheep, and a camel. The phrases that come with this cartridge are wonderful! For example: "Joy to the World", "We 3 Kings", "Wishing You and Yours", "Deck the Halls", and "Happy Holidays". Is it too early to start making Christmas cards? I'm so tempted to start using this cartridge; it is just so cute! The Border feature makes it easy to embellish your scrapbook pages or cards, and the Tag feature lets you make personalized tags for all your Christmas presents. Last year, my sisters and I got together and made tags--a whole bunch of them! Then we exchanged them amongst ourselves so we had a bunch of cute tags for our gifts. MyPinkStamper from the message board created this adorable scrapbook layout (see pic or click here).

Well, that wraps up this exploration. See you next week! Happy crafting to all my fellow Cricut lovers!

Crafty Kimber

WEEKLY SURVEY

Don't forget to take this week's survey!

Click here.

HELP FROM THE EXPERTS

Here are the hot topics in Customer Support this week:


Q. What's with the message board? There are posts and forums missing.

A. We are moving posts and rearranging the Cricut Message Boards. Our hopes are to consolidate forums and make finding information much easier.

We are aware of "favorite" forums and know that they are important to you, but some forums will not be returning. Please know that Provo Craft's goal for the Message Boards is to create an atmosphere of creativity and fun. There are topics that just don't need to be posted on a crafting site.

If you have any problems, please PM the Admin or one of our Bug Guides. They are here to help you.

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Need some help? Provo Craft Customer Support is here for you! Never hesitate to call in; we have people ready to help you! We are currently open Monday through Friday 7am to 6pm Mountain Time. If these hours do not work with your schedule, please send an email to support@provocraft.com.


Have a great week!

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

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"
~ William Shakespeare