Cricut Craft Room Series - Digital Cartridges & New Features

Hello! Last week I updated my Craftroom on my desktop. I was happy to see that we are out of Beta testing and that CCR is now available to everyone. Also last week, I showed a video on how to link your cartridges to your CCR. I jumped right in and that was my only concern. It turns out it was pretty simple.
After I got in there and started playin around I noticed that not much has changed in CCR. there are a few new things and I decided to do a video to show them to you. To me... the biggest change is the digital cartridges. So here is a video on the new digital cartridges and how you can get them. I hope you enjoy it and learn something new today.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone (even if it is a day late:)! I hope you all had a wonderful day with family and friends. There are so many things that I am thankful for... family, friends, my church, my faith... and so much more. I could go on.
I wanted to take a moment and express thanks to God for the gift of creativity. I was talking with a friend a little while back and she was talking about how God had created us to be creative. I never really thought about it from that view but it is so true. God has given us a very creative mind. Not all of us are artisitc or have a true artists talent... but the ability to create does not come from that. Something I hear a lot when I have classes or talk about scrapbooking/stamping is "Oh... I couldn't do that. I'm not creative like you". But that is just not true. In all the classes I've done over the last 10+ years, I've never had one person who I thought just couldn't do it. One of the great things about scrapbooking and stamping is that you don't have to be an artist to do this. You just need a love for it and a little inspiration. So today, as you recover from all the feasting, (or move on to the next feast lol) and go from blog to blog looking for inspiration... take a moment to be thankful for the gift of creativity. And as you are crafting today, remember that God created you to be creative and to share that gift with others.
Have a great holiday weekend and keep crafting!
Angie :)

Another Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge 216

When I saw the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge this week I knew exactly what paper and theme I wanted to use but I didn't quite know how I wanted to put it together. This isn't exactly what I had in mind but I had a lot of fun with it. I love the Spice Cake Designer Series Paper.

So here is the sketch

And here is my card......

All Supplies are Stampin Up!

Stamps: Triple Treat Flower, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper: Spice Cake DSP, River Rock CS, Pear Pizzazz CS, Very Vanilla CS

Ink: Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz, More Mustard

Punches: 1/2" Circle Punch, 5 Petal Flower Punch, Fancy Flower Punch

Stampin Dimensionals

To purchase these or any other Stampin Up supplies visit my website HERE!

Check out Mojo Monday for more great sketches and to see other designs. 

Cricut Craft Room Series #7 - Linking Your Cartridges

Hello Everyone!

Sorry I haven't done a video in a while. Everything has been crazy around here. But things are slowing down and I was able to play with Cricut Craftroom today. I decided to make a video showing how easy it is to link your Cricut Cartridges to your CCR account. I show you in this video just how easy it is.

Currently you are NOT able to link your cartridges to CCR if you already have them linked to your Gypsy. And... as well... you are NOT able to link them to  your Gypsy once they are linked with CCR. So before you link to either, make sure you are aware of this and know which you would prefer. Currently they are working on a method that is going to allow us to connect our Gypsy and in one step... link all our cartridges on our Gypsy to our CCR account. I'm assuming that this process will also link all CCR cartridges to the Gypsy as well. As soon as I hear any more on this I will update you to let you know. For now... here is how you link to your CCR account for those of you who are wanting to do this.

The Stampin' Up! On-Line Extravanganza Sale starts today (Nov. 21 thru  Nov. 30).  Save 20 to 60% on select items and bundled products!  Click here for complete details and sale items PLUS a TODAY ONLY 20% discount on the Simply Scored Scoring Tool and Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps. Sweeet!!!

• Here's a PDF link to everything on sale during the On-Line Extravaganza.
• There is no minimum purchase required to participate in this promotion.
• For product bundles, you must use the bundle item numbers provided. Bundle discounts will not be applied if individual item numbers are used. 
• Additional products from current catalogs may be purchased on the same order.
• Discounts range between 20 and 60 percent.

Go ahead... start your Christmas shopping early!

MOJO215 Sketch Challenge

Hey ladies! I've been playing with my new Christmas stamps and gearing up for my next workshop. I saw this challenge over at Mojo Monday and thought I'd give it a shot. If you are not familiar with the site  you should definitely check it out. It's full of inspiration. Hope you enjoy my take on the sketch!

Supplies: All Stampin Up

Stamps: Season of Joy

Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Whisper White, Frostwood Lodge DSP

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green

Accessories: Pop Dots

Punch: 5 Star Petal Punch

Sizzix: Dot's Embossing Folder

To visit Mojo Monday click HERE!

It's Good To Be The Hostess!

Dates: November 1-December 15, 2011
Details
Hostesses will receive an additional $35 in free Stampin' Up! products when they hold a workshop totaling $350 or more (excluding tax and shipping)! This is in addition to all the other benefits they already get as a Stampin' Up! hostess.

If your hostess' workshop sales total is	Your hostess earns hostess dollars		It's Good to Be the Hostess	Total Free Stampin' Up! Merchandise
$350	$50	+	$35	$85
$400	$65	+	$35	$100
$500	$80	+	$35	$115
$750	$120	+	$35	$155
$1,000+	$160 plus 15% of amount over $ 1,000	+	$35	$195 plus 15% of amount over $1,000

Things to Remember

• Only customer and workshop order types qualify for this promotion. Online orders do not qualify.
• Orders must be $350 or more to qualify.
• Orders larger than $350 are not eligible for additional hostess free merchandise dollars. For example, a $700 workshop does not receive $70 in additional dollars. All orders over $350 always receive $35 in additional free hostess dollars.
• Hostesses may use their additional $35 in free merchandise on any catalog/mini catalog products.

Contact me today to book your holiday workshop. I still have a few spots open! What's more fun than getting together with friends and making something for the holidays....Oh, I know, all the FREE stuff that comes along with it!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER STAMPIN’ UP! 24/7

My First Cinch Project

Hello! Happy November!

I can hardly believe that it is already November. October just flew by. I've been super busy but also I have had some issues with my video editing software so I've not been able to work on any videos. I finally decided to switch to a new software. So now I am using iMovie on my iMac. I'm still learning it and trying to figure out a few things so bare with me. 

I've also been a little sick. So this video I've got prepared for you is not one of my best. I didn't realize until after watching it and editing it that I was kind of dragging. But I hope that you will learn from some of my mistakes and get a better understanding of what the Cinch can do. I hope to do an actual tutorial on the Cinch another time. 

But for now... here is my first project using We R Memory Keepers, The Cinch. 

There are two parts to this video. Here is Part 1

And here is Part 2

I'm In A Rut! Help!

Hey Ladies! I hope you are having a great Tuesday. I have been off all day today and planned on doing a new video. I wanted to take a step away from CCR and create a layout, card or some other papercraft today. BUT... I've had a creative block all day. I plan on working on a video showing a way to personalize products and using TBBM but I wanted to do something else as well. But a stamping technique or how to make a certain papercraft. Every time I sit down at my craft table I just sit there staring at my supplies. I even checked out a few new videos and looked at some sketch challenges and I got nothing. I'm coming to you for any suggestions, ideas or requests. I need to get out of this rut. Help!
:)

"An Offer to 'Die" For" from Stampin Up

***This promotion has been extended till November 11th***

Cricut Craft Room Series #6 - Edit Groups and Hide Contour

Hello! Can you believe that I got two videos to upload today? I thought I wasn't going to have time to even do one. So... this video is another CCR series episode. I hope you enjoy it. There are already so many great images on the Imagine cartridges. With separating the images you can create some completely different images. This has caused me to look at cartridges and what they have to offer in a whole new way. I find myself buying cartridges that I originally had no interest in. And of course... CCR opens up the possibilities even more.
If you have a Gypsy you are already familiar with the Hide Contour button. And again... CCR takes the best features of your Imagine machine and your Gypsy and even Cricut Design Studio and brings it all into one place. They really outdid themselves on this one. I can't imagine how they will top this.
Hope you enjoy the video. Have a great weekend :)

Stampin Up! Supplies & projects for next workshop!

Hello Crafters! Here is a short video I made and a list of the supplies I used to make the cards.
AND...I used the Big Shot on some of these cards. Find out how you can get a FREE Big Shot!

1st Happy Halloween card
Stamps: Scaredy Cat
Paper: DSP Frightful Sight, Old Olive, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black
Embellishments: Basic Black Brads, 1/4" Basic Black Grosgrain Ribbon

2nd Happy Halloween Card
Same as above except no brads. :)

1st Triple Treat Flower card 
Stamps:  Triple Treat, Easy Events
Paper: Soft Suede, More Mustard, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Ink: Soft Suede, Old Olive, More Mustard
Embellishments, Pear Pizzazz 1/2" Stitched Poly Ribbon
Tools: Moder Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Fancy Flower Punch, 5-Petal Flower Punch, Stripes Embossing Folder, Big Shot

2nd Triple Treat Flower card 
Same as above with two exceptions -
Whisper White paper instead of Very Vanilla
No More Mustard ink or paper

"Sending You Love" - Easy Events Card
Stamps: Easy Events
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Garden Green
Embellishments: Real Red 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon
Tools: Blender Pen

Build A Cupcake Card
Stamps: Create A Cupcake
Paper: Pretty In Pink, Whisper White
Ink: Pretty In Pink, Real Red, Chocolate Chip
Embellishments: Pop Dots
Tools: Swirl Embossing Folder (not SU), Big Shot, Build A Cupcake Punch

Get a FREE Bigshot!!!

Click below to find out how you can get your FREE Bigshot!!!

You can also check out other Stampin Up specials for the month of October. 

Click Here!

Cricut Craft Room Series #5 - Fonts

Yes... another Cricut Craft Room video. What can I say? I love CCR. It's an awesome program that can do so much. But... I have done a lot with it lately and I'm looking forward to playing with my Imagine and my E2. And... just getting back to some basics and use just stamps and punches.

But for now. I have this video put together for you. In this episode I show you how super easy it is to add text to your mat in CCR. I also show you how simple it is to weld text. Hope you learn something. Don't forget to leave some feedback.
:) Angie

Cricut Craft Room Series #4 - Altering Images

Well... I have another Cricut Craft Room video for you. I'm ready to move onto the Imagine but I have a couple more for CCR before I do. I already have the next video ready. It is on using fonts in CCR. It should be on YouTube tomorrow. For now... I have a video for you. In this video I cover three things in CCR 1) using the X/Y Axis 2) Altering images using width and height and 3) the shape properties tab. Hope you enjoy.

So I am going to work on the Imagine soon. Any requests?

It's October!

Hello everyone! I can hardly believe that it's already October. I'm sure many of you have already started working on your Halloween and fall projects. Last weekend I made a trip out of town and visited Michaels and some of the local scrapbook stores there. I picked up some Halloween stamp sets along with some fall and Christmas ones. I can't wait to make some projects with them. I plan on making some goodie bags for my son to take to school for his class.
Yesterday I played around in my craft room making some cards and participating in some blog hops. Man... that can be so addictive. I get so caught up in visiting all the new blogs that I've never been to before. I end up losing all track of time. It's so easy to lose several hours just doing a blog hop. BUT... I found lots of new ideas and was inspired to make some things. I created a couple of cards for my Stampin Up workshop that I have coming up. It will be my first since I became a demonstrator again. I can't wait!! So yesterday was pretty fun and productive.
Today, on the other hand.... not so much. I've been trying to make a video for my CCR series. I have been so tongue tied that it took several takes. Then... I finally completed a video to the end that I was happy with and when I tried to edit it I found that there were several places where it skipped and where the audio is messed up. Finally... I just gave up. So I will be trying to remake that video tomorrow. So check back tomorrow for my next video. Who knows... I may just end up making more than one and add a project in there. I'm in the mood to make a Halloween page layout with some of my new stamps and paper that I bought last weekend.

So I hope you will visit me tomorrow to see what I've added. Have a great week. And don't forget that October is Pastor Appreciation Month. Remember to show the pastors that have touched your lives appreciation. :)

Cricut Craft Room Series #3 - Tools on the Toolbar

Hello! I worked hard today to try and get another video up in my Cricut Craft Room Series. I actually made two and somehow I've lost the file. It was a short video so I don't mind recording it again... but my time is limited this weekend. We have big plans so I won't be able to get to it till Sunday night <<sigh>>... but... for now... here is my 3rd video in the CCR series.
In this video I go over the toolbar that goes across the top in CCR. I hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions please leave a comment. Don't forget to subscribe so that you don't miss my next video! :)
 Have a great weekend!!!

Add Cricut Digital Handbooks to your iPhone and iPad

One of the things that I love about my Gypsy is how portable it is. I can take it to the doctor’s office, my children’s sporting events, road trips… anywhere. While I love my Gypsy and all its features, one thing I really missed was having my handbooks. When I first got my Gypsy I had a bag that I carried my handbooks in with me. Soon, as I acquired more cartridges (lol… not that I buy them all the time… right hubby)… the idea of taking the handbooks with me any longer became too much of a hassle.

Then… I learned that Cricut .com had ALL the handbooks in digital format on their website. I have an iPhone so I could look them up. But connections aren’t always that great in doctors’ offices or at Cross Country meets. Then I realized that you could download the handbooks in PDF format and sync them to your iPhone. So that’s exactly what I did. I’ve created a tutorial to show you the process if you are not familiar with it. Feel free to skip to the steps that you need to if you already know how to do this. But this is how I did it from beginning to end. I’m still pretty new at this whole blog thing so I did the best I could to show you images of what I did. Feel free to ask questions and as always… please leave a comment. J

1.)    Go to www.cricut.com. Click on the “Information” tab at the top of the page.

2.)    Click on “Cartridge Library” This will give you a complete list of ALL the Cartridges that Cricut has to offer.

       

3.)    In the “Handbook” column, click on the “view” link for the cartridge that you would like to download. A separate window will open with the digital handbook.

***Notice, there are some cartridges that do not have a digital handbook yet and some of the Lite Cartridges only have a picture of the insert.***

4.)    Scroll to the bottom RIGHT hand corner of your screen. When your mouse hovers over the corner of the screen a small toolbar will appear. Click on the icon that looks like a disk.

5.)    A “Save As” screen will appear. Choose the folder location where you want to store you PDF handbooks. You can choose a folder and then add “New Folder” as I have. I’ve named mine “Cricut Handbooks – PDF Files. Edit the name to how you want it to appear in your iPhone. As you can see the Cheerful Season  Creative Memories cartridge has a default name of “CheerfulSeasons.cw”. Alter this to your choosing. Remember… this is how it will be listed in your iPhone.

***The iPhone app will list your titles alphabetically under the “Titles” view. So if you want to keep your Cricut handbooks separate from you may want to carefully decide how you want to name them. ***

6.)    Next you will need to open your iTunes and connect your iPhone (or iPad) to your computer.

7.)    In the top left hand corner click on “file”. In the drop down menu click on “Add file to library…” (I was unable to get a pic of this)

***I went through and opened every handbook and deleted the extra pages with the different languages on them. If you want to do this, you will want to do it before completing the next steps***

8.)    The “Add to Library” dialogue box will open.

9.)    You will now locate the folder you saved your handbooks in and open the files to add to your iTunes

10.) With your iPhone connected to your computer, click on your device (as you see in photo, mine is named “Angie’s iPhone 4). Choose your iPhone.

11.)Click on the "books" link at the top of the page. Check “sync books”. You can then choose to sync “all books” or “selected books”. If you choose “selected books” as I have, you will need to check the books that you want to sync.

12.) After you are finished selecting your books (pdf handbooks), click on “sync” in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

Now all you have to do is wait for your iPhone to complete it's sync and then all your Cricut handbooks are now mobile and ready to take along anywhere your iPhone will go. 

I hope this was easy to understand. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Have a great weekend!! J

Cricut Craft Room Series #2 - Adding Images to Mat and Mat Layers

Well... after working longer than I care to admit on this video... I finally got it completed and uploaded to YouTube. In this video I cover adding images to your mat from both the Overlay view and the Images view. Also I show you how to add may layers to your project, the purpose of the "fill mode enabled" option and the different options you have when it comes time to cut your project with multiple layers.

I hope you find this video useful and come back for the rest of my series. In my next video I will cover the tools and adding fonts to your project. 

As always... I love comments. Feel free to ask questions, make suggestions or make a request for my next video. Enjoy :)

#3 Cricut Craft Room Series #1 - Basics

Yeah! After a lot of frustration and a lot of waiting I was finally able to get my third video uploaded to YouTube last night. I am absolutely in love with Cricut Craft Room. So I wanted to do a series of videos going over the basics of the programs. I learned a lot by just jumping in and pushing buttons, but there was more trial and error than anything. I hope that I will be able to pass on some useful information and inspire you.
This is the first video of the series. If there are any questions you have or something specific you'd like me to cover please leave a comment here on my blog and/or on YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss out on the upcoming videos. I'm actually planning on making the second video today... keep your fingers crossed for me. :)
Hope you enjoy it, and thanks for watching!

I'll Never Forget

I was visiting some other pages today and ran across this video that we all are probably familiar with. Ten years later I still cannot wrap my mind around this. It still seems impossible that something like this could have happened to us. It's amazing how people have united. My prayers go out to all those who lost a loved one that day. And my deepest respect and prayers to all those that survived.

This video is still hard to watch.

Cricut Imagine Basics

Yeah... I made another video. I hope you all enjoy it. In this video I just go over the buttons and functions of the Imagine. I hope to start making some videos of some actual projects. I'm also interested in what kind of videos you may want to see. So leave a comment with your requests and suggestions.

Thanks again for watching :)

I've decided that this video will be the first in a series. While I quickly went over the basics of the Imagine in this video, I will be going a little more in depth on my next videos. I really look forward to making and sharing these videos with you. I also hope that you will leave me suggestions on things you may want to know about. 

My FIRST video! Cricut Craft Room and the Imagine

Hello ladies! Today I made my first video. I'm not super happy with how it turned out but I do like the simple page layout that I was able to make using Cricut Craft Room and my Imagine. When I was editing the video the quality seemed so much better than when I played it back on Youtube. But I worked really hard on making this video and doing all the editing that I am just going to go ahead and work with this one. I will have to figure out a better way to get the quality I want for the next video. AND... I'll work on my narration. Feels a little dry to me... well... ALOT dry to me. LOL!
However... for now... here is my video. I used Winter Woodland, Christmas and Mr. Frosty Imagine cartridges. I only used white cardstock.

Hope you enjoy it. And don't forget to leave comments. I always welcome a little constructive criticism so please feel free to say what you think. It will only help make my next videos better.  Thanks!

Stampin Up!'s newest demonstrator.... ME!!!

Hello Ladies! I'm so excited that I am now an Independent Demonstrator with Stampin Up!. I was with Stampin Up! several years ago but had to step away. Now I'M BACK! And I can't wait to share all the new projects, stamp sets, ideas and embellishments with you. Stampin Up (SU) has added so many new things since I had last seen a catalog. They have so many new wonderful stamp sets, new colors, new projects, new embellishments and some awesome new tools. They have even added some digital software for those that like to create digitally. They've really expanded their scrapbooking items as well. I love all the new tools, especially all the punches and Big Shot items.

I'm just getting started so I have lots of things to get in place. Right now I'd like to invite anyone that is local to come to my Open House on Sept 1 @ 7:00pm. You can also check out my website to order on line. Soon I will be posting my upcoming events, specials and clubs. One of the things that I'm really excited about is my Virtual Stamp Club... more details on that later.

For now... I'm off to create some new projects with my new stuff. I will post pictures as I get some things complete. Until then... feel free to log onto the website and browse our online catalog. Online ordering is so easy. Let me know if you have any questions and enjoy!

Click here to view my website! Happy Stamping! :)

Mojo Monday 200 Sketch Challenge

I found this great blog site today. It's called Mojo Monday. They were having their 200th sketch challenge. I have never joined a challenge before but decided this was the perfect time to start. So here is my submission. Hope you enjoy!
And don't forget to stop by Mojo Monday for loads of inspiration.

I LOVE this paper. It's Bo Bunny. I think its Sophie Tickled Pink.

My Craft Channel

Hey guys! Check out My Craft Channel. They are giving away 20 Cricuts in 20 Days! Wow! They have great guest designers as well.

Hoot N Holler

Here is a card I made for my mom. I tried to make a video but I wasn't happy with how it turned out so I will try again on the next project.
I used Hoot N Holler Cricut Lite Cartridge. My mom LOVE LOVE LOVES owls. I showed it to her and she bought it for me immediately... as an early birthday present. I don't have her love for owls but this cartridge is adorable.
Here's the card......

And here are the supplies I used.....

Supplies:

- Hoot N Holler Cricut Lite Cartridge

- Imagine More Cartridge

-Imagine More Cards Cartridge

- Studio G iClear Stamps

- Studio G Glitter Glue

- Stampin Up Taken with Teal ink pad

- Stampin Up Taken with Teal marker

- Zig 2 way glue pen

- ATG gun

- google eyes

You'll also see in the picture an extra owl I made. He's so cute! I added him to another project I'm making for my mom with this cartridge. It's an explosion box. I can't wait to post pictures of it. Hopefully I will finish it today. I did all of this with my Cricut Imagine. I really love my Imagine. I'm using it so much more than I thought I would. 

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

I have completely neglected this blog. But tonight I'm so excited. It's after 2am and I'm still awake tonight. I've been on Youtube and blogs and cricut.com all night. I'm a little obsessed.

What's all the excitement about? Well... I swore I did NOT want an Imagine and never would. Well.... today I took the plunge and ordered one from HSN. It's going to be almost 2 weeks before it gets here. I don't think I can wait. I'm so excited. I have so many things I want to do with that thing.

What else.... Cricut Craft Room! If you haven't seen or heard anything about it... look it up on Youtube. I almost wish I didn't. It's going to be so awesome. I can't wait till they launch it. It combines all the great things that I loved about Design Studio - Gypsy - and now the Imagine all into ONE. You can use it to design just like the gypsy except you have a bigger screen and there are lots of updates. You can use it with ALL your Cricut machines. You can cut from your original carts, your Imagine carts and you can do SO MUCH MORE. I love the fact that you can weld your Imagine images and that you can print and cut your original images using the Imagine.

Last week I had to send my Gypsy back to Provo Craft. It crashed and they are replacing it. I'm eagerly awaiting it's arrival because I know that there are lots of cool updates. It now has an Imagine application. I can't wait to start designing with it.

All I can do is wait. And all that makes me want to do is watch video after video and get on blog after blog so I can learn all I can. I am so grateful to all the ladies out there that are sharing their creativity and ideas. You are awesome!!!!