Royal Things

Cartridge Giveaway - Martha Stewart All Occasions Cake Art

2012-01-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

Martha Stewart All Occasions Cake Art is a truly fabulous cartridge and hard to find, but I happen to have an extra here. Wouldn't you love to have it? It can be used on all Cricut machines, not just Cake machines, and is so versatile with all its borders and icons! It's a must have - a go to cart for cakes, cards, scrapbook pages, etc. Thanks to Provo Craft, I am able to give one away!

You want it? I'm ready to send it to one of my followers that answers this question.....

I am most like (or would like to be most like) _________________ (a celebrity) because I ____________________________.

Easy, right!? Just tell me who and why!

Spread the word and return to comment that you've shared it for another chance to win. I will use a random number generator to choose a winner on February 6th. Good Luck!

A Little Something For You

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

TGIF friends! It's another Cricut Craft Room Exclusives release week and I've designed this card using the new Sea Birds and Fish collection.

Stop over at the Cricut Blog and check out more design samples. Five Cricut Class Room Exclusive collections were released. A little something for everyone.... there's Chess, Sea Birds and Fish, Stars, Zodiac and Animal Masks.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend!

Cricut Machines Used: Cricut Expression 2 Electronic Cutting Machine, Cricut Craft Room, Cuttlebug
Cricut Cartridges Used: Sea Birds & Fish (Cricut Craft Room Exclusive), Elegant Edges
Other Supplies: Cuttlebug Retro Kitchen Folder, Cardstock, Patterned Paper (Echo Park Paper), 3D Paint, Ribbon, Sewing machine & thread, Adhesives

Ornament Vase

2012-01-23T12:45:00.003-05:00

How's your Monday so far? Today I'm sharing this ornament vase over at the Cricut Blog. Stop over there for instructions and cut files.

It starts out as this....

Cricut Machines Used: Cricut Mini Personal Cutter, Cricut Craft Room, Cricut Imagine
Cricut Cartridges Used: Imagine Black & White, Sweet Tooth Boxes, Victorian Romance, Cricut Font & Basic Shapes Digital, Walk in My Garden Digital
Other Supplies: Cardstock (reds, greens, white, blues), Ribbon, Shimmer spray, Vinyl, Etching cream, Large glass ball ornament, Dimensional adhesive, Sticker heart (SRM Stickers), Adhesives

Thank You, Thank You Very Much

2012-01-20T09:40:00.001-05:00

Here's another sample from a new release this week by Provo Craft. This comes from an awesome new Imagine cartridge, Greeting Cards Inside and Out.

This cartridge is full of cards and includes the fronts as well as the insides. I couldn't resist this Elvis card!

Be sure to check out the other samples at the Cricut Blog

Cricut Machines Used: Cricut Imagine
Cricut Cartridges Used: Imagine Greeting Cards Inside & Out
Other Supplies: Cardstock, Glitter glue, 3D Paint, Ribbon, Gem brads, String, Adhesives by Helmar

Hello Thursday

2012-01-19T21:05:00.001-05:00

Wow! ProvoCraft has released ten new cartridges for this Hello Thursday. Something for everyone. I'm showing you just a glimpse of them with these toppers that I made from the Baby Shower Project Cartridge.

All the images are from the Baby Shower cartridge and the blue patterned paper is printed on my Imagine using the Teresa Collins Baby Boutique cartridge.

Be sure to check out the other samples at the Cricut Blog

Cricut Machines Used: Cricut Expression 2 Electronic Cutting Machine, Cricut Craft Room, Cricut Imagine
Cricut Cartridges Used: Baby Shower, Imagine Baby Boutique
Other Supplies: Cardstock (white, green, shades of gray), Patterned Paper (Imagine Baby Boutique), Skewers, Muffins, 3D Paint, Adhesives by Helmar

New CCR Exclusive Digital cartridges

2012-01-06T14:03:00.001-05:00

Sharing some designs using a couple of this week's new Cricut Craft Room digital cartridges. Stop over at the Cricut Blog and check out the other new cartridges and design samples.

This card uses a couple of the new New England Shore images.

Cricut Machines Used: Cricut Mini Personal Electronic Cutter, Cricut Craft Room
Cricut Cartridges Used: New England Shore (Cricut Craft Room Exclusives), Cricut Font & Basic Shapes Digital
Other Supplies: Cardstock, Crystal Effects, Ribbon, String, 3D Paint, Sewing supplies

This card uses images from the Roman Numeral set.

Cricut Machines Used: Cricut Mini Personal Electronic Cutter, Cricut Craft Room, Cuttlebug
Cricut Cartridges Used: Roman Numerals (Cricut Craft Room Exclusives), Something to Celebrate
Other Supplies: Cuttlebug Musical Flourish Embossing Folder, Cardstock, Patterned Paper (Cricut Christmas Cheer Paper Pad), Glitter, Sewing supplies

Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to check out the Cricut Blog for more.

Winter Thanks

2011-12-31T12:50:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone. Hope you are enjoying your last day of 2011 and looking forward to a great 2012.

Today I'm sharing a Thank You card I made using the sketch from Helmar's blog by Lydell Quin . It's actually for a layout, but I don't typically do layouts so I used it for my card. I thought the Pink Paislee black and blue patterned paper made a nice winter sky.

The Helmar's Scrap Dot's gives great dimension when lifting images off the card. Love them.

Here's the sketch I used.

Materials:
Cricut Craft Room
Cricut Imagine
Cricut Mini

Paper: American Crafts Cardstock, Pink Paislee Soiree patterned paper (blue/black), Cricut Imagine Christmas Wish patterned paper(green)
Die Cuts: Cricut Winter Lace (large snowflakes), Cricut Christmas (house), Cricut Teresa Collins Christmas Collage (trees), Cricut Opposites Attract (thanks), Border punch by EK Success (border and small snowflakes)
Adhesives: Helmar 450, Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots, Helmar Craft Glue
Other: Studio G glitter glue, Diamond Dust chunky glitter, sewing supplies

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year

2011-12-30T16:43:00.002-05:00

New Year's Eve festivities are fast approaching, but you still have time for a quick prop and some confetti! I used my Cricut Mini, Cricut Craft Room and a couple of the Cricut Craftroom digital carts to create these in no time.

I welded the images together in CCR and then cut individual mustache and 2012 to layer on top. The 2012 is painted with gold glitter paint, but you could save a lot of drying time by cutting it from glitter paper.

To save you even more time, download the CCR or Gypsy files.

There's lots of glasses and mustaches to choose from so you can certainly create a variety of props for your party or just for fun with the kids!

Materials:
Cricut Craft Room
Cricut Mini
CCR Mustaches and Glasses cart
CCR New Years 2012 cart

Other: cardstock, Imaginisce iRock and gems (mustache), glitter paint, skewer, gold 3D paint (glasses hinges), Helmar adhesives

Cricut Craft Room releases

2011-12-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you have all your shopping and wrapping done!

Maybe you have an evening to watch a movie and eat popcorn in the near future? One of this week's Cricut Craft Room Exclusive releases is called Movie Night. Such a fun cartridge! Here's my samples with it. To see more of this week's releases, stop over at the Cricut Blog. There's Movie Night, Digital Numbers, Bicycling, Chemistry Icons, and Crash Boom Pow.

Christmas Cards

2011-12-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

Stopping in to wish you all a Merry Christmas and to share a few more Christmas Cards. These are some I created last year for the Cricut Circle Magazine. Circle Members can find Gypsy files and directions here. These are from the November, 2010, magazine.

Happy Holidays card above uses Echo Park Merry Christmas paper and Imaginisce sentiment stamp.

Seasons Greetings card above uses Imaginisce Cottage Christmas collection and the Winter card below is all solid color cardstock with embossing.

Don't forget about all those magazines and gypsy files, Circle Members. You should take a few minutes and stroll back through the older Circle magazines and Circle blog posts.

Wondering what the Circle is?
The Cricut Circle is a membership program for Cricut enthusiasts. Membership is available by a quarterly or yearly subscription and includes benefits such as:

Cricut Circle Welcome Kit (Includes Exclusive Cricut Circle Cartridge, Official Circle Membership Certificate, Inspirational Bracelet with the exclusive Cricut Circle charm)
Exclusive Circle Only Cartridges (released once a quarter)
Extra Rewards Points (2 points for every $1 spent at Cricut.com — This does not include Circle Membership or renewals unless specifically stated)
An additional 10% off all Cricut.com purchases
Weekly prizes or Cricut.com credits from the Cricut Circle Blog or Other Prizes/Drawings
Circlets-Only Message Board
Monthly Cricut Circle PDF Magazine
Exclusive Cricut Circle Blog
And Much MORE!

For those of you curious about the Circle, once a month we will be giving you a “sneak peek” into projects created and featured for Cricut Circle Members. Cricut Circle Members receive over 60 exclusive project ideas a month through the Cricut Circle Blog and Cricut Circle PDF Magazine. And this is a sneak at just one of those!
To find out more about becoming a Cricut Circle Member, please CLICK HERE to visit the Cricut Circle Information Page. Happy Cricuting!

Another quick ornament

2011-12-20T21:05:00.001-05:00

Every year for the last few decades I've made personalized ornaments for family and friends. Each year more and more children are added to these families, making my ornament list quite long. I've finally given up and resorted to family ornaments for the large families, rather than individuals.

For this ornament, I started with a large glass ball. I typed out lines of the individuals names on regular copier paper and cut them into strips about 1/4" x 7" then curled them loosely and dropped them into the ornament along with a couple of small sprigs I cut off a greenery pick. This ornament has one strip of paper for each of the family's 9 grandchildren and 1 strip with the year 2011 on it.

For easier giving of the ornament, I used my Cricut Expression 2 and the Cricut Sweet Tooth Boxes cartridge and cut out a cupcake stand to sit it on. A quick SRM sticker on the front of the stand and it's ready to go. Kind of looks like a snow globe!

This one was super fast! Not quite as fast as this one that I used an SRM sticker on the ornament itself.

Super Quick Ornament

2011-12-18T13:44:00.000-05:00

This ornament goes together really quick. I used my Martha Stewart branch punch and punched a couple dozen branches from a piece of Pink Paislee paper (Green Acres from the Hometown Summer collection). I put the branches in a glass ornament, added an SRM sticker and draped a small ball ornament over the neck. Of course, there's always room for a bow or ribbon around the neck and other embellishments, but sometimes I really like the very simple.

You could always add tiny ornaments to the inside, too.

Winter Scene in Candle Jar

2011-12-17T09:00:00.000-05:00

I shared a Winter Scene ornament with you not long ago and I know a lot of you are intimidated about the cutting and placing the pieces down into the ornament. Here I'm sharing a candle jar I made for the Cricut Circle Blog last year. Same idea, just a little bigger with a bigger opening in an ivy jar with a votive candle holder in the top.

If you are a Circle Member you can go to the Circle Blog post for directions.

The Girls' Paperie patterned paper
American Crafts cardstock

Gonna sneak a little Valentine's Day in here

2011-12-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

The one thing that's hard to get used to when being on designing teams is the working way ahead of the holidays. By the time the holiday arrives for real, we've already moved on to the next. Today I'm sharing a little Valentine's containers to show the new Victorian Romance cartridge Provo Craft has released. It's a beautiful cartridge that includes cherubs, hearts, gift cones, etc. Stop over at the Cricut Blog and check out the images on this cartridge as well as a few other new cartridges, including some for the Imagine.

Paper:
Patterned: Bella Blvd
Cardstock: American Crafts, Core'dinations

New Cricut Craft Room digital packs released

2011-12-13T19:04:00.001-05:00

There's a few new Cricut Craft Room digital packs available from Provo Craft. Stop over at the Cricut Blog and check them out. I created the above card using the new Sea Shells pack and the below lanterns using the new 3D Chinese Lanterns. There's a few more packs including some by Teresa Collins so be sure to stop over there and check them out.

Christmas Countdown Tree

2011-12-11T12:30:00.001-05:00

This Countdown Tree is one that I created for the Cricut Circle Magazine last year. It's a pretty big project and took quite a while, but totally worth it. If you are a Circle Member you can find the directions in the November 2010 magazine.

For Information on joining the Circle, go here.

Imaginisce patterned paper and iRock
Core'Dinations cardstock
American Crafts Cardstock

Holiday Random Act (Craft) of Kindness

2011-12-05T17:32:00.001-05:00

It's the holiday season and I think, for the most part, we all try to be a little more giving. I try to, as best as time will allow. I'm fortunate enough to be creative and to have all my fabulous creative supplies, so with that alone I have a head start on a Random Act of Kindness or Random Craft of Kindness this holiday season.

We all know crafters are an enthusiastic, giving bunch of people and in light of this, ProvoCraft is having a Random Craft of Kindness contest on Facebook. I hope this inspires you to enter. You could win a Cricut Expression® 2.

I'm sharing today what I've done so far this season. I hope to do more. There's a nursing home just a block or two from my home and I drive by it several times a day, going to and from work and errands. Every time I drive by it, I give it a quick glance and smile, as I think of my Mom. As most of you know, Mom died back in April. This nursing home reminds me of Mom because her last few years were spent in a similar facility. Fortunately, the nursing home she was entrusted to in Maine was a great facility and staffed with people that really cared about her, including family and friends. While she was a substantial distance away from me, she had the good fortune to be near her sisters, as well as other family members. She was watched over by them. Even though she was visited often and cared for, I know that there are many in the nursing homes that are not afforded the same and it can be a very lonely life for them, especially during the holidays.

Because of that, this holiday season I've made up several cards and have taken them to this local nursing home. I've asked the staff to distribute them as they see fit, whether it be to residents that don't receive cards or to residents that would like to give a card to someone special. I'm sure they know who will get the most happiness from them.

I used just two different card designs and made several of each. These cards are probably the most 'clean and simple' I've ever done. I kept them simple because I made a dozen of them and if time allows, as we get closer to Christmas, I can easily make a dozen more.

They were quick to create with the Cricut Craft Room, my Imagine machine, Imagine Snow Angel cartridge and Cricut Scandinavian Cards cartridge. The card bases were cut from Scandinavian Cards cartridge, flood filled with patterns from the Snow Angel Cartridge. Quick cutting and assembling then a little embellishment with ribbon, 3D paint and the ever handy SRM Stickers sentiments.

I stacked twelve of them and tied them up in green string, adding another Imagine cut ornament and ribbon with more SRM stickers. Nothing too elaborate, but still in the holiday spirit.

Are you doing any Random Act (Craft) of kindness this holiday season? Be sure to enter the Cricut Random Craft of Kindness Contest on Facebook Can't wait to see what you've done to brighten someone's holiday.

ETA: Don't think that even the smallest RAK isn't worth the effort. A couple of days after delivering these cards to the nursing home, I got a call from a volunteer there that also volunteers at another local nursing home asking if I could make more for the other nursing home. Absolutely!

A Couple of Christmas Cards

2011-12-05T12:40:00.001-05:00

Happy Monday everyone. Just wanted to let you know I have a couple of cards showing over at the Cricut Blog . I can't believe how fast the time is passing. Christmas will be here before you know it!

Be sure to stop over there for the Cricut Craft Room and/or Gypsy files.

Cricut Machines Used: Cricut Expression 2 Electronic Cutting Machine, Cricut Craft Room Free Online Design Tool, Cricut Imagine, Cuttlebug
Cricut Cartridges Used: Cricut Craft Room Exclusive Holiday Gift Tags (center medallian), Cricut Craft Room Exclusive Banners (sentiment banner), Creative Memories ‘Tis the Season (cardinal), Elegant Edges (lace edge panel), Imagine Lori’s Garden
Other Supplies: Cuttlebug Crown Rosette Quilling Set, Cuttlebug Christmas Embossing Folder Set (Merry Christmas), Cardstock (white, green, red, kraft, orange), Patterned Paper (Imagine Lori’s Garden), Sentiment Sticker (SRM Stickers), 3D paint (red, clear), Paper roses, button, ribbon, inks

Have a great week and as always, thanks for stopping by!

Winter Scene in a Glass Ornament

2011-12-02T09:29:00.001-05:00

How great are these square glass ornaments. So much easier to work with than the round. I picked them up a couple of years ago at Michael's after Christmas sale.

For the images inside I used my Cricut Expression 2 Anniversary Edition and Winter Woodland cartridge. I love that cartridge! I used Cricut Craft Room to size and cut the images. These images are small but cut out perfectly on the Expression 2.

Once I assembled the 3D trees, I dripped white 3D paint on the branch edges. The deer is only embellished with a little inking and a marker eye.

I adhered the images to the bottom of the ornament with Helmar's Liquid Scrap Dots. While the adhesive was still wet a sprinkled in some 'snow'. The snow was made rubbing to styrofoam balls together :) .

While there's not much to it, if you want the exact same measurements I used, you care welcome to my cut files - Craft Room file here or the Gypsy file here.

Have a great weekend!

Materials:
American Crafts cardstock (green, brown)
Cricut Expression 2 Anniversary Edition
Cricut Winter Woodland cartridge
Cricut Craft Room
Helmar's Liquid Scrap Dots
3D Paint, Crinkle Ribbon, Snowflake button, styrofoam pieces, glass ornament

Link parties:
Simply Designing
Thirty Handmade Days
Somewhat Simple
Someday Crafts

Pumpkin Box with CCR file

2011-11-23T19:41:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Just a quick share of this box I created to house a treat or small gift. Perhaps something for the kids table at your Thanksgiving gathering.

There's lots of room for embellishing here. You can go as little or as much as you like. The basic box above takes just a few minutes. I didn't go crazy with embellishing because I wanted to get it posted this evening in case you had some last minute Thanksgiving gifts or table decor to do.

Here's a picture to show where the score lines are. I didn't include them on the cut file because I don't care for the appearance of score lines on my projects. I also didn't score down between each petal, but you can and it makes it a little easier to assemble.

Hope you find this file useful. Try it in red for an apple, or

You can download the Cricut Craft Room cut file HERE. The file includes a liner that you can cut from vellum or a patterned paper that could hold your treat inside the box.

Cartridges used:
Mini Monsters (tombstone shapes for petals)
Space Party (cupcake base)
George and Basic Shapes (holes for string/ribbon)
Flower Shoppe (leaves)

We Believe

2011-11-21T16:15:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone. It's my turn over at the Cricut Blog and I've shared my project using stamp blocks that I didn't mount my stamps to. Find your blocks and create a holiday display . Stop over at the Cricut Blog for directions and details of this project.

New Cuttlebug Rosette dies and embossing folders

2011-11-18T12:30:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday night. Hope you all have a great weekend planned. Tonight I'm sharing a card using the new Cuttlebug Rosette Dies. I used them to create a wreath by not closing them tightly in the center. I love these things. They cut and fold so fast because you don't have all that scoring to do. I also used a new embossing folder from the Christmas Set, now available on Cricut.com.

I couldn't resist this penguin to go with the embossing folder. It's from the Joys of the Season cartridge and though it's a retired cartridge, you can still get it as a digital cartridge. I didn't put more than the penguin on here because I wanted you to see the really great embossing folder.

Materials:
Cricut Expression 2
Cuttlebug Embossing Machine
Cricut Joys of the Season cartridge
Cuttlebug Christmas Set Embossing folders
Cuttlebug Crown Rosettes set embossing dies

Other: Cardstock (black, red, white, gold), Imaginisce iRock and gems, Helmar adhesives, 3D paint (gold, Viva Decor), Sewing Supplies, Ribbon, button, string.

Cricut Craftroom for everyone

2011-11-09T18:20:00.000-05:00

Cricut Craft Room is Now Open!

Cricut Craft Room is a free online design tool that puts thousands of creative possibilities at your fingertips. With Cricut Craft Room, you can view and design with the entire Cricut image library and cut with all the images you own. With a great search tool, Cricut Craft Room lets you find anything you’re looking for and you can create anytime, anywhere. Cricut Craft Room works with any laptop or desktop computer, on a PC or Mac - all you need is a computer with an Internet connection.

Cricut Craft Room Features:

Free to use
Access online from anywhere, anytime
Easy-to-use program
Design on a big screen
View and design with all Cricut cartridges
Search to easily find the right image
Digitally store all your cartridges and projects
Windows and Mac-compatible
Explore exclusive online content
Works with all Cricut Machines

Cricut Craft Room comes with a free online cartridge called Cricut Craft Room Basics

CLICK HERE to learn more about Cricut Craft Room and to GET STARTED!

TO SEE SOME FABULOUS PROJECTS USING THE CRICUT CRAFT ROOM AND FREE CRAFT ROOM BASICS CARTRIDGE, stop over at THE CRICUT BLOG.

A little belly laugh to start your week!

2011-11-07T07:53:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday, friends. Sharing a card today that has been sitting here waiting to be assembled for a long time. The image came from a CD full of thousands of images I bought on eBay years ago.

Every now and then I make up the components for several cards. I start with images, whether printed or colored, and choose my papers, and then assembly line them into cards. I cut the various sizes and panels, mats, etc., and head to the sewing machine for the edge stitching. Once that is done I'm ready to choose embellishments and assemble the final cards. It just feels like I'm getting more done more efficiently that way. This one got stranded around a busy time and I never got it finished until last night.

The patterned paper K&Company . The letters are really fun chipboard letters from The Girls' Paperie and the scrolls on the left side are from a set of Cuttlebug 2x6 border dies .

Seriously... doesn't he make you smile? and the little dog next to him?

Have a great week!

Winner of My Memories Software

2011-11-05T12:00:00.000-04:00

Hope you are all having a great weekend. Just popping in to announce the winner of the software, but while I'm here, wanted to send you Circle members over to the Cricut Circle blog to check out my projects for today ... Autumn treats... here's a little peek!








The winner of the My Memories Suite 2 software is.........(shoot me an email with your preferred email and I'll get the download code for you. cindy.royal @ gmail.com)

Cricut Couplesaid...: This is is so cool! I love your designs! I have been seeing this all over the place. The Christmas packages have been my favorites from what I have seen. Maybe with something like this, I could get some scrapbooking done. Hee! Hee! I seem to only be making cards for... like... the last YEAR! Hee! Hee!

Don't forget you can buy the software with a discount using this promotion code STMMMS69026 to get $10.00 of the cost of My Memories Suite v2 AND $10.00 to spend on digital scrappy papers and embellishments from their store! That's a $20.00 value. With the discount, credit and all the fabulous FREE elements, kits and papers, you could be well on your way to creating Christmas gifts of photo books, calendars, or just catching up with some scrapping. Just go here to purchase the software, enter this number (copy and paste it for ensured accuracy) STMMMS69026. I'll leave the information in my sidebar.

Here's a video showing you that you can easily use the software to create simple all photo layouts. used for photo books, coffee table books, etc. You don't have to add all the embellishments.

*Using PHOTO ONLY Template Albums & Pages* from Lisa Jurrens on Vimeo.

and a PDF of instructions HERE.

Expression 2 on Canada's shopping channel

2011-11-03T13:15:00.002-04:00

Just spreading the word for my Canadian readers because I LOVE my E2 and you need one, too!

…………………………………………………………………………
November 3rd, 2011
11:00 p.m.
November 4th, 2011
9:00 am, Noon, 3:00 pm, and 7:00 pm
…………………………………………………………………………

Expression 2 Electronic Cutting Machine with 2 Full Content Cartridges (Cricut Essentials & Cricut Alphabet)
Art Nouveau (Full Content Cartridge)
Phrases (Full Content Cartridge)
.
Cricut American Alphabet

.
Cricut Essentials

.

Art Nouveau and Phrases

…………………………………………………………………………

Yudu Cardshop Machine

My Memories Suite - a review and giveaway

2011-10-31T07:56:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween Monday. Hope you all had a great weekend. Mine went a little too fast, but was a good one none-the-less.

Today I again have a post that's a little different for me. My Memories asked me if I would like to receive and review their digital scrapbooking software. Most of you know that I'm not a scrapper, but I'm always up for a challenge and wanted to check out the software from a non-scrapper's view.

It was fun trying things out, poking around in this program. Actually, it can be a wee bit addicting.

This page went together pretty quick and I really like the way it came out.

For this page I wanted to try more layers, more embellishments. Check out the stitching, too :) .

After I uploaded the above page here to my blog post, I decided there was too much pink, so I went back to the software and changed the background paper, leaving everything else the same. I fixed the page more to my liking in just a few seconds.

This next one took merely a few seconds to create! I used a "quick page", meaning all I had to do was add the photo and I was done! Just think how fast you could make a scrapbook for a gift, scrap a party or event. You could easily make several to give friends and family members. Great gifts!

Below is my initial playing around with the software, trying things out, getting a feel for moving them around, forward and backward, etc. It dawned on me doing this that this is the perfect software for me to create 'sketches' for pages or cards. I've made sketches in the past and admit some level of frustration doing it. This program is perfect for it! I could also print this for a generic Hello card for quick notes.

So.... a non-scrapper's view of My Memories Suite v2 digital scrapbooking software.   I really did enjoy using this software and I will continue to use it. I will use it in conjunction with my Your Story to create photo books and I will definitely use it as a designing aid for my paper crafting.   I'll probably continue to use it for scrapping. It certainly was easy enough.

While it's called digital scrapbooking software, it's not limited to digital scrapbooking. You can create photo books, calendars, photo cards, DVDs, IPOD files, and more. You can start digitally, print and embellish with your scrappy supplies. While I didn't get a chance to try the interactive feature, IPOD or DVD file creating, or inserting music, I bet it is pretty darn cool!   Check out all the amazing papers, embellishments, kits, etc., available in the My Memories store. Many are free.

Ok... now the giveaway and some discount information...
My Memories not only gave me a free download of the software to use, they gave me a second download to give to a reader of my blog.

For a chance to win this software, stop over at the My Memories store and tell me what first caught your eye there. What do you love? I love the Halloween kit! There's some pretty awesome packages right on the front page, but there's also a lot a fun stuff throughout the site OR you can just tell me whether you've ever played with digital scrapbooking software before... like it? intimidated by it? (This software is easy.. you won't be intimidated).

Discount information: In addition to my giving one away, any of you and your family and friends can use this promotion code STMMMS69026 to get $10.00 of the cost of My Memories Suite v2 AND $10.00 to spend on digital scrappy papers and embellishments from their store! That's a $20.00 value. You could be well on your way to creating Christmas gifts, scrapping your Halloween, and more.   Just go here to purchase the software, enter this number (copy and paste it for ensured accuracy) STMMMS69026 .

I'll choose a random winner on Saturday afternoon, 11/05/11. Good luck. Even if you aren't a scrapper, you'll enjoy this program.

For more information on My Memories Suite, check out the My Memories videos on youtube.

Use Code STMMMS69026 for $10.00 off the program and $10.00 store credit.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by today!

Boo?

2011-10-26T12:21:00.000-04:00

Boo?

This little trick or treater isn't so sure about this stop!

Stop over at the Cricut Blog for cartridge details and some more Halloween Inspiration!

Sentiments from SRM stickers.

Provo Craft's October Hello Thursday

2011-10-22T09:24:00.000-04:00

This week Provo Craft revealed lots of new cartridges, including some new Imagine cartridges. I always love to see new Imagine cartridges. With this new Santa's Village cartridge I printed a couple of the really great images onto glassine bags for great treat bags for candy and cookie gifts. The cartridge has tags and bags as well! Santa's Village is a must have for your Christmas creating.

This is only one of over a dozen new cartridges! Stop over at the Cricut Blog and check out the rest of the new carts and designer samples.

Costumes with the Cricut

2011-10-20T12:39:00.001-04:00

Halloween will be here before you know it and maybe you are having trouble coming up with a costume idea. Here I've used my Cricut and the Cricut Chic and Scary cartridge by Teresa Collins to whip up a mask suitable for a child or adult or even a balloon.

Halloween Mask

Instructions:
1. Cut mask at 3.5 from black cardstock and emboss with Happy Hauntings embossing folder.
2. Cut two more masks from purple cardstock at 3.5 and place behind black mask; one off-centered to the top and left, and one to the bottom and right to create a shadow.
3. Stitch around edges.
4. Cut spider web at 3.5 from gray cardstock. *Tip: Cut 3 of them and stack them for extra support.
5. Embellish with gems.
6. Cut spider at .75 from black cardstock and adhere to web with black foam adhesive.
7. Add web to mask with black foam adhesive.
8. Cut a spider at 3 from black cardstock.
9. Add black button to head and embellish eyes with gems.
10. Add large button to body that has thin purple paper strips run through holes for thread.
11. Adhere to mask with black foam adhesive.
12. Punch hole in each side of mask and run black elastic lace through; knotting at back of each hole.

PROVO CRAFT SUPPLIES:
• Cricut Expression Machine
• Cuttlebug Machine
• Cricut Chic and Scary Cartridge
• Happy Hauntings companion set embossing folders
Other Supplies:
• Cardstock (black, purple, grey)
• Sewing supplies
• Black foam adhesive
• Buttons and gems

Here's a really cool Pizza Man costume by Jana Eubank!

Instructions:
1. Using scissors, cut red fabric to a 12″ x 12″ square and follow the package directions to apply Heat N’ Bond Ultra to wrong side of fabric with an iron. Place fabric face down on mat. Apply a few strips of masking tape around the edge of the fabric to prevent it from lifting and sliding while cutting.
2. Load the Deep Cut Blade into your Cricut Expression machine and set blade depth to 6. Using the Plantin SchoolBook cartridge, cut multiple 1.10″ squares from red fabric.
3. Adhere squares to the apron and brim of chef hat in a checkerboard pattern using an iron.
4. Next, use the Gypsy device and Lite Billionaire cartridge to weld together the letters to spell the word “Pizza”. Cut two words from black vinyl, one at 3″ for the apron and the other at 1.9″ for the hat. Apply to apron & hat with transfer tape and tools from Cricut Tool Kit.
5. Using the Lite Billionaire cartridge, cut a 0.90″ mustache from black vinyl.
6. Place apron and hat on child. Have child wear the vinyl mustache.
7. Using the Simply Charmed cartridge, cut the pizza slice and all of its layers from cardstock for a costume accessory. Laminate with the YourStory machine for durability, if desired.

What you’ll need:
PROVO CRAFT SUPPLIES:
• Cricut Expression Machine
• Gypsy Handheld Design Device
• Deep Cut Blade
• Cricut Tool Kit
• Plantin SchoolBook Cartridge
• Lite Billionaire Cartridge
• Simply Charmed Cartridge
• YourStory Machine
• Cricut Vinyl – Raven
• Cricut Transfer Tape

Other Supplies:

• Laminating Pouches
• White Apron
• White Chef Hat
• Red Fabric
• Heat N’ Bond Ultra
• Cardstock for Pizza (Tan, Black, Orange, Dark Red, Green)
• Adhesives
• Masking Tape
• Scissors
• Iron
.
A few of my fellow design team members also created some really fun costumes using Provo Craft products. Check ‘em out!

And a couple of super fun costumes by Kristen Swain

Flower Child Costume

Instructions:
1. Cut flowers and circles from each color of vinyl; 5 of each piece at 4.41 inches flowers and 1.59 inches for circles.
2. Adhere vinyl shapes to jeans and t-shirt; mixing colors of centers and flowers.
3. Add solid vest and handkerchief headband to finish flower child costume.
What you’ll need:
PROVO CRAFT SUPPLIES
• Cricut Expression
• Gypsy Handheld Device
• Cricut Vinyl – Burnt Umber orange, Ice Blue, Lilac Purple, Lime Green, Yellow, Ruby Red, Rose Pink
• Cricut Classic Font- cut at 4.41 inches (remove tag holes), 1.59 inches. (Cut out flowers and smaller circles, adhere to clothing as desired, using smaller circles for centers of flowers on pants, and using flower centers in flowers on shirt.)
.

Smarty Pants Costume

Instructions:
1. Use Cricut Vinyl and Cricut Expression to cut out letters for t-shirt.
2. Peel off backing and adhere to shirt as shown.
3. Brush hair into middle part, add thick rimmed glasses and pull pants up over waist.

What you will need:
PROVO CRAFT SUPPLIES:
• Cricut Expression
• Simply Sweet Cricut Cartridge – “I” “M” “C” letters at 2.57 inches. 2 at 1.73 inches. ii ( for equal sign) at 1.21 inches
• Baby Steps Cricut Cartridge – heart at 2.53 inches
• Cricut Vinyl colors- Raven and Ruby Red
Other Supplies:
• T-shirt

.

Trick or Treat

2011-10-10T07:44:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday. Amazingly, Halloween is almost here. I managed to sneak this Halloween card in this weekend between other paper crafting assignments. The super cute digital image is one of Wendy's over at Digital Delights by Louby Loo. It looks like this image is on sale for only $1.00 for the month of October!!

The trick or treat sentiments are SRM stickers. Really love using those stickers!

Cricut Cartridges used:
George and Basic Shapes (circles)
Happy Hauntings (bats)
Mini Monsters (spider web)

Cuttlebug Mini Monsters companion set emboss folder.

Colored with Copics.

Have a great week and always, thanks for stopping by!

Challenges:

The Paper Shelter - halloween

Freshly Brewed Challenge 67 - Pumpkins
Little Darlings Challenge 8 - Fall or Halloween
Sparkles Forum Challenge 22 - Halloween
2 Sisters Challenge 60 - Halloween
Crafty Calendar October Challenge - Spooky
Challenge up your life #54 - Halloween
Fussy and Fancy Challenge - Fall or Halloween
Victorine Originals Challenge 18 - Halloween
Cupcake Craft Challenge 163 - Halloween

Girl and Pony

2011-10-04T19:57:00.002-04:00

Another found image in my pile of uncolored images. This one is a Karen's Doodles image. I always find it a challenge to color something white or black.

Details:
Image: Karen's Doodles
Paper: Paper Temptress Heavenly White Ultrasmooth
Coloring: Copics
Border Punch: EK Success Scrolls and Dots
Half Pearls by Teresa Collins
Pattern paper is printed on American Crafts cardstock using my Imagine and the Nursery Tails cartridge
Used Sketch from Outlawz sketch challenge. Was just what I needed for this big image.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you are having a great week so far.

Monday!

2011-10-03T07:48:00.000-04:00

Hope you had a great weekend! I'll make no comment on mine. Just thought I'd share this amusing image with you. Another I found in my 'pile' waiting to be colored. I'm really enjoying getting back into the Copic coloring. Of course, now I find I really need more Copics! My favorite place to shop for them is Oozak

Details:
Not a lot to this card. I had printed the image fairly large to allow me to color details.
Image is by Sassy Cheryl
Cardstock: American Crafts
Patterned paper: Bella Blvd
Flowers: quilled using Cuttlebug Chrysanthemum quilling kit.
Scroll cut: Cricut Essentials cartridge
other: sewing supplies, Copics

You're a Gem - Happy Card Making Day!

2011-10-01T08:37:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since I've had a chance to color with my Copics. I came across a few images recently that I had printed and never got around to coloring, so I thought I see if I still knew how!

Isn't she cute? Kind of?

I hope many of you get a chance to be creative today and make a card or two. Have a great weekend!

Details:
Image: Wink Wink Ink (Note: When I went to link the image to the store Wink Wink Ink, I discovered she has closed shop several months ago. That's too bad. I always liked her images.)
Cardstock: American Crafts
Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye
Rhinestones are from Teresa Collins
Gem cut image is from Cricut Indie Arts cartridge
Other: liquid glass, shimmer spray, sewing supplies, Copics

Challenges:
Lollipop Crafts - Anything Goes
Critter Sketch - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Pennys - Anything Goes
4 Crafty Chicks - Anything Goes
Paper Sundaes - Anything goes

Digistamps 4 Joy - Anything goes
Outlawz Copics/Promarkers challenge - Anything goes

The launch of ... bubbles?

2011-09-26T18:48:00.002-04:00

No, not really. Today was the launch of Provo Craft's Expression 2. Details HERE . One of the many great features of this machine is the two preloaded cartridges, Cricut Alphabet and Cricut Essentials. I love the fun alphabet on Cricut Alphabet and used it to make the Bubbles sign for this Bubble Station.

Vintage Birthday

2011-09-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since I've worked with vintage images, yet they are probably my favorite images to use on cards. I'm going to get back into them. You can do a search for free vintage images and come up with lots of sources for them. I get them free online, pay for some online and have several CDs of them. I'll be posting a few soon for Halloween. Vintage Halloween images make the best cards and tags.

I made a coordinating box for this card. The crinkled seam binding is from Kristen. I find this easy to use, particularly since I'm all thumbs when it comes to tying ribbon. This ribbon is so forgiving.

The really cool scrolly pieces are Cuttlebug Cut and Emboss Ornamental Iron. This is a set of two pieces - a die for cutting various shapes, including the scroll above and an embossing folder to coordinate with the pattern. I hadn't used this before and know I will be going to it more now that I have. The sentiment inside is a large Birthday Greetings sticker from SRM Stickers.

Patterned paper is K&Company. The gold tone piece is something I probably picked up on eBay.

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

ETA: Have had a few requests asking where this particular image came from and I honestly didn't think I'd be able to come up with it. I have a habit of downloading things in a hurry, with no organization to it. I surprised myself and found this one in a folder called Clearly Vintage Blogspot! Here is the direct link to this image, but be sure to look around at all the other great images.

Those trendy bicycles

2011-09-21T10:02:00.002-04:00

Seems like bikes are a trend these days and using a bicycle cut was my prompt for my post today on the Cricut Blog, so I created these three cards using 3 different bikes, 3 different occasions/sentiments.

More details over at the Cricut Blog
.
If you are a Circle member, you are getting a double dose of me today, as I'm posting over at the Circle Blog too.Today we are at the letter T in the alphabet and we all know T is for Tags! Hop over there and see me.

Thanks for stopping by.

(Crinkle seam binding on top card courtesy of Kristen - go check out her shop)

Picture to Canvas - a review

2011-09-18T09:50:00.002-04:00

Something a little different today. Not long ago, Easy Canvas Prints contacted me asking if I would like to receive and review a picture on canvas. First thing I did was check out their website and let me just say I thoroughly enjoyed playing, creating canvasses, changing sizes, changing edges, moving the picture around on the canvas. The most difficult part was deciding on which picture to use.

I had just returned from my trip to Maine and had this cute photo of my granddaughters eating Fudgesicles. Something as simple as Fudgesicles yet they had never had them before and obviously loved them.

Here's my starting picture.

I made a little color adjustment in my photo software.

and then 'sent' it to the Easy Canvas Prints website and barely a week later, here it is...

My photography does this canvas no justice at all. I can't begin to tell you how fabulous this came out. When it arrived and I opened it, my granddaughter and I both gasped (then, of course, with the reminder in the photo, she asked me if I had any Fudgesicles). The quality of this picture is outstanding. What really amazes me is this picture was taken on my cellphone and was transformed to an 11 x 14 canvas and it came out perfect! I had intended on giving this to my father for Christmas, as a reminder of his great-granddaughters' visit, but now I don't know. I may have a hard time parting with it.

I encourage you to check it out. The website is easy to maneuver and the end result is amazing. You upload your picture and Easy Canvas Prints will turn your pictures to canvas.

Right now, until 9/22, they are having a buy one get one free, 25% discount AND free shipping! You can't go wrong doing your Christmas shopping right now! That's only a couple of days so get your camera snapping and order your pictures on canvas right away.

Pictures on Canvas

Yes, I was perked a canvas, but by no means did that influence my opinion in this review. I love the canvas!

Almost Halloween

2011-09-15T07:47:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's already the middle of September. That means Thanksgiving and Christmas will soon be here. First we need to get through Halloween. Here's a project I made using SRM's tubes and Cricut cartridges.

The box top and bottom are made with cupcake boxes and inserts from Sweet Tooth Boxes, cut much smaller than cupcakes. To give it the height I need to accommodate the tubes, I added a sleeve of acetate (packaging from Cricut products).

My most favorite spider on any Cricut cartridge and my favorite spider web. The spider is on October 31st and the web is on Teresa Collins Chic and Scary.

The pumpkin and the letters are from Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons. You can get Creative Memories cartridges from Joy's Creative Memories site.

What do you think? While it may be a little too labor intensive for all your trick or treaters, it's a great Halloween treat for a family or a few special tricksters. Better go over to SRM and get some tubes!

CTMH Art Philosophy card (and winner)

2011-09-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

(Please excuse the poor quality pictures. I seriously need a good camera!)

One of Provo Craft's newer cartridges is the Close To My Heart Art Philosophy cartridge that comes with chipboard pieces and clear stamps. The entire card is cut using Art Philosophy, including the card shape itself and the rolled flowers. This cartridge is one with a little bit of everything - frames, images, font, bags, boxes, rolled flowers, borders. It will definitely be a go-to cartridge.

To get your hands a CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge bundle, stop over and see Melanie . It can only be obtained through Close To My Heart consultants.

Paper is Cosmo Cricket

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The winner of the Embossed Tags embossing folder is.................... #54

Now that August is over, I plan to start working on......cleaning, organizing(craftroom) and getting some scrapbooking pages finished :)

Helen
http://scrapbookingfunbiz.blogspot.com/

Send me an email with your mailing address, Helen, and I'll get this out to you. cindy.royal @ gmail.com

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great rest of the week.

Cricut 5th Anniversary Promotion

2011-09-02T15:00:00.003-04:00

Have you heard about the Cricut.com 5^th anniversary promotion of the Cricut Expression 2 Anniversary Edition? Click on the image below for details.

Good luck to those that enter.Have a great, safe holiday weekend!

Cuttlebug Embossing Plus giveaway

2011-08-30T21:28:00.001-04:00

Well, it's been awhile since I've given something away. How about this Embossing Plus folder for the Cuttlebug - Embossed Tags. (Thanks so much Provo Craft for making this available to me to give away). It's a set of tags that cut, emboss, and then you can ink the embossed area if you like.

For a chance to win, be a follower and then answer this question in the comments: Now that August is over, I plan to start working on ......... (something crafty).

Good luck. Stop back here on 9/7 to see if you've won.

Back to School "To Do" chart

2011-08-29T09:30:00.001-04:00

It's been back to school theme the month of August at the Cricut Blog and today I'm sharing a project to hopefully help the little ones get things done in the morning and at night.

Check it out over at the Cricut Blog. Be sure to stop in there and let us know what you think.

Have a great week!!

Hello Thursday with Teresa Collins

2011-08-18T20:26:00.002-04:00

It's Hello Thursday again at ProvoCraft and this month there's just one new cartridge revealed, but it's a great cartridge!

Stop over at the Cricut Blog and check out the design samples using Teresa Collins new Chic and Scary Halloween cartridge.

Cricut Imagine on fabric for Back to School

2011-08-12T08:02:00.001-04:00

Embellished tote bag using the Cricut Imagine. Check it out at the Cricut Blog.

On the road again....

2011-08-10T09:02:00.000-04:00

Well I'm off, back on the road to Maine. This trip will include myself, my daughter and three of my granddaughters. I thought I'd have a little fun and created some vinyl images to put on the van windows. This way everyone outside knows what we're dealing with inside!

The pictures aren't very clear, but I have to say the vinyl came out great and look pretty good on the windows. I applied them to the far back windows so as not to obstruct any vision while driving.

While the reason for our journey is to bury my mother, who died April 11, we are looking forward to the family gathering and just being in Maine. It's our favorite place. We'll be staying on Deer Isle, but Mom will be buried on an island 6 miles out in the ocean called Isle au Haut. She grew up on there. The island is beautiful. My grandparents are buried there and that's where she wanted to be buried as well, so we are fulfilling her wishes. We have a very small family cemetery behind the church you see in this LINK of Isle au Haut pictures.

The one room school house just celebrated it's 100th anniversary a couple of weeks ago. Mom went to school there. Right now there are 3 students at the school.

When the lighthouse was a working lighthouse, my great-grandfather was the light-keeper. Such a great place with a great family history! Population is about 50 year round, with a few dozen more during the summer.

Re: Vinyl Images: Lettering is from Cricut Learning Curve cartridge and the speech bubbles are from Paper Pups.

Hello Thursday

2011-07-28T20:55:00.013-04:00

Hey friends.... it's the third Thursday of the month and that's Hello Thursday on Cricut fans' calendars! If you are a Circle member, you got a nice peek yesterday on the Cricut Circle blog. Today you can hop over to the Cricut Blog and check out some fabulous new cartridges and designer samples using them.

These little note cards are made with the Cricut Circle exclusive cartridge, Sophie.

This card is made using the amazing new cartridge, Art Nouveau.

Announced at CHA - the new Cricut Mini!

2011-07-19T12:27:00.000-04:00

This is the newest to the Cricut family... the mini. It is to be used in conjunction with the Cricut Craftroom and is not a stand alone machine. Can't wait to get to play with this one!

CricutMini

CricutCraftroom

Magazine Winners

2011-07-07T14:28:00.000-04:00

Thanks everyone, for commenting and sharing your favorite cartridges! Winners of the magazines are numbers 21 and 17...

Samantha J Designs (Wife2TJ) said... 17: Congratulations!!! I love your projects, so pretty!!! Hmmm....my 3 favorite carts right now? Would have to be birthday bash, Baby steps, and 3 birds on parade :-) TFS!!! -Sam :-) SamanthaJDesigns @ hotmail.com SamanthaJDesigns.blogspot.com

............................. and ...................................

Mel said... 21: My 3 favorite cartridges are: Create A Critter, Pack Your Bags, and Mickey and Friends. Your project is wonderful... I can see why they published it. You must autograph the one you send out! ;)

Email me your mailing addresses ladies, and I'll get these mailed out. cindy.royal@gmail.com

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-04T08:41:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th of July everyone. Just sharing a card that I made last year (actually, I made it twice - long story). Unfortunately I don't remember the details other than the image is a digital design by Digital Delights by Louby Loo.

As I look at this, I'm loving the scrolly fence on top... I believe it's from the Straight From The Nest cartridge. Actually, I believe all of the images are from that cartridge. I also see the Cuttlebug Candy Cane Stripes and Stars embossing folder. Hmmm... maybe I remember the details better than I thought.

Hope you are having a great holiday weekend, whether it be doing nothing at all or celebrating big time.

As always, thanks for stopping by. I do appreciate your visits and words!

If you haven't already, be sure to comment HERE for a chance to win an issue of the June/July Cricut Magazine.

May Your Bobbin Always be Full

2011-07-01T03:58:00.000-04:00

Don't you think this would be a good card/gift for a sewist? Of course, I had to put lots of stitching on the card, too. The "Candy Tube" is from SRM Stickers but certainly useful for more than candy! I filled this up with colored bobbins.

The Best Wishes on the card and the tube are stickers from SRM, as well. I really love using stickers for sentiments.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a fabulous long weekend!! If you haven't already, be sure to comment HERE for a chance to win a copy of the June/July Cricut Magazine.

Sentiments:
Best Wishes on the card and tube (SRM Stickers)
May Your Bobbin Always be Full (Computer Generated)

Cricut Cartridges:
Dress Form (French Manor)
Sewing Machine (Nifty Fifties)

Cuttlebug embossing
Sewing machine (Polka Dots)

Paper:
Cardstock (American Crafts)
Patterned Paper (Pink Paislee)

The winner of H2O cartridge is...

2011-06-30T10:49:00.001-04:00

First... thanks, all of you, for taking a minute to leave a comment. I truly enjoy reading them!

Winner is #50....

Lsunflower58 said... 50: I am looking forward to sitting by the campfire and toasting Marshmallows with one hand and a frozen drink in the other. Thanks for all the inspiration you and your Blog brings.Linda Harris

Shoot me an email Linda with your mailing address. cindy.royal@gmail. com

Thanks for stopping by. Have a fabulous long weekend!! If you haven't already, be sure to comment HERE for a chance to win a copy of the June/July Cricut Magazine.

GiveAway - Cricut Magazine June/July

2011-06-28T21:00:00.006-04:00

Northridge Media used a party set of mine in their June/July Cricut magazine and sent me a couple of copies of the magazine itself. I have a couple already, so I thought maybe a couple of my readers would like a copy. If you don't already subscribe to this magazine, or haven't picked it up yet ( Michael's and Joann's carry it), you are missing out on a very nice magazine.

If you'd like a copy, leave me a comment here for a chance to receive one. Tell me your favorite (so far) cartridge of Provo Crafts... impossible task.. make it your top 3 favorite cartridges.

I'll choose two winners on July 6th . Be sure to check back on Thursday, July 7th, to see if you will be receiving one. As usual, spread the word and come back to let me know for another chance.

You still have a day to comment on the H2O cartridge HERE

Cartridges used on this set: Cindy Loo, Mother's Day Seasonal, Once Upon a Princess, Walk In My Garden

ETA: YOU should submit some of your work to be published. It's not hard and your work DOESN'T have to be complicated or elaborate. Here's the link with the list of what they need when. GO FOR IT!!!

Red, White and Blue

2011-06-27T07:56:00.004-04:00

As posted on the Cricut Blog, here's a couple of patriotic cards I made using Bazzill papers and the Cricut Stand and Salute cartridge. The colors and patterns on the Star shaped card are printing on the Imagine using the Buccaneer cartridge. All the images are cut from the Stand and Salute cartridge , including the star shape of the card.

Cricut Cartridges Used: Stand and Salute, Imagine Buccaneer
Other Supplies: Cardstock (Bazzill Basics), Patterned Paper printed on the Imagine, Star-Shaped Sewing Supplies, Glue Arts Adhesives

Thanks for stopping by.

Don't forget my cartridge giveaway HERE.

Cartridge giveaway - H2O

2011-06-25T10:37:00.003-04:00

Hello friends... just popping in today to have a giveaway of a fun Summer cartridge. This one is H2O cartridge and perfect for summer layouts, cards, etc.

For a chance to win, be a follower and comment to tell me what are you looking most forward to this summer. I'll choose a winner on Wednesday, June 29. Be sure to stop back on Thursday to see if you won.

As usual, spread the word about this giveaway and come back to let me know where for another chance.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hello Thursday #3 for June

2011-06-23T21:22:00.000-04:00

More amazing new cartridges from Provo Craft this month. This box is made using the new Sweet Tooth Boxes. LOVE this cartridge. Full of fun boxes!

The cartridge has the fun boxes and inserts, too.

Cricut Machines Used: Cricut Expression 2: Anniversary Edition, Cricut Imagine, Cuttlebug
Cricut Cartridges Used: Sweet Tooth Boxes, Imagine Enjoy the Seasons, Cricut Essentials Internal E2 Cartridge
Other Cricut Supplies: Cuttlebug Paper Lace 2 Embossing Folder, Cuttlebug Musical Flourish Embossing Folder, Cuttlebug Candy Cane Stripe Embossing Folder, Cuttlebug Daisy Quilling Kit
Other Supplies: Cardstock (white), Adhesives (Glue Arts), Acetate, Lace, Shimmer Spray Mist

Be sure to stop over to the Cricut Blog and check out the new cartridges. There are "Event" cartridges and "Project" cartridges being introduced this month and you will be amazed at the design samples.

June Hello Thursday #2

2011-06-16T19:00:00.006-04:00

It's time for the 2nd of three Hello Thursdays in June from Provo Craft. Here's a couple of things I made using a couple of the new cartridges.

This one from Ornamental Iron 2.....

Cricut Machines Used: Cricut Expression, Cuttlebug Machine
Cricut Cartridges Used: Ornamental Iron 2, Everyday Pop-Up Cards
Other Cricut Supplies: Daisy Quilling Kit
Other: Cardstock (American Crafts), Patterned Paper (Pink Paislee), Sentiment Sticker (SRM Stickers), Adhesives (Glue Arts), Button, Twine

This one from Phrases......

Cricut Machines Used: Cricut Expression
Cricut Cartridges Used: Phrases
Other Cricut Supplies: Cricut Vinyl in Various Colors
Other: Cell Phone Case, Cell Phone

Now hop over to the Cricut Blog and to see close up pictures of these and to check out the other amazing new cartridges and design samples! There's lots of details of the images on the new cartridges.

Father's Day set

2011-06-13T07:49:00.006-04:00

Little ones love to give Dad gifts. These quick gifts are sure to make dad and child smile.

For more pictures of these projects, check out the Cricut Blog

I'd love it if you left me a comment over there and tell me what you think of the set.

Cricut Machines: Cricut Expression, Cricut Imagine
Cricut Cartridges: Father’s Day, Going Places, Holiday Cakes, Imagine Snapshot: Texture
Other: Cardstock (Dark Blue, Light Blue, Green, Grey), Vinyl (Green, Blue), Water Bottle, Key Chain, Printable Shrink plastic, Shimmer Spray, flat silver brad, sewing supplies, foam adhesives

Hello Thursday

2011-06-09T07:57:00.001-04:00

GIVEAWAY of Cuttlebug Embossing Plus Embossed Tags folder 8/30/11 to 9/5/11... HERE

Hello crafters! It's Hello Thursday! Seems a little early, doesn't it? Perhaps you've heard that instead of the usual 3rd Thursday of the month Hello Thursday, Provo Craft is serving up three Hello Thursdays this month. The first one is today. Be sure to stop over to the Cricut Blog and check out the must-have Cricut cartridges being released and some fantastic design samples.

I created this candy jar using images from one of the new ones called Sweet Shop Lite.

Thanks for stopping by... head over to the Cricut Blog now and check it out!

Cardstock: American Crafts

Cricut Sweet Shop Lite Cartridge

The Twinery Baker's Twine

GIVEAWAY of Cuttlebug Embossing Plus Embossed Tags folder 8/30/11 to 9/5/11... HERE

Pin It

Thinking of You

2011-05-31T08:00:00.103-04:00

Hello everyone. Stopping in today to share a sympathy card I made yesterday. I had this nice long weekend and knew I wanted to at least get this card made, yet I waited till last minute to do it.

Not long ago I made a wedding card for the Cricut Circle Blog using two of the Cuttlebug Embossing Plus folders and I knew when I finished it that it would be a card I would repeat for other occasions, changing colors, sentiments and embellishments as needed. As elegant and detailed as it appears, it's not that difficult. The embossing plus folders do most of the work.

The butterfly is from the Cricut Everyday Pop-ups cartridge. Cut from light yellow paper and glimmer misted. I actually used several different colors, lightly wiping them off, until I found a look I liked with the card.

The flower is made with the Cuttlebug Daisy Quilling kit and Cuttlebug Rose Quillilng kit (leaves). Love these flowers and so easy!! Also cut from yellow paper and glimmer misted them the color I wanted.

The Thinking of You sentiment is from the Cricut American Alphabet preloaded cartridge on the Expression 2. I love the alphabets and phrases on this cartridge. Just the right amount of swirls on them.

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great week!

Cricut Expression 2
Cricut American Alphabet cartridge
Cricut Everyday Pop Ups cartridge
Cuttlebug Embossing machine
Cuttlebug Brocade Window Embossing Plus
Cuttlebug Lace Door Embossing Plus
Cuttlebug Daisy Quilling kit
Cuttlebug Rose Quilling kit (leaves)
American Crafts Cardstock (yellow, coral, brown)
Glue Arts Foam adhesive
Glimmer Mist

ETA dimensions per request:

Card front:

Approximate sizes: Trim the Brocade Window piece down to 5 x 7 and layer onto a piece of 5 1/8 x 7 1/8 green and place the small cutout from the Lace Door folder in the center. Trim the Lace Door frame embossed piece to 3 7/8 x 5 3/4.

Cut sizes:
Thinking of You is cut on the E2 at .7 (Cricut American Alphabet)
Butterfly is cut at 1.12 (Everyday Pop Up Cards)

Flower is quilled using 2 small petal strips and 2 large petal strips (Daisy Quilling set)

Happy Memorial Day (Winner of Wedding Cartrdige)

2011-05-30T12:03:00.000-04:00

Hope everyone is doing exactly what they want today, even if it's doing absolutely nothing!

The winner of the Wedding Cartridge is #59...

jcinokc said... 59: I like laid back weddings. Nothing too fancy. Thanks for the chance to win this cartridge!

Congrats to the winner..... email me your mailing address and I'll get it shipped out sometime this week. cindy. royal @ gmail . com

Cricut Wedding Cartridge .... you want it?

2011-05-23T20:41:00.001-04:00

Hope your Monday has been a good one. I didn't forget I said I would give a cartridge away this morning.... I decided I wanted to make a quick card with some images from the cartridge and show you some work with the Cuttlebug All In One system that you can get at a special price right now... check it out at the Cricut Blog. For this card I used the Songbird set and the True Love set. This is a great system to play with! Go check out the Cricut Blog for a video on how it works!

Have you ever made a card that you really didn't like but decided to share it anyway? That's me right now. I'm just not too pleased with this one, but I really wanted you to see how to incorporate the All In One easily into your work.

Card details:
Cricut Cartridge: Wedding cartridge
Cuttlebug All In One system , Songbird set and the True Love set.
Paper: American Crafts cardstock, The Girls Paperie patterned paper
Pearls are from Teresa Collins

Now lets give away a cartridge. There were so many responses to the launch of the Cricut Blog that I wanted to have another giveaway right away. Thanks to Provo Craft I have a Wedding cartridge to give one of my followers. The tag shape, heart and scroll on the card above are from this cartridge. This cartridge is perfect for wedding projects, but great for so much more!

To have a chance to win this cartridge, followers that leave an answer here telling me What kind of wedding do you prefer? Fancy smancy, laid back and casual, destination, Justice of the Peace, .....? Tell me what you would like for yourself, your child, or maybe the best wedding you've attended. As always, share the news of my giveaway somewhere for another chance to win.

I'll draw a winner next Monday, May 30th.

In the meantime, have a great week everyone!

The Winner of the $150. Cricut . com Credit is...

2011-05-23T08:02:00.000-04:00

First off... thanks so much for all your visits and comments! and for making the launch of the Cricut Blog a great success! The Cricut Blog is going to be a fun place to visit and that will be because of all of you!

So... let's see who gets to go shopping.........
Out of 380 comments, random . org chose number 201 ...

The Bug said...

I have followed your blog for a long time now and I am now a follower of the Cricut Blog! Whoo Hoo!! How exciting!! Thanks for the chance to win!!
Wini

Congratulations, Wini!! Email me the email address you use at Cricut . com so Provo Craft can add some bug bucks to your account!!! cindy.royal@ gmail .com

I had so many lovely comments , I want to give another reader something, so stop back later for a cartridge giveaway. (I'm late for work or I'd post it now).

Inspiration at the Cricut Blog

2011-05-19T10:49:00.005-04:00

Click HERE to go to the $150.00 Cricut.com giveaway post.

Day 2 of the Cricut Blog and lots of great inspirational projects there! Below are my contributions...

Using the amazing Imagine Teresa Collins Baby Boutique cartridge......

..... and the Cricut Expression 2 Anniversary Edition preloaded cartridges, Cricut Alphabet and Cricut Essentials....

... and using the Cricut Decals and Cricut Essentials preloaded cartridges....

Be sure to stop over at the Cricut Blog and check it out!

Click HERE to go to the $150.00 Cricut.com giveaway post.

The New Official Cricut Blog is HERE!! Win $150.

2011-05-17T19:15:00.008-04:00

This is so exciting for all you Cricut fans! (and for those that will be soon!! ) Provo Craft is launching a brand new blog.

Official Cricut Blog

Hello Thursday Cartridge announcements.
Educational videos and tutorials directly from Provo Craft.
Inspirational projects using your favorite Cricut machines. The Imagine, Expression, Cricut Cake, Cuttlebug, Yudu and more.
Occasional sneak peeks into the exclusive Cricut Circle Community.
Access to the latest Cricut.com deals.
And much, much more!

For Circle members already enjoying the fabulous Cricut Circle Blog... now you'll have even more inspiration, even more chances to win fabulous Provo Craft prizes!

As part of the launch celebration, I have been given $150.00 credit at www.cricut.com to give to one of my readers...you can have a chance to win by becoming a follower of my blog, as well as a follower of the Official Cricut Blog.

For your chance to win $150.00 credit at www.cricut.com, come back after you've become a follower there and let me know you are following both my blog and the Cricut Blog

As usual, spread the word for another chance! Just come back and let me know where you've posted.

To help spread the word about the Official Cricut Blog, grab the ‘blinkie’ below and post it on your webpage, blog, facebook wall, etc. with a link to www.cricutblog.org . Also be sure to become a follower of the Official Cricut Blog and enter to win fantastic Cricut prizes! I'll announce a winner on Monday, May 23rd.

Cricut Magazine by Northridge Publishing (and me)

2011-05-16T08:00:00.006-04:00

Hello friends! Hope your weekend was fabulous. ( I know.... I know... never long enough). I spent much of the weekend sorting through my paper crafting things, trying to find my counter top and floor again!! I was going through all of the things I've made over the last several months and came across these two items that were in the April/May issue of Northridge Publishing's Cricut Magazine.

Card-
American Crafts Cardstock
Cosmo Cricket Togetherness patterned paper
Cricut Everyday Paper Dolls (grass layers)
Cricut Give A Hoot (tree)
Cricut Robotz (sun)
Cricut Graphically Speaking (cloud)
Cricut Straight From The Nest (bird)
Cricut 3 Birds on Parade (musical notes)
Cuttlebug Give A Hoot Companion Embossing folders-tiny feathers
Imaginisce iRock hot fix tool

Tag-
American Crafts Cardstock
Coredinations Whitewash cardstock
Coredinations Gemstones cardstock
Teresa Collins Blingage gems
Cricut Sweet Treats cartridge (tag shape)
Cricut Cindy Loo cartridge (flower)
Cricut Sentimentals cartridge (butterfly)
Cuttlebug Cindy Loo companion embossing folder-sprigs

This is such a great magazine. I love the format, the size of it and the pictures and projects are so inspiring. If you haven't seen one, you should pick one up at Michael's just to take a peek. I think you'll love Northridge's style. You can also purchase an online magazine to view.

How Crafty of a Mom are you? Win an E2

2011-05-05T08:26:00.001-04:00

Are you crafty enough to win an Provo Craft Expression 2: 5th Anniversary Edition? Check out this facebook contest by Provo Craft for a chance to win.

Check out these videos by Jinger. You can also buy the Anniversary Edition E2 at Cricut.com .

<

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are you a Circle member? If so, you should enter the Monthly Challenge on the Circle Blog for a chance to win one of five Expression 2 being given away.

Freshly Picked cartridge winner

2011-05-02T15:05:00.001-04:00

Thanks everyone for taking the time to comment and leave your opinion about gnomes. I've never really thought much about them. I think they're probably okay.

The winner is #61......

Jamie said... 61: I think most of them are cute but not sure what their point is. jrredrose21 at yahoo dot com http://craftygirl21.blogspot.com/

Send me your mailing information, Jamie, and I'll get this out to you sometime this week! cindy. royal @ gmail. com

Freshly Picked Cartridge Giveaway / E2 launch

2011-04-25T08:00:00.023-04:00

Cricut Expression 2 Anniversary Edition at HSN ... is being launched tonight!!! They supposedly will have 6000 of them available... will you be one of those 6000 buyers? Tune in at 9 PST, midnight EST. The price is as listed below, but I have no idea, being the 'today's special' during the launch, what it will include or if the price or shipping will be different.

Product #: 128077
Pricing: $344.95
Shipping: $16.21
Plus Tax of your state
(Flex pay 5 times of $68.99)

Enjoy these great new features along with the things you've always loved about the Cricut^®.

4 Cartridges preloaded on the machine (Cricut Alphabet, Cricut Essentials, Cricut Decals, Cosmo Cricket Just A Note)
Compatible with all Cricut^® and Cricut Imagine™ cartridges
LCD touch screen
Cutting area light
Longer power cord
Gypsy compatible
And much, much more

In celebration of the launch of the new E2, lets give away a cartridge....thank you Provo Craft! I'm giving away Freshly Picked, just in time for your spring theme crafting!

If you are a follower and want a chance to win, leave a comment here answering this question: What do you think of gnomes?, Love em', leave em', what the heck are they, etc.

As usual, spread the word and come back with a link for another chance. I'll draw a winner on Monday, May 2nd..

Thanks for stopping by.... see you at the launch!

Here's all the times on Tuesday (EST) that the E2 will be shown on HSN

Ahoy Matey... Imagine and the Buccaneer cartridge

2011-04-23T18:39:00.000-04:00

When I first saw this Imagine Buccaneer cartridge, I knew I had to have it!! I couldn't wait to get it. Well, once I got it, I got busy and couldn't find the time to use it. Today I decided I needed to create and that I needed to use the Imagine and the Imagine Buccaneer cartridge. I don't know what it is... I just love these characters and there's so many more that I haven't used here.

I made tags so I could play with the patterned paper on the cartridge, too. My tag shape is from Gypsy Wanderings.

Then I went ahead and made a birthday card that I needed. There's lots of piratey sentiments on the cartridge, too.

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you have a fabulous Easter Sunday and get plenty of chocolate!

A little squirrel with the Expression 2

2011-04-20T08:25:00.000-04:00

Won't be long and HSN will be releasing this new Cricut Expression 2 Anniversary Edition. (April 26) so I thought I share another sample using one of the built in cartridges, Just A Note by Cosmo Cricket.

The patterned paper in the background Cosmo Cricket from the Salt Air collection. The embossed panel in the middle is embossed with the Cuttlebug All In One and the Bloom and Grow set. I embossed and sanded on white core cardstock then sprayed with Smooch Vanilla Spritz.

I wasn't having much luck choosing papers for the layers of the squirrel, so I cut it entirely out of white cardstock and colored the layers with Copics.

I know there's room for more details on this card , but right now, though I felt like creating, I'm not feeling creative.... make sense? I really just wanted to show you the cute squirrel image from the built in cartridge. I'll probably go back and add more to the card.

On a personal note, thank you for all your incredibly sweet notes about my Mom's passing. Your kind words, thoughts and prayers mean more than I can say. I appreciate you all. I'ts been just over a week and I still find it hard to believe that she's passed away ... perhaps some guilt of not being there with her in her last moments? Perhaps just not liking the idea of no longer having a Mom?

Thanks for stopping by today.

Be sure to watch for the launch of this fantastic machine!!

Seeded Paper Earth Day tag

2011-04-13T08:49:00.000-04:00

A quick post today just to show you a little fun with the Cricut Imagine...... I've been printing and cutting Printable Seeded Paper. There are so many great Imagine images to use on this paper, for any occasion.... showers, weddings, birthdays, holidays, etc.

Below is the printed image on the seeded paper.

and here is the cardstock back piece.

This one is perfect for Earth Day (April 22). The heart shaped earth is from the Imagine Better Together cartridge. I Print/Cut it on my seeded paper at 3", then chose the same image at 3.2" and flood filled it with a coordinating pattern from the same cartridge and print/cut it from cardstock. I cut this layer to put behind the fragile seeded paper cut. This particular seeded paper is quite thin. I punched holes in the tops and ran a hemp cord through them. Now I have a tag appropriate for Earth Day that I can incorporate into a card or hang on a gift. When ready to plant, the seeded image can be torn off and planted in a pot or garden. This particular paper is annual flowers, but I know they come in perennials, wildflowers, herbs, etc.

Where to get plantable paper: Google Seeded Paper or Printable Plantable paper or something like that... you'll come up with all kinds of sources.

If you are a Cricut Circle member, stop over at the Cricut Circle Blog and check out a few more projects I've made with my Imagine and printable seeded paper. So fun and fast!

Thank you and winners.................

2011-04-12T14:09:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone.... It's time to announce winners of the Lori's Garden cartridge and of the Imagine Ink cartridges, but first ....

Thank you to those that have emailed me with condolences on the loss of my mother yesterday. I can't even begin to tell you what it means to have friends like you, many of which I have not met and probably won't, but such good friends nonetheless. I appreciate you all and thank you for being out there in the world wide web.

Now.....................

Winner of the Lori's Garden cartridge is........................

GabyCreates.com said... 81: Oh my goodness Cindy! First I agree with Diane about your perfect sewing! but I have already mention that (still love it every time I see it). I like all your projects but LOVE the two you made with Cricut essentials! (The orange is beautiful and the I don't know which way up, love it either way)~ Thanks for the opportunity since I do not own Lori's Garden and ink would be icing on the cake! Have a nice trip! Oh my On Top Of My Wish List cart is Elegant Edges (I just cannot wait for it to come out!)

Winner of the pair of Imagine Ink cartridges is...........

Jo said... 40: Awesome projects ... Wow oh Wow!! Love the vinyl on acetate ... that's brillant! My wishlist changes daily, but right now I'm pretty sure I need Nursery Tails! Thanks for the chance to win.

Gaby and Jo, please send me your mailing addresses so we can get your prizes out to you..... cindy.royal@gmail.com

I should be back in full swing creating soon. First I'm going to take some deep breaths and catch up on life and creative assignments! Thanks so much for always stopping by to see me.

Using the Cricut Expression 2: Anniversary Edition and a GIVEAWAY

2011-04-05T08:00:00.002-04:00

Hi Everyone! Wow, I haven't blogged in a long time. First I was crazy busy with life, work, traveling to Provo Craft Cricut Circle events and creating, then I had to make an emergency trip to Maine last week and next I'm headed to Florida this week for another Provo Craft fun filled Cricut Circle crop! I should be caught up and back in the swing of things soon, but I wanted to stop in today and share these projects. Excuse the poor quality of the pictures ... as I said, I got called urgently to Maine and as I was headed out the door, I stopped to take these pictures and package the projects to ship on my way out town.

All of these are made with the built-in cartridges on the new, soon to be released, Cricut Expression 2: Anniversary Edition.... also known as the E2. This machine will debut on HSN on April 26, 2011. I had so much fun working with this machine! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! It cuts like a dream and all the new features are so fun. I love the paper settings, tool settings, LCD screen.... everything... even the little light that shines on the cut path as it's cutting!

Here's what I've been making while learning the ins and outs of this new machine! Did I tell you I love the E2!?! Again, please excuse the poor quality pictures. I'll try to make more stuff when I get back and get better pictures.

The built in cartridges include Cricut Essentials, Just A Note (Cosmo Cricket), Cricut American Alphabet, and Cricut Decals. These are four fabulous cartridges, built in to the machine, always ready to go. And though there isn't a 'real' cartridge, you do get handbooks for each.

The tag above and the card below are from Cricut American Alphabet.

This picture below is from Cricut Decals. I left the blue backing film on the acetate for protection from fingerprints and scratches while being shipped. This would be fun to hang with a suction cup from your car window when going to crops or your craft room window. There's a few more "on board" decals to choose from on this cartridge.

Here I used a man Cricut Decals image, cut from vinyl and stuck to acetate.

Another image attached to acetate, this time hung from twine. I couldn't stop cutting these out of vinyl because the E2 has a setting for the Vinyl-kiss cut... just makes it so easy!!

This card is cut from the Cricut Essentials cartridge. Love this cartridge and know it will be a go-to cartridge all the time for the fun shapes and images.

and another from the Cricut Essentials cartridge. After I completed the card, I couldn't decide which way was up!

This card is from the Just A Note cartridge by Cosmo Cricket! FUN cartridge. Lots of adorable animals and other images.

This is a really poor picture but I wanted to show you that the Just A Note cartridge has lots of cards on it similar to this tri-fold, using various images - this sample using the banner tri-fold card.

Thanks for stopping by... that's not all though... Provo Craft has generously given me a Lori's Garden cartridge and a pair of ink cartridges for the Imagine to give away to a couple of my readers.

For a chance to win the Imagine Lori's Garden cartridge or the pair of color and black ink cartridges for the Imagine, leave a comment telling me:

What cartridge is at the top of your wish list?

As usual, spread the word and come back and comment again with the link for another chance. I'll choose winners on Tuesday, April 12th.

Getting caught up....

2011-03-22T10:14:00.000-04:00

No tag today. Still trying to get caught up from the recent weekends away and will be getting ready to go to Florida for another meet soon.

Dallas was great! It was so much fun being surrounded by hundreds of folks that enjoy papercrafting and Provo Craft products as much as I do. Everything was great... the venue was perfect... the people were fun... the food/drink was great! I'm ready to do it again!

I didn't take a camera, but I did take this picture of the crop room with my phone. This room was amazing with all of the decor, table set ups, machines, storage ideas, totes, people, make and takes... it was just amazing!

Tag Tuesday with the Imagine

2011-03-15T08:00:00.049-04:00

I can't believe I haven't posted anything all week and won't get anything posted again until next week. I've been incredibly busy playing catch up after going to Atlanta and getting ready to go to Dallas on Thursday to the Cricut Stampede! Extremely busy creating, working hard to keep up, but totally worth it! My Circle Magazine and Circle Blog assignments are current .. not ahead... just current (well, except for minor details like photos and instructions) and that's good for me!

This tag was amazingly quick... print/cut and bake!

I was playing with printable Shrinky Dink and my Imagine this weekend and decided what better way to make a super quick tag for today. I used the Imagine More cartridge and very quickly printed and cut this image out, punched a hole in it and shrunk it according to package directions! Here I have a super sturdy tag!

Check out the size difference after baking. That really is the negative of the cut. I can't wait to make some more!

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!

Tag Tuesday with the Imagine

2011-03-08T08:00:00.044-05:00

Hey everyone! Hope you are having a good week so far. I wasn't sure if I was going to make a tag for this week or not. I decided to spend an extra day in Atlanta and didn't get in until Sunday night and had to work yesterday.

If you are a Gypsy and Imagine user, the 'big' update is ready that allows you to design using your Imagine cartridges on your Gypsy. I decided to go ahead and update my machines and use my tag this week to try it out. I like being able to save the design for future reference. You can cut the designs on your Imagine with the Gypsy, but you still have to put the appropriate Imagine cartridge in the Imagine.

This was designed on the Gypsy using the Lori's Garden cartridge. The tag shape, the circle and the bird on the branch are all from the Lori's Garden cartridge, but I changed out the colors and patterns using the Gypsy. I'm going to love being able to design on the Gypsy now, being able to use the Imagine cartridges, too!

Have a great week!!!

Rumor has it that my classes at the Stampede sold out yesterday afternoon!

Cardstock: American Crafts white

Buttons: Cosmo Cricket

Metals: Imaginisce iRock and silver glam rocks

Baker's Twine: The Twinery

Dallas Stampede Class sign up

2011-03-07T09:41:00.002-05:00

Today the sign ups start for the classes at the Dallas Stampede! Here's what I'll be teaching. There's two different times available. Classes are limited so if you want to attend, go sign up now....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRICUT EXPRESSION!

DESCRIPTION:

Happy 5th Birthday to the Cricut Expression!! In honor of the Cricut Expression’s birthday, we are going to make a cake! We will be turning a battery powered tealight candle into a sweet little cake that is good enough to eat! Of course, we will be making a custom box to take your cake with you! We can't stop there though, we need a table-top banner to proudly display at the Cricut Stampede! Since it’s a party, Provo Craft will be giving away a Cricut Birthday Bash Cartridge to each student.

Stampede Information

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Texas Cricut Stampede, sponsored by the Cricut Circle.

Stampede Classes Information

Hope to see you there!!!!

Digital Delights new releases

2011-03-03T06:00:00.032-05:00

Wow! Another month as passed and it's time for Digital Delights March releases.

My sample this month is using Bunny Dylan. How cute is Dylan in his bunny outfit? I happened to find bunny slippers on my Cricut Slumber Party cartridge and couldn't resist adding them to the card. Papers are printed on my Cricut Imagine using the Yummy cartridge.

Check out these adorable new images available now........

As usual, there's a lot more Digital Delights today at Digital Delights blog and Delightful Challenges. Be sure to go check them out. The Design Teams have been busy!

Be sure to check out Wendy's store... Digital Delights by Louby Loo... there's a lot more than just digital images. She has digital papers (soooo cute!!!), custom blogs and watermarks, etc!

Image: Bunny Dylan by Digital Delights by Louby Loo
Paper: American Crafts cardstock
Cricut Imagine and Imagine Yummy cartridge for patterned papers
Cricut Lite Slumber party cartridge
Misc: Liquid pearls, The Twinery baker's twine
Colored with Copics

Chipmunk and Vinca. Another new Angel's Landing image.

2011-03-02T06:00:00.037-05:00

Don't you love this new digital image from Angel's Landing?? I'm loving this new nature series. This one is called Chipmunk and Vinca.

Again, I colored the image then went on a hunt through my Imagine cartridge books for the perfect paper. This time I found the right paper in the Nursery Tails cartridge and printed a sheet of the pink pattern and the green pattern, plus some solid colors to layer with.

This new set by Angel's Landing can be seen HERE. It has several options, including sentiments.

Thanks for stopping by today. Stop back tomorrow for a sample from March's Digital Delights new releases! Fun stuff!

Papercutz - Spring
Paper Garden - Spring
Everybody Art - Spring
Crazy Challenge - Here Comes Spring
Incy Wincy - Spring Is In The Air
Crazy 4 Challenges - Flowers
One Stop Crafts - Spring Flowers

The Winner is....

2011-03-01T18:00:00.000-05:00

The winner of the Rock Princess cartridge is.....

jramsdell said... 23: Cute tag! I make a banner for the Cricut Circle Blog monthly challenge and hopefully get done with the Friday challenge, thanks for the chance to win a fun prize.

Send me your mailing address and I'll get this in the mail! cindy . royal @ gmail.com

Thanks everyone!

Tag Tuesday with the Imagine

2011-03-01T08:00:00.034-05:00

Tag Tuesday friends! This week it's using the Imagine Blossom Colors and Pattern cartridge along with the Cricut Paper Lace cartridge. I ran out of creative time this weekend and didn't think I was going to have a tag ready for today. Great thing about tags is they are relatively quick and I was able to get it done! The 'speech bubble' shape is one of the built in shapes on the Imagine. I chose the shape, filled it with the pattern I liked, then Print/Cut. I then chose it again, making it just a little bigger, and filled it with green for the shadow layer. The hearts and the 'thinking of you' are from the Paper Lace cartridge, again filled with colors and patterns from the Blossom cartridge The blossom cartridge is definitely one of my favorites for patterns and colors. I went light with the embellishing, a little bit of liquid pearls and some baker's twine from The Twinery.

Are you a member of the Circle?? If you are, be sure to stop over at the Circle Blog and let me know what you think of my project today featuring this princess.

Now be sure to stop over to see Shantaie and see what she's made today with Blossom and Paper Lace. I'm sure it's worth that extra click!

I'll be back a little later today with the winner of Rock Princess... if you haven't commented yet, go on over to that post and do so now.

Angel's Landing newest! Darling bunnies and violets!

2011-02-24T07:45:00.001-05:00

I was so excited when Judi from Angel's Landing sent me her newest set of Bunnies and Violets a week ago. I colored this one immediately, but I couldn't turn it into a card until last night! Apologies, Judi!! This set of images is so pretty for Spring or Easter or just because! I hope this is the start of many more new Angel's Landing images.

I colored the image with Copics and then headed to my Imagine cartridge books, looking for purple patterned paper. I found just what I wanted in the Imagine More Cards book and printed the purple and green patterns, as well as the solids. Everything coordinates perfectly.

And check out that baker's twine!!! I was incredibly lucky last week and won one of every color from The Twinery... that's 11 full size rolls - an amazing gift!! I've always wanted to try it out, but it wasn't in my budget. I'm so thrilled to have it and this is my first baker's twine project!

Hop over to Angel's Landing and check out this new set!

Thanks for stopping by!! Don't forget my Rock Princess cartridge giveaway HERE! and check out my class I'll be teaching at the Dallas Stampede! My class includes a free cartridge for you! Would love to see you there!

Provo Craft Cricut Stampede

2011-02-23T14:37:00.001-05:00

Stampede Information

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just a few more weeks until the Texas Cricut Stampede, sponsored by the Cricut Circle. Will I see you there??? I hope so.... I'll be there "teaching" a couple of classes! Registrations open March 7th for the classes, so be sure to get signed up for the Stampede and stop back in to register for a class or two or three......

Stampede Classes Information

Hope to see you there!!!!

Tag Tuesday and Rock Princess Giveaway

2011-02-22T08:00:00.075-05:00

It looks like this week, Audrey is a Rock Princess!

This week Shantaie says Audrey and Rock Princess. One of the many great things about the Imagine is being able to use it with the Original cartridges. Combining an Original cartridge with an Imagine cartridge gives you endless possibilities. Audrey is a colors and patterns cartridge for the Imagine, meaning there aren't any images, just colors and patterns. No problem... let's bring in some images from Rock Princess and make a quick tag. I chose my image pieces and sizes and filled them in with various patterns and colors from the Audrey cartridge. The only one that I didn't choose from the cartridge is the background of the bow.... I wanted it a little darker than what was built-in to the cartridge so I went in to the RGB codes panel on the Imagine and chose my color there. The sky is the limit when it comes to colors on the Imagine!

Rock Princess has so many great images on it! Would you like a copy for yourself? For a chance to win it, follow me and leave a comment telling me the last thing you made and the next thing you plan on making . As usual, spread the word for an extra entry.

(and no......dinner, a mess and/or your bed doesn't count!). Winner will be drawn Tuesday, March 1st.

Thanks for stopping by.

Now be sure to stop over to see Shantaie and see what she's made today with Audrey and Rock Princess. I'm sure it's worth that extra click!

Thanks to ProvoCraft for it's generosity in allowing me to give away a copy of Rock Princess to my readers!

Are you a member of the Circle?? If you are, be sure to stop over at the Circle Blog for a peek at my post today featuring a unicorn and a castle! oh... and a crown and a star!

Cricut Imagine
Cricut Rock Princess cartridge
Imagine Audrey colors and patterns cartridge
Imaginisce iRock and half pearls
Smooch Nautical Navy shimmer ink

Under the Weather ?

2011-02-19T00:07:00.000-05:00

Just a quick share today.... a little get well card.

Cricut 3 Birds on parade cartridge (bird and rain)
Cricut Going Places cartridge (cloud)
Cricut Mini Monsters (swirls)

Have a great weekend!!

Tag Tuesday with the Imagine

2011-02-15T08:00:00.039-05:00

Hello friends! Hope you had a great weekend and a sweet Valentine's day. Today's tag 'assignment' is to use the Imagine Cartridge Kate's Kitchen and to use a stamp on a printed image.

First I printed and cut the cherries as one piece as well as the individual layers. I then printed 5.5 x 5.5 squares of the green patterned paper and the reddish solid color paper that coordinated well with the cherries for my tag cuts.

Using the Martha Stewart All Occasions Cake Art cartridge, I cut my tag shapes, layered them and stamped a swirl on it. I just couldn't decide what and where to stamp so I played it safe with a swirl, not really sticking to the assignment of stamping on an image, but I got close.

Look at some of the fab images on this cartridge!

Thanks for stopping by.

Now be sure to stop over to see Shantaie and see what she's made today with Kate's Kitchen and her stamps!

New card sketch iPhone app

2011-02-12T10:50:00.000-05:00

Not long ago I was invited to create a card using one of Anam's card sketches that was going to be in an upcoming iPhone app. The app is now available !!!

The free version (12 sketches):

The full version ($4.99 for 104 sketches plus the 12 free ones):

Be sure to check out Anam's blog! for more information about this app and previous apps.

Supplies:
Bella Blvd patterned paper, Family Tree, Heritage
American Crafts Cardstock in (pink, brown, cream)
Cosmo Cricket button
Cricut Home Accents cartridge (word love),
Cricut Accent Essentials cartridge (hearts)
Cuttlebug polka dots embossing folder,
Cuttlebug candycane stripes embossing folder
EK success scalloped border punch

The new All In One embossing system by Provo Craft

2011-02-09T08:30:00.001-05:00

While at CHA I got to spend a little time demonstrating a fun new product by Provo Craft. Many of us love to use the embossing folders to add texture and dimension to our projects, but sometimes the folders don't lend themselves to be used exactly where we want on the paper or in the direction we want. Provo Craft has come up with this new system that can be used with the Cuttlebug that gives us a little more power over the placement... okay, A LOT more power over the placement. This new system is the Cuttlebug All In One 6 x 9 embossing folder!

For this card I used 7 different elements - each element has two pieces - one green and one clear. Here's the pieces to create the word BIG.

Below is what the system looks like after I've loaded the embossing pieces onto it where I want them - how cool is that... where I want them. You place the green pieces onto the green plate, place the clear pieces on top of their corresponding green pieces, then let the clear plate of the system drop onto the green plate ... let it drop onto it as opposed to gently closing it. Letting it drop from as little as an inch or so above locks the clear pieces into the clear plate so when you open it up everything is lined up and ready to go... no counting the holes trying to figure it out yourself. Now you are ready to insert your paper, close the All In One folder, add two B-plates and run through your Cuttlebug as usual!

Right now there are four different sets. Two of which are monogram sets and two are theme sets. I used pieces from two of them for this card. They can easily be mixed and matched for whatever you are making. The theme sets come with a 'full sheet' design and some smaller design elements. The monogram sets include the alphabet and a couple small design elements. Each set comes with it's own storage container.

Other Card details:
The Paper Temptress has some of my favorite papers for dry embossing! They just work so well with embossing folders and now the Provo Craft Cuttlebug All In One system. The papers I used here are Citron, Green Textured Felt, and Silver Ore Glimmer - all fabulously sturdy papers. The cake image is print and cut using my Imagine and the Imagine Yummy art cartridge. The patterned paper is also printed from the Yummy cartridge!

What do you think? Is this a system you are going to have to have? I love it and hope they come out with lots and lots of image sets for it!! I'm not sure when it's being brought to market - hopefully very soon!!

Tag Tuesday

2011-02-08T08:00:00.032-05:00

Hello crafters! Hope your week is going well so far! Thanks for stopping by on this Tuesday, when I share a tag made with whatever Shantaie is creating with for her Imagine That series. Today she's using the Imagine cartridge Best Friends and using Cosmo Cricket paper.

I chose the frame shape from the Best Friends cartridge and using the cut only feature on my Imagine, I cut it from a piece of paper from a Cosmo Cricket Togetherness mini deck. The background frame was printed and cut from the cartridge using one of the built-in solid colors. I then printed and cut a dog and a cat image from the Best Friends cartridge. They are actually layers from more complex images, but I only wanted to use the animals themselves - these are printed/cut from glossy photo paper. The colors of the animals printed using the Best Friends cartridge matched pretty well with the Togetherness paper.... I thought they might since the Best Friends cartridge is actually a Cosmo Cricket cartridge!

Thanks for stopping by. Now be sure to stop over to see Shantaie and see what she's made today with Best Friends and Cosmo Cricket! You're gonna love it!

Work, Fun, and the Cricut. Happy 5th Birthday!

2011-02-06T10:49:00.002-05:00

This is so fun! This was one of the videos they showed us at the Birthday Gala at LA Live's Congo Room.

Cricut Craft Room

2011-02-06T10:34:00.007-05:00

Have you heard? One of the most exciting things announced at CHA was Provo Craft's Cricut Craft Room.

(link doesn't seem to work consistently .... copy and paste this to see....

http://video.ak.fbcdn.net/cfs-ak-snc6/79072/632/499429243862_29648.mp4?oh=44c20b95e999ebb621869186b59c99ec&oe=4D511542&__gda__=1297159490_adb2d0f45ab6e06e2b8dc1ef9dcc972f

I can't wait for this!!! and it's FREE!!! I've pasted below some of the questions and answers from the Cricut Facebook page......

Q: What is Cricut Craft Room?
A: Cricut Craft Room is a free online design tool

Q: How is it different from Cricut Design Studio and Gypsy?
A: While offering similar features to both CDS and Gypsy, Cricut Craft Room requires an internet connection (CDS does not) and requires you to be on a computer (not mobile like Gypsy)

Q: How much is Cricut Craft Room?
A: FREE

Q: When will Cricut Craft Room be available?
A: We are planning to launch this software in April, 2011

Q: Does Cricut Craft Room work with PC and MAC?
A: Yes, upon launch Cricut Craft Room will work on both a PC and a MAC.

Q: How do I access Cricut Craft Room?
A: When it is released, you'll be able to access Cricut Craft Room through your cricut.com account.

Q: How do I link my cartridges to Cricut Craft Room?
A: You can either link your Gypsy to CCR to update your account, or if you do not have a Gypsy you can connect your Cricut machine to your computer (using the same cable you use to perform firmware updates) and link your cartridges to your account through your Cricut.

Q: Can CCR cut with multiple cartridges at one time like Gypsy?
A: Yes, you will not have to connect each individual cartridge when cutting unless you are using a cartridge that has not been synced to your account.

Q: Can I use CCR offline? Do I need an internet connection?
A: Yes, CCR required that you have an internet connection in order to access your account.

Q: What does Beta mean?
A: When we say CCR is in Beta we just mean it's in a testing phase where we have selected individuals testing the software for us.

Q: Can I be a part of the beta test?
A: We have already selected those who will participate in our beta program.

Q: Do I have to use cartridges with CCR or can I make my own images and cut true type fonts?
A: You must use cartridges with CCR. CCR does not allow you to access true type fonts on your computer and cut them using Cricut.

Q: How will you manage the site so it doesn't get bogged down with so many people using it at one time?
A: That is what we are testing with our beta program. Will will continue to test our software and the capacities we anticipate it will need to provide a good user experience.

Q: Are my CCR files available to anyone but me through my account?
A: No, the only way anyone can access your files is if they are logged into your account.

Q: Are you going to sell cartridges our individual images as downloads from CCR?
A: We don't sell anything from CCR

Q: Can I use images from cartridges I don't own and cut them out?
A: No. You can design with any image, but you must own the cartridge in order to cut it.

Q: Can I share my cut files via email?
A: Yes. You can share cut files with friends by emailing them.

Q: Can I save my cut files/designs on my computer hard drive?
A: Yes, You can save your cut files in your account AND on your hard drive as back up.

Q: Can I use CCR and cut out shapes if I don't sync my cartridges?
A: Yes. You will have to plug each cartridge into your Cricut machine if you choose not to sync the cartridges to your CCR account.

Q: Can I sync my cartridges to my CCR account and my Gypsy both?
A: Yes, you can. But your cartridges can only be synced to one CCR account and one Gypsy.

Q: Can I transfer Gypsy files to CCR and CCR files to Gypsy?
A: Yes.

Q: Can I print from CCR to my home printer?
A: No.

Q: Will CCR be compatible with iPad?
A: Not at this time. CCR is flash based and iPad doesn't support flash.

Q: Can I access my account from ANY computer?
A: Yes, you can access and design in your account from any computer but you can only print from 2 computers. This would prevent individuals from sharing their username/passwords with large groups of people because you can only cut from 2 separate computers.

Q: Can I access my Gypsy files and color them with CCR?
A: Yes, you can. This is a good idea if you just want to see what your project will look like before you cut anything.

Q: Are you still planning to update CDS and Gypsy?
A: Yes.

With Cricut Craft Room you can designate two specific computers to cut from.... you can still design from any computer, but only cut from two. I'm not one to connect my computer to my machines, so I was happy to hear that you can also save your files to your computer and upload to your Gypsy and cut from there!

Sentimentals Cartridge winner

2011-02-03T11:37:00.001-05:00

I didn't forget you! I've been so busy trying to catch up at my 'real job' from being away so long at CHA, I'm just now getting a chance to pop in here and post the winner.... and the winner is #26, Leslie.......

Leslie said...

Thanks for the opportunity to win!! I don't have that cart...it looks like I want it now!!! Enjoy CHA, I would love to go sometime HOW EXCITING!!!

I enjoy using vinyl on just about anything. Lately it has been on picture frames and glass blocks. I have some on my blog

Send me your mailing address, Leslie, and I'll get this out as soon as I can... cindy.royal@ gmail . com

Digital Delights new releases

2011-02-03T07:50:00.000-05:00

Another great collection of new releases this month from Digital Delights by Louby Loo!! I'm working with Billy today and he's just cruising the universe, having a grand time .... lucky guy!

As usual, there's a lot more Digital Delights today at Digital Delights blog and Delightful Challenges. Be sure to go check them out. The Design Teams have been busy!

Be sure to check out Wendy's store... Digital Delights by Louby Loo... there's a lot more than just digital images. She has digital papers (soooo cute!!!), cut files, custom blogs and watermarks, etc!

Card detes:
Image: Billy Rocket 2 by Digital Delights by Louby Loo
Coloring: Copics
Paper: American Crafts Cardstock, Patterned paper Echo Park Little Boy
Other: Cricut Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge, silver stars, Crystal Effects, Martha Stewart glitter.

Have a great weekend!

Tag Tuesday

2011-02-01T08:00:00.035-05:00

Wow! Another week gone by! This week Shantaie said... BIRTHDAY CAKE!... that's it. She said it for a good reason... tomorrow is her birthday! Happy Birthday, Shantaie!!

Here's my tag for this week. I created this one using the Imagine and the Imagine art cartridge called Yummy! Great cartridge full of cakes, cupcakes, candies! Yummy!

Now be sure to stop over to see Shantaie and see what she's made today in the theme of Birthday Cake for her Imagine That project! Be sure to wish her Happy Birthday!

Stop at my previous post to leave a comment for a chance to win the Sentimentals cartridge generously donated by Provo Craft.

Royal Things

Cartridge Giveaway - Martha Stewart All Occasions Cake Art

A Little Something For You

Ornament Vase

Thank You, Thank You Very Much

Hello Thursday

New CCR Exclusive Digital cartridges

Winter Thanks

Happy New Year

Cricut Craft Room releases

Christmas Cards

Another quick ornament

Super Quick Ornament

Winter Scene in Candle Jar

Gonna sneak a little Valentine's Day in here

New Cricut Craft Room digital packs released

Christmas Countdown Tree

Holiday Random Act (Craft) of Kindness

A Couple of Christmas Cards

Winter Scene in a Glass Ornament

Pumpkin Box with CCR file

We Believe

New Cuttlebug Rosette dies and embossing folders

Cricut Craftroom for everyone

Cricut Craft Room is Now Open!

Cricut Craft Room Features:

CLICK HERE to learn more about Cricut Craft Room and to GET STARTED!

TO SEE SOME FABULOUS PROJECTS USING THE CRICUT CRAFT ROOM AND FREE CRAFT ROOM BASICS CARTRIDGE, stop over at THE CRICUT BLOG.

A little belly laugh to start your week!

Winner of My Memories Software

Expression 2 on Canada's shopping channel

My Memories Suite - a review and giveaway

Boo?

Provo Craft's October Hello Thursday

Costumes with the Cricut

And a couple of super fun costumes by Kristen Swain

Flower Child Costume

Smarty Pants Costume

.

Trick or Treat

Girl and Pony

Monday!

You're a Gem - Happy Card Making Day!

The launch of ... bubbles?

Vintage Birthday

Those trendy bicycles

Picture to Canvas - a review

Almost Halloween

CTMH Art Philosophy card (and winner)

Cricut 5th Anniversary Promotion

Cuttlebug Embossing Plus giveaway

Back to School "To Do" chart

Hello Thursday with Teresa Collins

Cricut Imagine on fabric for Back to School

On the road again....

Hello Thursday

Announced at CHA - the new Cricut Mini!

Magazine Winners

Happy 4th of July

May Your Bobbin Always be Full

The winner of H2O cartridge is...

GiveAway - Cricut Magazine June/July

Red, White and Blue

Cartridge giveaway - H2O

Hello Thursday #3 for June

June Hello Thursday #2

Father's Day set

Hello Thursday

Thinking of You

Happy Memorial Day (Winner of Wedding Cartrdige)

Cricut Wedding Cartridge .... you want it?

The Winner of the $150. Cricut . com Credit is...

Inspiration at the Cricut Blog

The New Official Cricut Blog is HERE!! Win $150.

Official Cricut Blog

sponsored by The Cricut Circle

For Circle members already enjoying the fabulous Cricut Circle Blog... now you'll have even more inspiration, even more chances to win fabulous Provo Craft prizes!

Cricut Magazine by Northridge Publishing (and me)

How Crafty of a Mom are you? Win an E2

Freshly Picked cartridge winner