Simply stunning DCWV paper dresses

A proud member of The Lime Light, a charity-based design team. Click on over to see what we are doing.

Cricut Expression 2--and take a look--at "CraftRoom"

This bug:

1. operates via WiFi
2. cuts from both regular and Imagine carts
3. uses a screen instead of the plastic overlay (they will continue to make overlays for the carts for a few years)
4. has a light near the blade housing
5. you can save settings, but the blade does have to be manually adjusted (kind of by its nature)
6. and today is just day 2 of CHA!

CraftRoom is a new online tool designed to work with Design Studio. It's an online design site which will be free at first--I'm sure you'll still have to have the carts to do the cutting.  Great news for MAC users--it's both PC and MAC compatible.


I got this from Joy, whose blog you simply must visit--she is an incredible crafter and a wonderful person altogether!



Statement from Provo Craft:
"This year at CHA Provo Craft nominated four products to the Innovation Product Showcase. Yudu CardShop is currently listed among the top 20 new products and the winners will be announced at the show. We are very proud of Yudu CardShop and look forward to demonstrating it and showing it off this year at CHA.


All four of our nominated products will be highlighted on CHA TV – Cricut Imagine, Cricut Cake Mini, YourStory Photo and Yudu CardShop. CHA will be webcasting the hottest products live from the Show floor for 2 hours a day. CHA-TV is a free webcast portal for the craft & hobby industry. Two-time Emmy Award winner and CHA’s National Spokesperson Terri O will be conducting the daily interviews from 11 am – 12 pm and 1 pm – 2 pm PT live from the CHA-TV Broadcast booth on the Show floor. You'll need to download the free CHA-TV Facebook app at http://apps.facebook.com/craftandhobby  or view it live on the web at http://www.linqto.com/rooms/craftandhobby
A proud member of The Lime Light, a charity-based design team. Click on over to see what we are doing.

Cricut Design Studio tips & tricks

I just thought I'd pass on some things I've learned about Cricut Design Studio. Please leave a comment with any helpful hints you may have.

1. The "hide contour" feature is tricky.  If you copy & paste an image, the pasted image won't allow you to hide any contours.
2. You actually can save hidden contours on an image--if you hide at least two contours on that image. But it has to be for that single image, not a string if images.  You can still save it of course--just leave yourself a message on a blank page or put it in the title of that page that you want to hide a contour on a certain image.
3. When copying and pasting an image, if the initial image has "welded" checked BEFORE you press copy and paste, the pasted image will also have the "welded" box checked.  If you click on the initial image, press copy, weld, then paste, only the pasted image will have welded checked.
4. To create a mirror image, click "TURN 90" twice, then check " FLIP SHAPES".
5. When you are saving a project, it will save faster if 'include page in preview" is NOT checked, or is not checked on most of the pages in the project..  You see this option when you right click on the mat. Also, try saving your pages in the "fit view" or at "100%".  Those who have saved even one page of the project at 200% have had problems opening their files later, error message being "file corrupt" or something like that.  This may have been fixed by now,
6. Having a hard time clicking on a particular image? Drag your cursor around it and then release.  It will have the black arrows in the blue circles around it now.
7. If you are making a project where you are welding images inside of welded images, you might notice that the cut goes all skee-wompus on you.  Take one of the inner most set of welded images, and press "copy, delete, paste" in that order.  Then do it for the next layer out. You may have to do this again, just "copy, delete, paste" on the inner welded shapes first, and then make sure you do it on the outer set of welded shapes.
8. To check exactly what will cut, make sure that the page you are double checking is the only one with "include in page preview" checked.  Now open a blank page, and press the "preview" key in the left column (looks like an eye).  What you see in black lines will cut.  Also, any solid (un-welded) colored images will cut as well--they will cut the original shape. 
9. If you need the multi-cut function to cut through something a bit thick, click on "preferences", in the upper left corner, then you can decide how many times you want the blade to go over that image.
10. If you are looking for something specific, go to the box to the left of the box with the cartridge "keypad", and start typing.  Words will come up immediately.
11. Want to know what cartridge a specific image is from?  Click on that image and then right click.  It will say "Show cartridge _____" and if you click on that, it will take you to that cartridge with that key highlighted (and a feature key if it pertains).
12. Want to know what's in a project--all the pages? In the "Cricut Cartridge Library" box with the purple stripe at the top, click on "this project"
13. Really not sure what an item is?  Right click on it, then hover your mouse over "remove keywords"--this will tell you what it has been labeled, and since you're just hovering you won't actually be removing anything.  Note that you can add your own keywords as well.
14. Want to rearrange your pages? This is another right click,--then decide where you want to move the page.

So, clear as mud??!!

A proud member of The Lime Light, a charity-based design team. Click on over to see what we are doing.

Get your Groupon

If you haven't heard of them, what they typically do is "sell" you a "Groupon" for half price. For instance, there was recently a $30 Groupon that you get for Red Envelope for $15. So essentially, you could get $30 worth of product for $15--plain and simple. They also had a one year subscription to Oprah Magazine for $10.

If you click HERE, you will be directed to the site and I will get a referral fee (you can turn around & do the same thing yourself). There's some honesty for you, and I could use the money--who couldn't?!?!!

Thanks for playing Groupon with me today!


A proud member of The Lime Light, a charity-based design team. Click on over to see what we are doing.