More Cricut Expression Tote Bags...

Look at this cute bag (above) and at a nice price also - $22.95 before shipping! Click HERE for details and ordering.

Then, if you prefer a rolling Cricut tote, check out these bags below at CricutMachine.com. They are so cute but pricey at $84.29. However, they are custom designed for the Cricut and even have straps to hold it in place. See photos below. They have a dark pink one also on their website. Click HERE for more info.







Also, I have gotten some emails from people who have found suitable bags at Home Depot, regular luggage stores and even a tool supply company. So, there are lots of options out there. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that the Cricut needs at least 21" in length. If anyone has other solutions, please leave a comment or use the "contact me" button to let me know. A photo would be great also. Thank you!

Lyrical Letters Tips and Hidden Gems

So, have you run out and gotten the Lyrical Letters Cricut cartridge yet? Michael's has them on sale this week for $39.99 and if your store doesn't have it, you can pick up a rain check for it. The great thing about this cartridge is that it has SEVEN fonts on it. SEVEN! Below, you can see the same word cut at 2" for the seven different fonts. Of course, you can see the HUGE difference in size between the different fonts. This should be factored in when planning your titles because the variation is so great. It's not clear to me why that has happened - I guess it's like the variation in font sizing in a document. Anyway, be aware of the difference!





Some other wonderful things on this cartridge are the many, many cute phrases. Since it is so hard to see what the cuts look like from the back of the box and even in the booklet, I decided to cut some of them out. Below you can see a sampling. Forgive the fact that I lost all the dots for the "i's" - I'm bad with those. The cart has so many fun and useful phrases but again, watch out for the skinnier, smaller fonts because they aren't quite so easy to cut out properly. I hope this helps you when you are working with the cartridge!

These were cut at 2-1/4":


These were cut at 2-1/2":




These were cut at 3":

This post may contain affiliate links, which help subsidize my diet coke and coffee intake, necessary to run this blog.

Wild Card Cartridge Envelope and Card Sizes for the Cricut

MamaC, this wonderful poster on the Cricut board posted the appropriate envelope and card sizes for each card on this cartridge. She did this by testing each envelope using a 12x12 sheet of paper and the "fit to page" button. For more info on how the "fit to page" button works, see this Pink Stamper video HERE. With any cards on any cartridges, always make the envelope FIRST using fit to page, make a note of the size it uses and then cut your card and corresponding elements at that size.

THANK YOU, MamaC for saving us the trouble of doing this! Appreciate all your hard work!

Below is her chart of sizing for the Wild Card:

WILDCARD Cricut Cartridge


Envelope and Card measurements are made using a 12x12 mat. Envelopes are cut using “Fit to Page”. The cards are numbered according to the order in the handbook. #1 card is on page 32 of the handbook, #2 is on page 33…etc.
Thanks to Robyn the Pink Stamper for developing this numbering system.
**Compliments of MamaC**

Card Description Envelope Size Card Size


ROW 1
#1 Scallop Card 3 ¾ inches 3 ¾ inches
#2 Argyle Card 6 inches 6 inches
#3 Square Card 4 ½ inches 4 ½ inches
#4 Stitched Card 6 ¼ inches 6 ¼ inches
#5 Trifold Card 6 ¾ inches 6 ¾ inches
#6 Invite Card 6 ½ inches 4 ½ inches (necessary size adjustment)
#7 Booklet Card 6 ¾ inches 5 ¼ inches (necessary size adjustment)
#8 Oval Card 6 ¼ inches 6 ¼ inches
#9 Birthday Card 6 ¾ inches 6 ¾ inches
#10 Joy Card 5 ¾ inches 5 ¾ inches
ROW 2
#11 Swoop Card 4 inches 4 inches
#12 Leaf Card 6 ¼ inches 6 ¼ inches
#13 Tied Up Card 4 inches 2 ¾ inches (necessary size adjustment)
#14 Triangle Card 6 ¼ inches 6 ¼ inches
#15 All in One Card 6 ½ inches 6 ½ inches
#16 Tweety Card 5 inches 5 inches
#17 Circle Card 4 inches 4 inches
#18 Thanks Card 6 ¼ inches 6 ¼ inches
#19 Wave Card 7 inches 6 ¾ inches (necessary size adjustment)
#20 Pinwheel Card 6 ½ inches 6 ½ inches
ROW 3
#21 Doily Card 5 inches 5 inches
#22 Quotes Card 7 inches 7 inches
#23 Thinking Card 6 inches 6 inches
#24 Porthold Card 5 ½ inches 5 ½ inches
#25 Flower Card 4 ¾ inches 4 ¾ inches
#26 Branch Card 7 inches 7 inches
#27 Hello Card 5 ¼ inches 5 ¼ inches
#28 Star Card 5 ½ inches 5 ½ inches
#29 Wow Card 4 ½ inches 3 ¾ inches (necessary size adjustment)
#30 Cupcake Card 5 ¼ inches 5 ¼ inches


Card Description Envelope Size Card Size


ROW 4
#31 Present Card 7 ½ inches 7 ½ inches
#32 Cake Card 5 ¼ inches 5 ¼ inches
#33 Safety Pin Card 5 inches 5 inches
#34 Bandaid Card 6 ¼ inches 6 ¼ inches
#35 Father Card 4 ½ inches 4 ½ inches
#36 Heart Card 4 ¾ inches 4 ¾ inches
#37 Pumpkin Card 3 ¾ inches 3 ¾ inches
#38 #1 Card 6 ½ inches 6 ½ inches
#39 Gift Card 7 ¼ inches 7 ¼ inches
#40 Monster Card 5 inches 5 inches

ROW 5
#41 Owl Card 5 ¼ inches 5 ¼ inches
#42 Graduate Card 7 ½ inches 7 ½ inches
#43 Ornament Card 5 inches 5 inches
#44 House Card 7 ¾ inches 7 ¾ inches
#45 Carriage Card 6 inches 6 inches
#46 Hanukkah Card 5 ¼ inches 5 ¼ inches
#47 Celebrate Card 5 ½ inches 5 ½ inches
#48 Shower Card 8 inches 8 inches
#49 Gift Box One 7 inches
Gift Box Two (shift) 5 ¾ inches
#50 Envelope One 6 ¼ inches
Envelope Two (shift) 5 ¼ inches

This post may contain affiliate links, which help subsidize my diet coke and coffee intake, necessary to run this blog.

Even More Chipboard Cutting Info

Scrapbooking_Grandma has posted a wonderful guide to cutting chipboard with the Cricut over on the Cricut message board. Since the search function at the Cricut site is iffy at best, I have provided a repost of this info, as shown below. THANK YOU, Scrapbooking_Grandma for all your hard work in figuring this out!

The information contained in this document is from my own experiences in cutting chipboard. It is ONLY meant to be a guide to help you get started cutting chipboard. Your machine may respond differently to the settings in this guide. You will need to make adjustments accordingly to how your machine responds to the settings. The settings in this guide are what worked best for me when cutting chipboard.

What is Chipboard?
Definition: Chipboard is used for the backing of notepads, backing of stacks of business forms, and in scrapbooking used to ship stacks of sheets of paper to scrapbook stores. Some manufacturers are making acid-free/lignin free chipboard specifically for use in making scrapbook pages. Chipboard can be used to create depth or layered effect in scrapbook pages. You can paint it (acrylic paint, or paint dabbers), Ink it, sand it, cover it with patterned paper, and use rub-ons to embellish it.

What Items can I use around the house?
Answer: You can use: Cereal boxes, Backs of Paper Pads, Cardboard that comes with some clothing items, Cracker Boxes, Pizza Boxes, Minute Rice Boxes, Any type of Food Boxes.

How do I know if it is acid free and achievable material?
Answer: My suggestion is if your unsure if the material you’re using is archive safe than you should spray it with an archival mist. This will help preserve your projects.

Chipboard fibers accumulate while cutting:
I do want to add that while this is cutting you get cardboard fibers that accumulate while you’re cutting. I just brush or blow them off the cardboard as its cutting so I get the cleanest cut that I can get. So the blade doesn’t hang up on debris.
Deep Cut Housing vs. Regular Housing – Any Chipboard 1/16” you will need the Deep Cut Housing. I find that chipboard under 1/16” I have used the Regular Green Housing. I have used the Deep Cut Blade in the Regular Green Housing.

When cutting Chipboard my blade is cutting crazy all over the chipboard!
Lowering you r Speed, Pressure and/or Blade Depth will help resolve this problem.
I’m finding that if you cut chipboard at the slower speeds and lower pressures that your blade is more likely to cut through the chipboard sometimes with or w/o Multi-Cut. If you adjust your pressure down from Max to High or Medium, this will also help resolve this issue you may have to multi-cut with lower pressure. If you adjust your blade depth from 6 down to 4 and do Multi-Cutting, this will also help resolve that problem. You may need to make one adjustment or sometimes all 3 adjustments to correct the problem. Chipboard cuts best when using a NEW BLADE!!!

Testing: I tested each of the Chipboards using a new blade for the absolute best results. I used a simple shape of a flower. By Far the Chipboard I Liked Best was the white clay coated sold by ckresale.




Chipboard Cutting Guide And Tips and Tricks
Part II
-----------------------------------------

Source: Scrap N Crap – Arts and Crafts Supplies

Link: http://stores.shop.ebay.com/TheScrapnCrap__W0QQ_armrsZ1

Chipboard Thickness: .22 (approx. 1/32”/ 0.793mm) also Cereal Boxes, Cracker Boxes etc.
Note: Very little, if any, chipboard fiber debris.

Blade Depth: 6
Speed: Med
Pressure: Max
Multi Cut: 2
Blade and Housing: Regular Green Housing and Blade


================================

Source: Two peas in a bucket

Link: http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/shop/list/?f=qa_383&qa=chipboard

Brand: Creative Café: Creative Imaginations - Lucky 12x12 Kraft Chipboard – I’m not impressed with this chipboard at all. It crumbles apart while it’s cutting. Chipboard Fibers are everywhere. And for the price per piece $1.50 the performance was bad. I did not try the colored chipboard.

Chipboard Thickness: under .22 (approx. 1/64” / 0.396mm) Plain Chipboard
Blade Depth: 6
Speed: low
Pressure: Max
Multi Cut: 2
Blade and Housing: Deep Cut Housing and Blade

=======================

Source: N/A

Link: N/A

Item: Back of Legal Pad Notebook

Chipboard Thickness: .22 (approx. 1/32”/ 0.793mm)
Blade Depth: 5
Speed: Low
Pressure: Max
Multi Cut: 3
Blade and Housing: Regular Green Housing and Blade



====================================



Source: ckresale – On Ebay

Link: http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/ckresale

Chipboard Thickness: .22 (approx. 1/32”/ 0.793mm) White Clay Coated Chipboard (The Clay coating to me just looks like a white heavy paper)
Blade Depth: 6
Speed: Low
Pressure: High
Multi Cut: 4
Blade and Housing: Deep Cut Housing and Blade

=========================

Source: Scrapbook.com

Link: http://store. scrapbook. com/sbc-chp1212. html

Thickness: Approx. .24 or .28 (Approx. 1/16”/ 1.587mm)

Speed: Low
Pressure: High
Blade Setting: 6
Multi cut: 6
Blade and Housing: Deep Cut Housing and Blade
* I did try cutting this chipboard again by adjusting settings and using Deep Cut Blade and Housing. The settings have changed from the First Guide I made available. I found this chipboard cut better by lowering the speed and pressure. I did use my Deep Cut Housing and Blade where as in the first guide I put out I used the Regular Green Housing and Deep Cut Blade. I found that cutting this chipboard preformed better with these new adjustments.

=============================
Source: N/A

Link: N/A
Item: Chipboard - Back of a Desk Calendar
Thickness: Approx. .24 or .28 (Approx. 1/16”/ 1.587mm)


Speed: Low
Pressure: high
Blade Setting: 4
Multi cut: 5
Blade and Housing: Deep Cut Housing and Blade
============================

Source: ckresale – On Ebay

Link: http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/ckresale

Chipboard Thickness: .32 (approx. 1/8” / 3.175mm) White Clay Coated Chipboard (clay coat facing up on mat) (The Clay coating to me just looks like a white heavy paper)
Blade Depth: 6
Speed: Low
Pressure: Medium
Multi Cut: 4
Blade and Housing: Deep cut Housing and Blade

Pop Up Card...

I know it may not seem obvious, but I really do make things! Recently, I watched a great youtube video by Dawn Griffith on making pop up cards. Dawn has about 200 videos and they are all so much fun! She makes it all look so easy!

Here's my interpretations of her pop up card using paper from DCWV and K&Co.'s Que Sera Sera line, thank you stamp definition from Stampin Up!, other thank you stamp from Joann's, and butterfly cutout from Home Accents Cricut Cartridge.







You can see Dawn's video here:

Video on How to Make A Shadow For Your Welded Words in Design Studio

Very clear cut, easy to understand video on how to weld words and then how to make a shadow for those words in the Design Studio program for the Cricut! Five minutes is all it takes to learn this! Woo Hoo!

Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Have a great day, everyone!

Stickles Storage

Have you gotten into the Stickles craze yet? For those who don't know, Stickles is a brand of glitter glue with a narrow tip design that makes it very easy to write with the glue, control the glue and get the glue where you want it. For 101 things you can do with Stickles, check out my previous post HERE!

Once you get into Stickles, it's very easy to suddenly have a TON of different colors since they are so cute and inexpensive. Now, how to store them?

Researching on the web led me to these storage solutions:

1) Fastest, cheapest and easiest by far:

Mariposa on the scrapbook.com site posted this solution of using an 8.5x11 clear plastic insert stand she got at Staples and adhering strips of velcro to it to hold the stickles. Each bottle gets its own spot and bit of velcro. Best thing about this is it is very easy to make, takes up little room, allows for expansion and is low cost.






2) Glitter Stairs:






You can find Glitter Stairs HERE where they are on pre-order and expect to ship in 1-2 weeks. They offer three different sizes to hold your Stickles: small (holds 6 stickles, costs $9.99 and is 6 3/4" H x 4 1/2" W x 4 1/2" Deep), medium (in picture, holds 18 stickles, costs $24.99 and is 9" H x 8 1/4" W x 6 1/4" ) and large (also in picture, holds 36 Stickles, costs $34.99 and is 9" H x 16 1/4" W x 6 1/2" ). This design has the tip of the bottle inserted into the stand itself, keeping the glue primed and ready to use. This is a beautiful, eye-pleasing design.

3) Stan's Wood Stickles Holder:



These are beautifully handcrafted wood holders that can be mounted on the wall. This holds 28 bottles, is 12"w x11"h x3.5 "d and costs $35.00 + S&H. Also on this site are other gorgeous hand crafted wood items for scrappers including a real wood wall mounted case similar to the Making Memories Embellishment Center. Check out Stan's gorgeous items HERE! - be sure and scroll down to see everything!

4) Little Lunchbox Carrier




MrsD on the Cricut board posted her decorated lunchbox that she uses for stickles storage. The great thing here is that it is very portable and inexpensive. You can find these type of lunchboxes that are alterable at Michaels. I love her cute lunchbox!

5) What about Stickle storage on the wall?



Brensdesigns from the Cricut message board just put up rows of velcro on the wall and stores her stickles that way. Quick, easy, out of the way and inexpensive!

6) Remember those snapware ribbon holders that are being used for Cricut Cartridge storage? Those can also be used in a similar way for stickles storage. Another quick, easy, fast and inexpensive way to store the stickles! Best thing is that it is super portable! You can order that HERE for $7.99 - I love the purple color! Also, these can be found at Target.





7) Finally, there's always the Ziploc solution - Toss in Ziploc bag and throw in drawer or use it on-the-go. Ha ha!

One more thing, apparently there is some discussion as to whether the Stickles should be stored upright or with the nozzle pointing down. Tim Holtz, who has a line of distressed stickles, commented that you can store them either way. One caveat to storing them upside down is that when you open it, the Stickles glue is likely to burst out.

Cricut Storage Part 3

Brand New is this cartridge tote from CGull that has been designed to match their rolling totes! These come in many colors and pricing ranges from $37-$69.  You can check it out at cricutmachine.com but you may also want to do a google search to find the best pricing.

Another interesting storage idea here because this keeps the whole package (box, handbook, cartridge, overlay) all together and up and out of the way, mounted on the wall. This would be perfect for the person who scraps at home and rarely goes to crops. It costs $29.95, holds 16 cartridges and measures 18"w x 16.5"h x 3.5"d. It comes with hangers attached for easy mounting.

Check out this storage option HERE at Organize More.

Another great thing about this vendor, Organize More, is that they also have storage options for stamp pads, Sizzix dies, and ribbon organizers. They even have combo units, for example, ribbon/ink storage in one unit.

Another great storage idea is the Scraponizer for the Cricut. I am unable to post a photo of it because it is SO new but go to stampingscrapping.dot by clicking HERE to see it. It holds 4 cartridges, handbooks and overlays in an 8.5x11 plastic clamshell that sells for $9.99. They are the exclusive dealer until sometime in April.

BREAKING NEWS! ProvoCraft responds to missing word art on Life's a Beach cart

Here is the official ProvoCraft statement regarding the missing word art on the Life's A Beach Cartridge.

Provo Craft is always excited to see customers respond to our newest Cricut cartridges. We also understand that our Cricut users want to see the new cartridge images as soon as possible. We try to get our retailers these images as soon as we can, to get our Cricut users excited about the upcoming products. These sample images are generally created prior to the cartridges actual production.

During the development process, it is sometimes necessary for Provo Craft to make changes to the original preproduction artwork. Provo Craft does not guarantee any image will make the final cut on to a cartridge until the cartridge is actually completed and in production.

It has recently come to our attention that some Cricut users are upset that Provo Craft changed some of the artwork on "Life is a Beach." While Provo Craft strives to make sure that the most accurate information is available for users to make informed decisions about our products, Provo Craft reserves the right to make changes to artwork without any notification.

We try our best to keep the retail websites that publish images and information about Cricut cartridges up to date with the most current information as possible, but sometimes we are not always able to do so. Because of this, Cricut users should always refer to the Provo Craft website for the most recent and accurate information available.

We appreciate all your support of Provo Craft and its products.

As addressed by AdminBecky on the ProvoCraft website today on THIS THREAD. See this post for more of the back story of this problem.

Suffice it to say, people are STEAMING MAD! One woman is going to sell all her ProvoCraft products over this. Lori Willett on the above thread does an outstanding job summing up most people's feelings by this statement:

Becky,

Thank you for your response. I appreciate that it must have been crazy once this all hit yesterday, and, coming from a long career in corporate America, I'm impressed that ProvoCraft responded so quickly.

Please understand that what I'm about to say isn't directed towards you. I know you're doing your job, and you did a great job of keeping everyone in the loop so we knew that PC was working on the issue.

My friends who purchased things like Silhouette were immediately given the ability to cut items from the all sorts of sources. They purchased their machine, and with the exception of a few accessories, their purchases were done. We chose to go with Cricut, knowing that we would continue to invest in cartridges. We knew that going in.

But somewhere along the way, I think most of us came to realize that this machine is a lot more expensive than we anticipated. The price of cartridges doesn't go down very quickly, and the "Solutions" cartridges are simply cartridges with fewer images and fewer features, not really a bargain.

Along the way, we've heard from lots of our friends who switched over to SCAL and love it. We were loyal, though, and we felt that we should continue to give our dollars to ProvoCraft and support the company who created such a wonderful machine.

What does PC do in return? They give us rewards points but charge such outrageous shipping/handling that we don't want to even redeem them.

They have lousy customer service when we call. There's not enough help, and when someone finally does answer your call after you've waited 20+ minutes, they haven't a clue as to what to do to help you.

They have a website they don't maintain with any regularity, and anyone interested in PC products could never rely on that website for information. The only way to find PC products is to look at retail sites. As late as yesterday afternoon, I could not find a single reference to the LAB cartridge on the PC site. Yet the e-mail says that's where I should have looked before I bought? Maybe I'm dense, but if the information isn't listed under "Cartridges," how exactly am I to look it up?

Now this. Does PC wonder why the total uproar about LAB? It seems like the absolute rage coming from the end users didn't match the issue, right? We'll, that's because we've had it. This was the last straw for many of us. PROVOCRAFT - No one else! - released the images for this cartidge. Totally within the control of PC when it's released and what is released. PROVOCRAFT set up retailers with this phony list of images and gave them permission to pre-sell. These retailers are wonderful, many of them small businesses who rely on us so they can remain in business. You failed them, and you failed us.

Mistakes happen. I don't know why the images were released and not included in the cartridge. Was it a mistake? Was it a concious decision? Don't know, don't care. But what you did was bait and switch, pure and simple. You advertised, through multiple retailers, a product. You set a price, you provided the specifications. Then, only AFTER the items were purchased and the end users complained, did you happen to mention that you had made a change.

In my book, that's illegal activity.

Can GM advertise and sell a car with 38 features and deliver a car with only 28, saying they have a right to make changes?

Can you sell me a house with 8 bedrooms and then after closing tell me the house really only has 5?

Can you sell me a shirt with two sleeves and put a sleeveless shirt in the bag for me to take home?

I'd say NO.

Shame on you. Shame on ProvoCraft. You've lost me as a customer. At this point, I wish I had purchased a cutting machine from your competitor so I would have saved the hundreds of dollars I've spent along the way supporting PC. I won't do this again. I will not give you my money in the hopes that you will sell me what you advertise. PC has no integrity, and I for one can't support such an organization.

You ought to be ashamed.

Lori Willett

It will be interesting to see how this plays out on the message boards. Frankly, I am disappointed because I like the last row of word art that wasn't included on the cart.

Ways to Keep Track of your Cricut Cartridges

Amanda aka AMKScrap on the Cricut message board has created some cute lists to keep track of the carts you have and the carts you want. She has broken them down into fonts, shapes, licensed carts, solutions carts and classmates carts. Click HERE to go out to her blog and download some for yourself! Be sure and leave a nice comment for all her hard work! ;-)

The Cricut site has colored pictures of the handbooks!

The color handbooks for the cartridges are actually on the Cricut site. For awhile, they had been taken down, but apparently, they are back. There is no 8.5x11 choice, but there is each cartridge sample page and handbook with the exception of Sports Mania, Home Decor, Life's A Beach, and Lyrical Letters - so basically, the newer carts. I had never found this page before on the site, but heard about it on the cricut forum.

Check it out HERE!

Finally found a bag to hold the Cricut Expression

The Cricut Expression is a large machine and finding a bag for it has been a recent goal of mine, especially since I stated taking Cricut classes (see this post) and want to bring my Cricut. So, I searched around on the internet and found a few options.

The first one was at Joann's- the Tutto (see photo below). At Joann's, this costs $157.50 before a coupon and if you get it with a 50% off, then your cost would be a little under $80 before shipping. The nice thing about this bag is that it has wheels. Also, there is a choice of colors: red, black, pink, lime or purple. Click HERE to see the order page at joann.com.



Then, of course, Cricut has made a duffle for the Expression and you can view that in the picture below. It sells for $39.95 and holds the Expression machine. It only comes in the black and lime green combo shown. Click HERE to order this one and see the details.



Finally, locally here in Dallas, at a store called Charming Charlie's (corner of Park & Preston), I was able to get the bag below for $22 on sale (before tax) - normally it is $30. It also comes in brown but I liked the pink! It is such a cute bag and versatile since I can also use it as a regular travel bag. The critical dimension for finding a bag is 21" long. You would be surprised how many bags are NOT that long. To measure in the store, since I didn't have a measuring tape, I used a regular sheet of paper (11" long) and laid it out along the bag.



If any of my readers have any other bag solutions, let me know and I will post them!

How to Condition Your Cricut Mat

Have you ever noticed that when you get a new mat, it's really sticky! I mean, REALLY sticky! In fact, it's best to only use heavy cardstock initially as the mat will not let the thinner paper come up.

To combat this, after opening the mats up, I usually press the mat against a clean T-shirt (or the one I'm wearing, ha ha!) and this removes the excessive stickiness.

But, Cricut Dan has an even more interesting idea and people on the yahoo group say this prevents those little paper stickies from clinging to your mat!

Look HERE to see Cricut Dan's video about this!