Pistachio is all the rage this Spring

Hi Everyone,

Mint or Pistachio is all the rage this Spring with Tangerine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to try this nail colour, sorry the pic is dark…I’m learning how to self shoot for nails :)

what are your must have this Spring?

Maggie

Pistachio is all the rage this Spring

Thanksgiving Card ("hide selected contour" in Design Studio)

Hi, It's Diane from the Design Team and today I want to share a Thanksgiving card and explain a few things about using the "hide selected contour" option in Design Studio.  Maggie asked us to create some Thanksgiving items so I started looking through my cartridges on Design Studio for some turkey images.

I found turkeys on A Child's Year, Animal Kingdom, Doodlecharms, From My Kitchen (I think it is a drumstick), My Community, Paper Doll Dress Up and Stretch Your Imagination by using the search feature in Design Studio.  None of them appealed to me as I was designing so I decided to try something else.

I noticed the silhouetted stretched version of the leaf on Stretch Your Imagination and I decided it looked something like a turkey feather.  I decided to use these to create a "suggestion " of a turkey for my card.

Here is a preview of my design.  I added five "feathers".  The center feather is straight up and there are two on each side at 22.5 and 45 degree angles.  The two on the right are flipped so the tips point to the right side of the card.  The leaf skeleton/feather is cut into the card topper by using "hide selected contour" to hide the outline of each leaf cut.

The sentiment is from the Wild Card cartridge - this cartridge has so many useful sayings!

You will notice that there are multiple mats in the file - most of these are used to segregate items so you can change the preview colors and try different combinations.

The file will cut the card topper (5.25 x 4 inches) on page one.  The sentiment is set up to cut from a 2 x 4 inch piece of cardstock on the next to the last page (labeled CUT).

If you look at the preview on page one it will look strange.  In order to keep the outer contour of the leaf hidden when the files is closed and reopened I had to layer two sets of leaves and hide at least two lines on each set (there is a simple explanation of how to do this HERE).

You can cut this card topper from a six by six piece of card stock placed in the center of the mat (at the top if you are using an Expression).  The fine lines of the feathers are delicate so a mat that is not too sticky - but sticky enough to hold the paper firmly for the delicate cuts - is needed.

The card base is an 8.5 x 5.5 inch piece of cardstock folded in half for an A2 card.  I cut the sentiment from gold shimmer cardstock.  I also chose to use an extra piece of shimmer cardstock to highlight the feathers - you can experiment with different combinations. Cut this to 3 x 5 inches to fill the area behind the feathers.

 

Use a glue pen on the back of the card topper to make sure that the curls will be stuck down firmly.

 

Then you can adhere the liner piece to the topper and use a ATG gun or other adhesive to stick the topper to the card.  I inked the edges of the card topper to hide any white edges.

 

There is a low contrast in this version but the shimmer is very effective and the card is easy to read in real life.

 

Here are two of my trial cards side by side - the card on the right is easier to read at first glance.  You can experiment with contrast and values to see what effect you like the best.

The file is available to download from the link below - you will need Stretch Your Imagination and Wild Card to duplicate this card but if you don't have Wild Card you could substitute another font cartridge to create the sentiment (or change it to something else).

Thanksgiving Card

I hope you have fun trying out various combinations - let me know if you have any questions.

Thanksgiving Card ("hide selected contour" in Design Studio)

Design Studio - A Beginner's Guide

Hi, it's Diane from the Design Team.  I have been a Design Studio user for nearly two years and, for me, the Design Studio is an essential crafting tool when working with my Cricut(s)!  I will be doing a series of posts to help all of you who have not yet taken the plunge learn how to make the most of this incredible tool.
So let's start at the very beginning - for someone who has not even opened the box.  Many people are hesitant to get started but once you get going you may forget how to push the buttons on your machine.  It's time to get the software on your computer and start creating!

Inside the box you will find a CD in an envelope - the version of the software on that CD is almost certainly out of date but there is a very important sticker on the envelope with a series of six groups of numbers that you will need to activate your software and make it possible to cut designs with any cartridges that you have in your possession.


The sticker can be seen at the bottom of the envelope (the numbers have been blurred but there are six groups separated by dashes).  There were some copies of the software that were distributed with stickers that only have five groups of numbers.  If you have only five groups you will need to contact Customer Service to obtain a proper serial number.

Also in the box you will find a Quickstart Guide, a User Manual, a cute Cricut Mouse pad and a USB cable to connect your computer to your Cricut.  If you obtained your copy of Design Studio through a rebate program you may only have a serial number.  In this case you can use any USB cable with two ends that look like those in the photo - this is a common printer cable and you probably have one at home already.  The Quickstart Guide and the User Manual are available to download online - click on the name of each to go directly to these resources.

On more important link is to the Design Studio FAQ page on Cricut.com.  If you run into difficulties, some of your questions may be answered there but I believe that the page needs some updating.  For example, the latest version of the program works fine on Vista 64 bit computers (I am using it on my Vista 64 bit computer on a daily basis).

Once you have located your serial number, the next thing to do is to go to the Cricut.com to the Design Studio Page.  Click on the link marked with the arrow to download Design Studio updates.  If you are already registered and signed in on the Cricut.com site you will go directly to the page.

If you have not registered on the site before you will need to complete the simple registration process and sign in.  I highly recommend checking the site frequently - many important announcements can be found on the message board and there is a great community of helpful people who are experienced with the software and may be able to help when you have those "middle of the night" questions.

First you will need to download the up-to-date version of the program by clicking the link - this is the brand new October '09 update.  Once the program downloads, run the installer and follow the onscreen prompts to complete installation. Then open the program and enter your serial number to activate it.

OK - you are finally ready to start creating.  Read through the manual quickly and then watch the VIDEO on the Cricut.com site.  The video was made before some features were added to the software but it is an excellent explanation of "the basics."  In my next Design Studio post,  I will tell you about those additional features and how to use them.

Have fun exploring what this new tool can do for you! 

Don't forget Cutting Above is giving away the exclusive Pink Journey cartridge - just leave a comment to be eligible to win. HERE
 

(Edited for new update 10-28-09)

Design Studio - A Beginner's Guide

Review: Cricut Design Studio - A good program that could be great!

Hi, I am Diane from the Design Team and today I am happy to give you some basic information about the Cricut Design Studio software along with my review of the software.

I have been using the Cricut Design Studio software since January, 2008.  I received it as a Christmas gift but it took me a few weeks to get up the nerve to start using it. There were many problems encountered by the first users of the program.  However, with several key software updates, many of the problems have been resolved. The program is now quite good and, with some additional updates and upgrades, it could be great!

The Cricut machines have opened a new world of possibilities for scrapbookers, card makers and crafters of all sorts by making it possible to cut thousands of designs in a variety of sizes with a simple push of a button (or two or three buttons). For some people, an attractive feature of the Cricut machines is that they function based on a cartridge system and do not require a
computer.

However, with the addition of a computer and the Design Studio software (or very soon the new Gypsy device) the design possibilities using the images on the Cricut cartridges you own are limited only by your creativity and imagination.

Here are a few of the advantages of adding the Design Studio program to your crafting tools:

1. The Design Studio program contains the complete library of Cricut cartridges and all of the images are available for you to preview. Often, there are images on a cartridge that are not obvious from looking at the cartridge boxes and these can all be seen in the program. This can help you decide which cartridges to purchase (and make you realize that you "need" a cartridge that didn't appeal to you at first glance). The screen shot above shows some of the tags on the new Winter Woodland cartridge.
   
2. Design Studio is a great tool for planning your cards and scrapbook page layouts. You can use the 12 x 12 mat as a virtual scrapbook page and plan the location and size of every cut. This will save you time and paper because you can see the completed page before you cut anything and make any adjustments needed. (If you have one of the smaller machines you can move your items to the 6 x 12 mat to cut them - but you will not be able to cut full page overlays.)
   
3. One of the most exciting things you can do with the software is welding - combining letters and/or images to create full words and phrases or even using the basic shapes available to create entirely new images that you can cut. When items are welded, they are much easier to add to pages and cards since you do not have to fuss with the placement of each individual letter.
   
   
   
4. As you get more proficient in using the software you can create totally new designs limited only by your imagination (and patience). You can also adapt patterns and designs, that you had previously needed to cut by hand, by creating new files for your Cricut machine to cut for you.
   
5. You can share your designs with fellow Cricut crafters who also have the software. The files are small and easy to email, save on a flash drive or upload to a file sharing service. Many crafters generously share the files for items they have created through blogs and message boards.

Some of my favorite features of the software are the "hide selected contour" feature and the ability to weld words and images inside frames and openings in cards. I also find the copy and paste feature very useful because the items are placed in exactly the same location (which makes designing things like word books easier). The ability to keep the preview as a mat background is also helpful for more complicated designs and shadowing.

Although I enjoy using the software (and use it almost daily) there is room for improvement - a few of the features I would like to see added or upgraded are:

1. True "grouping" - when you add all of your design elements in the same selection box you can use the nudge arrows to move them into position and keep the entire unit as a group - but you are limited by the inability to alter individual parts of the design by changing angles, stretching or otherwise manipulating them. If there were "select all," "group" and "ungroup" commands it would be possible to create more interesting designs and to save hours of designing time! You could also them copy and paste and resize to create multiples of the item quickly and easily.
   
2. The hide contour feature has some annoying quirks - you are not able to hide only one contour and have it remain hidden when the file is reopened. It is also impossible to have the lines stay hidden when you copy and paste the item and you have to close the file and reopen it to be able to hide lines on a pasted object. If these problems were fixed, it would be a great timesaver.
   
3. A great addition would be the ability to shadow a word with a single click, to be able to vary the width of the shadow and to be able to shadow words that are created in a font without a shadow feature on the cartridge.

I encourage everyone to download the trial version of the software and using it - there is a good basic video introduction to the software on the Cricut site (here is a LINK) and there are many helpful tutorials to guide you as you attempt more advanced projects. We will be offering some of these right here on Cutting Above.

Here a little bit of inspiration for you to enjoy. 

Full page mesh (lace cardstock)

By using the Design Studio software you will be to make many truly customized projects and express your creativity in new ways using the machine and the cartridges you already own.

Have fun and visit Cutting Above and the blogs of our Design Team regularly for help and inspiration.

Review: Cricut Design Studio - A good program that could be great!

Design Studio

Have you taken the Cricut Design Studio plunge yet? No? Why not? Cost too much??? No dear, not anymore. Check out Scrapper's Must Haves. They have Design Studio on sale for $39.95. It retails for $89.95 so sweetie this is a bargain you just can't afford to pass up!

And I promise you, once you try DS, you will never want to go back to cutting without it. It's FUN!!

Design Studio