SURPRISE! New Cartridges from Cricut!

I wonder if the people at Provocraft think it is funny to announce new cartridges (you can see them at LADYBUG LAND) and let everyone get excited about new releases... irritated with what many think are useless designs (come on... seriously!... Spongebob!?)... and frustrated because we (the consumers) don't think that Provocraft is listening to us?!! And then quietly allow an online store to start selling two cartridges that no one knows anything about! Yep... you heard me... LIFE'S A BEACH and LYRICAL LETTERS are being preordered HERE.



LIFE'S A BEACH




LYRICAL LETTERS





AND I think I am more excited (with the exception of the kitchen & bath cartridge) about these two than any of the other cartridges expected to be released this spring. I LOVE the LIFE'S A BEACH! I have a whole box of cruise pictures that I have been waiting to crop and this will be the 'push' that I need to finally do that Cruise Album (trip was in 2006!). This cartridge looks like it has it all for those beach vacations... including the font! The picture doesn't show the creative features, but I am sure that they are the layers for the paper piecing. The cute little hula girl looks to have at least 6 layers... she's cute! My daughter is a life guard at a pool and I can't wait to use the little lifeguard stand pictured on key D9!
And how cute is the LYRICAL LETTERS?! I love the different fonts that the creative features offer too. It has paper piecings at the bottom that are reminiscent of Graphically Speaking... ex: there's a heart doily that you place the words 'love u' in.
I don't know anything about the Memory Making Crafts website either (anybody have an opinion?... please leave a comment and share it with us all!). But you would think that Custom Crops or Oh My Crafts would be 'in' on the new release... wouldn't ya? It's just mind-boggling...
Happy cricuting...

Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge

Hooray! Our first Creative Critters Club class was last night! Plantin Schoolbook cartridge was the feature cartridge... everyone received their club notebooks and several handouts for those notebooks. Among the handouts were a complete copy of the handbook and a cheatsheet for Plantin Schoolbook, a complete list of all cricut cartridges including the new releases, and this week's tip sheet on how to properly change the blade for your cricut.


The cute little Easter bag below is one of the projects done with the Plantin Schoolbook...







Everything you see in the photo was cut with the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge... the bag... the grass... the eggs... the tag... yep, even the ric rac on the eggs! You will notice that you will use three CREATIVE FEATURES in this project... (the instructions are below!) if you are not familiar with these keys, you will love using them with this project! Email me if you have any problems or questions. I have designed a way to label the keys on the keypad... you will need this cheatsheet on the keypad:






Supplies:
5 pieces of 12x12 cardstock
(pink, green, yellow, orange & white)
12” piece of ribbon
Adhesive
Paper Trimmer & Paper Scorer
Bone Folder
Cricut Expression


CUT 1: Load pink paper
Select key E9
Select FIT TO PAGE feature key (should cut 7 ¼”)

CUT 2: Load green paper
Select key D8 shift
Select FIT TO PAGE feature Key (should cut 2 ½” tall and 11 ½” long)

CUT 3: Load white paper
Select key E1 shift
Set size to 2 ½”
Select QUANTITY feature key and set the number to 5 using the arrow keys under the display screen

CUT 4: Load 1 - 6”x6” square each of orange, pink & yellow on the bottom left corner of your mat.
Position blade at top corner of square and SET PAPER SIZE
Select key D9 shift at 1/2" size
Select QUANTITY feature key to cut 5

CUT 5: Load orange paper
Select key E7 shift at 3" size

Assemble: Score bag, fold (but do not glue!)
Glue grass on bag, trim and score folds again
Decorate eggs with ric rac, trim, glue on bag and score folds again
Glue last egg on tag, trim and attach to bag with ribbon

It is important to score the folds each time you add a layer!




We all really enjoyed making this one and I hope you do too!! Next class is scheduled for March 9th in Frisco, Texas and we will be featuring the STORYBOOK cartridge. You can register for the class HERE or send me an email to ladybugandco@yahoo.com if you have any questions. If you like this project and want to see more, leave me a comment! I would love to see pictures if you give it a try! Happy cricuting!!

Just Blend it!!

Who needs decorative scissors, punches or dies? As a cricut owner you can now save space in your craft room...

you've gotta see THIS

... I think I would recommend donating those items to your local school... LOL!

Cricut Club is HERE!

What do you get when a Ladybug goes out and buys a Cricut? A Creative Critter! That's what!! LOL! We now have the date set for our first club meeting! Go to www.cropallday.com for more information!