Creative Critter Notebooks

I've had several questions about the notebooks that I give to my Creative Critter Club members. First... at this point there is no membership fee... you pay only the $25 class fee for the classes that you are interested in or can attend. Once you have attended your first class you will receive this notebook...



It will have your name on it (the cover might be different) and will include a list of all the current cartridges available. You are to highlight the ones that you own... and can put stars or numbers by the ones that are on your wishlist. This is to keep you organized and to help others (like DH) who might want to buy you a cartridge for your birthday or such.



I will be more than happy to give you extras of this list in case you would like to keep track of what your scrapping buddies have too... in case you share cartridges or would like to purchase one for them as a gift.

At each class that you take... you will receive a "Tip of the Week" Handout to put in your notebook. Those might be charts on speed/pressure for the different types of paper or detailed instructions on how to change your blade, etc.

Then you will get an 8.5"x11" copy of the handbook for the cricut cartridge featured at that class.



The handouts and manuals come already in the document protectors so that you can flip through them many times without damaging the pages. You can also slide extra cuts into that page to reference them later for sizing purposes. Each handout will also include a 'Sample Sheet' that shows what is on that cartridge at a glance, including the creative features.



I recommend tabbing the manuals if you are going to store multiple manuals in one notebook. If you have many cartridges like I do... I recommend either the small 1/2" notebooks or even storing them in a separate folder for each cartridge. You can color coordinate according to font or shape cartridge.



I have numbered every image in the handbooks to correlate with the keypad overlay... for example: the very first image in the WALK IN MY GARDEN cartridge is this daisy flower. It is numbered KEY 10... because it is in row '1' and column '0' = 10. Get it?



Okay... let's try another example: the Rose image in the same WIMG cartridge is KEY 26... because it is in row '2' of column '6' = 26. Remember the columns always start with '0' and the rows start with '1'.



You can do this in your own handbooks by starting with the very first image of every book and numbering it 10... then 11... then 12... and so on until you get to 59. If you go over 59, then something is wrong because there aren't enough keys on the keypad for more than that. Now this ONLY WORKS FOR THE SHAPE CARTRIDGES! If you try to do it for the fonts, you will be completely lost! Because the fonts are in alphabetical order in the handbook, BUT are in 'Keyboard' order on the overlay (thanks provocraft! I don't know anyone who types on the cricut overlay as they would on a computer keyboard!). I do provide the correct key number on each of my font manuals though.

I also include project sheets for inspiration with that particular cartridge. At least one of my own design, but might include projects found on the internet too. I, also encourage you to print pictures of layouts/projects that appeal to you from online and store them with the corresponding cartridge.

There you go... a CREATIVE CRITTER NOTEBOOK. Something you can do yourself with a little investment of time. Or if you don't have the time... then join us for a class and you will get it as part of your class fee, and everytime you attend future classes, you will get the manual for the cartridge featured at that class.

Even the solutions cartridges will receive a manual... the HOME ACCENTS cartridge is the feature cartridge for this coming Saturday class (April 4, 2009), and all Creative Critters attending will receive a manual that shows each cut and is appropriately numbered. For more information or to register for this class, please go to http://www.cropallday.com/.

Hope my examples were clear, please feel free to leave a question in the comments so others can see the question and I will answer it there for everyone to see also.

Vinyl Wall Art - Home Accents

Have you tried the latest trend in home decorating!?! Did you know that you can do it yourself? And while knowing a few tricks here or there to make it easier... it's already really easy! Here is a before picture of my dining room wall (yes... I painted it that color on purpose! LOL!)...

I wanted to give it a little more pizazz... so I decided to focus on the red & black candle sconces on each side of the picture.

1. I used the Home Accents cricut cartridge to make the following cuts in black vinyl at 8"...

2. I then placed the cut image onto the grid of my transfer paper...

3. Place the sticky sheet of the transfer paper over the topside of the cut image...

4. Rub it the top to make sure that the entire image is now on the sticky sheet...

5. Pull the sticky sheet apart from the grid sheet...



6. Place the sticky sheet holding the vinyl cut image where you want it onto the wall and rub with the rubon tool of your choice (most vinyl packages come with a big popsicle stick) like you would a rubon on your scrapbook page. Then peel the sticky paper back...

Viola! Instant change! It's not 'over the top', but I really like what it added to my wall.

There is a sentiment that I would like to put right over the picture... What do you think? Should I just leave well enough alone? Hehehee

Baby Shower Cards

I know... I know... it's the argyle pattern again! I just can't help it!! LOL!





I have never really been a 'big card maker'... but let me tell you, I am loving my cards lately! Maybe its because the cricut really makes it easy and fun... I don't know, but look what I made for my cousin's baby shower! The argyle pattern, of course, is from the Wild Card cartridge. The circle onesie is from the New Arrival cartridge... cute, huh?

Can you tell that they are Memphis Tiger fans? Yep... you guessed it... the nursery is decorated in Memphis Tiger football memorabilia! This is gonna be one proud papa!

The sentiment was printed on my computer. The card below was also made with New Arrival. I used my favorite Martha Stewart border punch on the side.

My cousin has two adorable little girls (they were the flowergirls in my daughters wedding a few months ago!) they decided to try one more time, and guess what!?? It's a boy! The whole family is so excited.

Another cut from New Arrival... the sentiment is from Wild Card. I decorated the baby gifts with vinyl letters that I cut on my cricut.

I bought this cute little ceramic bottle frame at Hobby Lobby (half price of course). The new baby's name is going to be Adam, so I used the Blackletter to cut my vinyl lettering.

I love personalized gifts... so I use my scrapbooking supplies to personalize things as much as I can. The frame below was cute all by itself, but I added metal letters for the baby's name.

Of course, the picture is the one that came with the frame! LOL!




Last, but not least... I made this cute door hanger using the Mickey Font cartridge for his name, stickabilities stickers for Memphis Tiger Fan and two little wood cutouts from Hobby Lobby. Easy.

That was fun... what's next?

New Arrival Cartridge Class

Creative Critters Cricut Club met three times this week!



This week's Feature Cartridge was NEW ARRIVAL! It's not just for babies! The cartridge offers 3 different kinds of cards for every image it has. Here's the instructions for this card:

Supplies:
1 – 12”x12” Embossed White Cardstock
1 – 12”x6” Double-sided Printed Paper
Scrap piece of white paper – EASTER stamp
4” piece of ribbon
Adhesive
Paper Trimmer & Paper Scorer
Bone Folder
Cricut Expression
(can be adjusted for the Original Cricut)

STAMP Stamp EASTER on 1”x3” white paper
Distress edges, Color letters and add Stickles
Set aside to dry

CUT 1: Load white embossed 12”x12” paper
Select shift key 58
Select FIT TO PAGE feature key (should cut 5 ¾“)

CUT 2: Load 12”x6” Printed Paper
Select shift key 43
Cut one

CUT 3: Load white scrap (min 3”x3”) in bottom left corner of mat
Position blade at top right corner of paper
Select SET PAPER SIZE
Select shift key 43
Set REAL DIAL SIZE to 3 ¼“

Assemble: ENVELOPE – Score and fold along score lines. Glue
CARD – Score and fold along score lines
Glue bunny head, distress edges & draw face
Attach EASTER stamp with pop dots under bunny

Well, we added two more classes to this week's schedule! We now meet on the second & fourth Monday nights at 6:30pm AND second & fourth Tuesday days at 9am & 2pm! Monday night was fun... I'd like to welcome a new Monday night cricuteer... Sandy!




Also want to send a shout out to my new BFF!! Joy from OBSESSED WITH SCRAPBOOKING . She came to my morning class and I had so much fun with her! Even kidnapped her for lunch! LOL! I have enjoyed her blog for a long time and I am sure you will too if you haven't already discovered it. Make sure you subscribe to it too... because she is the best about posting what's new in scrapbooking and what's on SALE! Gotta have those coupons!

Then my afternoon class included some of my favorite regulars... Kathy (aka: Honey) and Amanda (aka: Goody). I missed seeing their usual sidekick Soila (aka: Weetie), but Weetie... if you are reading this, I'm sending you my love! LOL!

Anyway, yesterday was the best. I count my blessings everyday that I get to make a career out of something that I am passionate about and love with all my heart! Thanks to all of you who make that possible!

WILD CARD - Card #4 (Key13)

This is the fourth card in the WILD CARD handbook. It is called 'Stitched' and has stitches on the flap of the envelope and also on the two Icons (insert page and a bird).

There are two phrases to chose from... I chose 'XOXO'. The envelope was cut 'Fit to Page' at 6.25".




I cut the envelope liner and the frame out of the same K&Co paper. The envelope and card were cut out of white and I used DCWV Green #2 for the insert page and the bird. The brown branch is actually a cut from Key10 of this same cartridge.... it is the Icon (no shift). I thought the bird looked lonely, so I added the branch.




The striped K&Co paper frames a window that allows you to see the greeting inside the card. I used the stitched page on the inside, but could probably be used for a background on many things or even the front of a card. Can you see the stitching?



It's interesting to cut everything under a key on this cartridge and then just play with it all... like a puzzle, to see what fits where and how.





So, this is my 'interpretation' of the Stitched card from the Wild Card cartridge. Remember, it is Key 13.

Cricut Classes

Our Creative Critter Cricut classes have been so much fun! We featured the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge for the first one, where we made cute little easter baskets and learned basics on both the baby bug and the bigger expression. Then we featured the WALK IN MY GARDEN cartridge at our last class and made the card above... the card, ladybug and envelope were all made from WALK IN MY GARDEN. This lesson talked about and taught how to make, fold and glue envelopes made with the cricut machines.

Myriam (below) is a whiz at the cricut and has been paper piecing with the best of them... but she didn't realize that you can set your paper size for paper scraps on both the baby bug and the big gal. She had always wondered how you knew where to fold those envelopes too. Now she knows!

Then we played with some good ole' fashion shrinky dinks. WALK IN MY GARDEN has the cutest Bread Tag creative feature, so we used it to make id tags. Everyone learned how to use the Multi-Cut feature on the big gal with the shrinky dink plastic.

The next class is scheduled for Monday, March 23rd @ 6:30pm and (by request!) Tuesday, March 24th at 9am AND 2pm! You can get more information HERE on how to register. We will be featuring the NEW ARRIVAL cartridge and showing some great ways to use it for more than just baby stuff! Let me know if you have any questions!

WILD CARD - Card #2 (Key 11)

Okay... so I get carried away when I find something new that I like... yes, here is yet another argyle card from the WILD CARD cricut cartridge!






This time though, I made the matching envelope with liner and the frame for the front of the card. Remember that this is KEY 11 on the WILD CARD cartridge. Below is another shot of the envelope with the flap closed... it was cut "Fit-to-Page" on the bigger Cricut Expression at 6". The diamond shape argyle on the envelope flap are cut-outs with the envelope liner showing through. I chose the green cupcake paper from the new DCWV SWEET paper stack because of the argyle pattern on it.






There are several cupcake diecuts in the cricut cartridges, but I just love this one from the new HOME DECOR cartridge that was included only in cricut expression bundles sold at Walmart before Christmas! It's so delicious! LOL! It was cut at 3.5" to fit on the front of the card.






The close up below shows the paper layering a bit better... the card itself is brown... first argyle layer is lime green and second argyle layer is a dark sage green. I used pop dots for the cupcake and the frame (which was cut at 6" on KEY11 of WILD CARD) was attached with a ribbon through the slots on each end. I used a stamp for the word HAPPY and handwrote the BIRTHDAY.





Gotta love argyle... and cupcakes too! LOL! Let me know what you think! Is it too much green?... LOL!

WILD CARD Argyle & INDIE ART Skull & Crossbone

I made this one specially for my daughter. She loves skulls... weird, huh? She's not goth or punk or even depressed... but she thinks that skulls are cute, especially if they have a big pink bow on their heads! LOL! She loves them so much that she got a tattoo of one on her hip and her cousin custom made her wedding garter with a cute little silver rhinestoned skull dangling from it. So... this card is for her.

The pink & black argyle background was cut from the WILD CARD cartridge at 5.25" (Key11), the skull was cut from INDIE ART cartridge at 3" (Key10) and the cute little pink bow was cut from the PAPER DOLLS cartridge at 1"-real size.

I made some for boys too... some for the LIMELIGHT Task6 and some for my own card file.

WILD CARD & HELLO KITTY Bday card

Talk about cute! At first, I wasn't too impressed with the argyle design... but now i am loving it! It makes such a cute background! I think I am going to adapt it for a scrapbook page today! Tell me what you think about this card!!!

I made this card for a birthday party that my teenage son was going to... the birthday girl loves Hello Kitty. So I used the argyle background at 5.25" from the WILD CARD cricut cartridge (Key11) in pink and black and the cute kitty is from the HELLO KITTY cricut cartridge (Key11) cut at 2". The inside says "Happy Birthday" and is also from the HELLO KITTY cricut cartridge (Key20) cut at 2".

Really simple, yet really really cute card.