CRICUT CIRCLE SWARM in Salt Lake City!

Hello Everyone!

Have you heard!?  The Cricut Circle Swarm in Salt Lake City has been opened to the general public now!!  Woot woot! 



My besties and I are Circle members, but we have another close friend who isn't.  She wants to be... but it's not in the budget right now (shhhh... Santa has it on his list!).  So, now we are all talking about going!  Can you say F.. U.. N..?!









For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here is all the info:

Date
October 9, 2010


Time
9am to 9pm


Location
The Grand Hall at the Gateway
29 South Rio Grande Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84101-1151


Cost
$135.00 Buy Now!


Provo Craft is proud to host the inaugural Swarm! What is a swarm? A place for Provo Craft enthusiasts to gather and work on cards, layouts and mixed media projects while enjoying the company of other passionate crafters. ProvoCraft will have Cricut Imagines, Expressions, Cuttlebugs, and Yudus available during the event for everyone to use.


Four classes are available to everyone.  The classes are:


Yudu
Provo Craft will be demystifying the Yudu Process. We will be showing everyone how to apply emulsion, burn a screen, rinse a screen, what ‘spidering’ is, the correct way to transfer an image to a transparency, using the new foil and flocking, the toddler platen, the sleeve platen, why you need a registration panel, and of course, screen print! We will have over 7 spooky Halloween images to pull on an item that you bring. Imaginisce will be on hand to blink out your pulled image with their i-rock tool!


Gypsy with Jennifer
Jennifer is the master at the Gypsy! She will be educating all on how to link a cartridge, updating your gypsy, how to delete a layer, converting a CDS file to a gypsy file, uploading a gypsy file, welding, and more! Jennifer will be providing Gypsy files after the class for all to upload! Oh, and if you do not have a gypsy, no worries—you will be getting one in your Swag Bag!


Cricut Imagine
Provo Craft will have Imagines set up for everyone to use during the swarm to enhance their cards, scrapbook pages, etc. We will have all the cartridges for you to play with during the event. The class will review all the facets of the Imagine product, especially how to incorporate regular cartridges with the Imagine!


Cricut Expression
Every wonder what the Center Point key is? How about the Line Return? Multicut? Autofill? Mix and Match? Portrait? Well this is the class for you! We will be reviewing all the keys on the Expression to enable you to use your Expression to its full capacity. We will also show you how to UPDATE your Cricut Expression!


Provo Craft will provide lunch and dinner at the Swarm from Le Croissant (YUMMY!)
Our Swag Bags are stuffed to the gills with a Gypsy, Custom Cuttlebug Folders and fun products from our partners.
Creative Xpress will have their store on-site for all your last minute needs and products for purchase


And we have amazing give aways—2 Scrapboxes (http://www.theoriginalscrapbox.com/), 4 Cricut Imagines, Martha Stewart Cake Machines, Cricut Cake Machines, Cartridges and more!


Tickets for the Swarm are available on the http://www.cricut.com/ Website under the Special Offer Section.


Hotel accommodations and travel are not included in the price of the Swarm

So... who's going?  I understand that Rita from the messageboard has organized a cricut dinner for those arriving on Friday night.  Maybe I will see you all there?! These events are always so fun and are great opportunities to meet IRL (in real life) all the friends you have made online! While in Chicago, my bff, Angela and I got to visit with Jinger who is Provocraft's spokeswoman... she is just the sweetest gal ever! And so so talented!



The slumber parties in the hotels are the best! LOL! Doesn't matter how old you are (or I am)... a good ole' slumber party can still make you do silly things and giggle alot! Hehee



Ahhh... that was fun!

So, if you are on the fence about going to one of these events... hop off of it!  Provocraft is always so generous in the freebies and giveaways... did you see that everyone is getting a FREE GYPSY!!  Customized CUTTLEBUG FOLDERS!!! And more!?  Wow... I have a gypsy already, but there are at least 3 people on my Christmas list this year who don't!!  Now I call that a 'win win'!  Purchase your tickets at CRICUT CIRCLE SWARM!

Cricutingly yours,

Tammy

WINTER WEDNESDAY: Recycled Gift using SONGBIRD

My True Love Gave To Me.... EIGHT MAIDS A MILKING!

Merry Christmas Everyone!! Okay... I'm a little early (lol), but I want to share my version of Eight Maids a Milking! It's homemade flavored coffee creamers stored in recycled Starbucks bottles.





I started with a 4-pk of Starbucks Frappuccino



My family enjoyed drinking them for me and then I just removed the labels... they came off easy too!



I gathered my ingredients (recipes at the bottom of this post) and started mixing...



My front labels are two cricut frames from the SONGBIRD cricut cartridge with a cute 'Maids a Milking' stamp from the 12 Days of Christmas set by PENNY BLACK. There are many many labels located throughout all the cartridges that can be substituted.  I cuttlebugged my bottom frame with the Swiss Dots embossing folder (my personal favorite).



I printed the flavor labels from my computer using the GRINCHED font and punched them out with a circle punch. Put one flavor label on the back and one on the top.



There you go... my version of "Maids a Milking"... lol. I made several sets of these for Christmas gifts last year and they were a big hit.  So, I started buying Frappuccino this past weekend, so I will have the empty bottles/cartons. But don't think that you have to use these bottles to make the creamers... any cute container will do!  The recipes are below, so give them a try and see what you think!




TAMMY'S COFFEE CREAMER RECIPES

Candy Cane Coffee Creamer

3/4 cup non-dairy coffee creamer
1 tsp. peppermint extract
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 cup crushed candy canes

Cappuccino Rum Coffee Creamer

1 cup Hersheys Cocoa
1 cup non-dairy coffee creamer
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons rum extract

Chocolate Covered Cherries Coffee Creamer

3/4 cup non-dairy coffee creamer
1/2 cup Hershey’s Cocoa
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon cherry extract


Pumpkin Pie Coffee Creamer

4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp allspice
1 cup non-dairy creamer
4 tablespoons Splenda

Combine ingredients and store in an airtight container. Use 1-2 tsp per cup of coffee.


Cricutingly yours!

GYPSY GEM Tuesday: Candy Corn Layout

Hello Everyone!

Today is GYPSY GEM Tuesday!  That means, not only do I share a project with you, but you get to download the cutfile for FREE!

I just love the new Halloween cartridges that Provocraft has come out with this year!  HAPPY HAUNTINGS, OCTOBER 31st, PUMPKIN CARVINGS and MINI MONSTERS... all cute.  The CELEBRATE WITH FLOURISH cricut lite cartridge and MARTHA STEWART'S SEASONAL CAKE ART also has some GREAT halloween images.  An oldie, but goodie is the PAPER DOLL DRESS UP cartridge... it has the cutest line of halloween customes and accessories.

But, never fear... if you don't have any of the above mentioned cartridges, but you have a gypsy... then YOU can make this easy, but cute, scrapbook layout:



SUPPLIES:

- Cricut Expression OR Baby Bug/Create
- Gypsy
- GYPSY WANDERINGS Cartridge
- ROBOTZ Cartridge
- Cardstock: White (2), Black (1), Orange (1) and Yellow (1)
- Orange ribbon (15")
- Black ribbon scrap




The top triangle and the two bottom shapes of my candy corn is from the shapes keypad on GYPSY WANDERINGS.  I welded them together and cut it out in black, then took the same shapes (unwelded), reduced their size enough for the black to shadow them and then cut them out in white, orange and yellow.


I like how my large candy corn turned out, but I really LOVE how my candy corn font turned out!  I simply cut out the words three times... once in each color at 1.5".  I welded the black shadow together to layer the letter on top of.   My cutfile uses the ROBOTZ font for this layout, but you could easily use the same technique with MICKEY FONT, HANNAH MONTANA and other chunky style fonts.



The trick to making my own layers for the candy corn font was to line my cardstock up exactly 1" down on the mat.


As you can see below, the letters cut out just fine and are the perfect size to make my candy corn font.


The white letters are whole, then the orange pieces are layered on top.  My cutfile has the letters positioned perfectly on the mat for you to simply apply your orange cardstock to the 1" line.


Then cut the yellow pieces and glue them together.


Here's a quick (less than 1 minute!) GYPSY GEM TIP for you:



Click HERE if you are unable to see the video above.

Now you are ready for the cutfile!!  Click on CR8TIVCRITTER - CANDY CORN

Have a GREAT day everyone!

Cricutingly yours,

Tammy Skinner

'Thank You 4 Coming' Tags

Hello Everyone!

My sister has been crazy busy the last three weeks!  Both my nephews had birthdays... one turned 2yo and the other turned a whooping 9yo!  I helped decorate the 2yo's birthday cake as you will see in a few posts below this one.  But, my assignment for my 9yo nephew's party was to simply make tags for the goodie bags.  EASY PEASY!  Especially since I have a gypsy!



Here are the supplies:

TAG: white cardstock (PLANTIN SCHOOLBOOK)
'THANK YOU': green cardstock (MS-ALL OCCASIONS CAKE ART)
'4' - red cardstock (ROBOTZ)
'coming' - blue cardstock (DON JUAN, welded on the gypsy)



Don't you just love how easy the cricut and gypsy make your projects?  Especially one like this!



While I was making the tags, my nephew and sister were in the kitchen dipping pretzels in chocolate and candy stars to go into the goodie bags.  Of course, my fee for my services (lol) was one of the pretzels....


Yep... that's their payment... in my younger nephew's mouth!  LOL!  He was the 'delivery boy' and decided that he should 'taste-test' the pretzel for me on his way to my studio! hehee  He's such a cutie!



There are not many days that my cricut does not get used.  I love that it is not just for scrapbooking or cardmaking... but, it really has become a big part of my life.  Remember when microwaves first appeared... now there's one in every household, I think that cricuts will be the same.  People are using cricuts in their businesses, decorating their homes and party planning with them.  I just saw an advertisement that cricut products were going to be sold in KROGER!!  Can you believe that?  A grocery store!  I can't wait to see that one!

Tomorrow is GYPSY GEMS Tuesday, so make sure to check back and even if you don't have a gypsy yet, I still recommend that you download the cutfiles each week... because Santa just might be good to you this year!  lol

Cricutingly yours,

Tammy

IMAGINE UPDATE is now available!

You can go to http://www.imaginecritters.blogspot.com/ to get the information and link to do your first Imagine update!!  Woot woot.... I updated my machine this morning and will be playing with it all day today!  More posts tomorrow on how it is going!

Have a great Saturday everyone!

Tammy

BIRTHDAY BASH Cartridge: "Happy Birthday Little Guy" Cake

Hello Everyone!

Yesterday was my nephew's second birthday.  My sister made his favorite cake... yellow with chocolate frosting. Nothing fancy... very simple... just the way a two-year old likes it.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to use my Cricut Cake OR the new BIRTHDAY BASH cricut cartridge, so when my sister asked if I would decorate it... I said, "YES"!  Besides, he's one of my two favorite nephews (doesn't matter that I only have two nephews! LOL!). 

Kept it pretty simple... used Provocraft's gum paste and added green & blue food coloring. 



The font is from BIRTHDAY BASH too... cut his name in blue gum paste at 2".



The phrase "HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE GUY" is in the phrase section of the BIRTHDAY BASH cartridge.  It was cut out at 4.5" with a blade depth of 3 and a speed of ONE!  I rolled the gumpaste out on the cricut mat and then put it in the freezer for about 15 min... then ran it through the Cricut Cake machine... put it back in the freezer for another 15 min.... then transferred it to the cake.  The blue "2"s are cut at 2.5" and the green "2"s are cut at 2".



Yep... we did.  He was so excited about the cake that we just let him go for it!  Don't worry... the picture below looks like he ate the whole thing by himself... but, trust me... we helped!  LOL!  It was really yummy!



My sister could have ordered his birthday cake with all kinds of characters on it and spent a fortune.  Instead, she made it from a box (inexpensive and time-saving), iced it and I decorated it with a simple design with my Cricut Cake... took maybe 45min.  From the look on his face... I think she made the right decision!  What do you think?

Cricutingly yours,

Tammy

CHRISTMAS CARDS: Card 8 "Believe"

Hello Everyone!  It's WINTER WEDNESDAY!  I've got two more cards for you from the new CHRISTMAS CARDS Seasonal cartridge that was just released.  If you are planning on making your own Christmas cards this year, then this cartridge will be a great time-saver for you.  Everything is already pre-designed for you to make easy, yet really pretty Christmas cards or you can change things up and give them that personal touch as you will see with my second card today.

First, let me present to you CARD #8 on the CHRISTMAS CARDS Seasonal cartridge:



Everything on this card was cut at 5.25".  I used BASIC GREY double-sided patterned paper, which is perfect for this because the top layer of the tree and the outer patterned frame are all one cut.  I simply turned the tree over for a different, yet coordinated look.


The only three changes that I made with this card were (1) I substituted a rhinestone star for the red one that cut out with the red frame trim and (2) I substituted green ribbon for the red strip of cardstock that cut out with the tree shadow.  Oh, and (3) I also chose to stamp the word "Believe" at the bottom instead of using the "Season's Greetings" that was suppose to cut out with the patterned paper... but my machine ate it for lunch, because even at 5.25" the sentiment was coming out really small.



My "Believe" stamp is from MY PINK STAMPER's "Christmas Wishes" stamp set. I love this set and the "Winter Punnies", which you can see both sets HERE. These will really help with those Christmas cards and tags this year!



My second card is actually CARD #3 from the CHRISTMAS CARDS Seasonal cartridge, but changed up a little.  Here is what CARD #3 is suppose to look like:



But I decided to just cut the 'HAPPY HOLIDAYS' out at 4" RDS (real dial size), added a ribbon and a touch of bling and came out with this:



Same card... just a different look.  And talk about easy!  I used that Basic Grey patterned paper again and then some white & red cardstock, very inexpensive to make.

How about a little blog hop?  Check out the CUTTING ABOVE blog HERE... my friend, Maggie is working hard to inspire not only crafting, but organizing and meal planning!  All in one place!  She is also giving away three cartridges this month!  Who doesn't need free cartridges?  LOL!

Have a GREAT day!

Cricutingly yours,

Tammy

GYPSY GEMS: Ghost Family Layout

Hello Everyone!

It's GYPSY GEMS Tuesday!  And that means that I have a project for you that was made with my gypsy and includes the gypsy cutfile, so you can download it and make it yourself!  Now how easy can it be?!

One thing that I love to use my Gypsy for is TITLES & PAGE TOPPERS!  If you saw last week's GYPSY GEM (click HERE), I had welded several different fonts together and shadowed them all to make my own 'wordart'.  But this week is much easier... take two different fonts, in this case JUBILEE (happy) and OPPOSITES ATTRACT (halloween), and stacked them on top of each other. 

I love how this technique looks on a layout.  The cute scalloped tag and the photo mats are from GYPSY WANDERINGS.



I welded the word 'Halloween' together at just 1.5" tall and the word 'Happy' was cut at 3".  This can be done without the Gypsy, but welding the top word is so much easier.  My ghost family came from PAPER DOLLS DRESS UP, the 'Daddy' and the 'Mommy' were cut at 4" (real dial size) and the two boys and girl were cut at 3" (real dial size).

I added little accessories, also from PPDU, to complete the look of the family. 



Now for the cutfile!   CREATIVE CRITTERZ - GHOST FAMLY LAYOUT

Here are the step by step instructions on how to download this cutfile into your gypsy.

1)  Click on the cutfile above.

2)  It will take you to my '4Shared.com' folder where you might have to open 'Gypsy Cutfiles' or you might already be in the right file.

3) Look for gypsy cutfile titled "Cr8tiveCritters - Ghost Family" and click on it.  Then click on the download button.

4) Your computer will automatically put the file into a 'DOWNLOAD' folder, but you can make a special Gypsy Cutfile folder too.

5)  Next, plug your Gypsy into your computer

6) Click on the Gypsy icon on your desktop... the same one that you update your Gypsy with.

7)  The Gypsy Sync software will immediately check and make sure that your Gypsy is current with the lastest update.

8)  If it is not current, then it will proceed with the update.  If it is current, you will get a message saying that, and your Gypsy Sync file screen will appear.

9)  Select 'Designs' under the word Gypsy in the first column.  All of your saved cutfiles that are on your gypsy should appear in the column to the right.

10) Click on "UPLOAD FILE TO GYPSY", search for the folder that holds the cutfile you just downloaded from the internet and select the cutfile that you want to download to your gypsy and click on OPEN.

Voila!  Ten easy steps... take them one at a time and you will be sharing cutfiles in no time!  You can save your files to your computer by selecting 'SAVE SELECTED FILES TO PC' and then upload them to the internet (http://www.4shared.com/) or transfer them to a flashdrive to share with your friends.

Thanks for stopping by for this week's GYPSY GEMS!

Cricutingly yours,

Tammy

WINNER WINNER WINNER! Someone gets a brand new EXPRESSION!

Hello Everyone!

What a great way to start the week!  I have been given the opportunity to give away a brand new Cricut Expression, thanks to Provocraft!!  So, thank you Provocraft!  From me and my winner! Also want to say "THANKS!" to all my readers!  I appreciate your support and the encouragement you give me every day!  I wish I could give everyone a new Expression... but I can't, so today I will be happy with giving an Expression to:

Gigi said...



Love your blog! I am saving up to get a Cricut so I can begin making some of the great projects you demonstrate. It would be great to win one and get started even faster! Then my savings plan could be for the Imagine!


Gigi
September 16, 2010 6:31 AM

CONGRATULATIONS GIGI!!  You are now the proud owner of a Cricut Expression!  Please send me your address and phone number to cc.ladybug@yahoo.com so I can forward your information to Provocraft and they will mail your machine to you!

Tomorrow is another GYPSY GEM Tuesday!  I think you will all like the project I have for you and not only will it include the cutfile... but step by step instructions on how to download cutfiles to your gypsy!

See ya tomorrow everybody!

Cricutingly yours,

Tammy

Bedazzled Pumpkins at CKC

Just had to share these little 'jewels' with you! LOL!  Not only can you buy white and black pumpkins now... but you can also bedazzle them!

Aren't they pretty!?  This post was especially for my friend, Debbie.  She gave me a magazine that had bedazzled pumpkins in it a couple of weeks ago.  We were both like, "We can do that!"  Sure enough... I found the jewels at CKC to bedazzle my own pumpkins!  Don't worry, Debbie.... I got you some jewels too!  LOL!

CKC San Marcos, Texas!!

Hello Everyone from San Marcos!

I'm in San Marcos this weekend at the Creating Keepsakes Convention!  Having a blast with my besties of course!  I love it when you can mix business and pleasure, because you LOVE what you DO!  Didn't want you to think I had forgotten about you this weekend though and wanted to remind everyone that I am giving away an EXPRESSION on Monday morning!  So don't miss out on the opportunity to leave a comment and remember, you must be a follower or subscriber of this blog!

See ya later... I'm on my way to do a make-n-take now!  Fun!

Tammy

BIRTHDAY BASH: "Jake is 9" Shark Layout

Okay... now is this totally cute or WHAT!!  The new BIRTHDAY BASH Cricut Cartridge has so many cute features, but this one will make your birthday pages just pop!  The bottom row of the keypad is all characters holding numbers... they are adorable! 

This one was actually holding the number '5', but my nephew just turned '9' this past Monday, so I changed out the numbers.  It was easy to do because this cartridge also has a cute blocky font.

The character holding the number 9 was a butterfly, which is why I had to swap out the characters!  LOL!  This SHARK was just too cute to pass up!

I cut the name out at 1.5" and shadowed it with green cardstock.

The BIRTHDAY BASH cartridge also has 20 really cute tags that can be used for journaling like the one on my layout here.  I cut it at 3.5" and drew lines on with a ruler.  There is a hole to tie a ribbon thru to make it a gift tag, so I just added the black brad to it.

My background paper is from PAPER STUDIO's "Make A Wish" paper stack and already had the presents stacked on the left side. 

This page came together really fast, which was good, because it has been a crazy week in my studio!  LOL!  I'm really please with how cute it turned out and I hope you like it too!

Cricutingly yours,

Tammy