Details on the Cricut Create

Posted by on August 27, 2008 · 1 Comment 

The following is a press-release on the Cricut Create found on www.marketwatch.com. (Text color changes are mine for emphasis).

Enhance Your Imagination with the New Cricut Create
The New Device is Exclusively Available at Michaels Stores Through 2008

SPANISH FORK, Utah, Aug 27, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Provo Craft, craft & hobby industry leaders and creators of the popular Cricut devices, today announced the latest addition to the line: the Cricut Create(TM) personal cutting machine.

The Cricut Create combines the portability of the original Cricut with many of the features of the Cricut Expression(R). Like the original Cricut(R), the Cricut Create weighs around 10 pounds and is about the size of a typical home printer. But unlike the original, the Cricut Create allows cuts from 0.25″ up to 11.5″ on a 6″ x 12″ cutting mat and also has several features previously available only with the Cricut Expression.

The Cricut Create will be available exclusively at Michaels stores nationwide through the end of 2008. Log on to http://michaels.com to find a location near you. It will not debut in any other locations until January 2009.
“The Cricut Create is perfect for the crafter that needs heavy-duty output from a lightweight machine, whether at home, on the road or in the classroom,” said Tonia Conger, Provo Craft’s director of marketing. “We see it as the next logical step in empowering women to express their creativity in the most unique ways possible.”
Borrowing from the Cricut Expression, the Cricut Create offers a portrait mode, an auto-fill mode, fit-to-page mode, a center point function and flip function. The Cricut Create is compatible with all cartridges as well as the new Cricut Jukebox(TM) and Cricut DesignStudio(TM) software.
Provo Craft also recently announced several new products, including the Hello Kitty and Sesame Workshop Cricut cartridges. For more information, please visit: http://www.provocraft.com.
SOURCE: Provo Craft
Copyright Business Wire 2008

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We can finally GROUP in CDS!!! (and forget the burping!)

Posted by on August 22, 2008 · 2 Comments 

Many of you know that in the Design Studio one of the biggest frustrations was not being able to select more than one image at a time and manipulate them together. It looks like this is something they have changed in their 8-08 update. Hopefully in the future there will be a simple group/ungroup button, but for now Diane has put together a great tutorial on her blog, Capadia Designs.

The most recent update has also seemed to take away the need for “burping” images. Welding inside of a frame is now a straighforward process. Diane also shows an example in her tutorial above.

P.S. Putting these tutorials together is not a quick process. Please make sure you leave a comment on other people’s blogs and let them know how much we appreciate their time and effort. Plus, a nice word will probably brighten their day!

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CDS Update, New Cartridges, & a Michaels Coupon

Posted by on August 20, 2008 · 4 Comments 

Cricut has just released the latest update for Design Studio. With each update they add newly released cartridges.  This update will add Graphically Speaking and the Storybook cartridges.

Click here to update 

IMPORTANT: How to Update CDS

  • With your DS not open, uninstall your current version of CDS. The easist way is to go to the Start Menu and select programs. Find Design Stusio and select it. You can uninstall it from there. (Don’t worry…you won’t lose any of your registration information).
  • Go to the update page and select the most recent update. Download it and run it from an administrator account.
  • Viola! You are updated and can start playing with the latest releases!

New Cartridges

Here are some screenshots of upcoming releases (end of September/beginnng of October).

Calligraphy Collection

 

Potpourri Basket

Home Decor

40% of Entire Purchase Coupon at Michaels

Here is a link to a post that has a coupon for 40% off your entire purchase at Michaels through the end of August.  It was actually meant to be good for one item, but they made a mistake. From what I’ve read, they have been honoring them because it was their mistake. Worth a try. Happy Shopping!

Click here for the link

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Cricut Design Studio: Welding Basics

Posted by on August 5, 2008 · Leave a Comment 

One of the most basic things you will want to do with the Cricut Design Studio is to weld letters together to form one word. There are two ways to weld letters together. The first is to work with the word as one image that can be manipulated all together. The second way is to bring in each letter as an individual image that can be manipulated by itself.

As you type the letters in your word, you will notice that they show up on the cutting mat one right after another. When you select the group of letters by clicking on one of the lines, any changes such as size will be applied to all the letters at the same time. Another method is to type one letter and then hit enter before typing another. This makes each letter separate so that you can manipulate each letter individually.

 To weld a word when the letters are all one group, follow these steps:

  1. Click the word with the mouse so it is selected.
  2. Kerning is the space between letters. Set this at -.005 or leave at zero. Hit apply.
  3. The letters will move together, some may be touching while others may not. Select each individual letter in the word . It will become a dashed line when that particular letter is selected. Move it using the nudge arrows until each letter is slightly overlapping.
  4. Select the whole word again and check the welding box under shape properties.
  5. The word will have dark lines showing where the cutting will be, while a lighter line will represent where it has been welded together.

There are times that you will need to work with each letter or image individually. This is particularly useful when you may want one letter one size and another letter a different size. To weld letters that are individual, follow these steps:

  1. Select the first letter you will want to use. Make sure you hit enter to deselect the letter before adding a new one.
  2. Select the second letter you will be using. Notice that when you select each letter, it is it’s own individual letter. It can be manipulated in any way and not effect the other letters.
  3. Continue adding letters making sure to hit enter after each one.
  4. In this welding method the kerning feature is not used. Simply select a letter, manipulate it to the size and look desired and check the weld box.
  5. Select the next letter and manipulate it as desired. Move it to where it overlaps the first letter. The amount of overlapping is your discretion according to your design. Check the welding box.
  6. Continue until all letters have been manipulated and the welding box is checked for each.
  7. Preview the word. The letters that have had the welding box checked will appear as a dark line that will be cut with the lighter lines showing where they are welded. If any letter is a solid filled letter instead, the welding box was not selected for that particular letter. Simply go back and select the letter again and check the welding box.Welding is one of the most basic and most used functions in Cricut Design Studio. Follow the steps above and you will be on your way to using the Cricut in a whole new way. If you are more of a visual learner, many step by step guides to welding including screenshots are available online.

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Cricut Design Studio- The Cricut User’s Must-Have Tool

Posted by on August 4, 2008 · Leave a Comment 

Many crafting enthusiasts have fallen in love with their personal electronic die-cut machine, the Cricut. A new addition to the already popular product is the development of a software program created just for Cricut users.

Cricut Design Studio is a computer software program created by Provocraft, the designers of the Cricut machine. While the machine itself allows the user to cut various shapes and fonts in a rage of sizes, the Cricut Design Studio takes it to a whole new level. Simply connect the Cricut to the computer via a USB port, install the software, and unleash a whole new dimension of crafting.

The main benefit of the Cricut Design Studio is the ability for users to weld, or connect letters together to form a single cutting. Gone are the days of gluing each letter one at a time. Now letters, phrases, and shapes can be welded together before cutting making it faster and easier than ever to add cuttings to projects.

Another benefit of the Cricut Design Studio is that the shapes and letters can be manipulated extensively before cutting. Users are no longer limited to only adjusting the size, but can now change the shape properties to better support their overall design. Each image can be stretched, slanted and flipped to get the exact look the crafter is needing.

While the Cricut Design Studio has benefit after benefit, my personal favorite is the ability to incorporate images from various cartridges into one design. The user can now design with all the cartridge options at once instead of being limited to cutting with one cartridge at a time.

Advanced and ultra-creative users have created awe inspiring projects by combining several different cartridges into one incredible cutting.

The Cricut Design Studio is, in my opinion, a necessity for every Cricut owner. While there is a learning curve to it, once it is understood the creative options are absolutely unlimited. The Cricut and the Design Studio have become a must-have resource for every scrapbooker and card maker today.

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