Official Statement on Lawsuit from Cricut

Here is the official statement from Provocraft concerning the lawsuits with Make th Cut and Sure Cuts a Lot:

Official Statement from Provo Craft®

We at Provo Craft would like to address some of the comments that have been made recently about steps we have taken to address the sale of unauthorized software programs. We hope that providing this context will help our customers understand why we have taken these steps, and why we believe we are acting in both a fair and ethical manner.

Speaking generally, we’d like to comment about our right to seek legal protection for the products we’ve developed through legitimate means. As a creative company, we have invested significant resources to invent the Cricut and to continue to develop Cricut products. Cricut is the end-result of individuals having invested their own money, creative ideas, and hard work to bring a unique product to the crafting community. We’re also committed to improving our products, so we continually invest in innovation and in the sourcing and production of new art content for the Cricut.

As we have invented Cricut products, we have been granted copyright and trademark rights that protect us from, among other things, any company that unlawfully circumvents or ‘hacks’ our security measures for its own financial gain. We regret that exercising our legal right to protect ourselves from such activity would give any of our customers a reason to be upset with us. But we also believe that provided the facts, reasonable people will understand that the steps we have taken are legitimate and fair by virtually any standard of law and ethics.

With regard to Make the Cut!, in a jointly stipulated injunction filed in March, Make the Cut! agreed to discontinue the sale and support of its software for use with Cricut as remedy to the unlawful manner in which the software was developed. The unlawful actions cited in the injunction include violation of the Cricut Design Studio end user license agreement and violations of U.S. copyright and trademark laws. Earlier this month, Provo Craft and Make the Cut! amicably resolved the matter in a confidential settlement.

Provo Craft has filed suit against Craft Edge, Inc. alleging similar violations. Because that involves ongoing litigation Provo Craft cannot comment further on the suit at this time.

Lastly, we know that some of our customers want the ability to cut with their Cricut certain images that are not available in the Cricut library. Many of you know that in April we are releasing the first version of Cricut Craft Room, which is an all-new, free, online design platform for Cricut. Though this specific feature won’t be available initially, we intend to provide our customers the ability to cut some of their own images in Cricut Craft Room in the future. Like our customers, we’re passionate about creativity, and we’re committed to providing great products for the crafting community.

Cricut Basketball Project

My daughter’s first season of basketball has come to a close. I decided to make each player a basketball with their name and number on it. I was going to put a white circle on the back too so they could all sign each other’s balls at the end of season party. I thought it was a great idea! So I spend hours making them and excitedly show my eight year old, and well, she wasn’t too impressed, lol.  She said, “Can we at least give them a candy bar or something?”. Well, I don’t have time to make candybar wrappers now (that they will just throw away!). So…the little boogers are getting basketballs whether they like it or not:)!

Anyway, here’s the picture of a few of them:
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I used the Basketball Solutions cartridge for the ball and a Varsity font with my Make the Cut software for the letters and numbers.

I’m Burnin the Cartridges!…

…well….okay, I’m not burning them. (Could you imagine?! I would definately cry over that one!) I am, however, setting them aside for a while.

I have to admit, I’ve neglected my Make The Cut software. Since mom’s brain surgery I haven’t created much, and when I have I’ve used cartridges. When I learned today that Lettering Delights is starting to carry SVG files, and they even have some for FREE right now, I decided it was time to get back in the swing of being cartridge free.

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For those of you who aren’t familiar with Make the Cut, it is a software program that allows you to cut without cartridges. I LOVE it! It is easier to use, in my opinion, than Sure Cuts a Lot (a similar program).  You can use all kinds of images, even trace coloring pages from the computer. One form of file is SVG (scalable vector graphics?). And now, Lettering Delights has them!

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If you haven’t downloaded Make the Cut yet, I really recommend it. You can download it and play with it before you decide if you want it or not. It would make a perfect gift from Santa…

Then hop on over to Lettering Delights and get these free SVGs and an alphabet to match!0svg1

P.S. Grab these even if you don’t use Make The Cut or SCAL. You can always print them too!

(Disclaimer: by purchasing MTC through these links I will get compensated as an affiliate. However, I only recommend products I genuinely love and think you would too!)

SO Darn Adorable!!!

Are these not the cutest bears you have ever seen?!!?

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And I LOVE love love monkeys…

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Tricia Moore of Little Scraps of Heaven Designs creates these oh-so-cute paper piecings in a variety of file formats. If you are old school you can even cut them by hand. That’s the last thing I would want to do, so I’m all for using my Cricut.

If you want to start using adorable cutting files like these with your Cricut, you’ll need a third-party software like Make The Cut. There’s also SCAL, but I prefer Make The Cut because it so much easier to use in my opinion. You can download the trial software HERE. They also have some great step-by-step guides for getting started HERE in the forum.

And of course, if you make anything with her patterns (or anything Cricut related for that matter) I’d love to see it! You can even post it to our Facebook page HERE.

Make-The-Cut Sale-$58.36

If you have been looking to get the Make-the-Cut software, now is the time!! The price has been dropped from $79.95 to $58.36 when you use the code MTC327.

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For those of you who may not be familiar with MTC, it allows you to cut images and fonts from your computer. It “traces” images and breaks them apart so you can cut layers too.

I LOVE this software and wish I had more time to play with it because the possibilities are endless! After you purchase, go to the website and click the link to the forums. They have a wealth of information that really opened my eyes to all you can do.

A personal note…

My mother-in-law is having brain surgery on April 26th to clip an aneurism. It is a stressful time for our family for many reasons, but this one in particular. Please pray for a successful surgery and speedy recovery. I am anticipating being the in home nurse for a while, especially the first several weeks. Please know that I will post here on the blog and on Facebook as often as I can, but clearly family is a priority time wise. As soon as I can get back to contributing I will. Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

Make The Cut Magic & Sale Over on Mon

Tia’s new bedding from Target…

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A screen capture of a pillow up close…

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Edited in Photoshop Elements…

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And made into a cutting file in Make The Cut!!

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Is that not AWESOME????? She painted two of her walls hot pink today. I am going to cut her name in vinyl for the wall. I haven’t decided if I am going to try this in vinyl or just cardstock. I’m so excited!!!! A cutting file straight from the Target website. Have I mentioned I am excited?!!

Don’t forget…The big sale on MTC is only through Monday, Feb. 15th. If you have been thinking of ordering, now is the time! (Originally $129.95-now $58.48!!!) Click HERE to go to their website or Click HERE to order. Use the coupon code VALN-C0MU-TINE (the 0 is a zero).

Another 25% off Make The Cut

Make The Cut is having an additional 25% off of their already reduced price until February 15th! Use the coupon code VALN-C0MU-TINE

mtc sale

If you haven’t seen the new software available for the Cricut called Make-The-Cut, it is awesome! You can cut fonts from your computer and trace/layer clipart- and a ton more I haven’t learned yet!

Check out their website which includes two video demonstrations at http://bit.ly/5oRAFL.

You can download a trial version at http://bit.ly/5oj68B, and purchase the regular version at http://bit.ly/6uaBWN.

Make-The-Cut also has a forum you can browse at http://www.make-the-cut.com/forum/

Make The Cut Update

If you have downloaded the trial or bought the Make The Cut software, you will want to download the new updated version (version 3.1.0) they released last week. This is their THIRD update since they released it, and it just keeps getting better. CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE SITE TO DOWNLOAD THE UPDATE

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If you haven’t seen the new software available for the Cricut called Make-The-Cut, it is awesome! You can cut fonts from your computer and trace/layer clipart- and a ton more I haven’t learned yet!

Check out their website which includes two video demonstrations at http://bit.ly/5oRAFL.

You can download a trial version at http://bit.ly/5oj68B, and purchase the regular version at http://bit.ly/6uaBWN.

Make-The-Cut also has a forum you can browse at http://www.make-the-cut.com/forum/

Kiss Me Froggy

I know it has been a while, but I finally have some time to share with you a layout I have been playing with. Over the holidays, I purchased the new Sweethearts cartridge. I just LOVE it!

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frog prince kiss me sweethearts cricut

I used the Sweethearts cartridge for the title and frog, and the DonJuan cartridge for the lips. The frog had another layer for the mouth, but it just didn’t look right to me. So, I improvised. The paper is from Dreamstreet.

***Make The Cut Software***

Don’t forget…if you haven’t taken the time to check out the new Make The Cut software, you are missing out!

I don’t know if you have seen the new software available for the Cricut called Make-The-Cut, but it is awesome! You can cut fonts from your computer and trace/layer clipart.

Check out their website which includes two video demonstrations athttp://bit.ly/5oRAFL.

They are having a 40% off sale right now, and I have a code for you to save an additional 10%. At checkout, use code BRAN-22TT-NY

You can download a trial version at http://bit.ly/5oj68B, and purchase the regular version at http://bit.ly/6uaBWN.

I’m just starting to play around with it, but it looks awesome!