If you aren’t familiar with Joy from Obsessed with Scrapbooking, you need to be! I was so excited to see she has added a gallery to her site. You can see her awesome work HERE.

A recent post from Scrapbook Update: (click through to see pictures as well)

Cricut Competitor Black Cat Lynx Announced
By Betsy Burnett on April 11, 2011

World Innovations Ltd. has announced the addition of a new machine to their line-up, the Lynx. This machine is a version of their popular Black Cat Cougar electronic cutter model designed for the craft market. The Lynx is intended to be capable of cutting a wide variety (such as cardstock, vinyl, cereal weight chipboard) of crafting materials up to 12? in width, and will work with the full line of Cougar accessories already on the market. In addition, the Lynx is reportedly compatible with many of the software programs already on the market that are designed to work with electronic cutters (such as Makes the Cut and Sure Cuts Alot), and it will also be fully compatible with the company’s upcoming “Black Cat Cutting Studio.”

The Black Cat Cougar Line of die-cutting machines was launched in December of 2008 as a collaboration between Colin Russon and craft industry designer and teacher Dawn Grantham. Russon is the partnership’s technical expert, while Grantham has knowledge of the craft market. The Cougar is based on a machine originally designed for the sign making industry, but is modified to appeal to crafters. The Cougar machines vary in size depending on the maximum width needed to cut various materials. Machines range from a 13? cutting width to a 24? cutting width. They are designed to cut everything from paper and cardstock to vinyl and heavy chipboard. There are even cutting tips designed to etch (toughened) glass, emboss metal, cut stencils and do intricate cutting work. For more examples, visit Grantham’s website Thyme Graphics.

The Lynx is priced at $499 retail. The Cougar starts at $689, and increases in price based on the cutting width desired. Additional accessories available (for additional cost) include specialty blades/blade holders, cutting trays and more. For more information on the Black Cat line of cutters, visit the company’s website.

If you haven’t ever purchased DVDs to help you with the Cricut you are missing out! Megan from Above Rubies Studio does an amazing job and has several DVDs to choose from. I just ran across this video on her new Imagine DVDs. I know there are many of you who need a little extra push to really begin using your machine to the fullest. Not only does Megan show the ins and outs of using it, but shows lots of projects from several designers. It currently sells for $24.97.

Here is a quick video trailer:

 
(If you don’t see the video and are reading this through your email you may need to click through to read it on the web)

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.

I saw this new storage container for Cricut cartridges on Facebook. I can’t remember who posted the picture (sorry!), but they got it at JoAnn’s for about $20. I think it is a great new option for storing all of those cartridges in a small space. From what I understand the trays that are inside are removable.

Yesterday was my Daddy’s birthday. I bought him a gift card to his favorite place to eat. He’s a beer drinker, so I thought a beer mug would be perfect.

The mug and the “cheers” is from the Smiley cards cartridge. I welded the mug shape into a card and then attached patterned paper inside to make a pocket for the gift card. I made the ‘beer’ inside by cutting the mug smaller than the original. I then cut the handle off and made it wavy at the top with scissors. I embossed the foam with the swirls in my Cuttlebug. The word I printed from my computer on white cardstock.

I would love to make one again but with acetate so it is clear like a real mug. I didn’t have any, so cardstock had to do.

Thanks for visiting! I will be participating in a blog hop starting this Saturday.