Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Cricut review-Part 1-introduction and cartridges

So do you own a cricut?


The Cricut is a die cutting machine that is electronic. It comes a variety of styles: The Original, the Expression, the create, the cricut Cake, and a new one that is made its debut on HSN (AKA the Home Shopping Network) on September 14th. Explanations the different sizes and do they all mean for user will come in a minute, but first what do all these machines have in common. Each machine comes with a mat, a cartridge, blade and housing, instruction manual and sometimes a DVD. The Original and the Create have mat sizes are 6x12 while the expression, the Cake, and the Imagine have 12x12 and 12 x24 size mats. The 6 x 12 mats do not work in the last three machines. There have been You Tube videos on the subject, but if it does work, it could void out the EULA (End Users License Agreement).

How does it cut out the die cuts?

Through a cartridge. Depending on what type of cart that a person is using will determine how many images are on there. The basic cartridges are:

• Foundation carts- these cartridges come with the machine. They usually show off a sampling of the different shapes, fonts, and features of that machine.

• Full Carts-full cartridges are exactly what the name implies. They contain at least 100 images to cut from, which includes features such as Accessories, blackout, and tabs.

• Solutions-contains at least 50 images and include on feature.

• Seasonal-These are carts that have a particular holiday in mind, such as Independence Day, Mother’s Day, and Valentine’s Day. They will also have at least 50 images and only one feature

• Lite- These are new as of June 1, and they are just that light cartridges that have fewer than 39 images. The cartridges can only be purchased new at a Walmart store, or purchased used On Ebay.

• Imagine-This machine was introduced to the public just this week on The Home Shopping network. The cartridges are very different from the regular carts as they are exclusive to this machine and to this machine alone.



Full carts started the whole cartridge revolution. Using the example of the retired cart, Tags, bags, Boxes, and More, The typical cart will be either a shape cartridge, a font Cartridge, or in the case of the foundation carts a little of both. Speaking of foundation carts, please note the following: Plantation Schoolbook Cart comes with the Expression, George and Basic Shapes come with the Original, Don Juan comes with the Create, Basic Cake design (not sire of the title) comes with the cake machine, and a basic cart comes with the Imagine. These carts gives a good foundation of what is on the other carts. Solution carts solve a problem. They will eventually all retire, but for now, get it now. If a person have baseball pictures to scrapbook, there is a cart for that, Home décor, and Wedding to name a few. Seasonal Cartridges started towards the end of 2009 with “Very Merry Tags”, “Let it Snow”, and “When it’s cold Outside”. They are of limited edition so people pre-order them as soon as they are available for that. They cost from $15-25 depending where you buy the cartridges. The newest type carts are Lite and Imagine cartridges. Lite carts can only be found at Walmart (unless a person likes Ebay). They contain 50 basic images with room to spare. This means there could be tags, layering on a cart, but only that feature. They cost less than the typical cart, which retails in some places $60-89 a cart, but get them on sale when can or go to Ebay. The price of the lite carts are $39.

Just to note I am just an owner of two cricut machines, and these are my opinions. I enjoy the Cricut, and would be happy to show anyone how to work them. In my next post, I will explain each machine, and the basic principle behind these Cricut machines. Be well, and God bless you. Talk to you later.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Hey it has been a while…

Since I posted something. I have some good news to share since I been away. My newest nephew is here. He was born August 31, 2010 at 4:19pm. He weighted 6LBs, 9OZ. and comes from a long line of screamers, LOL. His name is Sidney Leon Logan III. Yep, his father, my brother is a junior and my father is a senior. Although he is named Sidney, we all joke that no one likes the name Sidney. My dad goes by Sid or Sid L as my mom calls him (pet name, aww). My brother goes by Leon or Lee, which is funny, because I have an uncle named Lee on my mom’s side. So the day baby was born (Nickname in a moment), I started calling him automatically Sidney, and Leon and Mindy immediately gave me this look, so I had to ask, “What are you calling him?” Lee said that the baby’s name will be called Baby Leon. OK, this aunt has an issue with the words, “baby” and “little” with the name. The reason should be so obvious to most parents, “How would this kid feel in say about 6 years from now, or even 20 years from now when he is on the football field, and they announce his name, Quarterback Baby Leon Logan?” How embarrassing is that? Even Michael, my oldest nephew, hates the nickname, Mikey. Now to get my sister to stop calling her son Deonte, “Dey-Dey”. It is cute on him now at 3, but when he is 13, it will not be so cute, and I tried to call him Tey when he was 1, but my sister does not like it.


Anyway, back to the baby. Leon or Bubba as my brother calls him (great Lee, give him a complex already, LOL), is already a certified Buckeye. Day one, he had on the Ohio State onesie, matching booty and pacifier (or binky for the purest person.) He hates to be changed, and at 4 weeks he is quite the stretcher. Leon is starting this no like the camera phone already, because every time he makes a move, Lee takes a picture, and sends it to us. Now Lee is looking for a minivan. I have started to love my brother all over again. It is not that he is a great guy, but there were times that I could not stand him in the past. Do not get me wrong here; I have always loved my brother. I wanted a brother when I was 6, and I got one, but I did not like what he was doing to himself up until last year. More on that later. He is a wonderful father to his two sons, and he will make a wonderful husband to Mindy when they get married. They have not set a date, yet, but I sure it will come up in 2011. He got his life back to where God can use him in the way that God wants to use him, and for that I am very, very grateful. I have my baby brother back, not completely whole, but he is working on it.

Blogs…

I have two new blogs. They are both on the subject of organizing (well sort of). They are not on Blogger.com, they are on WordPress.com.

The first one was an accident of sorts. I was trying to find a name for one blog, and wanted to go with another one with my name in it. I wanted to call the blog, Tricia’s organizing. I typed in the name, and WordPress said that the name blog name was not available. So I said to myself that I was going to try the name The Organizing Journal. It was available, so I went to bed. (Not really, but that is how I leave an area of my computer alone, I really played a couple of games after that.) The next day, I logged on WordPress, and I found two blogs sitting there with both titles glaring at me. So instead of trying to delete one of them, I am going to try to keep both of them. So now, you have a choice:

1) MDN Creates- this one you are reading right now. It is going to be mostly scrapbooking, and the reason behind my scrapbooking. There will also be articles on scrapbooking, card making, and other papercrafting, as well as my online store (which I will try to update sometime this week).

2) Tricia’s Baskets and More (www.triciasbsktsandmore.blospot.com )-This is all about Longaberger, the company, and my business. I will also have decorating tips to use with Longaberger products, and there is something for everyone. You will have to click on to take a look.

3) Tricia’s Organizing (www.triciasorganizing.wordpress.com) will have tips on how to organize, clean, time management, and who knows what else. I will be honest, I am re-learning, and I am busy. I need to have time thing under control, as well as my house. Did you know that you need a schedule? I knew it, but it did not click, because I was under someone else’s schedule. Now that I have my own, it has gone wild. More on that later.

4) The Organization Journal (www.theorganizationjournal.wordpress.com)- this is more personal, because I am re-doing my house, my schedule, everything. I did not realize that I need to do this, until one day I was sitting around, nothing to do. Oh, I had something to do…my dishes, but I did not want to do them. That is when I started planning project for around the house. I was all created out from the night before.



Ladies (and gentlemen), please do not say that you have nothing to do, especially when you are single. You have no one else to take care of, so why sit there in front of the television (or telly for my British friends out there), and say you do not have anything to do. You have plenty to do, just schedule it, and stick to it. You cannot delegate, because there is no one to delegate to. Humm, maybe that is my next blog, titled, “If you are single…”

My project…
This is my project that I am supposed to get back to someone on it. It is a pocket folder, and cut comes from the Cricut Cartridge, Tags, Bags, Boxes and More, or TBBM for short.   For those of you who use this cartridge, you turn on your mirror feature for this one.   It is on page 89 of the TBBM handbook. I made the cut a 9", and you want to make sure that you fold in half once the image is cute.  add adhesive on all sides but the top.  as you can see this is a sample pocket folder.   I actually wanted a folder-type pocket folder, but I found out that the From My Kitchen cart did not work, because the actual cut is a recipe card.   So I came up with this idea, when I was playing with TBBM.

Well that is it for now.   My brother sent the latest picture to my phone, and when I learn how to get the pictures off my phone, I will show them to you.  It is a picture of Leon holding his arms above his head, as to say "touchdown".   I have a feeling that as Leon learns how to do more things, the family will be getting more pictures.   That is fine when they live in Dayton, and the restof the immediate family lives in Columbus.   I am glad that Lee does not have all the cell phone numbers to all the relatives, LOL.

Talk you all later, and take a visit to my other blogs when you get a chance.  God Bless You.