Canvas with scraps

I just finished this canvas for a friends birthday. This was spurred by another pin that I found on Pinterest. I used my scrapbook paper scraps and Modge Podge to glue them to my canvas. While it was drying, I used my Cricut to cut out some contact paper in the phrase. After the canvas was dry, I added my letters to the canvas and then covered it in paint. I wasn't too concerned about covering all the paper. I wanted some of the pattern to show through. After that was dry, I removed the contact paper to reveal the saying. Cute, easy, and a great way to use up your scraps!! Pin It

My two cents worth.- ProvoCraft v. third party software

I must say that I am disappointed with ProvoCraft at the moment.

For the last year or so, they have been going after third party software that allows you to cut out true type fonts, or other images with your Cricut or other machine. They have reached a settlement that Make the Cut will disable the 600 or so copies of the program that allowed users to back up the cartridges that they already owned. They also have to destroy the Design Studio's source code that allowed them to create the program. This means that they can no longer issue updates. And ProvoCraft will probably issue an update for their machines that will block all third party software.


Here is where my two cents comes in:

I bought my Cricut years ago, when it was the first machine of it's kind. So by the time all the other machines came out, I had already invested a lot of money in cartridges, mats, etc. and couldn't switch to a different machine.

I have a copy of Make the Cut, and about the only thing that I have ever cut from it is true type fonts. Provo Craft has released very few font cartridges that I like. With the hundreds of fonts on my computer, I had just about every font that I wanted to cut out.

I have still purchased cartridges from Cricut. I have alot that I bought because it is much easier to use the cartridge for a shape that has a ton of parts, like the Toy Story characters. I have never used it to copy and cut a Cricut image.

Design Studio was a waste of my $35. It does nothing but allow you to weld your shapes together, no shadow function, no where near the features of Make the Cut.

I have not updated my Cricut since they filed the lawsuit and I probably will not since I am no longer interested in supporting Provo Craft by buying anymore cartridges. I understand why they filed the lawsuit, but I don't understand why they didn't buy the software and sell it under the ProvoCraft name. It is a much better program and it would have made alot of their customers happy. It seems to be the normal thing for ProvoCraft to release a product full of issues, never fix them, and then move on to the next thing. So many people had issues with the promises of Design Studio, and then the Gypsy, and now the Imagine. Now they are making those same promises with Cricut Craft Room and we just don't believe them. And just this week they announced that cartridge prices were going up. I just can't believe that they think $89.99 for a cartridge is reasonable let alone another $10-$27?

I think that my love for all things Cricut has faded. I hope to sell one of my Expressions, and buy an E-craft or a Cougar which have supported the third party software. I honestly will never sell all my Cricut stuff, I have way too much invested in it. But I can't take anymore girly, whimsy, and other images that I just don't want. If ProvoCraft would have listened to what we wanted and come through with that, alot of us from the message board wouldn't be ready to give up on them. But that is where alot of us are. We want to create how we want to, and be able to make the decision on how to use the macines that we purchased. I will be using my Cricut today, and I will enjoy it.......as it is! Happy crafting!

PS-You can read the lawsuit against SCAL here

Your thoughts and comments on this are welcomed!

Trick or Treat!!

I love Halloween! I love the colors of fall, cooler weather, decorating, and going out on Halloween with my boys! They always have so much fun and last year was no exception!

I bought this MME paper kit such a long time ago and forgot about it. Just a couple of weeks ago, I went to Michaels to use my 20% off of everything coupon and picked up some more Halloween paper. It reminded me of the MME paper and I thought the colors would work out well together. So of course I grabbed a few sheets. It turned out to be the same MME paper that I already had! But you know that it is great paper if you can buy it three years apart and still like it! I think that it's the not so traditional Halloween colors of bright orange, purple, and green. I used my new Happy Hauntings cartridge for the fence and the title. I dressed up the bird on the fence with some Glossy Accents to make him stand out just a little bit. The American Crafts ribbon I have also had for some time and they worked well with the colors. The printed black and white brads are from a Paper Studio pack. I really like how this one turned out, and I had alot of fun playing with my new cartridge. I am sure that you will see some more Halloween projects using it soon! Happy crafting!

Tip for the Week

While I was working on my DT project for this week, I was wasting alot of cuts that were ripping when I popped them out from the paper or spending too long using my craft knife to try to save them. So, to try to keep this from happening, this is what I came up with. Turn the paper over and sand the back of the cut. This thins out the paper and the design will come out with out having to cut the design by hand. This is also helpful for intricate cuts that you risk tearing when popping out of the paper. I hope this saves you some time away from the craft knife. Happy crafting!

Grease Monkey

Here is one of my latest layouts. I love these pictures of my son "working" on his Hummer while his dad was working on the car. I wanted to keep it pretty simple, to keep the focus on the pictures. I used a tire from my son's toy truck collection to make the tracks. Doodletype and Design Studio was used for the title. I also put chalk on the letters to make it look like dirty fingerprints.