Craftsy Unlimited FREE 7 day trial at Craftsy.com
Happy Cloud Quilt Batting by Fat Quarter Shop
Cricut is Easy as 123
Loralie Designs

Friday, September 30, 2011

Festive Friday September 30, 2011



I love Fridays!!!! I LOVE Christmas and anything happy, so Fridays celebrate anything Festive around here!

Today Audrey has made some Halloween stuff to share with you!
I have added over 40 items to the $12 & $22 section of my webstore, stamps, cricut cartridges and more. Make sure to check it out www.shop.ericascraftroom.com or just click on the word SHOP over on the right of this page!


Audrey (ScrappieEMT) used Happy Hauntings to make this.
Her blog is http://scrappyemt.blogspot.com/ Make sure to visit her and see how she made this and other crafty projects!










ONLY 12 MORE WEEKS!!!!!
Don't forget about My Countdown to Christmas. EVERY week from now until Christmas I am giving away a Cricut Cartridge. How can YOU win one? All you have to do is comment once on everything I post here and that is how you are entered to win. Each week starts on Friday morning (NOW) until Thursday night at 11:59pm EST then on Friday morning I announce a winner from the past week. They are picked at random so you never know if you might win and you never know what Cricut Cartridge I will give away until I announce the winner and what they have won.


Today's winner is

EnjoliCollums said...

I love love love the cards you all have made! Just what I needed to start my day ty

The Cricut Cartridge that she won is Cupcake Wrappers!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Theme Day Thursday September 29, 2011 Cricut Circle Cartridges


Today the Design Team has used the Cricut Circle Cartridges to make thier projects.....

First I will show you what they have made,
then below there is some more information about the Cricut Circle!



Gayle used Shall we dance & French Manor.





Connie used Car Decals & Elegant Edges
 
 


Yvette used French Manor

 
 
 
 
Tracy used Everyday Cricut Cartridge



All about the Cricut Circle.... from my point of view.  

       Most people THINK they cannot afford a Cricut Circle membership. I would first like to start by saying... I do not work for Provo-Craft or Cricut, my facebook, blog and website are just from my mind and what myself and my design team can do with our Cricut Machines. I am a Cricut Circle member and I love it. I have a found a few ways to break it down and make it more affordable.
    I have to tell you my favorite Circle cartridge is the Everyday Cricut Cartridge, LOVE IT! Now some of the circle members did not like the cartridges that they got, so Cricut DOES listen and changed the format for the upcoming year. Now instead of having a name, they will be Cricut Circle Year 2 volume 1,2,3,4. Year 2 Quarter One cartridge is Called Sophie. The new ones sypically an imagine, font, tag, card, so they will have features for EVERYONE, whether you are a card maker, scrapbooker, cake decorator or just a paper crafter, the new cartridges will have something for everyone. Below are some samples of the images from several of the Cricut Circle cartridges.
So, before you say you cannot afford it, think about this....
On average I pay about $55 per cartridge from http://www.cricut.com/ PLUS as a circle member you get 10% off of EVERY order you place at cricut.com, PLUS you get reward points for your purchase and then the reward points in your cartridges that you purchase. So you get double reward points for every cartridge you buy.
   Now Cricut has done a wonderful thing and instead of paying the whole year at once. You can pay quarterly, if you are having a financial rough time, on the quarterly payments, you can always cancel for that quarter, then start again later. I am sure they would not like everyone to do that, but they have made it nice to have that option. There is NO start up fee. It is a quarterly membership and you get a free Circle exclusive cartridge every 3 months. You cannot buy these cartridges.
    You get a special monthly Cricut Circle on-line magazine with free design files to go with your cartridges. You get invited to special Cricut Circle events, crops, and meet-ups. At these events.... they always have drawings and free items that you get. At the first Cricut Circle event that I went to I got  3 beautiful Cricut Circle Silk scarves. They also had a drawing and there were about 50 of us there and they gave away about 45 prizes to the Circle members. The second Cricut Circle Event I went to Ricki (on the Design team) won a Cricut Imagine machine!!! I was able to purchase thsoe cute little Cricut Toys there too! That was 2 months ago, now the toys are on Cricut.com to purchase. So as circle members we were able to purchase them 2 months ahead of everyone else.
    You get acces to the Cricut Circle Blog and you get to sneak peek of the Hello Thursday (the third thursday of each month when Cricut Announces the new releases) The Circle blog calls it WOW Wednesday, the day before they are released to the public. I also purchased two of the awesome Cricut Circle Cuttlebug embossing folders. You cannot purchase these unless you are a member of the Cricut Circle. They are very cute.
   On the Cricut Circle Blog, there are SO many amazing projects with the new and older cartridges. I have seen some of the most amazing projects made with other cartridge and it makes that older cartridge back up into my current top 5 cartridges. It gives the EXACT cartridge, what image it is, what size it is, how to do it, what paper was used, what techniques were used! ALSO they give you the files so you dont have to do the work, it has all of the right sizes and everything on the file for you, you dont even have to figure out which key to press and which size to make them it! On the Circle message boards, members share what they have made with the cartridge and how they did it. It is great!!! I have 'scraplifted' many of the projects and ideas from there. It is a great place to get inspiration when you are in a creative rut. .... So is my facebook :) There is a wonderful group of creative crafters, who bring positivity, encouragement regardless of level of talent, and great ideas to 'scraplift.'
     So from my point of view, the Cricut Circle is somewhat affordable if you break it up into quarterly payments and if you already purchase one cartridge every 3 months anyway. The quarterly price was $79.99, this year it is $69,99 and you get a free EXCLUSIVE cartridge, that most people pay over $100 for on online auction websites (e-b*y). Well I am already typically paying AT LEAST $55 per cartridge, so you are paying an extra $15 for all of the other perks AND 10% off of every order, Circle events, DOUBLE reward points, you get them when you make a cricut.com purchase PLUS the ones that come in your cartridge, the monthly Circle Magazine, cricut/gypsy files, the circle events, the Cricut circle blog and exclusive Circle message boards.
   Did I mention that the 3rd Thursday of each month Cricut has Hello Thursday, the monthly new cartridge release? Well as a Circle member you get WOW WEDNESDAY! We get to see them all the day before AND the most amazing and creative examples of projects that Cricut has made from the new cartridges. I LOVE what they do with the cartridges. I think the Circle design team truly showcases the best features of each of the new cartridges, the day before anyone else gets to see the images from the cartridges! If you do not want to do the monthly payment you can join for $199 this year there will be even more perks for this upcoming year! 
    I do not work for Provo-Craft or Cricut, my facebook, blog and website are just from my mind and what myself and my design team can do with our Cricut Machines.
       
   Here is the link to sign up or read more about the Cricut Circle!  ( I dont make any money or anything by you signing up, I just put the link there if you want to look into it yourself.)
http://www.cricut.com/circle/sign.up.aspx


 
 
 




 
 

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Would You Ever Guess Wednesday September 28, 2011


Welcome to Would You Ever Guess Wednesday!
        On Wednesdays we try to show you different ways to use your cartridges. We might use a cake cartridge in our regular Cricut and show you how to make a paper creation with it. We might you jsut the feature keys on the cartridge to show you some extras that people forget about.
If you look at the back of the cartridge it shows you all of the 'put together' images. But there are always bonus 'features' they may be a font or a phrase or even a tag, card or icon. We just like to keep you guessing what will be next on Wednesdays.

       On Monday I will offically begin posting projects that I am making with all of my GREAT K. Andrew Design stamps and my Cricut Machine. I am so excited to show you what I have been making. Now that I have a handle on the webstore and have a wuick shipping system, I am ready to start adding a TON more things and in stock items are shipping within 48 hours :) I am now all caught up and I am feeling a little better, so back to crafting and sharing!!!
       Don't forget tonight is a Ustream to show you a quick and easy way to make shadows for letters when the cartridge does not have a shadow feature. Also I will show you how to use a Your Story machine and I have one to give away!!! It will be at 9pm EST. I will record it for later viewing, but you have to be present to win. I will pick a winner who is online around 10pm EST.


Now on to the great creations that the Design Team has made to share today!!!

Heather S made this today using the Wrap it Up Cartridge!
Her blog is http://www.operationcricutdesign.blogspot.com/


Melissa used Doodlecharms to make this.
Her blog is http://pinkpolkadotscrapping.blogspot.com/ 




Lisa used  Car Decals, Sport, Athlete and phrases keys!  "Casey" is from Cutting up!





Lucinda used Create a Critter Cricut Cartridge

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Card Creating Tuesday September 27, 2011


Well there are several of us on the Design Team who are not feeling well.
We only have 2 cards to share today but happy and excited to be able to share those with you!
Laura and Madison made some great cards to share.

Laura used Wild Card Cricut Cartridge.
 
 
Madison used Simply Sweet Cricut Cartridge
 


I am working on today's $12 and $22 sales over in the Shop :) I will post them soon!


 

Monday, September 26, 2011

My IMAGINE-ation Monday and what the E2 can do, September 26, 2011


Welcome to My IMAGINE-ation Monday.
You can learn some great things today even if you do not own a Cricut Imagine Machine.

So I am sure you have all seen the Cricut Expression 2 on HSN today....
What is the Difference between this E2 as it is called and the Anniversary Edition of the E2?
Well first off the expression machines allow you cut from a 12x12 or 12x24" Cutting mat.
The Personal cricut only allows you to use a 6x12" cutting mat, so it limits what you can cut.
The regular or Classic Expression allows the 12x12 and 12x24 cutting mats also allows you to make larger images and cards and full 12x12 objects that you can use as a back drop for a 12x12 scrapbook page.
On the Expression you may change which direction you want your machine to cut from and many many other great features.

Here is what the E2 can do?
You can use the 12x12 and 12x24 cutting mats. Do note if you currently use the 6x12 cutting mats you will not be able to use them on any of the expressions.
The 12x12 cutting mat with the black lines around it is for the Imagine, but you can use it in any machine that uses a 12x12 cutting mat. The Imagine must have the 12x12 mat with the black lines around it, that way it knows where to print and cut, even if you are just cutting it still needs the black lines to be able to 'read' it. If your Imagine pulls a mat in and then sends it back out, one of two things.... either it does not have the black lines around it OR you might have something covering one of the black lines.
Now those mats will work on the E2, but you can use ANY 12x12 or 12x24 cutting mats with the E2.
E2 vs E2 Anniversary edition.....
The 'shoulders' on the anniversary edition are green (Cricut Green). The Classic E2 has silver shoulders.
The Anniversary Edition has 4 cartridges pre-loaded, Cricut Essentials, Cricut Decals, Cricut American Alphabet, and Just a Note a Cosmo Cricket Exclusive cartridge.
The Classic E2 comes with Cricut Essentials and Cricut American Alphabet loaded into it.
Today the HSN special also comes with Art Nouveau and Spring Fever Holiday Cricut Cartridges.
You also get the handbooks with the pre-loaded cartridges on both of the E2s.
The E2s have full color LCD screens, no need for the keypads anymore, everything is literally at your fingertips. Don't worry if you are not a tech savy person, not having the keypads doesn't change a thing, it is right there on your screen, in COLOR!
The BEST thing in my opinion is that the E2s are wireless and work with Cricut CraftRoom!!! So you can design on your computer with the large screen then click the CUT button and it will find your cricut and begin cutting, without leaving the couch. To do that I reccomend loading your mat before you sit down on the couch to work on your computer. It really is great. I actually own the Anniversary E2 and I have been using it for months and I LOVE IT!!!!
The E2 uses ALL Cricut Cartridges.... ALL of them, Classic Cartridges, Imagine Cartridges and even Cake cartridges. By the way the Cake cartridges can be used in ALL of the machines too.
Now the Imagine Cartridges that can be used in the E2 are those with Art on them.... and they say ART after the name, if you have or want the E2, start buying the Imagine cartridges while you wait for your machine
(or Christmas) I have many for only $12 on my Store....
You can NOT use the Colors and Patterns Imagine cartridges on the E2, the E2 does not print so it cannot actually print in color, it just cuts. So please be careful when you buy Imagine cartridges for your E2, they HAVE to be Imagine ART cartridges, NOT colors and patterns.
Each Monday I will tell you a little about the Imagine and the E2....
and the new upcoming Cricut Mini (In November)
I currently have two Cricut Imagine cartridges that work in the Imagine and E2 for only $12.00 http://shop.ericascraftroom.com/Cricut_c12.htm 


Now the Design Team's Creations for My IMAGINE-ation Monday.....

Jenny R used Kate's Kitchen Cricut IMAGINE Cartridge.
 
 
 
Samantha used Imagine More Cards Cricut Cartridge
 
 
 
 
Laura used  Imagine Better Together Cricut Cartridge.
 
 
 
 
 

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Card Creating Sunday September 25, 2011

Welcome to Sunday's Edition of Card Creating around with the Design Team.


Karey used Birthday bash Cricut Cartridge.
 
 



Autumn used Doodlecharms Cricut Cartridge

   


Tammy S used Doodlecharms.
Her blog is http://thepurplemuse.blogspot.com/




Tina used Birthday Bash
Her blog is http://craftyandgreen.blogspot.com/



Saturday, September 24, 2011

Scrapbook Saturday September 24, 2011

Today is my Brother's wedding..... Congrats to him and Melissa (On my Design Team)

Here are the projects that the design team has made to share with you today.



Lezlye used Plantin Schoolbook to make this Layout.
Her blog is http://www.lezlyes.blogspot.com/




Heather S used Nate's ABCs and Wrap It Up.
Her blog is  http://www.operationcricutdesign.blogspot.com/




Connie used Hoot 'n' Hollar to make this.
Her blog is http://conniescraftycloset.blogspot.com/
 

 


Gayle used Nate's ABC, Accent Essentials, and Twinkle Toes Cricut Cartridges.
Her blog is  http://gscraptime.blogspot.com/


Friday, September 23, 2011

Festive Friday September 23, 2011


So much goes on around here on Fridays......
Countdown to Christmas giveaway.....
Specials.....
Next week's classes are announced....

Tonight at 9pm EST I will be showing you various ways to use the Your Story machine, to make your own photo albums, mini books...etc
Wednesday September 30 at 9pm EST I will be showing you how to make shadow phrases or letters with the cricut when there is no shadow feature.... Have you ever cut letter at 2" and 2 1/4" and they look like this, and all you wanted was a shadow to use two different colors.... there are 2 easy fixes to this, I am going to show them to you QUICK and EASY.
Quick and Easy Wednesdays I will have a live Ustream event and I will record it for later viewing. At least 3 Wednesdays of the month I will have a Quick and Easy Wednesday Craft Class. it might be a technique or just a few tips and tricks.... but I will be doing them often. I have been so busy and I miss doing Ustream with you all.

Now on to what the Design Team has made to share today with you!






Tammy A  made this!  Her blog is http://crazycardcreator.blogspot.com




Courtney made this!



Jen Roseman made this and her blog is . http://memorieswithjen.blogspot.com/ 




Lucinda used Tags, Bags, Boxes and More and Create A Critter.
Her blog is 
www.thegrowinggibson.blogspot.com 




Tanya from Nonna's Craft Corner Art Philosophy and Winter Frolic Cricut Cartridges.
Her blog is
http://nonnascraftcorner.blogspot.com/   



Holly used Simply Charmed
Her blog is  
http://hollys-hobbie.blogspot.com/

Pattie used the Close To My Heart Art Philosophy



 


ONLY 93 more days until Christmas!!!!!
So 13 more weeks in my Countdown to Christmas Cricut Cartridge giveaway!
Today's winner is...


 smyiow said...




I love the birdy card! The colors are amazing!


If you would like to win a Cricut Cartridge, just comment on every post I make. Only one comment per post counts, but if I have two posts in one day, you may comment once on each post I make.




Tomorrow is my Brother's Wedding to Melissa on my Design Team! Lots of pictures next week!!



The next 2 contests I have going on......


Want to know how to a Cricut Cake Machine and other Cricut Cartridges?
I will be giving away the Cricut Cake Mahcine when I have 5,000 followers on facebook. When I have 5,000 follwers on facebook I will give it away to one of my lucky followers :) Also with all of the new facebook changes. I would love for you all to get my posts because that is how I do giveaways ON facebook. I do them often, so you will want to make sure that you are still getting my posts.
Post on your wall for them to add me, or Suggest me to them.... when you suggest for me to add them, it doesnt count, they have to request me. When people say "YOU" sent them, your name will be entered to win a Cricut Cartridge.



The Next contest is for blog followers
There are so many of you who are facebook fans but do not follow me on here. So 'follow' me and enter your email to get my daily updates, you will get the email everyday, but then you can wait to read the email and see the projects on your own time.... Even days later :)
I will be sending out feeds through the blog, but you will only get them if you are a follower and have entered your email on here, You have to do BOTH to be entered to win those prizes. There will also be a set of 3 cartridges to win, they will be announced very soon, BELIEVE me you will want these Cricut Cartridges












Shelly Lynn used Happy Hauntings, Rock Princess, and Doodlecharms.
Her blog is 
http://kccroppers.blogspot.com/