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Saturday, September 29, 2012

My concept to FINALLY share!!!

I am so excited.... 
I am SO proud of myself!!!!! 


When I was in Utah in July I was a 
guest at Provo-Craft.
 I have always loved the company and everything that they stand for. It is a small company that you would think has several thousand employees, but actually has less than 200! It is amazing how many people you would think do all of the work that we see and help us to craft. 

I had spent 2 days there with the Vice-Presidents, CEO and tech staff, as well as some who do graphic design, the actual paper crafting and basically everyone who works there! They were such wonderful hosts to myself and my daughter. While I was there I was a 'crafter' an actual person who sits down with the handbook and wanted to create something. It totally simplified things how I would teach my daughter (4 years old) and my Grandma (we can say 70+ years old) 
I wanted to convey to them what crafters think about from the time they see and image that they want to the time that it takes to make it. 

Most people see a cute... PIG and just want to make the Pig and put it on a card. They might not want to learn all about Craft Room and everything else. They just want to ENJOY making a card with a pig on it! VERY SIMPLE. I think people like myself (and the tech people there, over analyze things) Sometimes we just need to take a step back and make it OVERLY simple. No one I know wants to spend an hour trying to figure out HOW TO make the pig..... They just want to make the pig! 

My first suggestion was for those who have never used Craft Room have a video pop up and just get them started (they have that now) 
Next the man who does programming with Craft Room showed me an app in his I-phone to make a card. He finds the shape he wants, clicks on the picture he wants, moves it into the window and for $1.99 it is printed and MAILED to the recipient..... I said why can't you do that.....  
Let's say in Create a Critter, i just want to make the pig. I want a ONE TOUCH button to make the silly little pig! Why can't craft room do that. I also suggested to make it in color so we knew what  each part of it looked like in color. SO........
I hope you have seen the single images or small groups of images that you can get instead of the entire cartridge. Other die cutting machines allow you to buy ONE image.... I said why can't Provo-Craft do that.... SO............ here it is!!!
I might not always have paper crafts to show..... 
but this is why.....
I would rather teach than to just display! 


In this first view you can see the little pig there called CAC-5 And he is there in all of the correct colors.... no thinking needed! The light purple ring shows you what to click on to make the images bigger so you can see them better :) 

Here is the smaller pig, click at the light Purple circle to make the images bigger (this works on all cartridges not just those in color right now. 






So just click on the pig and drop it on the virtual cutting mat. 
There is my cute little pig in COLOR!!!! 


 





 Now click on it the see the grey box around it. at the bottom of that is a green box that says 
EDIT IMAGE. Click on it. 




Then on the far right click SEPARATE 






You will then see it expands it all out into each of the colors that you will need to cut. 



Next select UNGROUP.  






Then I love the pieces around so I can put a 6x6 piece of paper in each square







I like to have the image cut as the base for me to build on as well. 
So I added another piggy to my mat. 






Then I select what machine I am using. I was currently using the IMAGINE, you do not have to cut with the Imagine..... but that is how you can see and work with the colors.  Then you can see my purple circle on the left where I selected Expression as my machine that I wanted to cut with.  




Now you can see it took away all of my pretty colors and instead of printing in color, it will now just cut. BUT at a later time if I want to go and use the Imagine.....  You can always go to the Machine and Mat section and select IMAGINE, and it will put your color back in! 








There is it, this was ONE of the things I proposed while I was there.... and they did it!!!!!
I am so proud of myself and that I can share all of this with you. I hope I spoke for many crafters and that this concept will make your Cricut crafting easier and less frustrating!!! 

ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS?????? 


Here is also the link to help you if you want to learn more about Cricut Craft Room


Also don't forget to comment here and 
share with a friend.....
 if a friend comes here and says that you sent them, YOU get a point and an entry to win the BRAND NEW.... Create a Critter 2. 

Don't forget to check out my webstore for Cartridge sales and SPECIALS on paper! 



Don't forget to come back here each 
Hello Thursday 
as I am already working on projects with next month's cartridges and I cannot wait to share them when Cricut announces them!!!
SO CUTE!!!! 












FROM THIS SUMMER>>>>>> July posting.....

How great of a Cartridge Handbook would this be????

Well I am headed to Provo Craft now for this below. My proposal for the handbooks. I have many of them done. Wouldn't you LOVE to see all handbooks done like this so you know EXACTLY how to make each image? Wouldn't you use your Cricut more?
Wouldn't you buy more cartridges if they were all this easy to see HOW to put it together???
Please comment on this post as this post is going to Provo- Craft and they can see your feedback!!!
This shows you which color of paper to use and which buttons to press.




46 comments:

Craftin Desert Divas said...

Glad they took your advice. I have yet to use the Craft Room but it's on my to do list.

Tara

Kas said...

Exactly what we want!!! Thanks!!! I like the Craft room!!

Craftyhomemade said...

Congrats and thanks for help us. It`ll be much easier now. I can`t wait to use it.

Indira
craftyhomemade7atgmail.com

Cathy said...

This is exciting Erica, I hope to some day be able to get into the Craftroom and enjoy all these features, Congratulations and thank you for speaking for us crafting gals:)
cathyplus5

Unknown said...

AWESOME!!!!..... and congrats!! :))

Mel Barwise said...

Fantastic!!!!!!

[Melissa] said...

Pretty sure I love you for this!!!

Ashley said...

This is awesome! I love CCR but one of my biggest troubles with it was getting everything to be proportional, such as with the pig. When I use my Expression, I set it to 3" and it cuts every layer for the pig to fit a 3" image. With CCR, it's harder to size small layers to get them to fit perfectly. This will be great! I'll have to give it a try. :)

Ashley

Ashleyplus2.5 said...

That is so exciting Congrats!!! Cathy Derouche at Cathyplus5 sent me!!!! :)

Claire Spielman said...

I am very happy for you and for ALL the Cricut addicts out there! I agree, aside from needing glasses AND contacts to see the images, the K.I.S.S. theory always wins..."Keep It Simple Stupid". I appreciate your tutorial and have been muddling my way through CCR on my own so this will make it easier! Having the color feature also is awesome! TFS
Creative Wishes,
Claire S.
www.scrapmyway.blogspot.com

Desi Lee Designing Divas said...

Love it. It will be so much easier to cut out my cute pig. Lol thank you erica

Tiggerscraps said...

This is the main reason I didn't like CCR!! I wish I could give you a huge hug and kiss! This is exactly what I wished CCR did!!! THANK YOU and THANK YOU Provo craft for listening and implementing such fabulous changes!!

Unknown said...

Thats so awesome! thanks so much for caring about us crafties <3

Unknown said...

Claire spielman sent me and I am so glad she did....this is so cool!!!! Love that PC is listening to the crafters!! Way to Go Erica!

Connie Can Crop said...

Very cool idea! Good luck!

Jodie R said...

No way! This going to be so awesome! I spend so much time trying to pick out colors for my cuts! This takes all the guess work out of it and I can still change up the colors if I want! Beyond excited about this!! Thank you Erica for suggesting this!!

Jessica Buffa said...

Huge Round of Applause to you Erica...wonderful suggestion that will be beneficial to SOOOO MANY CRAFTERS. Thank you for being our voice to PC! I have just started diving into CCR and already see this as a huge help!!! Love the intro video also! Rock On Girlie!
:O)
Jessica S

Cammie said...

This is awesome!
Cammie

Unknown said...

OMG Erica this is so fabulous!!! You really came up with the most fabulous "tool". No more guessing as to where to place your shapes as to the colors you need to use.I think most crafters are visual people so this is unbelievable to be able to see the whole image.Thank you for being our voice. Huge ovation to you.Hugs~Mary

Becky said...

Wow, this is great. I love the Craft Room but have so much to learn.

Heather Lynn said...

Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Way to go, Erica! What a huge help!!

Brenda said...

That is awesome!! What a great opportunity to get to give them your ideas and then they actually did it. I am glad to see that they are listening.

suzyQ2 said...

Thank you for being our voice and making it easier to plan and size layers! Great idea.

Unknown said...

Thats really great Erica i just wish we could purchase digital carts or images in the UK xxx

Bev Barlow said...

What a brilliant idea! Whilst I LOVE the CCR and it is great for the cartridges I already own, I am still frustrated that here in the UK I cannot purchase any of the digital cartridges (so am assuming the same will be true for a single image?). I am not sure why this is as there is no postage involved and can't see that it would make a difference where I was located? I have sent a note several times to Cricut to ask them why this is and whether digital images will be available to all of us Cricut lovers in the UK but so far have never received a reply other than "this is only available in the US and Canada" :(

Unknown said...

I so love this!!!! This will save so much time for all of us that have such busy lives. This will make it so much easier to craft and I used design studio but the cricut craft room is so much more user friendly. Way to go Erica!!!!

Gloria Westerman said...

You rock it!!!! Thank you so much for telling them this....now you need to work with them on getting the digital cartridges....would make our live so much easier...

Kimmarie Baker said...

Congratulations! This seems to be easy to use now. I have the imagine and really haven't used it unless someone who knows how to is with me. I tried the craft room a couple times but wasn't sure about it. I will have to give it a whirl! Looks the the handbooks will be easier to use too. They are so confusing on which parts to cut and so on. Thanks for the chance to win.

Pattie Mcginnis said...

This GREAT. I am so proud of you.
Thank you for helping all of us out. And for helping Provocraft see what we need.

Congrats.

glowegal said...

How awesome!! Jessica Wilson (CraftyMommy) sent me. :)

Jenn (Triple J Designs) said...

What an amazing announcement!! This is going to help so many new and novice Cricut crafters!! Thank you Erica and I can't wait to see what else you have suggested :)

~Jenn~

Josie0602 said...

Congratulations Erica!!

Sarah said...

WOW!!! This is amazing. I am so happy that they have improved CCR. Even with your wonderful guide I was still having problems with CCR, I love that now I can just pick the image that I want and it puts all the layers on to the mat. Before I had such a hard time trying to figure it out. Congrats on getting you idea put into actual use.
Sarah
craftingwithsarah.blogspot.com
MCCR DT

nanapuddin said...

Congrats and thanks! Can't wait to see it! (they do make a lot of promises though!) Thanks for the chance to win!

The Craftin Mama said...

That is such a wonderful accomplishment Erica!! Congrat's!!! I have only used CCR once but now that it seem's to be getting easier to use I'm gonna have to try to use it more!! Thanks for caring so much about this wonderful crafting community!!!

Ildi-The Craftin Mama
ildij3@verizon.net

Chris said...

I never really used the CCR, always found it to much work :) You did good with your suggestion and to see them doing it, you must be so proud :) Congrats for all you do and a chance to win! :)
Chris

ScrappyHappyMommy said...

What a wonderful idea. After some hard core playing around I am getting more used to CCR, but this new feature will help out a few friends of mine that are so intimidated by the CCR! Congrats Erica.

Brenda Wooten Porter said...

this is such an awesome idea Erica!! you have always taught us in such easy terms to understand!! congrats to you and please continue to help us learn all we can do with our Cricuts!! and I am so glad they listened!! thanks!!

Darlene said...

This sounds awesome! But I'm confused... Is it available yet? I cant find that layers tab anywhere. Please help!

TeresaK said...

I've only used the CCR a few times but this may be just what I need to make it easier and user friendly! I am so very proud of all you've accomplished and how you share your knowledge with all of us! Thank you, Thank you!!
Teresa
www.createenjoyshare.blogspot.com

angie ashuk said...

Ok, so I dont use CCR, but all of this sound totally awesome!!! So just to unconfuse myself...you can now buy 1 image? I keep saying I have to use CCR, and now I'm really going to have! Congrats to you Erica!! Awesome job!

Deneen said...

Congrats to you!! It is awesome that they have used your ideas and made CCR better. Thanks for helping us all out.

marg0006 said...

Thanks for your ability to get into our heads an dlook out for our best interest when it comes to crafting.

marg0006 at verizon dot net

ann55w said...

this at idea but didnt work for me i put the pig on the imagine mat but not color?
Ann W
weedmana@embarqmail.com

Andi said...

Erica, First and Foremost Thank You for giving so many of us a voice. I too have believed in Provo Craft since being introduced to their products about 4 years ago. With the purchase of my E2 then Gypsy, Cuttlebug and this year my shiny E2 all I am very proud to own and addicted to. But I have stumbled. Now they began changing the books somewhat and I found myself lost. I live not far at all from Provo Craft and always thought how great it would be to get lessons or directional hints from the "Pros". You have done that and are giving that to us. Big Kudos to you. I love your site and love we share the Cricut/Provo Craft Bug. I hope they continue to listen to you and act on your expertise. THX Again, Andi , Salt Lake City, Utah

Andi said...

Erica, First and Foremost Thank You for giving so many of us a voice. I too have believed in Provo Craft since being introduced to their products about 4 years ago. With the purchase of my E2 then Gypsy, Cuttlebug and this year my shiny E2 all I am very proud to own and addicted to. But I have stumbled. Now they began changing the books somewhat and I found myself lost. I live not far at all from Provo Craft and always thought how great it would be to get lessons or directional hints from the "Pros". You have done that and are giving that to us. Big Kudos to you. I love your site and love we share the Cricut/Provo Craft Bug. I hope they continue to listen to you and act on your expertise. THX Again, Andi , Salt Lake City, Utah