Sarah {plain} & Small

FAAN Walk for the cure!

2010-08-21T12:13:00.009-05:00

Please join me and my family in our efforts to support the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network Walk for Food Allergy: Moving Toward a Cure. FAAN provides much needed education and advocacy to families and individuals dealing with often life threatening food allergies. They have provided much needed funding to agencies like Medic Alert, to provide medical ID bracelets along with call in service for medical responders, free of charge to children. Please read more about their mission statement by clicking here.

We found that when Abigayil was diagnosed at 10 months old after a near fatal reaction to milk, that there was not a lot of information readily available for dealing with this type of medical issue in such a young child. That was, until we were referred to FAAN a few months later. FAAN has personally helped myself and my family in our ongoing quest to provide for our 3year old daughter, Abigayil. Abigayil suffers from severe multiple food allergies to dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, and many common food additives. FAAN has provided the networking, recipies, recall alerts, and allergen alerts needed to keep her healthy and growing. My hope is that together we can raise enough money to keep this going for many more families facing the distress of food allergy and anaphylaxis.

The butterflies love her allergy alert bracelet too!

I would love to give something back to this wonderful resource. My family and I will be participating in the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network: Walk For the Cure on September 19th, 2010 in Lincoln, NE. Please help us reach our family goal of $150.00 by donating online at the Team Safety MAP walk page. You can click on my name (Sarah) and use the Support Me button to make your donation. Thank you for your support!

Intersted in participating in a local walk? Check out the 2010 Walk Locations page and sign up for one in your area.

So Sweet!

2010-07-13T18:53:00.006-05:00

Here is a simple little 8x8 layout I did for a friend. It's almost too cute to give away. I should have made 2!

Cartridges used:
Once Upon a Princess: title (2.5")
Sweet Treats: icecream cone (3")
Create a Critter: smiley heart (.5-1.25"), icecream face(from 2" smiley heart), cupcake(3.25")

The cupcake frosting and icecream cone are embossed with folders from the asian cuttlebug set. Click to view larger image.

Hoot 'n' Holler

2010-06-21T11:41:00.012-05:00

I was out with my kids on saturday, looking at bikes at Walmart. The bike section happens to be accross the aisle from the cricut section. Much to my surprise my small town store had all 24 of the new Cricut Lite cartridges!

We all looked at them and thought about which ones we would use and talked about how cute/fun/cool the designs are. An excited scream filled the store, "MY OWLS! MOMMY! MY OWLS!" followed by cart kicking clatter as my 3 year old tried frantically to move the cart with her buckled into the seat over to the display.

She'd spotted Hoot 'n' Holler and it was love at first sight.

As soon as we got home we had to immediately make an owl. I can't think of anything much cuter than a girl and her owl fettish.

Knowing there are a lot of new Cricut users, and layers are a little bit of an issue for most newbies, here is a simple picture how to for layering using owl5 on Hoot 'n' Holler.

Tip: If you want to load the mat once, you can use (4) 6x6 papers, 1 for each layer color. If you have an Expression, put your bottom base layer color in the bottom left of the cutting mat. Navigate to the top right corner of the base color and hit the Set Paper Size key. You can now use the Fit To Page function key to make the owl as big as it will go on a 6x6 paper. This particular owl wound up being 5.5". After cutting the base layer (and paying attention to what size it told you it cut at) turn the Fit To Page off, and navigate to your next color. Make sure you set the dial size to what your base layer cut at!

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T15:26:00.004-05:00

Happy Father's day to all the dads, grandads, husbands, brothers and uncles out there today. I really hope you are having a special day. Ours started out with Daddy sleeping late, getting showered with candy and treats from the kids. Hand made pictures and notes and sweets in honor of that special guy we can't live without. Daddy also got a special little album with a secret message inside! Can you find the message?

The album is small enough to take to work and show off. Daddy is pretty proud of the fact that he has 6 kids and a SAHM wife. He loves shocking the guys at work with those little tidbits! We are proud to have such an awesome hardworking guy in our lives.Cover artwork is courtesy of Ellie (front) and Avram (back). The back just cracks me up. Avram left the message in magnets the other day and I couldn't help snapping a picture. Then while going through my 8x8 Cosmo Cricket Get Happy paper pad I found the "pop quiz" journaling card. A perfect match! Did you find the secret message yet?

Owl thank you cards

2009-10-12T17:38:00.002-05:00

I rarely buy wood mounted stamps, but I found this darling new release from Hero Arts after noticing a 40% off sign at Michael's. I really can not resist owls, and I needed to make some thank you cards. Here is the result:

A close up of the stamped image:

This stamp lends itself easily to peicing. I stamped the image on 3 different K&Co papers. The news print owl was cut away from the paper and layered over the green with pop dots for added dimension. The Green was cut away from the border of the stamp and layered over the tan/dot paper. The tan/dot mat was cut from the Cricut cartridge, A Child's Year. All in all a very different effect over just stamping the image.

Thanks for looking!

Super Cute Clear Stamp Storage

2009-10-10T18:34:00.004-05:00

This handy little 10 page 4.5"x6" clear acrylic stamp album houses all 26 sets of monograms from Studio G series 23. To make this stamp album you will need 9"x12" acrylic sheets from Accucut.com. I quartered them into 4.5" x 6" and punched 10 holes along the 6" side and bound the book with 1.25" black O wires with my Bind-It-All. I also rounded the corners with the Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper 1/4" side. You can also use the blue Round-It-All from Zutter. I would reccomend making the album with 8-9pages though. 10 was just a tad too bulky with all the stamps in, but I needed the pages to fit the entire 5 font alphabet in.

Front view:

The ribbon does not need to be untied. It can just be slipped off and on. It stays attached through some eyelets in the back cover.

Back view:

Inside page:

If you mount the clear stamps facing down on left hand side of the book as you look at it when opened, you will be able to see the images facing correctly when you flip the page back to the right hand side.

What a cute way to keep your clear stamps accessible for use. You can display your clear stamp collection along with your craft room decor! You can also purchase an 8x8" kit from Zutter...But I like this smaller one better. It was a LOT cheaper than $19.99 plus shipping. I did not come up with the idea, I just made it a lot cuter and cheaper. Hee hee!

Give Away Today! Sweet!

2009-06-25T22:21:00.005-05:00

There is a give away today featuring one of my all time favorite companies, Imaginisce! WOOT! Go check it out at Give Away Today.

I love my Dad because...

2009-06-23T17:27:00.011-05:00

This is a sweet and simple little mini album the kids and I put together for Kevin for Father's Day. The 6x8.5" black chipboard pages were purchased from Speedway Paper Products. They do not have black in stock any more. I hope they do get more in because I LOVE it! I bound it all together with 1.25" rings and a Bind-It-All. So glad I had the jumbo rings on hand as this is a very chunky board book. The papers and stickers are all Cosmo Cricket from the Girl Friday and Cogsmo lines. The ticket and scallop mats are from the Doodlecharms, and Zoobaloo cricut cartridges, edited on Design Studio. I also used some border punches from fiskars, and EK Success.

Sizzling Summer Paint Can Swap!

2009-06-11T14:44:00.009-05:00

I wanted to get the word out on a REALLY FUN paint can swap I am hosting over on the Cricut Message Boards. It's been a chilly wet June here in Nebraska and I need some sunshine!

This is the perfect opportunity for a first time swapper, and great fun for those already in the know. It's a simple one time swap AND you have a good 6 weeks to get it done! Easy as pie in July!

The rules are simple:

-Sign up closes June 15, 2009 at 11:59pm CST I will post the swap partners on the morning of June 16th. Sign up by posting to the thread, then PMing me your information. Your information will stay with me until the completion of the swap at which time it will be purged never to be seen agian. I will not sell or use your information for any purpose other than this particular paint can swap. I need your name/address/email away from the message board.

-Decorate your gallon size paint can in a Sizzling Summer theme and create a coordinating card to go with it. This is a great time to practice your mad cardmaking skillz!

-Fill it with about $15 of scrapping goodies (check the master questionnaire thread for ideas) Be good to the person you are swapping with. Make sure if you put in any food items that they are NOT meltable! the mail gets hot this time of year!

-Ship paint can to your assigned swapper postmarked no later than July 31, 2009.

-Delivery Confirmation is required. Keep your receipts and tracking numbers! This is your only proof that you sent your package. Insurance is not req'd but I strongly reccomend it.

-Post a Thank You and (if possible) a photo of the can and card you receive with your goodies. It is very important to say thank you!

-Last but not least...HAVE FUN! What a great opportunity to use the new LAB Cart, all the pretty flowers on Tink, the beach things from PDDU or DC too! Let's get creative!

Feel free to leave a comment with any questions for concerns. You will need to create a free user account at Cricut.com and sign up via this thread. Hope to see some more sign ups!

Birthday Card for a Friend

2009-05-14T21:50:00.006-05:00

Here is a birthday card I made for a friend. It also worked for the Studio G Challenge #7 over at Paper Craft Planet Studio G Collectors

I stamped the cupcake image multiple times on different printed papers, cut the parts out and layered it back together with some pop dots for dimension. This is a really fun and easy technique. Give it a try some time!

The inside sentiment uses 3 different Studio G clear stamps. I LOVE the tiny cherry border!

If you ask me for a picture...

2009-05-13T12:50:00.007-05:00

If you ask a crafter for a picture of their cartridge storage, she will tell you she has to clean up the creative clutter first. While she is cleaning up the clutter, she might find a blank board book that needs to go on the shelf. While putting the book on the shelf she might spy a box of vintage styled valentine lacing cards. Upon inspecting the box she will think,"these will be perfect to make into a little book for my little girls to bring to church to play with quietly." The crafter will then procede to measure the cards and set up her Bind-It-All, cut the chipboard covers and commence to make a book. After completing the little lacing card book, and admiring her handiwork, she might think that she needs to do this with the full size lacing cards and go upstairs to the bedroom closet and get those out. When she returns to her desk she may remember that she had also bought some animal flash cards which she intended to make a book from, and procede to punch the pages and make the custom chipboard cover. She might take a break from the exhausting "cleaning" and get her girls some lunch and down for a nap. After the girls are down, she might want to get on the computer to check her email again. When she checks her email there will be a message, similar to the one that follows:

"wow you must be talking to your dust bunnies as you clean lol"

THEN she will remember to take the picture of the shelves that was requested 2 hours ago and email the friend back with an explaination as to why it took so long...And then it may come to her attention that the explaination would be a funny blog post!

Here is the shelf:

Here is the book:

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-09T17:41:00.006-05:00

My guest designer/sister designed these super sweet mothers day post cards for her boys to give to Mom-mom. The quotes are printed on sky blue vellum, overlaying a sepia toned photograph. She hand wrote the quotes on plain paper and ran the vellum through her photocopier/scanner/printer to print. The sky was amazing the other day and she took advantage of it. She held the boys up in the air and photographed them on the sky and clouds background. It really is a neat effect, angelic children floating through the sky! What could be more sweet?

Click on the pictures for a larger version.

Blog Candy!

2009-04-22T10:14:00.007-05:00

Tammy is celebrating her 100th follower with blog candy! She has a wonderful blog with many inspiring layouts and other paper crafts. Check it out!

New life for TBBM!

2009-04-22T09:40:00.007-05:00

I know I know you must all be tired of hearing about Sarah's adventures with acrylic, but this is too cool to pass up. In a previous post I had mentioned there were two thicknesses of the acrylic. I finally got around to cutting the .007 sheets and they cut like butter! Easier than paper! Better yet is it is PERFECT for box making. Tags, Bags, Boxes & More has NEVER been more fun! I was just goofing around to try cutting settings out (blade 6, pressure max, speed high, multi-cut 1) and made thse cute little boxes. The finished sizes are just under 2", and just under 1" square. Wouldn't they make sweet little party favors for a bridal or baby shower? Maybe fill them with mini blossoms, buttons and brads and hand them out at the next crop you host...Anyway you want to gift them they are sure to please.

I can't wait to try out some other boxes and see how they fare. Clear library pockets and tags sound awesome too!

Acrylic for Mom

2009-04-18T22:22:00.011-05:00

Here is the album I am making for Mother's Day. I am so addicted to acrylic! The entire album was made on Design Studio using the Storybook cartridge. This has to be my all time favorite cartridge. I am still working on the rest of the pages. This is what I have so far!

Click on images for larger view.

ATG gun stand

2009-04-18T17:53:00.005-05:00

I received the most beautifully made ATG stand from a dear friend of mine. I finally got around to painting it and now I am showing it off. Thank you so much, Missy!

A closer look at the distressing.

Design Studio FAQ

2009-04-13T13:37:00.005-05:00

I get asked a lot of questions about my files, and Design Studio in general. This particular one comes up from new users quite frequently!

Q: When I look at some cut files, there are extra shapes and lines. What are they? Do I need to do anything with them?

A: The extra shapes are lines are portions of welded shapes that were used to make the larger overall shape that you will be cutting. You do not need to do anything with them if the file was made correctly. Any file from me will come pre welded and ready to cut.

I have some sample screen shots so you can see what I am talking about.

This shows what this particular word book page looks like on Design Studio. Notice the extra small rectangles next to the A? They actually make up part of the page, so that the page is solid and the A is fully attached.

This shows what the actual CUTTING line looks like via the preview button (the eye on the left of the virtual mat). In order to get your preview to look like this you need to open a blank page, then hit preview. It will leave off the extra shapes and just show the heavy black cutting line. Make sure that you only have one page set to preview at a time. You can right click on the page, and either check or uncheck the "include page in preview" option to do this.

This view shows a preview, where one peice was NOT welded. The non-welded peice shows up as a solid color. Previewing is a necessity when welding multiple components into one single object or design. Welded portions will show a solid black outline, and no color. Non-welded portions will show a solid color fill.

I really hope that helped a little. If I confused you further I do appologize! Feel free to ask questions! I enjoy answering them, and helping others to enjoy the craft!

Where to buy!

2009-04-05T23:43:00.005-05:00

I finally figured out where the acrylic sheets I have been using came from! You can find them at AccucutCraft The sheets I have been using are the .02 thickness. The .007 is awesome to cut for cards! You have to buy it in bulk at a minimum of 25 sheets, so you may want to get a few friends together and split the package up.

video-acrylic cutting

2009-03-30T00:44:00.002-05:00

Here is a quick video. Leave a comment if you still need help!

making the album part 1

2009-03-26T00:44:00.010-05:00

I found some time to work on my SUNSHINE acrylic album. This is so fun!

The first thing I like to do is choose papers and lay them out in the order I want them to be.

These papers are from the Bloom & Grow line (both color ways used) from My Mind's Eye. I used the more "solid" color sides. The multi color sides will be used later for the photo mats.

Then I trim off the white border so it will fit on my cutting mat nicely.

Then we start cutting letters! You can't see my laptop with Design Studio running, but it's there.

When you are cutting letters...make sure you are cutting the right one on the right page. I cut an N on the right paper, it was just the wrong N...OOPS!

Keep cutting until you have all your peices.

aren't they cute?

Now onto the adhesive. The Xyron permanent adhesive is probably your best bet. You need a smooth and even layer over the entire peice so that the adhesive doesn't show on the other side.

Make sure you flip your sheet over and burnish really well to make sure the adhesive is applied without any bubbles and will not peel off when you remove it from the liner. A plastic tool will work best.

Make SURE you peel the protective liner off the acrylic peices BEFORE adhering your letters! Be very careful when placing the letters. They stick easily and are impossible to remove.

Once you have the letter or shape in place, burnish again to get any bubbles out of the adhesive. This will make the back side of the paper crystal clear for the opposite side. You will be able to see where you need to burnish easily from the back side. Be careful not to scratch the acrylic when doing this! ALWAYS burnish on the PAPER side!

A happy flip side free of bubbles.

Part 1 all finished! Looks pretty neat so far!

Photo mats and embellishments next time!

Phoenix Crafts Blog Candy!

2009-03-25T23:50:00.010-05:00

I just found this blog and the projects and photography are wonderful! Jennifer over at Phoenix Crafts really throws herself into her crafting! Check out her blog, and maybe sign up for some blog candy (shown below).

word books

2009-03-23T23:21:00.004-05:00

I finally got around to trying out the acrylic sheets on something a little more detailed than a little turtle. I really like how well this cut and I really love how this looks! Acrylic has been so easy to work with. Easier than chipboard has been. I can't wait to get it scrapped!

Here is a chipboard album I did the other day. I still need to scrap this one too! I guess I need to stop playing with designs and materials long enough to actually put pictures into the albums one of these days!

A different mini album

2009-03-09T10:37:00.004-05:00

This is an album I made for my sister's mother-in-law back in December. Though I'd share! These are probably the easiest and roomiest word books to make. The only draw back is they take a LOT of chipboard. As a plus, you can make longer words and have ample room to scrap.

I love vinyl!

2009-03-08T17:25:00.004-05:00

I have to admit, I spend a lot of time cutting everything BUT paper. Anyone can cut paper. It's easy. Vinyl is easy too! The best settings on the Cricut machines is a blade depth of 6, pressure 2-3, and speed 4. Here is a sign I put together last night with layered vinyl lettering.

I also got to looking at vinyl wall decals on Etsy.com and there are some really amazing designers out there. I love all of the birdcage icons I saw. I could fill a room with them. I decided to design my own birdcage. I think it turned out pretty cute! I can't wait to get it cut and on the wall.

The main cage. I may add some punchwork detail to the top dome. I still need to design a bird too.

I am not sure if I want the cage hanging from the ceiling or on a floor stand. I am also not sure if I want the floor stand to have a table top or not, so I have those as options.

Cricut cartriges used: George and Basic Shapes, New Arrival, Joys of the Season, Celebrations, My Community

acrylic cutting!

2009-02-19T22:28:00.004-06:00

I stopped at a wonderful scrap shop on my way home from Omaha today, called Precious Treasures. What a fun store! They had just gotten in the new Cosmo Cricket line, Girl Friday, and I HAD to pick some up. This has to be the most fun retro mod paper around! If you haven't seen it yet go check it out at www.cosmocricket.com. They have several new lines out that are sure to please!

Getting back on track with the topic here...

While I was at PT I found a stack of acrylic sheets. I had noticed that the store had die cut some custom albums, and decided to try to cut the sheets with my Cricut Expression. It cuts! How cool is that? I used my standard test cut turtles and played with the different blades, depths, and machine settings. I found that having either a roland 60 degree blade, or the cricut deep cut blade in the green housing worked best. I set the pressure at max, blade at 6, multicut at 4 and speed at 4. This will NOT cut clean through the acrylic, but it WILL give you a usable cut. You do need to find a flat edge and bend it so the bottom side of the cut is outward until it snaps, then you can start pulling the excess off the cut. It will come right out. I will have to make a video later to show how to do this.

YAY ACRYLIC! I think I will try the sunshine album next!

Wonderful Word Books!

2009-02-14T16:35:00.004-06:00

I just have to share these! One of my Etsy customers Holly, from Kansas City, did the most splendid job on these two books. The colors and patterns are just perfect! Check them out! I really need to get photos in my OWN! What an inspiration!

Aren't the colors bright and cheery? Holly plans on adding pictures of her little
"son"shine to the album. Perfect!

Aren't the vintage photographs fabulous? The papers are perfect, the layouts are simple. This lets the photograhs take center stage. I love everything about it!

A special thanks to Holly for sharing her beautiful word books!

Turtles!

2009-02-10T16:53:00.006-06:00

These turtles are soooooooo cute! The turtle cut was the entire reason I bought the Walk In My Garden cartridge. I had the larger one already made, and was playing around with the Cricut deep blade in the regular green housing to figure out ideal settings and needed something small to test, so I cut turtles at 3 1/2". Contrary to what Cricut states, you CAN put the deep cut blade into the regular housing. In fact, you will get better results than using it with the intended blue housing. I was using it with the blade at 6, pressure 4, speed max and multicut 2. It cuts beautifully this way! I did notice there is a difference between making cuts directly from the machine, vs. using design studio. Design Studio slows the machine down too much to be very effective, and I needed to add a 3rd pass, and bump the pressure up to 5. It still worked splendidly.

Anyway, I was left with 4 tiny chipboard turtles after my test cutting. I thought, "why not make some shells, and make keychain albums to go with the full size turtle albums". They turned out super cute, if I do say so myself! I can't wait to get them papered!

Test cut turtles make cute pets!

Valentine paint can swap

2009-02-07T09:45:00.004-06:00

This is what I came up with for a Valentine themed paint can swap. This was my first time altering a paint can. I love the components, but not sure I love how I laid them out together. I think it's a tad too assymetrical, or maybe not enough to look intentional. One of the two! It's filled with lots of scrapping goodies. Dimensional stickers, clear stamps, chipboard album, 6x6 valentine paper pack, a pop up candy valentine card, ribbons, eyelet button thingies...lots of neato things. Afterall, it's what is on the inside that matters most, right? I hope so anyway!

The papers are from the K&Company Sweet Talk speciality paper pad. I also used open stock solid cardstocks for the die cuts. The gem studded floral embellishments are by Flora Doodles. I just arranged them in a heart shape. Quick and easy!

I am however in love with this owl! I modified the owl found in the Storybook Font Cricut cartridge to look similar an owl pillow that I got for my little girl at Target. I may have to cut it out of vinyl and put it on a t-shirt! Design Studio rocks!

Here is the lovely card:

A special thank you to Lori Henrey at my LSS Ben Franklin Too for having the valentine card class! These were so fun to do!

Hello Kitty How-To

2009-01-26T20:57:00.012-06:00

Here is a quick video tutorial for new Expression and Hello Kitty cartridge users. This should help you get to know a few more of the machine's features, and the 6 cartridge feature buttons. Please feel free to email me or leave a comment if you need more help. I know some of it is hard to see on the tiny video!

The video is fixed! YAY! If you click the rectangle on the lower right of the video you can watch it full screen.

Here is what the cut looks like fully layered:

Grandma word book

2009-01-22T21:53:00.002-06:00

Here is a mini album I designed on the Cricut Design Studio using the new Storybook Font. This font is so perfect for wordbooks! I bound it with a Bind-It-All machine. They are so quick and easy to use! I really think the MME Garden Party papers work beautifully to complete the whole look.

snowflake album update

2009-01-21T22:47:00.003-06:00

Here is the finished snowflake album!

Cricut Chipboard Cutting Guide

2009-01-20T09:30:00.002-06:00

Finally! A handy dandy chipboard cutting guide! Now YOU don't have to go to the trouble and expense of finding out what will work, and what wont! I went thru and test cut several thicknesses (gauges) with and without the clay coat (white shiny-ish side) and here's the skinny!

*A new blade and mat work best!*

.022- this is like a heavy cardstock, blade:5-6, pressure:max,
speed: 4, multi cut:2
.024- think cereal box- same as .022, if clay coated, multi cut:3
.028- IDEAL for cricut usage! blade:6, pressure:max, speed: 4-5
multi cut:4
.032- depending on the way your blade was cut (some are cut with a deeper bevel than others) this will work with the above settings. A long bevel works better, than a shorter one. With a short bevel, the blade on some sections of the cut did not make it all the way thru (like you'd see cutting cartstock with a dull blade) and I needed to go around it lightly with my craft knife. It was just barely attached. I did get a very clean edge running around it with the craft knife though. Compared to the .028 the difference in thickness is nominal.
.040+ is too thick, the blade depth is insufficient to make it through the thickness. It will go thru the machine, but you will have to hand cut it the rest of the way. ANYTHING thicker than .040 is too thick and will damage your machine rollers! I do NOT reccomend anything thicker than .032! It's just not worth damaging your machine and voiding the warranty.

Other info: I prefer the look of plain chipboard, but the clay coating really does make a difference in the stability of the peice. It makes it more rigid, and is ideal for tag books/word books where you want the strength. The grain is finer, and smoother and is also easier to adhere papers to. Stamping/inking and writing on it will vary depending on the specific product.

The good news with the "way too thick chipboard" is it works beautifully with the Bind-it-All machines, and works well for making your own hard-bound book bindings. You can watch a video and download printable instructions on hard binding here:
http://sbl.tvweekly.com/player.php?43030134c9d51a817d55521d538909d5y1268

I hope you all can use this information! Chipboard is really very fun!

*update* The above depth and pressure settings do NOT change because of the new blade housing and blades. You may be able to get away with fewer passes though. You still can not cut anything thicker than a .040! It simply will not feed thru the machine, and you run the risk of breaking it. This has NOTHING to do with the new blade housing's capabilities. This is simply the limit of the machine.

If you are having problems with the edge shredding it can be due to a number of reasons.
-your blade may be dull
-your stock may not be of appropriate quality or density not all chipboard is meant to be cut in this manner
-you may have bits of chipboard debris in the blade housing preventing the blade from swiveling perfectly. How to fix this will come a little later in the post.
-your stock may have shifted slightly
-the mat may be warped or just plain worn out.
-the blade did not line up perfectly on multiple cuts. This can be an intermittant problem, or a flaw in the machine. Try letting the machine rest a while, cut something else, and then changing mats and blades. I find the more times I cut the same thing in the same spot, this is more likely to happen.

I have been using a 60 degree blade (Cricut standard blade is a 45 degree blade) for several months now to cut .028 chipboard. It makes a HUGE difference. They will work in the green blade housing to improve your cuts. They can be purchased from vinyl sign suppliers under the name "roland compatable 60 degree blade". These are not a new item. They have been in use in other plotter machines for many many years.

To remove debris from the blade housing you will need a toothpick, and some tape style adhesive.
-remove your blade and remove any debris you can easliy with your fingers
-add adhesive about 1/4" wide around the tip of the tooth pick and gently poke it into the blade housing. This will stick any paper bits to it. You can pull the bits off and do it agian. Just make sure you aren't ramming anything down into the housing.
-lubricate and reinsert blade into housing

To lubricate the blade and housing you will need a tiny bottle of sewing machine oil.
-remove the blade
-make sure the housing is clean
-add a tiny drop of sewing machine oil to the non sharp end BLADE SHAFT. DO NOT put it into the housing!
-spread it around and wipe any excess off with your FINGERS and wipe your fingers off. You don't want it all drippy, you just want a nice light coating. This will also help keep your blades and housing from rusting if you live in a high humidity climate.
-reinsert blade

All this being said, keep trying. It works. It may take some practice, and some individual adjustments for your own machine...but it does work! Oh, and since I do not work for PC or any other entity, this is all SUGGESTION. I will not be held responsible for anything you choose to try. Every machine is different, as are the users.

Snowflake mini album

2009-01-12T22:36:00.006-06:00

Ok, so my January projects are taking a little longer than I had originally thought, and I am finding my mind wandering on to February and Valentine's Day. I find it difficult to complete anything and embellish small layouts without the photos that will go in the album. I like what I have so far though, so take a look! I still have 6 more layouts to do before this is complete. Any ideas or suggestions? Leave me a comment!

Here it is naked:

The pages partially dressed up:

I think I will add some snowflakes and flourishes in the corners of the mats on the 2 page penguin layout, and a big tag to the last page for the photo anchors to hold, instead of just a 4x4" picture. I really don't know what to do on the polar bear page. He's too cute to cover! I may just get another sheet of the same paper and cut it out and pop dot it over a mat like the glittery penguin is.

That's all I have for today!

A new year, a new blog!

2009-01-07T09:31:00.000-06:00

I decided I needed a space to share what I am working on, and maybe a few How-to's, and projects for you to try at home. You never know, so stay tuned!