Cricut Accent Essentials Cartridge Home Decor Project

Altered Tin Project using Cricut Accent Essentials Cartridge

I should be sleeping but instead I’m up surfing for more Cricut Ideas.  I found this incredibly beautiful home decor project using the Cricut Accent Essentials Cartridge.  Tammy Tutterow deisgned it for Cricut and posted it on two peas.  She used Basic Grey Figgy Pudding papers, Prima flowers, and tons of yummy texture!!  I love it and am on the hunt now for tins to alter using my Cricut!

If you’re looking for this Cricut cartridge, here are some links for you:  Cricut Accent Essentials Cartridge

Cricut Disney Cars Cartridge

Cricut Disney Cars Cartridge

If you have little boys who are into Disney’s Cars characters, this is the perfect new Cricut cartridge for you! With Lightening McQueen, Mater, Doc, and the whole gang, plus assorted other graphic symbols and shapes from the Disney Cars movie, this cartridge is tons of fun. I just wish I had owned it back when I threw a Cars birthday party for my son last year, it would have been perfect for the invitation, thank yous, party favors and even table and wall decorations. I would have saved a ton of money over buying them premade!

Speaking of Disney Cars, has anyone heard if they are going to come out with a sequel to the movie? I can’t believe Disney would miss that obvious chance to make more money. My kids loved the toy cars and playset… think of the merchandising opportunities that a second movie would bring! I know they’re coming out with a Madagascar 2 soon, hopefully Cars 2 won’t be far behind. Speaking of Madagascar, where is the Cricut cartridge for those characters? They’d be perfect on Zoo layouts and such!

I don’t typically care for kids’ movies but I really enjoyed both Cars and Madagascar. They were hilarious and not painful to watch a few more times. My kids don’t watch very much TV but we do let them watch these movies now and then, like when we’re in the car all day and stuff. I like that these movies have humor for the grown-ups without anything inappropriate for the kids. Although there is one line in Cars that I don’t care for — when Lightening says he’s in Hillbilly Hell. Oh and in Madagascar, the “you’re biting my butt” thing drives me crazy — not that I mind watching it in the movie. The part that drives me crazy is when the kids repeat it ad nauseum because they think it’s soooooo funny. And I worry that someone will overhear them and take it the wrong way LOL!

Anyway, if you are looking for the this cartridge, you can find it here:  Cricut Disney Cars Cartridge

World Card Making Day

I just learned that today is the third annual World Card Making Day! I’m hoping to squeeze in a little card making time later today. If I make anything with the Cricut, I’ll be sure to post here. Off to search the internet for handmade card ideas!

How To: Re-Stickifying your Cricut Mats

When your Cricut mat loses its stickiness, all hope is not lost! There are two things you can do to re-stickify your Cricut mats:

(1) Wash off the little bits of paper and dust that are blocking the stickiness with a mild dish soap and a gentle (non-pilling) dish cloth. Dab with a dry dish cloth and air dry. This will remove the junk and reveal the stickiness underneath.

(2) When the stickiness underneath is truly gone, make sure you’re starting with a clean, dry surface (by following step 1above) and then spray your mat with a can of temporary quilting spray. This will bring back the tackiness and make it good as new!

I like to have at least 2 mats in my craft space so I can preload them, and it also comes in handy so I can have one drying and still have one left to work with.

Happiness Scrapbook

I thought this project by Stacy Julian was cute. So super simple and all about scrapbooking to focus on the good things in your life. I’m not sure I’ll take the challenge though, I’ve got a bunch of other things I want to work on right now. I do really think that scrapbooking makes me happy though. I love the act of scrapbooking and I love preserving memories, especially of my kids. It’s creativity, happiness, and good memories all rolled up into one beautiful package… what’s not to love?

Cricut Cartridge: George — Flowers in Pots

Cricut Flowers made with George cartridge

How incredibly cute are these flowers made with the Cricut George cartridge? So pretty and springy! Salinad posted them on twopeas and I can’t wait to make my own as Easter centerpieces next year. I’ve already got the flower pots stashed away in the closet. Here’s a link to salinad’s posting on two peas:

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=1124086

Cricut Sesame Street Cartridges

I’m so excited about these new releases from Cricut, coming out later this fall. There are two different cartridges — Sesame Street Friends and Sesame Street Fonts. The Friends cartridge has one alphabet and a bunch of pics of the characters; the Fonts cartridge has several alphabet styles and a few pictures of the characters. How cute would these be for decorating a baby’s nursery??? Here is what the Provocraft Cricut Website has to say about them:

Sesame Street Font Cartridge
Sesame Street is one of the most beloved children’s shows on television. The shape cartridge contains all of your favorite Sesame Street friends, like Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Elmo and Abby Cadabby. The font cartridge features a fun, playful alphabet perfect for learning and playing. Cookie Monster, Big Bird, and Elmo look adorable holding or peeking out from behind the letters. These classic characters are perfect for decorating scrapbooks, nurseries, daycare centers, classrooms, and more. The possibilities are endless! FEATURES ON THIS CARTRIDGE INCLUDE: Huggers, Layers, Balloon, Shapes, Blackout, and Shadow

Sesame Street Friends Cartridge

Sesame Street is one of the most beloved children’s shows on television. The shape cartridge contains all of your favorite Sesame Street friends, like Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Elmo and Abby Cadabby. The font cartridge features a fun, playful alphabet perfect for learning and playing. Cookie Monster, Big Bird, and Elmo look adorable holding or peeking out from behind the letters. These classic characters are perfect for decorating scrapbooks, nurseries, daycare centers, classrooms, and more. The possibilities are endless! FEATURES ON THIS CARTRIDGE INCLUDE: Layers x3, Icons, Blackout, and Shadow

Cricut Sesame Street Friends Cartridge

Cricut Sesame Street Fonts Cartridge

Cricut Jukebox

I am loving the Cricut Jukebox. It’s a brilliant little device that holds 6 Cricut cartridges at once and connects directly to the Cricut Expression. How cool is that? Wait, it gets better: you can connect three Jukeboxes to your Cricut machine at once. I’ve read that this is a super fabulous thing when you are using Design Studio to make a project that includes shapes or fonts from multiple cartridges.

Cricut Jukebox

50 States USA Scrapbook

50 States Scrapbook

I just love this album that I found on twopeas. The gal who made it, lairdoglen, made a scrapbook of all the states she has visited and plans to visit using the 50 States Cricut Cartridge. My husband and I are planning to take our kids to all 50 states (maybe even buy an RV to do it in!) before they get into junior high so this album is definitely on the to do list!

Link for more detail on the 50 states scrapbook by lairdoglen.

Where to Buy Cricut?

The following stores usually carry Cricut if you happen to have one near you:

• Michael’s
• Hobby Lobby
• JoAnns

I don’t really care for the chain craft stores, it raises my blood pressure just to walk in the door! And my local scrapbook stores have all closed. So I usually do my scrapbook shopping online. Unfortunately none of my usual online scrapbook stores carry Cricut. But I have found the best deals on ebay! Especially if you’re buying a lot of cartridges at once, you can really save some money. There are some links to start you off at the lower right hand side of this page if you’re shopping for Cricut or Cricut cartridges.