MS cake border

I am glad to say that it cuts well at 1"
But makes the welding slow a bit.
Here is an image I cut - note the 1st two border were in one page and not the butterfly and flower weld.
The border's are from either MC elegant or MS all occasion  have to check but
they are 1 inch welded twice and then copied and flipped and welded - So total welding of one border is 4 times and that makes 8 weld in one page. So it is a little slow for welding the 8 pieces but not that bad. It took about just 5 - 8 mins and once it welded once - so better to preview - then when I cut it 2nd time it was fast and by fast I mean fast - So if your mat is a little less sticky hold the paper a bit so that it does not move. Don't hold on to dear life and ruin the machine by adding resistance but just let your hand hold and move or dance withe the blade.
Hmm. Maybe I have to make a video of my hands dancing with the cricut and gypsy. But alas!! my hands are not pretty like pink stamper or Jinger. So maybe not!!!!
Ok here is the picture/cut

And the winner is!!!

Oh yes! Many maybe wondering from where this popped up as there was no blog candy. No there was none but
in this thread http://www.thebugbytes.com/2010/07/gypsy-tips-to-find-cartridges-in-file.html
I had asked a question - does anyone read and if so please comment. Ha Ha. That was a loaded question!!
I think there should be reward for people who are loyal ,genuine and caring instead of keeping blog candy and people rushing in to answer that. That to me is fair. Yes blog candy is good when you want to sweeten the pot and get people to come to your blog. But at the same time I like to think that I am one of those who values people who stand by me.. And so
I have an award -



And by random Generator the winner is
 Lisa
who wrote
Thank you Pam for all your tips and tricks. 
See, I read.


So my dear girl Congrats! Do send me an email with your address and I will post you this next week :)

New Content Update in Gypsy 0191:0200

As I opened the gypsy sync to transfer some files - there is an update.
It takes about 15- 20 mins. The bar first fills in - this takes about 10 - 12 mins and then status elapsed time shows up and after 1 - 2  mins or so Status - Updating cartridge data message is on for 3 -4  mins and then Status - Updating cartridge overlay message comes on for another 10 - 12 mins. Then comes the Status Done message with a pop window also which appears (in my XP laptop) which says update successfully. At this stage I would advice you not to press the x close up on the G sync window but to g to File menu and press Exit. Only when you get the message Cleaning up gypsy resource will the G be released . So if for any reason your gypsy is not released - First reopen the Gypsy sync and then exit again.  Do this first and only if does not work try the reset.
Ok this update has the 3 Martha Stewart cartridges but still no celebrate with Flourish. We did have the French Manor and rock princess etc in the previous update 0199(content part- the updates are now 0191 : 0198 etc where 0191 the first part before the colon is firmware and 2nd part aftre the colon is content)

Gypsy Tips - To find the cartridges used in a file

Wow!. It's a long time since I made these tips.
Here is a short picture tutorial

First save the file. Sometimes for this procedure to work, depending on the update, you may have to commit the file  by closing the file (which in gypsy is convoluted as there is no closing the file command so you have to open another file or a new file and then open this file again).
So on the keypad overlay window tap on the white box which is down below

and then you will get to the cartridge choice screen. tap on the down arrow next to SHOW and you will get a cartridge drop down. Choose Cartridge in Use

So there you go - to find out cartridge in use. You can also find the cartridge you have linked in the same window.
Note that Cartridge in Use is update dependent in that you have to save the file and in some updates you have to close the file for it get committed.

Now a small test for you. :).
How many of you are really reading what I write.
Did you just raise your hand? Oops cannot see from here. !!
I would love to read your comments!!

Gypsy vs DS revisited

Gypsy vs Design Studio

 G at build 0191/0198 and CDS at 1.0.40422.0
Here is the Advantage of Gypsy
1) Can be used by both Mac users and windows users (as long as the OS is compatible)
2) portability - you do not need to lug the computer to your cricut or anywhere
3) need not have cartridge in the cricut so no lugging them to swarms and crops (provided you  link them)
4) Group feature makes resizing your whole creation (not just the single cartidge image) easier and also actions like welding etc. Just group all images and a single tap of the key takes care if it
5) Zoomed to the max it can be to scale which is so useful when designing.
6) Open template feature is such a blessing and yeah! can now be selectively turned off and on. (Open template -  You can see the greyed image trace on the next page/layer - which helps in designing)
7) comes with 2 wonderful cartridges that can be used to create many things like boxes etc 

8) has the Hide and Contour feature now

9) Pages can be named and easily deleted now

10) Each page can be  previewed only by just pressing the preview button so you need not go and turn preview off in each page like in CDS

Disadvantages of Gypsy
1) If you need to convert your files too and from gypsy and cut you need DS paid version
2) smaller screen (but can be zoomed that I do not quite consider this as disadvantage)
3) needs to be updated and as it is a new product  each update is very very exciting  like a circus knife throw
4) keyword search cannot be tagged
5) files in G cannot be closed as yet with a simple close function - Have to open another file to close this one
6) cartridges need to be linked if you want to cut from them. Even though cartridge can be still used physically it cannot be linked to another G again so it's resale value may go down and you have to give the cartridge too away with the G when you want to sell
7) G's parts are not that sturdy and some parts have fallen off internally. Battery? needs replacing? but how and what conditions? no clear answer on this yet

Advantages of Design Studio(CDS)

1) can convert files to and from cut and gypsy (but you still have some bugs in it)
2) n your computer so power of computer's CPU and bigger screen
Disadvantages of CDS
1) Can be used only by windows users
2) you do need the cartridges and have to lug all to crops
3) No grouping sadly. Little bit of struggle getting your creation to the next page as you have to copy and paste each part

Finally
Both have errors in date handling and in regards to file transfers  and are not fully compatible  with each other. Needs  fixing on slanting, skewing

Password Keeper

Victorian Password Keeper

Hello Everyone! I am Susie McCormick, known as Susiemccormick on the Cricut Message board! The hardest part about this project was coming up with what to create using the Sentimental cartridge. I decided to make computer password journal but you can change the word file and make an address book or even a calendar. This is the only cartridge you will need for this project.

The Front

The Back
Supplies:
2 – 12 x 12 same patterned paper (I used DCWV Old World)
1- 12 x 12 coordinating paper
2-6 x 6 chipboard pieces
1- 2x 6 chipboard piece
One sheet of8.5 x 11 black cardstock
Red tape (or similar)
Binding method (Bind it All, Cinch, rings)
Grunge paper or chipboard, string or chain, rings, bead, embossing powder (for key)
White cardstock, shimmer spray, pearl (for flower)
Ribbon
Big Bite-Crop a Dile
5 mini brads
Stapler (I used Tim Holtz mini stapler)
Gypsy File for Phone, Mat, Key, Tabs, Letters and Flower

Cut and attach, with red tape, the two sheets of same patterned 12 x 12 of paper to make a 12 x 24 sheet of paper. Trim this down to a 7 x 15 sheet with the seam in the center. This will be the paper for the outer cover. Save your scraps for the letters later. Lay your chipboard down against the wrong side of the paper leaving 1/8 inch gaps between the chipboard pieces. Make sure that you have a ½ inch border of paper around the chipboard to fold over. I attached some adhesive to the chipboard so that it did not move around while I am covering it.










Attach red tape, to all of the outer edges of the chipboard and miter the corners of your paper. Fold your paper over and burnish with your bone folder.





Cut your coordinating piece of paper into 2 -5 ¾ by 12 inch sheets..Attach these together with red tape and trim to a 5 ¾ by 13 ¾ sheet with the seem in the middle. Save your scraps for the alphabet tabs. Attach this to the uncovered chipboard using a strong adhesive. I used my ATG gun for this. Make sure that you score, with your bone folder, between the gaps in the chipboard so that you have nice creases.

Cut a 4 1/2 by 4 11/16 sheet of black paper. Cut out the mat and phone with the gypsy file and layer on the black cardstock. Attach a mini brad to the center of the phone dial. Attach this to the covered chipboard base. I attached a brad to each corner of the mat using my Big Bite Crop-a-Dile.

Next you will have to attach your binding. You will need punch your binding holes at both ends of the covered chipboard cover along the 6 inch sides. Make sure that you center the holes the same on both sides so that they will line up when folded later.






Print off 10 pages of your password sheets. Here is my word document. Trim these to 5 in x 5 in sheets and punch binding holes along the top. Make sure that you have these centered with the holes in the chipboard cover. Fold your chipboard cover so that the lining is on the inside and the holes on both sides meet at the top. Add the password sheets to the side without the phone and bind.
Cut your key out of chipboard or grunge paper and heat emboss. I used silver embossing powder and distressed with black ink. I attached the key and a bead to a phone lanyard and attached it to my binding. I then tied matching ribbon to my binding to decorate.






Cut out the five tabs from the extra lining paper. Fold each one in half and add the letters from the gypsy file. Attach the first tab to the first sheet and then every 4th sheet, staggering them. I used Tim Holtz's mini stapler to attach them.

Next, I made a vintage 3 -D flower using a file I created from this cartridge. You could use a premade flower from another cartridge but I really challenged myself to only use the Sentimental cartridge. I got the idea for making the flower from this blog. She has a video tutorial but I just got a Flip camera and have been wanting to do a video tutorial. After you make your flower adhere it to your cover.

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial. I had a fun time putting it together once I decided what I was going to do!

I've Been "FRAMED"

Hello everyone! I'm Cathy, aka Kissakoala on the Cricut Messageboard. Today, I'm the featured designer. I'm honored and a little nervous, so I'll just jump right in!

Today's project is very simple. I've had this idea for some time, in fact, I have to give credit to my sister in law for the idea. She told me how she had purchased magnet frames and thought I should make them. I've been thinking about this for some time and thought it would be a great project to show here.

Supplies needed: Magnet sheeting. I purchased this at Michaels. It comes in a roll and measures 12" x 24". I just needed to unroll it and place it on a flat surface so when I cut it out, it would lay flat on the cutting mat. You also need a sheet of cardstock. I chose this print from DCWV Glitter Stack. I also have glitter paper. I used this to cut the flowers, but you can use what ever paper you prefer for the flowers. And, to finish up, a little bling.

Since this month's featured cartridge is Sentimentals, and I don't have this particular cartridge, I went to my trusty Gypsy and viewed the images on this particular cartridge. I found a shape that is also featured on Base Camp - the stamp edge shape. This is perfect!

Here is a shot of my Gypsy screen of the final project. I used the stamp edge shape for the frame, but to make it a frame, I used a square from George - shaped it into a rectangle - slightly smaller than 4 x 6 so it overlaps your photo. Then I used flowers from George (shift version). Simple, right?

The great thing about this magnet sheet is its self adhesive! Its not necessary to get this kind of magnet sheet, but it sure helps! I adhered the cardstock to the magnet sheet before cutting. To minimize the amount of waste, I cut the magnet sheet slightly larger than my project and used an 8 x 8 sheet of cardstock. A strip of 2 x 8 was left over (and this can be used for cards at a later time).

I used multi cut set at 2, blade at 6, pressure at max, and it sliced through both layers easily!

Here is the final project! Since its glitter paper, I used Zip dry to attach the flowers to the frame and also to attach the bling to the centers of the flowers.

By the way, those little ones in the photo are my twin grandchildren..love this pic!

This frame can be used landscape style....

...or can be used portrait style. (another one of my grandchildren)
I have to admit, I"m quite addicted to making these frames! It will be a great item to sell at the upcoming craft fairs my daughter and I plan to do this fall!

Thank you Tuesday Treats for the chance to show off some of my work. Hope you enjoyed today's feature!

Have a great day!

Koala-t hugs,

Cathy / Kissakoala

Cartridge storage solution - 2

Remember way back I had got this Husky 22" Cantilever box from home depot for cartridge.
here is a link to the earlier post http://www.thebugbytes.com/2010/02/cartridge-storage-solution.html
and the pic




I had initially planned on just taking this thing to crop and just as a solution for my friend. But I guess I have to use this myself as my cartridge shelf is overflowing thanks to PC's releasing more and more tempting cartrides lol.
I was reorganizing my scraproom/studio room. Since my poor room has to do double duty and I am as worse is stocking paint things as my scrap things. Now since I am a watercolor painter or should I say was a watercolor painter - my papers are not the convenient 12 x 12 but a whopping 22 x 30" and since they need to be protected they have to be in a shelf and so I have 2 safco flat file shelves which are huge. I got these used form ebay when I was in California. for $100 each (we had to go and pick up) . Some shops sell used office furnitures from companies which close down an I am was lucky to have got this else each shelf costs just an extra 0 lol.
I digressed there. So since that too has to be in my scraproom along with the 100's of brushes and paint and easel etc etc - it is not easy organizing all that. I have been slowly buying and organizing the room piece by piece.
Still have to organize as while rearranging furniture to suit me (and getting my poor hubby to help  and thus ruining his weekend) I had to resort to using this storage.
Whew! how did this simple topic get so long winded!!
Anyway
Here is the finished box
Note - I put only as many cartridges as the lower portion could handle the booklets.
So I had space to put some extra bins. I removed 1 row from the top smaller bins (let's call it A bins) and all the lower taller bins from the bottom (let's call this B bin). Then I laid the cartridge booklets as I wanted and added 4 A bins (stacked 2 on one another).  So I replaced this many cartridges. They go off to a plastic container to the attic and the extra 1 row of bins and lower bins which I removed -  I can use for storing some stuff and the other bins inside the box - I will maybe store some blades , cartridge housing etc.
Note the reason I removed 1 row of top bins is that the top lid can close but I felt as if it were pressing if I left it in and I did not want that. Now the other bins prevent the cartridges from sliding and they fit so well.

I love the cantilever system as it conveniently opens on a leg and stands instead of toppling over

And when closed

I still need to organize this further with maybe arranging it by alphabetizing it. I also need to set up my scraproom further.
More photos will come soon.
I am not a very good cleaner and neither a perfect scrapbook diva. So my room by no means will have that decorated , perfect paper organized by color etc. Anyway I do not have that many colors as I prefer to have paper stacks like DCWV , K&Company, My Mind's Eye and Me & My Big idea.
So my scraproom is just a simple storage for max. space I can get out of it.
The only reason I am doing this shw and tell is maybe just maybe one the idea might give you an idea.
For sure both Mya's and Tammy's idea on that IKEA Ribba shelf helped me and I have sent out hubby to get that for me. but this hefty and also the expedit - I figured it all on my own :)
Oh finally I took the cinch and yourstory out of the box :)
Don't ask me if I have used it yet lol

Thanks Beth from Thunderblindy for the award

Thank you Beth - http://www.thunderbirdlindybydesign.blogspot.com/ for giving me this award. It is a honor to receive this award.

Here are the rules for this award:
1. Thank the person who gave this award to you.

2. Copy the award and put it on your blog.

3. List three things which you love about yourself.

4. Post a picture you love.

5. Tag five people you wish to pass this award on to.


So 3 things I love about myself


1. I love reading
2. I have this inane curiosity in learning and figuring out how things work.
3.  I love  learning about all cultures.


A picture I love. 

Tag 5 people
I want to take this opportunity in giving this award  this time to 
1.  Dawn aka nurseviper at http://scrappyrn-scrappyrn.blogspot.com/
2.  Kam at http://kamscraftyplace.blogspot.com/
3. Beatrice at http://beatrizguzman58.blogspot.com/
4. Traci at http://www.craftjunkietoo.com/
5. Amy at http://amysscrappyspace.blogspot.com/

These are all people who share their creativity and inspire  all of us with their creations.

Role of preview while converting file from CDS to Gypsy

This rather strange problem came up today when a MB member wanted a file converted from cut file to gypsy.  It threw an error in the gypsy file even though it opened up fine in CDS.
So I took a look at the file. And  tried finding the problem by elimination . And at last found of all the silly things in the world  the problem lay in the preview option.....
When in the CDS cut file you turn  the preview off in all the pages then in the converted gypsy file you get an error!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. A quick way to check if a cut file has a preview or not is when you open the cut file in CDS if there is thumbnail then no problem.

This saves you time if a file has lots of pages then going to each page and right clicking and checking if the preview is ticked or not. Since all you need is atleast one page to have the preview turned on you can open CDS and from the CDS file menu press open and see if the fie you want to convert has preview or not. Else just turn atleast one page on and then save the cut file.

Here I always like to close the file and reopen the file before converting to gypsy. It is not necessary you do that. But it is a safe procedure as in  gypsy and sometimes rarely in cds you commit the file by closing. Well better safe than sorry lol. Again I stress I prefer doing it this way.
Isn't that the silliest glitch!! Well anyway there it is.
Also while on the subject a word of advice - when you upload the file always check the file details in G sync window. Sometimes even though the file while loading in G sync will say error loading you may find the file in the window. This one appears. And check the file info next to it. The file had 0 bytes. When you see something like this my advice is try deleting the file from G sync itself instead of opening the G and then the G throwing a fit and you having to reset. For files with error most of the times cannot be deleted from inside the G.   I would recommend deleting the file from G sync itself. Just right click in the G sync window and delete ( in windows).
I did make a video
Here I want to thank Beth & Sassy  for if not for them this video would not be on  today. Yesterday something happened that really turned me off videoing but these two stood by me and encouraged me. I am lucky to have friends like Beth, Sassy and Mya in the MB.
I also want to thank the MB member who brought this problem to me (for her privacy I will not mention her name).
So here is the video

Gypsy Video - Reclaiming insides of some welded images in Gypsy

As many know if you weld in many images the insides disappear depending on the way the designer has designed it. Earlier you just had to cut another piece and place but now with the hide and contour feature in most images there is a way to get it back. This can be especially useful in the case of shape cards.  But it can work only on shapes where the insides are separate contours themselves - ie they are enclosed and not part of the contour. Though if they are part of the outline they do not disappear anyway and might mostly show up while welding. I have lately stopped making videos that much but when this was asked not once but twice  in the MB I promised them and so
Here is the video




Thanks for watching!!

I better stop!

Lately my mojo has been down.  And I finally found out why - because instead of creating I have been stalking!!
Blogs and MB's. Instead of creating I have been visiting blogs - She's a Sassy Lady, 217 creations and Okieladybug and the remaining time answering posts that these 3 ladies write. Of course I agree that these 3 are inspiring with lovely creations and also entertaining especially the last. Shhh!! don't tell Okie. I think she is like Dr. House - with a vitriolic sense of humor.  I love watching Dr. House. It is addicting and so is Okie. I enjoy seeing others get burnt but would not like to be myself lol. So shshsh!!!!!!! Anyway humorous , inspiring or not I better stop doing this and start creating!!! Mojo comes as in all things only when you work... So off to the drawing board. Even if I cannot cut anything for sometime I can altleast have some projects designed on my Gypsy

House Swarming!

Hello!  What's the buzz? :)  My name is Michele aka Dancingarden on the cricut messageboard.

So my craft table is trashed, and this project is why. :)
This month the focus is on the Sentimentals cartridge. I thought at first I'd do a scrapbook page, as that is my main choice of projects, but I kept looking at this beehive and bee and couldn't come up with a page idea, but I did come up with a gift box idea.

The box is my 6 sided iris-lidded box that I designed last winter on my Gypsy, and offered up in this post on my blog. The downloadable gypsy file for the box is on that post as well as instructions for assembly of the box; so I won't go into detail about making the box base.  I love this box even though it isn't perfect, and I'm glad I'd created it because a hexagon box was perfect for a bee themed project. :)

So first I cut my box out in brown cardstock. (all cardstock and printed cardstock for this project is DCWV)

I apologize for the quality of the pictures of my gypsy screen. This is a view of the filigree cut that is layered over the box. It's actually the beehive filigree layer welded together a few times with another little scroll-y thing to fill in the spaces. Here's what it looks like cut out.

I ran the filigree through my 5" xyron and adhered it to the box. You can see the beehive shape a lot better below. On the gypsy, the filigree runs off the page. I did that ntentionally; partly because I had trouble seeing the box edge through the filigree layer to see how close to the edge I was. And partly because I was lazy and figured it would be easy to just snip off the excess filigree, which I did. You'll notice I did not allow the filigree to run over the tab that is used to adhere the box together.

Once the filigree was attached, I assembled the box as directed on my blog's box post. As I mentioned in that post, you have the option of the top closing with the iris concaved or with it sticking up. For my beehive box, I chose the top sticking up.

I created a small shaped card from the beehive on my gypsy. It is attached with tiny rectangles, and one beehive is flipped so that the front and back will match when they are folded together. Here's the gypsy screen of the little card.

After cutting out the card, I decided to try something I hadn't done before. Some time ago I had bought one of those mini marker holders and a marker set but I hadn't used them yet. I took the card off and flipped it white side up on the mat. Then on my gypsy I wrote out a sentiment message for the inside of the card, and had my cricut write the message with the mini marker. It worked okay. My positioning of the card wasn't quite exact but it was still okay. I do think I'd rather have the gel pen holder and the gel pens though. Here's the sentiment on my G:

You can see the inside of the card below.
After assembling the card and bee layers, I stickled them all (filigree only) with Cinnamon Stickles. Once they were dry, I wound some craft wire into springs and attached them to the backs of the bees and the back of the card.

I tied the card onto the box with ribbon, and I'm done!

This box is perfect for a candle or other small gift. I plan to buy a beeswax candle to go in the box. :)

Please visit this post on my blog to download JUST the box cut file and view assembly instructions.

Or, please go to this link to download the entire cut file for this project: box, bees, card and all.

Thank you for looking and I hope you enjoyed seeing this project!

Michele (aka dancingarden)

Peacock from French Manor

I am Beatriz from Amazing Grace and I am so happy to be here! Thank you Pam for inviting me to your wonderful site.  Today I am going to share a 2-page layout I made using French Manor and Accent Essentials Cartridges.

 I used My Mind's Eye papers for this project and my inspiration was the beautiful peacock that French Manor has. I cut it size 10"  using Cricut Expression. The fun part was to layer it and then embellish it. I cut out the circles using Accent Essentials in different sizes (from 61/2 to 8 1/2).

Hope you enjoyed it! Have a wonderful and blessed day!

Celebrate with a Flourish

Sadly we have to wait till August till they do a firmware update to fix this problem.  


In the cricut MB admins link http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tm.aspx?m=6923830

"We are aware that Celebrate With Flourish is currently missing from your Gypsy update. Unfortunately, we need to make a firmware change to Gypsy to fix this problem and that is scheduled to happen in August. Thank you so much for your patience!"

 Now what happened to base camp which had welding problem?

I so badly want celebrate with flourish. Well base camp I don't have. I know.. I am kind of selfish