News and Sales Bulletins

First, I'd like to apologize for my extended absence.  Apparently The Boy brought a bug home from school, and it hit me even harder than him.  We spent a few days on the couch together, he is as obnoxious as ever, and I am finally finding enough energy to do more than struggle through the day!

I don't have a project to share today, unfortunately.  Maybe the energy will stick around long enough today for me to finish a layout I have in progress, and I can share it tomorrow!  However, what I do want to share with you are a plethora of sales and special offers I've received in the last few days, as well as a bit of news which I imagine most of you who care will have already heard, but just in case...  Anyway, on with the fun stuff first!

Blue and Yellow Make Green Sale
Good through St. Patrick's Day only, www.PrintOnIt.com has all of their blue,  yellow, and green vinyl on sale.

Marching On at Expressions Vinyl

We know you love the coupon codes and this one will help you
get stocked up on some vinyl.  This coupon will be good for
15% off all regular and outdoor vinyl rolls.  That's for all
9"x10yrd. and 12"x10yrd. rolls of regular and outdoor vinyl.

 

The code is LUCKY and is good through March 22nd.

 

Click below to start shopping!
http://www.expressionsvinyl.com/#oid=1160_1

Dollar Days is In Full Bloom

Great sale items from LD, including fonts, graphics, and SVGs!  Here's the info from them:

Spring has sprung and so has Dollar Days! It’s our biggest sale of the year, so buzz on over to Lettering Delights where savings are in bloom:

• JUST $1: All fonts, alphabets, doodlebats, graphic sets, clipart, paper packs, candy wraps and more!
• JUST $2: All SVG sets (it’s our first big sale on SVGs!)
• JUST $3: Mini albums

Dollar Days may last until April, but our best bonus savings are just here for one week! Shop now through Wednesday, March 23 and take advantage of bonus savings. The more you spend, the more you save with two offers to choose from:

• Take an additional 10% off a $15 purchase with coupon code: InBloom
• Or, take 25% off when you spend $35 or more with coupon code: BiggerBloom

 Scrap'n Tote Sale Through 3/20
Everything is 20% off at Scrap'n Tote - pink and green Scrap'n Totes AND the new Scrap'n Easel!  (Easels are shipping from the factory 3/23 and all pre-orders will be shipped the following week.)  Just enter the code IHEARTIRISH at checkout to receive your discount.  And while you're there, don't forget to enter their Spring Is In the Air giveaway!

Lawsuit News
Most of you affected by this have probably already heard the news, but I wanted to make sure everyone is aware of this.  If you own a Cricut and use third party software with it, you will want to be aware of some legal news regarding Make The Cut and Sure Cuts A Lot.  You can read the full details at Scrapbook Update, but the short story is that ProvoCraft is suing Sure Cuts A Lot, and Make The Cut has already settled with PC.

My personal views are such that I will continue to use my copy of MTC with my Expression, simply because I have a newer machine that I can continue to update while leaving my E update-free.  When that machine dies, I will be researching alternate cutters from other manufacturers.  I love my ProvoCraft products, but I also love the flexibility allowed by being able to cut images from other sources.  I respect PC's rights to use legal means to protect their products as they desire, and I will not join in on the boycott that several have joined.  I knew when I purchased my machines that they were cartridge-based only; I just didn't know there was another option available.

I encourage everyone affected to read the articles for themselves, and make their own decision regarding their personal situation.
 

Free Sample This Weekend!

Do you own a Cricut or other cutter?  How about an Imagine?  This weekend, you can get a free sample of a product you can cut with your cutter and color with markers, or print and cut using your Imagine.  I have used Cut Color Wear in the past and I LOVE it, and I hope you will too. You can see my previous projects here.

Just click here to get your free sample, including free shipping.  Enjoy! 

More Uses for the Cricut Imagine

I have a last couple of Christmas projects to share using my Imagine and the Best Friends cartridge.  The first is a simple t-shirt decal.

I think this saying would be even cuter for a baby girl, lol; it just tickles me to no end!  I made this using the Cut Color Wear product from www.printonit.com - of course they have just now started carrying printable t-shirt vinyl, which is a thinner product.  But this thicker product not only works well with HP inks, but can also be colored with markers; makes it great for letting kids color their own artwork for a t-shirt.

My second project is a set of magnetic paper dolls in a box.  I decorated the outside of the box using printable Cricut vinyl.  I've recently been told that this is now available at Hobby Lobby - glad to hear it because after this experience I NEED some more ASAP!  Check out this cute label:

The main image is taken right from the Best Friends cartridge - SO cute!  Then I cut letters using the Hello Kitty font cartridge and a pattern from the Best Friends cartridge.  (This is one minor complaint I currently have - do you notice that the pattern is slightly different sizes in some of the letters?  The pattern resizes based on the size of the item you are cutting, but because letters are different relative heights, the pattern does not size uniformly.  I really hope this is fixed soon!)

Finally, the paper dolls:

There is a huge variety of little girls on this cartridge.  I chose several and print/cut the versions in their underwear on printable magnet material.  I then selected several outfits and accessories to print/cut as well.  Unfortunately, there is no option for the pants only, so in addition to cutting the entire outfit, I cut some of the shirts separately so they can be layered if desired.  The first picture is the outfit and the second picture has another shirt added over the top.  There are also a ton of cute little accessories you just know you'll need to cut as well!

My printable magnet material also came from www.printonit.com - to save money, I signed up for their newsletter to get coupon codes and notice of sales.  I try to buy multiple products at once to save on shipping.  I also always use the cheapest base shipping cost, and it always gets to me very quickly!  Of course, they are in North Dakota, and I am in Illinois, so if you are ordering from either coast you may want to find out more shipping details before you finalize your order.  They do have live help available during business hours, and I have asked questions while they are offline and gotten an answer right away the next day.

Hope you enjoyed these project ideas and can Imagine more possibilities!  Oh, just to point out - these images are a bit distressed looking, the magnets are not scratched up or anything.  However, this magnet material is rather thin, to make it easily cuttable, so the top layer WILL crack if you bend it too far.  Also, my "test" (using my fridge) indicates that this material isn't really meant to hold much of anything except its own weight.  I had it holding one standard piece of paper to the fridge, but that was all.

Cricut Imagine Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to our Cricut Imagine blog hop!  We have 11 bloggers ready to share our ideas with you for using your Cricut Imagine (or to entice you into buying one).  You can start at any blog in the hop, then visit each one until you complete the circle and wind up back where you started.  If you get lost at any time, I have a list at the bottom of this post with all of the participants.  Several of us are offering blog candy giveaways, so make sure you enter each one separately.

So, if you're starting here, or coming from Mandie's blog, you're on the right track!  And when you're done here, you'll move along to Robin's blog and see what ideas she has for us.  Now, on to my Imagine creations:

On Friday, I teased my regular readers with a couple of hints.  I told you that I wasn't using any paper and that I was using the Nursery Tails cartridge.  So, are you ready to see what I made??  Here it is...

As soon as I got this cartridge in the mail last week, I thought of a girl from work expecting a little boy on January 1st.  (I really wanted long-sleeved onesies, but of course they were sold out, so I settled for short-sleeved.)  For the onesies, I chose some of my favorite images on the cartridge.  I sized them at 4.5", flipped the images, and printed/cut them from HP iron-on sheets then ironed them on following the directions.

My other project was that cute bib - I have some printable fabric in my stash so I pulled out a sheet.  I determined the size I wanted by measuring a similar bib in a store.  I printed & cut just the patterned layer of the bib image on page 14 of the handbook directly on this fabric.  I then layered it on some terry cloth and bound the edges with some 1/4" double-fold bias tape.  Here's a great TIP for any unusual Imagine project you're thinking of making: if a product says it's for inkjet printers, it can be printed on with your Imagine.  This is especially important for items that are generally non-porous, such as magnetic sheets, shrink plastic, and transparencies.

I am just loving all of the possibilities for creating with the Imagine.  I have so many ideas, just because of all of the great printable items available in the marketplace!  One of my favorite places to buy printables is over at PrintOnIt.com - my next order will include the printable magnet sheets for sure.  I'm also planning to buy some Cut, Color, & Wear to test out; they tell me they are pretty sure it is printable with the Imagine because it uses HP inks, but I want to test it to be sure before I start recommending it!

Before you leave, be sure you enter to win my blog candy giveaway!  I'm giving away a beautiful Level 1 "Olivia" scrapbook kit from Close To My Heart plus 25 sheets of CTMH smooth white cardstock, great for use in your Imagine!  Enter to win by just leaving a comment here on this post.  Deadline to enter is Friday, November 26, 2010.  Sorry, due to postage costs, only US residents (or APO/FPO) are eligible to win.

Now that you're done here, hop on over to Robin's blog and see what ideas she has for us today.  It will open in a new tab or window, so if you get lost along the way just pop back over here and check this list of participants:

• Lori Brown
• Robin Jones
• Tina at The Crippled Cricut
• Linda Panattoni
• Angela Urell
• Tisha Grindley
• Telina's Paper Mania
• Mindy Rapp
• Sarah Haddock
• Jeannie Horton
• Mandie Wade