Cricut Circle Cartridges

Since I'm limited to only 10 behind-the-blog-scenes pages, I thought I'd throw in the Circle carts and information here.  There have been 3 cartridges released so far, the first was French Manor, in Summer of 2010.  Shall We Dance? was the second, released in fall of the same year, and just announced is Cricut Everyday which was just released and should be arriving any day now.  These cartridges are exclusive to the Cricut Circle club. Cricut Circle is a unique membership-only club offered by ProvoCraft and these cartridges are only available to members.

French Manor (Summer 2010):

Shall We Dance? (Fall 2010):

Cricut Everyday (Winter 2011):

Now to put on my creative thinking cap and see what we can't come up with using these!  I see Shall We Dance as more of a girlie cartridge...and having a house full of boys, that could be quite the challenge.  I think I'll have to dig out some wedding photos for that one!  I can't wait for Cricut Everyday to arrive...that one will be used to replace my labels in my craftroom and scrapbooking those photos of my friends and I scrapbooking.  (You know you're addicted when...).

Happy buggin'!

LOVE the New Cricut Logos!

Also unveiled at the CHA this weekend were the new Cricut logos, in celebration of Cricut's 5th birthday!!  Happy Birthday Cricut!!!  How cute are these?!?!

Happy buggin'!

There's a New Bug Coming to Town!

News from the CHA in Los Angeles...Cricut will soon be releasing the Expression 2!  Love the machine, but I think they could have come up with a better name.  Seems this new beast will have WiFi capabilities, able to connect with your Gypsy and/or Design Studio/SCAL/MTC from clear across the room, so you don't have to navigate around that cord.  There are no overlays on this machine (!)...they are digitally displayed on it's LCD touch screen.  What that means for overlays in the future is anyone's guess.  This new machine is compatible with both the original Cricut cartridges and as well the Imagine cartridges, and the same goes for the mats...either will work.  There is an on-board memory to remember your settings, so you can cut vinyl, paper, then cardstock, and then back to vinyl again at the push of a button - your settings will be remembered.  A bit of a luxury, in my opinion, but there is a light on the blade to see what you're cutting.  Nice to be able to do a quick check and make sure it's cutting ok.  I don't know what I'm going to do now with the little mini flashlight I keep in my kit for just such a use, but I'm sure I could manage ;)  So excited to learn more about this newest Bugger and am calculating in my head how many classes I will have to teach and how many layouts I will have to sell to bring the newest member of our Bugger Family home.  *sigh*  Be nice to me, ProvoCraft!!

Check out this little teaser video about the newest bug from the CHA:

Happy buggin'!

I *heart* my mailman!

After spending the majority of my morning in the Emergency department with my youngest son, consoling him while the doctors stitched a gash on his forehead closed, I was SUPER excited to come home to find my awesome mailman had left me my much anticipated December bundle of the nine newly released cartridges:

Pack Your Bags (Full-featured Shapes cartridge), Best of Pixar - which is amazing by the way - (Full-featured Licenced Shapes cartridge), Groovy Times (Full-featured Shapes cartridge), Spring Holiday Cards (Limited Edition Seasonal Mini cartridge), Mother's Day Bouquet (Limited Edition Seasonal Mini cartridge), April Showers (Limited Edition Seasonal Mini cartridge), Life's A Party (Full-featured Shapes cartridge), Disney Classics - oh the memories!! - (Full-featured Licenced Shapes cartridge), and Nate's ABCs (Full-featured Shapes cartridge).

It's been an exhausting and emotional day, to say the least.  I can't wait to play with them tomorrow!  I will also be sure to post some more detailed samples of what these cartridges can cut.

Happy buggin'!

Thank-you Shout-out.

I have to send a shout-out to http://www.threecolumblogger.com/ for their awesome tutorial and step-by-step instructions on changing the html on my blog to change it from a 2-column blog to a 3-column blog.  Super easy to follow!  I now have so much more space to fill.  :)  Thanks, you rock!

Happy buggin'!



Bedroom Door Nameplate

A friend of mine has been looking everywhere for something for her 5 year old daughter's bedroom door with her name on it.  Her daughter is in love with The Little Mermaid.  She was hoping to find something at Disney™ this winter, but alas...there was nothing with 'Abby' that she was happy with.  With some inspiration from Jill at http://www.benalycards.com/ and input from Abby, this is what we came up with:

Created with the Bitty Bugger (my Gypsy, lol), I just kept adding images from the Disney™ Dreams Come True Cricut® cartridge and welded them together.  Then the layers were cut out at the appropriate sizes.  "ABBY" is cut from the StoryBook Cricut® Cartridge, and "room" is from the tried-and-true Don Juan Cricut® Cartridge.  I love how it turned out!

Surprisingly, the only "new" items used were the black and the white.  Everything else was using stock that I had on hand.  Finished project measures 12" high by 24" wide.  Her father is a carpenter and mounted it on a nice piece of wood with rounded edges and it is hung by a beautiful red ribbon threaded through it.  I'm still waiting for photos of the finished project, but you get the idea ;)

In a houseful of boys, it was nice to do something wonderful for a little girl for a change!

Happy buggin'!

Meet My Bug Family!

the Bugger Family

I thought it might be time to introduce my bug family.  These 6 machines are the backbone of my scrapbook and paper craft obsession.  Each is different and unique in their own right:

Big Bugger and Mother Bugger are Expressions:

Cricut® Expression

I personally, use the Big Bugger exclusively for paper products, with a regular blade, and the Mother Bugger is used for projects requiring the deep blade and housing, such as magnets, vinyl, and chipboard.  It just makes it easier for me, not having to change the housings each time.



Cricut® Expression

The Cricut® Expression™ is a much larger unit than the Cricut® Create™ or the Cricut® Personal Electronic Cutter®, meant to stay on a work table or in a media room. The good thing is that all Cricut® models use the same cartridges and the same blade housings and blades.



The Cricut® Expression™ is a way to cut letters, shapes, and phrases in impressive sizes using the 12" x 24" mat or the 12" x 12" mat. The possibilities are endless with this larger machine, allowing you to create bigger die cuts for classroom decor, scrapbook layouts, signage, and so much more.

• Mix and match creative features in the same cut
• Use the entire library of existing Cricut cartridges
• Cut in portrait or landscape
• Mat sizes 12" x 12" or 12" x 24"
• No computer necessary
• Change settings such as language and units of measurement
• New LCD screen that shows exactly what you're typing for your next cut

Lil' Bugger is a Create:

Cricut® Create

The Cricut® Create™ Personal Electronic Cutter combines the portability of the original Cricut® machine with the functionality of the Cricut® Expression™ machine. The Cricut® Create™ machine is the same size as the original Cricut® machine, yet it allows cuts from 0.25" up to 11.5" on a 6" x 12" cutting mat. The machine also includes an eight-way directional blade, Portrait mode (to cut taller images), Fit to Page mode (to cut the largest cut possible), Auto Fill mode (to mass produce cuts), Center Point function, and Flip function. An improved display screen and sleek design add greater style and convenience.

Ol' Bugger is a Personal:

The Cricut® Personal Electronic Cutter™ machine, released as the first machine, redefined home crafting and paper crafts. Simply by touching a button, Cricut® can cut beautiful designs and alphabets for card making, scrapbooking, and paper crafting.



Cricut® Personal

The Personal is very basic in what it can do, in comparisons to the newer and larger machines now being released.  Options are limited on the Personal.


No computer is required, just plug it in.  Place your favourite cartridge in your Cricut® and choose from hundreds of designs in 12 different sizes; ranging from 1" to 5-1/2"!  That's thousands of possibilities!  Cutting customized shapes and alphabets has never been easier.  This Cricut machine weighs only 7 lbs.

Cuttle Bugger is a Cuttlebug:

Cuttlebug®

Cut a shape, emboss a shape, or cut then emboss shapes with the inspired designs available exclusively with Cuttlebug® cutting and embossing dies. Expressing your creativity has never been easier!

• Cuttlebug accepts the dies you already own.
• Cuttlebug loves the materials you love, freeing you to cut and emboss from a wide range of crafting materials.
• Compact fold-n-store profile allows storage in less space than other leading machines.
• With a built-in pop-up handle, Cuttlebug goes wherever you find inspiration.

Bitty Bugger is a Gypsy:

Gypsy™ is a hand-held, portable Design Studio.  Gypsy™ stores all your Cricut® cartridges, making it easy to search and find just the right shape. Gypsy™ works easily with any Cricut® machine-just connect and cut! Design anywhere with Gypsy™ from Provo Craft.

Gypsy™

With Gypsy™ you can design whenever and wherever you want!  The Gypsy™ lets you take your entire Cricut® library with you.  Along with having all your cartridges ready-to-cut on your Gypsy™ you can also design using a whole host of design capabilities allowing you to design at the dentist's office, grocery store, or whenever you've got a free minute and a free hand!

In the near future, I will be posting a bit more detail about what each machine does, different settings for different materials, and of course lots of projects that you can create using just these machines and your own imagination.

Happy buggin'!

Non-Traditional Holiday Card

I know, I know...the holidays are over, lol.  But I just started this blog and really wanted to include some of the cards I made for friends during the holidays.  This is a cute little non-traditional holiday card. Blue and brown (my new favourite colour combination). I cut the snowflake at 2.75" from the retired Christmas solutions cartridge. The blue piece is cut at 2x4" and the brown is cut at 3.25x4", and ran it through my Cuttlebug, using the Swiss Dots embossing folder. I stamped "Happy Holidays" from SU, and matching snowflakes on the envelope. Card is embellished with matching grossgrain ribbon. This is a great card because it can be used for non-Christmas greetings and as well for winter birthdays.














Happy buggin'!

Gypsy & Retired pages added

I have added a couple of pages on the blog, specifically dedicated to the Gypsy and Retired Cartridges.  I don't know how I'm going to contain all the information I'd like to share in only the 10 extra pages allowed, as there is SO much!!  But for now, feel free to browse them and get caught up on the 3 Gypsy Digital cartridges and 30, (yes 30!!) retired ones.  You can link to them from the header of this page, or use these links:

Gypsy:  http://lilbuggerblog.blogspot.com/p/gypsy.html
Retired:  http://lilbuggerblog.blogspot.com/p/retired-cartridges.html

Happy buggin'!

Thanks for stopping by!

"Blog it" and "share it" is what people have been telling me to do about my love of the Cricut and the things that I make with it.  So...after several years of contemplation (and trying not once, but twice), I have decided to give it my all and open my arms to the countless number of crafters and cyber friends that just might delight in something I have to say.  Welcome to my blog, I am truly excited to have you here.  I hope at this time that my creations and love of my bug and my family will be as exciting for you to see as they are for me to make.  It will take some time for me to post everything I'd like to share with you, please be patient, if you love your bug like I do...you'll love what I have to share.  I'm not sure yet what direction this blog will take, but I'm so very happy you've come along for the ride!

Happy buggin'!