Archive for November, 2008
Posted on November 30, 2008 - by GL
Sure Cuts a Lot by Craft Edge
Powerful software that turbo charges your Cricut Machine, or rogue software that compromises your Cricut Machine?
This seems to be the debate that goes on over the 3rd party software for the Cricut. There is no question the “Sure Cuts a Lot” software by Craft Edge is very powerful. From researching the product, it appears that you can almost eliminate the need for cartridges as you can just about use any shape or font that you can bring into your PC. Sounds great right.
I think this software puts Provo Craft into a bind. The real income power for Provo Craft is not in the Cricut machines, it is in the cartridges. I would bet most Cricut users easily outspend the price of their machine in cartridges many times over. I believe that the price of the Cricut machines is probably lower because they expect to make up more money over time on the cartridge market.
So now along comes a software program that costs about as much as a cartridge or two, that may end the need for more cartridges. This could throw a big wrench into the entire product model for this flagship machine. At this point I doubt that “Sure Cuts a Lot” is making a big dent into the sales of cartridges, only because most Cricut users are not aware of the software, and many will be wary of using a 3rd party product with their machines.
So how do you use Sure Cuts a Lot? The first step, besides having a Cricut machine, is to update the firmware on your Cricut machine. The recommended way is to download the trial version of the Provo Craft Design Studio software, which will then update the firmware for you. Once this is complete, you no longer need the Design Studio software. Now you install the Sure Cuts a Lot software, and the optional free program call InkScape. With this in place, your options now are almost limitless as far as what you can do with your Cricut machine.
Posted on November 26, 2008 - by GL
Turkey Buckets
How to use your Cricut machine, the Animal Kingdom cartridge, and the George and Basic shapes cartridge to make a “Turkey Bucket” decoration for your Thanksgiving table.
Take a terracotta pot, some paint ribbon, and your cut out shapes with the Cricut machine.
Here is the article with the full item list and instructions.
Posted on November 12, 2008 - by GL
$50 Rebate on Pazzles
Pazzles is offering a $50 mail-in rebate on the Pazzles Creative Cutter this Month (Nov 1 – Dec 1, 2008). This sounds like a great deal.
I have heard lots of great things about the Pazzle. Details from Pazzles here (PDF)
Posted on November 5, 2008 - by GL
Scrapbooking with Non-Traditional Items
Tags are a fun resource to use when scrapbooking.
So where do I get tags? Tags can be found in many places, office supply stores are a good source. Many times cool tags will come with shipments you might receive.
Another great kind of tag are the metal rimmed tags. These can also be decorated or changed with stickers or ribbons to customize.
Once you start looking you will start to notice different types of tags in everyday life. Normally you would probably just toss them without a thought, but now you might see them a bit differently!
Have you found some cool tags? Please share them with us by leaving a comment below.
