Exploring the Explore: 1st impression

My new machine arrive on Feb 27th which gave me time to unpack and play over the weekend.

Can I say something silly here. I don't want to let on that I've done a lot of online shopping or invested WAY too much money on these machines but this one was packaged brilliantly! Simple and smart. Thats what I like. Not a lot of plastic and pieces everywhere. One simple tray on the top and bottom and out my machine came like this....

Set up was simple too. Just follow the 1,2,3 on the lid and off I go! 

The program that runs this machine is a breeze too. They have simplified the work space, given us templates ranging from tee shirts to aprons to umbrellas and everything in between. They even have a template for skateboards! The start screen has "make it now" projects that are as simple as a click and load your mats with your selected papers and cut. You can customize these projects too. 

Did I mention this machine cuts like butter? Even the tiniest cuts are no problem for this machine. The dial on the right side makes it easy to choose what material you are cutting. No more guessing pressure/depth/speed, it's already set up for you. It can also cut and score OR cut and write in the same pass... not sure if you could do all 3 in one... yet! I'll have to play around with that. 

My first project was this little make it now vinyl to decorate the front of the machine. Simple yes, but gave me a chance to use test out the vinyl setting on the dial. 

This is a two inch cut on heavy-ish cardstock...

And finished a project using the Julie Nutting doll I made from my previous post. The tag, lacy frame in the background and the florish were all cut on my Explore.

Oh my Doll-ing! Where have I been?

I feel fairly up to date on the craft world products, or at least have a good grasp on whats going on out there. Somehow this slipped through the cracks for me. Prima mixed media doll stamps by Julie Nutting... have you seen these?

I grabbed these off Amazon for a decent price but mostly because I have Prime and could get them in 2 days. I just had to get my hands on these. Scrapbook.com has these for really reasonable prices and there are quite a few to choose from. 

Basically these are made with clean lines which are perfect for "fussy-cutting" and layering. 

This was my first attempt at assembling a layered stamp. Tip: Inking those edges is KEY to making your project look finished. 

So with my new machine being able to cut jpg. files I was thinking that one could stamp these, scan and create a file and load it into the new Design Space and let the Explore do all the hard work. I'll 

have to come back to that once that feature is allowed. There are some new releases of these stamps coming out soon that DO include dies that will cut out the layers for the stamps. 

Still confused on what you can do with these stamps? Throw "prima doll stamps" in your google and look at all the BEAUTIFUL work out there that has been done with these gals (youtube has some killer vids on assembling and ideas).

Goodies Galore and an Explore

I caved. I did. I got sucked into the HSN hype and excitement of them selling fast and jumped. My new Cricut Explore machine will be here on Feb. 27th (supposedly). Yay.

After reading blogs and general info on message boards, I do think I might just switch over to the digi world all together. I might have to do a little rearraging in my craft room this weekend to make room for the new machine. I might just be moving the other two off the table completely. Who knows. Once my carts are loaded into the new program cloud... I may just pack those away too! Crazy talk. I know.

I also had my V Day swap opening and my lovely partner spoiled me and got me some products I've really needed (wanted lol)

 I've really taken to the Spectrum Noir markers and she got me a set of my favorite colors... pink! I started with copic markers but with the price, how often I used them and what I use them for, the Spectrum markers make more sense. I also got a stack of stamped images from her to use my markers on.

 2. Out of all the stickles I own, wouldn't ya think I'd own blue? Not turquoise, teal, light blue.... oh, I've got all those lol Thank goodness I got blue now. She also got me that nifty little Imaginisce ribbon cutter. I've read other crafters post negative reviews about this. I'm not sure what they were expecting it to do but I can say I've tried it and I LOVE it! It works just as I expected it to and it is perfect. I needed it to cut and seal the ribbon and it does that, neat and clean.

3. Some hand-crafted goodies from my swap partner and one of the images she stamped for me that I used my markers on and put in the frame she made.

Thanks again to my wonderful Cricut Circle swap partner, Scrapin*Creations (Ali).

My first post!!

Just gonna jump in here. This week I'm anticipating the new release from ProvoCraft of their machine... the Explore. I'm not completely sold on this product but will be excited to see it in action on HSN (starting @ 9pm PT 2/11) that will be airing throughout the day on Tues and Wed. Who knows... there might be room on my table for another Cricut.

I belong to the Cricut Circle and on Wed. I will  be participating in a Valentine's Day swap opening. I have a great partner, Scrapin*Creations, who lives just south of me in Oregon. Will be posting pics of that.

With all the hype on the Super Bowl last week there has been a flux in lime green and navy blue craft items at our local stores and by all means if you didn't grab it when it was there, one is just out of luck it seems! I made a few items to celebrate but was extremely excited to add these little gems to my yarn stash.

This is Loops & Threads, Soft & Shiny in Citrus. It is a #4 medium weight yarn and this color couldn't be any more perfect for the SEAHAWKS! (please don't hate me... I live in the NW and we've waited for this a long long time) This brand also has a wonderful navy that I will be scooping up to make projects for the following season. This yarn is so soft and so silky shiny, I can't wait to start using it!