Imagine Cuts!

Here are a few first cuts from my new Cricut Imagine!  My very FIRST cut, was the frog (you would have NEVER guessed, would you? Ha ha!).  I decided to use some cardstock and create a froggie card. 

I started with a green card base, embossed brown with the D'vine Swirl Cuttlebug folder, then stamped the sentiment with new clear stamps designed by Sarah Pink Cricut (Pink by Design clear stamps- http://pinkcricut.com .   The frog card pieces took me about 5 minutes (or less), to pick out, edit, and print & cut, and assemble (I pop-dotted the frog)!

The rest of the cuts are all stock cuts from Nursery Tails, Imagine More, and Best Friends cartridges (I did not change any coloring, but did play around with it). I just can't get over how stinkin' cute that cow and owl are!  I love that you can choose to have or omit the sayings, and you can, of course, choose the size at which to cut these!  The print quality is AWESOME!  I love it!  ~Hoppy Crafting!

It's HERE!!!! (AND it works!!!)

I have a confession to make.  I am a Cricut-a-holic.   Not only am I a Cricut-a-holic, but I recently fed my addiction through HSN (Home Shopping Network), in a MAJOR way.  Since word of the new Cricut Imagine hit the boards, blogs, Facebook, etc., a few months ago, I have been carefully tracking info on this new and "innovative" machine.  Did I NEED it?  No.  Did I WANT it?   HELL, YEAH!!!  Did I ever "imagine" (haha) that I'd buy one so soon??? Never!  BUT, I did!
The Imagine actually arrived on my doorstep on Thursday evening (one day earlier than tracking predicted), BUT I was hosting a Stampin' Up party that night AND had to finish correcting 200 math and reading assessments for the next day (remember, I'm a teacher).  So, the Imagine patiently sat in the box all night Thursday.  Friday night came, and we had company....so again, the Imagine sat patiently in its UPS box.  FINALLY, tonight I had time to crack that puppy open and put it to use! 
I eagerly unpacked the box and inspected every piece, making sure things were in tact (I had read too many horror stories this week about people's Imagine's arriving and cartridge boxes being smashed, machines scratched, etc., to feel at ease while opening each piece).  Luckily, all of the pieces were there, and everything seemed fine.  Onto the location of my new gem!  I had a wonderful spot all picked out and already cleared on a big shelf in my Craft Cave.  It proved, however, to be inadequate....the Imagine has quite a big rear, and needs AT LEAST a 12 inch clearance BEHIND it to work correctly!  My Expression worked well in that location, but the Imagine does NOT!  *Sigh!*  It is currently hogging scrap space on my desk....hmm...Anyways....

After running all of the updates, calibrating the printing and cut quality, etc., I was ready to tackle a few cuts!  I must say, that the first card pieces took me about 5 minutes (or less), to pick out, edit, and print & cut! 
While updating and calibration of the machine seemed to take FOREVER (about 45 min., because she froze during the printing calibration), I am VERY pleased with the quality and ease of the use of this machine so far, and look forward to bringing you many projects created with the new Imagine!  ~Hoppy Crafting! 

Stampin' Up Party!

Last night, friends and family gathered at Deb's Stampin' Studio, to create some super-cute cards and enjoy each other's company!  Deb is a Stampin' Up demonstrator that I met through my friend, Terri.  You can check her out at: http://debnaylor.stampinup.net/ OR http://flyingstamper.blogspot.com/ .  I know that everyone who came just had a fabulous time!  We stamped, we glittered, we ate, and we glittered some more!  In fact, I think the word of the night WAS "glitter"!!!

I was SO happy that we could get together and spend some "girl time" crafting the night away!  I was also SOOO incredibly THANKFUL that Deb has such a wonderful place for everyone to get together and craft!   THANK YOU, DEB!!!! :o) 

So, I HAVE to share with you the adorable cards we made last night.  I think every card looks a little different (depending on just how much glitter everyone added), but the basic cards were very similar.  My two favorites of the night were the birdhouse and the hydrangea!  In fact, I ended up getting both sets we used, to recreate these at my own Craft Cave!  ~Hoppy Crafting!

 

Cricut Invasion

I admit, I'm a Cricut-a-holic.  I need to go to Cricut-anonymous.....maybe PC should create a cart for that....  Any-who, I do not store my carts, overlays, and booklets in the nice little cases they come in.  Why?  Because I own over 100 carts, and it would take an insane amount of space on my shelves to store all the boxes!  So, when I moved craft rooms, I had to decide what I was going to do with all the case.  I briefly contemplated getting rid of them (VERY BRIEFLY!!!), but just couldn't bring myself to do it.  I was annoyed that they were taking up storage space in boxes, and decided to display them in my new room.  I bought some floating shelves and now I'm surrounded by a shrine of Cricut cart boxes every time I walk into my craft cave.  ~Hoppy Crafting!

Embellishments!

Finally, for the first time since I bought my embellishment center (over two years ago!), I hung it up in the new room.  What do you think?  The Making Memories Embellishment Center holds some of my quick and easy "go to" flowers, specialty brads, etc.  The rest are stored on another shelf.  Notice how I just couldn't resist labeling all the flower jars and SORTING my flowers by color family?  That's just the obsessive organizer in me!  :o)  ~Hoppy Crafting!

A Little Foliage

I found the COOLEST website a short time ago, with SUPER-CHEAP Cricut carts and other scrapping goodies! On http://www.creativexpress.com/ ,  I was able to snag Lyrical Letters (and a couple of others) for only $15!!!  This is my first project using that cart, and I love all the frames it has on it.  I used some Basic Gray paper, along with SU cardstock and some paper flowers to create this card. I also used a Martha Stewart border punch for the leaves on the gray paper.  Enjoy!   ~Hoppy Crafting!   

Imagine...Temptation...

Well, I know the total buzz on all the boards for the past few days has been about the newest addition to the Cricut family of products: the Cricut Imagine.  For the last 24 hours, HSN (Home Shopping Network) ran jam-packed craft segments.  There was Tim Holtz, Cricut Jinger, K & Company, 3 Birds, and so many more! 
Unfortunately, I, like most people I know, worked today away (which probably helped protect the wallet!), so I surely missed many fantastic items for sale.  The one thing I made sure to watch whenever I could catch the segments, was the new Cricut Imagine. 
I really am excited about this new machine.  Do I NEED this machine? No, but would love to own one!  I've admittedly gone "Cricut crazy" the last few years, and am an avid collector of all the cartridges.  With over 100 carts, to date, I know you must wonder if there are any unused ones in my collection.  There actually are a couple: Basketball and Robotz have as of yet to be cut from.  But, I digress.
The HSN bundle looked cool, and I'll admit that I learned a couple of things that really spiked the temptation meter.  I didn't realize that there would now be printable vinyl and that you could also print the images on transparencies and photo paper.  The idea of creating professional looking vinyl with printing on it, gives me a million ideas.  Also, the ability to take Cricut images, customize them, and then also print on fabric transfer is super cool! 
Tonight (towards the end of the showings), I finally got my husband to watch a few minutes of the Imagine.  I said: "Imagine...your wife with the ultimate Cricut..."  That was a no go.  "Imagine...your wife creating professional-looking products".  Another no go, he says I already do that and don't need a new machine.  Of course he steered the conversation to items he desires, then left the room mumbling "crack for crafters" under his breath. 
Now, I'm a deal predator....but, do you think I cracked and was one of the 10,000 people ordering the Cricut Imagine today on HSN?  I guess only time will tell...

Mrs. G's Vinyl

Hi, y'all!  I have been SOOOO SWAMPED with all of my kindergarten orientation meetings (almost 50!), normal back-to-school bustle, as well as the first official day of kindergarten, that I have hardly had time to craft or even blog lately!  I promise that once the initial hustle and bustle slows down, I will be back to my regular posts!  In the meantime, here's the vinyl I made for Mrs. G's outside window!  I used the Ruby Red Cricut vinyl.  ~Hoppy Crafting!