A Great Surprise! (updates for new cartridges)

Today was not "Hello Thursday" - it was Friday the 13th and that turned out to be a lucky day!  When I reviewed the two Creative Memories cartridges on Wednesday (here is a LINK to that post), I wrote that I was hoping that the new cartridges would be added to Design Studio and the Gypsy on the next Hello Thursday.

Well...I plugged my Gypsy into my computer to transfer a file and there was an update.  It took quite a while to do (the Gypsy updates have been taking at least half an hour for me) but it was definitely worth it.  The two Creative Memories cartridges have been added, along with the three Martha Stewart Crafts Cake cartridges and yet another surprise - three new seasonal minis!  The new minis are called "Christmas Cards," "Christmas Village," and "Thanksgiving."

So...I thought I'd check and see if there was a Design Studio update.  When I went to the update page the information was still the same, listing the July 15th update as the most recent, but I decided to try downloading the font pack again.  I found that the Creative Memories, Martha Stewart and the new seasonal minis are all in the download which is V100810 even though the page says V100715.

ETA:  Thanks to Kymberlee from the Circle Message Board for pointing out that there is yet another "surprise cartridge" - Boys will be Boys!  This is a full cartridge and looks like a lot of fun.

To update your Design Studio go to this LINK.  You will need to be signed in to the Cricut.com site if you are not already.  Go ahead and download the Font Pack, save it to your computer and then run the download (if you try to run instead of saving the update when you download it will not work correctly).  When you open Design Studio you will find the newly added cartridges.

To update your Gypsy, connect the Gypsy to the computer, run the Gypsy Sync program and follow the screen prompts.

I didn't have time to do much with the updates tonight but here is an example of a full page design made using a border from Reminisce Accents.

You can also use the design as a frame and add a contrasting color.

I am so happy that we don't have to wait another week to start using these cartridges with the software.  It is a busy birthday weekend for our family and we have friends here to visit tomorrow but I will take whatever chance I can to create some designs - I hope I have time to cut some of them out!

Don't forget to keep checking on the Scrappy-Go-Lucky blog hop.  As more and more cards are revealed it should become easier to figure out the theme.  Remember - your guess at the theme and your favorite cartridge must be posted in a comment on Mandy's Original Post on the Scrappy-Go-Lucky blog to be eligible to win one of four new cartridges, Country Life, Happy Hauntings, Rock Princess and Winter Frolic.  The Schedule and links to the blogs are in THIS POST.   Good Luck!

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New Cartridge Updates for Design Studio and the Gypsy

"Hello Thursday" was just a couple of days ago and there are updates available for both Design Studio and the Gypsy to add the content for many of the new cartridges that have been announced.  There will be another update next week for the Martha Stewart Crafts Cake Cartridges.

To update your Design Studio program, you need to log in to the cricut.com site.  Here is the link for the update page - if you haven't signed in you will be prompted to do so when you click the link.

DESIGN STUDIO UPDATE

If you have been doing the updates regularly the only new cartridges that will be added the five Hello Thursday cartridges (Country Life, Happy Hauntings, Rock Princess, Simply Charmed and Winter Frolic and the Cricut Circle exclusive cartridge, French Manor).

Click the download link and be sure to save the download to your computer and then run it.  Design Studio should be closed when you do the update and then the new cartridges will appear in the All by Category listing when you open it again.  French Manor will appear in the Font category and the other five cartridges are in the Shape category.

The font updates appear to have been consolidated in one large update going back to the cartridges added in November 2009.  If you are missing any of the earlier cartridges, you need to do the program update as well.  Follow the directions given at the top of the page to update the program.

To update your Gypsy, connect the Gypsy to the computer with the USB cable and turn it on - then run the Gypsy Sync program.  Since there are many new Gypsy users, I will show you all of the steps involved as the Gypsy is updated.  It is easy to do - just follow the prompts - but the process will take much longer than updating Design Studio.  It is probably dependent on the speed of your computer and your internet connection - mine took about half an hour to do with a new computer and high speed internet.

The Sync program will tell you that there is a Content update.  Click "Proceed."

You will next see a warning screen recommending that you back up your files.  Click "Yes: to do the backup.

You have the option to choose to back up Designs, Photos or both.  I checked "Designs" and skipped "Photos" since the only photos I have on the Gypsy are handbook images that I can easily upload again if I need to.

The files will be backed up to your computer.  They are located in the backup folder of the Gypsy Sync folder in the Documents folder (Click the image to enlarge it to see the path at the bottom).  When your files are backed up you can open any file in the backup folder in Design Studio without connecting your gypsy to the computer.

Next, the Sync program will contact the servers to get the updates.

The Content Data File will be downloaded.  This takes quite a while, even with a fast internet connection.

Once the files are downloaded the Sync program will send them to the Gypsy.

Then you will see a status bar - the process has started...

It takes a while, but the screen keeps you informed of the status and time elapsed.

Then the program will update the cartridge library - mine took over eight minutes for this stage.

Finally, you will see a screen that tells you the content has been successfully installed.

The Gypsy Data is refreshed and you will then see the normal screen for the Sync when there are not updates needed.

This is the screen you use to transfer files between the computer and the Gypsy.  If you do not need to transfer any files at this time click to exit the Sync program.

The last screen you see is the "Cleaning up Gypsy Resources" - when this disappears you can disconnect your Gypsy and starting playing with the new cartridge images.

The best way to decide about your next cartridge purchases is try out the various design possibilities on the Gypsy or in Design Studio.  It is also very helpful to review the handbooks and sample sheets in the Cartridge Library on the Cricut.com site.  It is a great resource.  If you are not familiar with it, click HERE to go to the listing of all of the Cricut cartridges with PDFs of the sample sheets and cartridge handbooks.

I hope you are having a great weekend - have fun exploring the new cartridge content!


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New cartridges added to Design Studio

Updates were made available for the Design Studio and the Gypsy today.  The Paisley, Sweet Treats, Batman and Superman cartridges have been added to the software.  The Batman and Superman cartridges are not yet available but it will be fun to preview them.  I have downloaded the updates and they were quick and easy to do.  Here is a LINK to the message board post with the information about the updates.

I haven't had time to experiment with Sweet Treats in Design Studio yet but a few days ago I tried cutting the cupcake holders.  In this photo you can see the cupcake holder from the Sweet Treats cartridge cut in several sizes.  As I mentioned in my review (here is a LINK to that post), the cupcake holder is identical on all 50 keys.  Such a missed opportunity!

The tiny holder is from my first trial cut.  I thought that a cupcake holder should be about 3 inches high so I set the dial on the machine for 3" (completely forgetting that the dial setting would determine the size of the entire unfolded cut - I really should use the Cricut without Design Studio more often!).  These would be cute for truffles or other candy.

The large holder is the size produced by using "fit to page" on the 12 x 12 mat.  It is about the size of a strawberry basket.  I wanted to "dress it up" a bit so I used one of my new Martha Stewart punches (floral vine) on the edges before I assembled the holder.

The third holder seems to be "just right" - it was cut using 8 inches as the dial size.  The sides end up at about two and a half inches with a three inch base.  Now that we can work with the shapes in Design Studio,  I think I will try to make some variations with interesting designs cut into the holders.

I made a quick trip to Michael's today.  I went to the second store that is near my home and found some different items.  If you have a Michael's store nearby, you should know that the Halloween/Fall items are 90% off.  At that price I couldn't resist getting this turkey dinner pop up punch ($1.59) - now I have to figure out what to use it for...  Each time I have been to Michael's lately I have met someone with a Cricut - so here is a quick shout-out to Judy and Janet.   I hope we can get together sometime soon!  (It is always fun to meet fellow Cricut fans).

We leave for my Dad's birthday celebration tomorrow morning.  It will be a great reunion with my sisters and brother to celebrate Dad's 85th!  I have a lot of projects going on in addition to the birthday preparations but most of them are "secret" right now.  You should see the mess in my studio!

I am still trying to locate any missing emails - if you sent me a note or question and I haven't responded please try again.  Thanks also to a few of you who sent me awards - I will be posting those soon.

Good luck planning your "Black Friday" shopping now that the ads are becoming available - it sounds like there are lots of bargains to be had!

Ashlyn's Alphabet added to Design Studio

For everyone who has been patiently waiting...the wait is over! Ashlyn's Alphabet was just added to Design Studio. Thank you Provocraft!



This cartridge was developed with the European market in mind and there are keys for specialty letter and accent combinations for many different languages. These will be great for travel albums and cards for friends from other countries.



There are four fonts - the base font with a shadow feature and block, cursive and skinny fonts.



The "Phrase" and "PhraseShadow" feature keys offer selection of prewelded words in various languages and there are all sorts of icons and flourishes with a European flair.



Here is a card I made using some elements from Ashlyn's Alphabet, some Design Studio "magic" and some Stickles! Details about this card will be available soon.

If your Design Studio software is up to date, you will just need to download the font pack to add Ashlyn's Alphabet. Jen has great step by step directions for how to do this on our Let me Show you How to Do that blog - here is a LINK to the post. Remember, you must save the font pack download to your desktop and then run it to install the new fonts.

If you don't have at least the trial version of Design Studio on your computer you need to add it right away! By looking at the cartridges in the Design Studio program you can find out all about the images and features on any of the cartridges and you can even cut with the "native" cartridge for your machine to see how you like using Design Studio. (The native cartridges are George for the original Cricut, Don Juan for the Create and Plantin Schoolbook and Accent Essentials for the Expression).

Here is a LINK to the Cricut.com page where you can download the trial version of the software and the updates.

(We have a couple of spots left in the class on Full Page Designs Thursday evening at 8 p.m. Eastern - please go to the Let me Show you How to Do that blog for details and registration instructions if you would like to join the class).