Love Struck Couple (mini cart review)

I made this simple card with one of the images on the new "Love Struck" cartridge.  I am so impressed with this cartridge.  It is a seasonal "mini" cartridge and available only while supplies last.  There are 27 images (18 with shadows) and four 3D items.  If you like intricate details,  I think this is a cartridge you will want to add to your collection.

There are no special features since this a mini cartridge.  I took some screen shots of the items on this cart to show you - remember you can click on an image to enlarge it.

Here are the first eight hearts on the cartridge. These are incredibly intricate and unique cuts - there is nothing like these on the current cartridges.

This preview shows the same hearts with the shadow layers added in pink.

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There are two more hearts with shadows and then some very interesting designs with fantastic detail.  I have been cutting these at 3 1/2 or 4 inches and they are cutting well.

There are a couple more shadowed images and the rest are single layer. 

The word art is fun with a different style - the swirls and hearts are nice additions on "Love" and "Flirt."

Finally, there are a couple of "kid" valentines (a fairy and a pirate), an envelope, a three dimensional heart, a cute mailbox and a flat box with a heart cutout.

I think the delicate heart cuts are reason enough to buy this cartridge (they are similar in complexity to the snowflakes on "When it's Cold Outside"). If you get them soon you will have plenty of time to use these cuts to make some really special Valentines Day cards.

So - back to my quick card.  I used the third heart with the silhouette of a man and woman inside.  I cut the heart and the shadow layer at 3 1/2 inches.

The cut is so pretty that I did not want to overpower it with a lot of extra bells and whistles on the card.  I wanted an old fashioned look so I chose cream cardstock for the card base.

Last year, I picked up some of these packs of 4 x 6 paper mats (4 each of 8 designs) for 99 cents at Michael's.  The paper is by Making Memories and is part of the "Autumn Splendor" collection.

While several of the papers are clearly autumn papers, these three in particular can be used for many other purposes.  I chose the one with the writing to put behind my silhouette conversation heart.  (On close examination, the words do make a few mentions of autumn, but I don't think anyone will read it that closely!)

I cut 3/4 of  an inch from the short end of the paper mat so I had a 4 x 5 1/4 inch layer for my A2 card.  I inked the edges of the layer and the edges of the ivory card slightly with medium brown ink.

I adhered the shadow to the heart and then used foam squares to raise it up from the card front.

This was a quick card to make - once I decided on the background paper to use.  I could add a stamped greeting or a word cut to the front, but I will most likely just leave it as it is - simple and elegant, with a handwritten note inside.

I am looking forward to making some more complicated projects with these cuts - I hope that I will have some time this weekend to work on them.  Enjoy the long weekend - most people around here go skiing but we will be cozy at home!

Pagoda

Pagoda is the third cartridge I found at Michael's this week.  I left it to the last to review because the cartridge has been available in Design Studio program for a while so I thought that many people would have seen the images already (I imagine that most people who read my blog are also Design Studio users).  It can be helpful to see the color handbook (and I was on a roll taking photos!) so I will do a bit of show and tell - show you the images and tell you my thoughts about this cartridge.

Pagoda is a full cartridge with six creative features.  They are

 

 

 

 

You will notice that three of the features involve Kanji.  Kanji are Chinese characters that are used in Japanese writing.  You can find out all sorts of information about these online - here is a LINK to an interesting Wikipedia entry for some background.  

 This is an example of the Kanji character for ocean.  The cartridge will cut the character with two shadow layers, the character cut into a layer to fit on a tag, the character cut into a card and the character cut into a rounded rectangle that fits on a corresponding layer with the English word as seen here.  I was very surprised to find out that there was not a legible listing of the English translations of these characters - the only way to see the word is to squint at the ever-so-tiny image on the handbook page for that Kanji character.

It really would have been a good idea to have a page that shows the English words for quick identification.  I looked through my handbook a number of times so I don't think I missed it! I was so bothered by the lack of this page that I created my own to share with you.  It took a quite a while to do this but I know it will be a handy reference in the future.

Please respect the time and effort I put into taking, editing and posting these photos by referring others to my blog to see the photos and not copying them - thank you.  I do not disable right clicking photos on my blog, however, I am sharing these images for your personal use and not for duplication, or posting to other sites, message boards and blogs. Thanks for understanding (you may be able to tell that I have recently been notified of some of my work being used without my permission so I may be overly sensitive to this issue right now- it is a hazard of sharing on the internet).

So on to the photos and my thoughts about this cartridge.

Remember, you can click on any photo to see a larger view.

The first images are of lamps or lanterns

Another lantern and the first of three dolls (these remind me a bit of the matryoshka- Russian nesting dolls - on the Paisley cartridge I reviewed a few days ago.

The other two dolls - I actually have one of these that my parents brought back from Japan years ago - it brought back a nice memory,

Two fish - these are fish in kite format

 

Another fish (not a kite) and a Yin Yang symbol (this is a frequently requested symbol on the Cricut Message Board Design Studio forum).

A fierce dragon and a sweet Panda bear

Another Panda that looks like it needs a hug (sweet) and a humming bird

Another humming bird and a flying crane

A standing crane and a fish leaping from the water

another leaping fish and a pair of dragonflies (these would be beautiful with their wings cut from iridescent paper)

a couple of bonsai trees

some stylized tree branches

a bamboo cluster and a flower

my new favorite plant/branch (see yesterday's post HERE to see why) and another lovely flower cluster

more flowers - I particularly like the one at the top and I think the lower one looks a bit like a calla lily

more beautiful flowers - so many on this cartridge

and even more flowers - these are layered flowers that would be nice for paper bouquets.

flowers in a vase and a typical Japanese garden bridge (I did something interesting with the bridge in Design Studio - I'll show you soon...)

a temple and a shrine

a couple of cages (for those of us who are wishing we had Serenade...)

A couple of beautiful fans - the layers are very pretty with the flowers

an umbrella and a teapot and cup

a rice bowl (with a Greek Key border?) and chopsticks!

a curtain or screen and sandals

and finally, a couple of kimonos.

So, as you can see, there is quite a variety on this cartridge.  I have to say that this is a welcome change in that it contains many images that we haven't seen on other cartridges (and no cupcakes - not that I have anything against cupcakes...).  Many of the feature keys are used for the Kanji characters and their layers so if you aren't interested in using these for many projects you really have only half a full cartridge.  On the other hand, they are a great feature for using in home decor projects among other things.

The basic set of images with attractive layering is well worth the price of a cartridge.  The flowers and branches would be lovely for all sorts of cards - particularly for sympathy cards with their simple elegance.  The more realistic style of this cartridge is nice for those who don't do a lot of scrapbooking or cardmaking for children - this is more of an adult style cartridge which I know many Cricut fans will appreciate.

Once again there is a lot of repetition in the tag shapes but this is helpful for ease of use when the Cricut is used without Design Studio (it is amazing to me but many people do not use Design Studio or a Gypsy).  There are some interesting cards in unusual proportions and I like this change as well - of course you can always alter these to more standard sizes by using Design Studio.

I am very glad that I found this cartridge - I believe it is available from many sources and, with Black Friday just around the corner it will certainly show up on many shopping lists.  I'd be curious to hear what others think about the Kanji - I see a lot of uses for these characters but they may not be of interest to everyone.

Winter in July - A Child's Year again!

All of the items you see in this photo were made using a single key on the "A Child's Year" cartridge (with the exception of one phrase cut from another key). This cartridge could keep you busy for weeks if you just chose one key each day and tried making an assortment of items from that key.



First I cut the snowman (I guess it is actually a "snowwoman"!) silhouette in solid blue and the shadow in a "snowy" patterned paper.



I added Stickles glitter glue to give some sparkle to the snow and some white pen lines to add some definition to the image of the child. The lines are a freehand "interpretation" and you can use your imagination about the placement. To see a super example of this you should click HERE to see a wonderful layout on Monique's blog (Monique is also previewing this cartridge for Provo Craft and she does fantastic work).



I added a dark blue "snowy" layer to a basic white A2 card and then used foam squares to adhere my silhouetted figure for some more dimension.



Next, I cut this card design. I used a patterned paper for the top layer and set the size at 5 1/2 inches for a standard A2 card. There are dozens of fabulous card designs on this cartridge - all ready to cut with the touch of a button! The snowflake cut outs can be used for another project.



The cartridge will cut the card base as well, but I have plenty of blank A2 cards so I used one of these for the base. I simply adhered the two layers and added Stickles to the small holes and to accent the snowflakes.



Here is a closer view showing the Stickles. This card would also be beautiful cut in white and embossed with the Cuttlebug (I'll have to try that next!).



One more view of the first two cards I made.



I used the "icon" feature to cut the two large snowflakes in this photo. These are lovely designs once again and add to the collection of snowflakes available on all of the Cricut cartridges (I think there are about 24 different snowflakes at this point - enough for a fine blizzard!).



The next cut I tried was the Tag feature. These tags cut in two layers - the top with the snowflake cutouts and a base layer. Quick, simple and charming!



Here is the collection of snowflakes and tags - just to remind those of you who live in hot areas that winter can be fun too!



I was curious to see how one of the silhouettes would look cut in a patterned paper so I cut the pair of skaters in my dark blue snowy paper. You have to remember to adjust your settings but the shape cut nicely with no tearing at the fine details. I didn't cut the shadow for these figures - I didn't think I needed it for the card I had planned.



I layered dark blue and then some patterned paper with swirls that reminded me of figure skating designs. I added the snowflakes that were cut from the tags and the phrase "best friends" from the font feature on the first toy page.



I have gotten a lot of comments and emails telling me that I am being an "enabler" - I have no defense.... I think anyone who uses a Cricut would find dozens of ways to use this cartridge and you would never get bored with all of the possibilities. So I don't apologize for "enabling" - I know you will thank me in the end when you get your hands on this cartridge and start creating!

Just wait 'til you see what I have in mind to try next!