Indie Art Book Update~

This is the link to the .cut file, and the 2 PDF versions of the book, 1 as the regular 1 pager per page book, and one that is 6 pages on one 8.5" x 11" page. http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=4f6878ef07276a0690a82c7bb0fad7ad75e0a27e5adc17e9c95965eaa7bc68bc
I used George for the rectangle and Celebrations for the holes for the dots. I cut my paper to 7.5 x 5 so that all I had to do was flip it over and reinsert it into the printer to get the back to line up, you might have to do something different with your own printer.
I used 6mm PVC plastic coil to bind this, which I purchased from http://www.bestbuybinding.com/41_spiral__coil_sample_pack.htm (that specific link sends you to the sample pack that the white was from) They have TONS of different options available for binding products.
I hope that you all enjoy this, and I HOPE to one day have some free time to start on some of the other solution's cartridges... but since I don't own them (Other than Stone Script) it is not a number 1 priority for me. But I know that some of you out there would really like them.
Take Care!

V-Day Bags and Cards

Back at Valentine's Day we did an all ladies show for Rocky Horror (and two boys since I didn't have enough ladies). I gave everyone a card, and a bag of goodies as a thank you for putting extra effort into the show.

These were just store purchased sacs that I used Doodlecharms to cut out hearts and Stone Script to cut the initial... pink bags were for ladies and red for boys.

This was my card, I cut the Thanks from Calligraphy collection at 1.5 and the heart from the same cartridge. I used the lip print with xoxo (cuttlebug) to emboss the corner, and stamped them with a corset stamp that I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby this past fall.

Baby Shower Invites for a Friend

So between these 3 designs I've made 130 cards in the last month. I did them for a friend who ironically is due on my birthday. I've only charged her the cost of supplies, but wonder what I could actually get for these in today's market. The insides are stamped on white card stock that was glued in with Who, What, Date, Time, Where, Hosted by and Registered at, and she hand wrote in the information.

They were cut using my Cricut, and embossed using a CuddleBug folder.

I've done a bunch of other cards since January too.... but those will have to wait until later. :)

Cricut and Deep Blade Housing, Cutting Chipboard

I kept reading posts about how people couldn't make their deep cut blades work, but still purchased the housing and blade anyhow.

This is how I make it cut with my baby bug.

Tape chipboard or mat board (I like HL Mat board, the huge 36x48" sheets that I can cut down myself) to the mat around the edges using blue painters tape. I use a mat that is no longer sticky because I can't make it stick to even a new mat, so why waste sticky mats.

Load mat into machine.

Set speed to 2.
Set pressure to max.
Set blade depth to 2.5 (in between the 2 and the 3 on the deep blade housing).
Select design and cut.

Now this is the important part!!!
Hit Load Paper
Hit Repeat Last
Change blade depth to 3.5
Cut

Hit Load Paper
Hit Repeat Last
Change blade depth to 4
Cut

Hit Load Paper
Hit Repeat Last
Change blade depth to 4.5
Cut

Hit Load Paper
Hit Repeat Last
Change blade depth to 5
Cut

Hit Load Paper
Hit Repeat Last
Change blade depth to 5.5
Cut


I know that is a TON of cuts, but it allows you to cut layer by layer through the mat board and it produces a nice cut. You will not necessarily have to cut this many times if the chipboard cuts sooner than a 5.5 depth. I do not have to cut the mat board from HL at a 6, 5.5 is sufficient. If you purchase the grey chipboard from the art section with the .04 depth you only need to cut to a 4 and the chipboard with the .055 depth you will only need to cut to a 5 depth... or at least that is my experience.

This is still not a fool proof method, but, it does work about 75% of the time, which is better than 0% that many people are experiencing.

Hope this helps a lot of people who are having problems with their deep blade and housing. It took my BF and I about 3 hours to figure out that you had to go one click at a time.

I welcome questions, and hope that this helps A LOT of people out there who are frustrated with their deep cut blades.

I hope to get some new projects posted and a few other tutorials, tips and tricks that I have discovered recently.