Quilling Patch Crafts » Cricut

Cricut Cake Mini Machine for 29.99 and Free Shipping- Cricut Cake Machines Work with Paper Too!

Lisa-Free Cutting Files and Craft Ideas — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:59:19 +0000

Cricut Cake Mini Machine at Creative Express is now 29.99 AND free shipping.
and YES you can use this machine to cut paper. I suggest you use/buy Cricut deep cutting blade ( blue)
and also buy a new mat that works with paper,cricut mat

Does Cricut Cake Machine Work With Paper?

Yes they do. The kit machine comes with Cake decorating cartridges, mat and blade for cutting fondant- but is same machine- works exactly the same as regular Cricut. I am not a huge fan of Cricut but for 29 bucks you cant go wrong- worse case scenario you have a machine with cartridges you can use to make cup cake toppers, etc.
I have a girlfriend who has a 12 year old daughter that loves to bake- especially cupcakes- and this would make a great Christmas gift for her.

Amazon also has the larger Cricut Cake Personal Electronic Cutter with a 12 inch wide cutting space for 89.00. Again same as regular Cricut but meed new blades and a mat.

All Cricut Christmas Cartridges- What are Best Cricut Christmas Cartridges?

Lisa-Free Cutting Files and Craft Ideas — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 00:57:13 +0000

Cricut has a wide range of Christmas cartridges available to buy- some pretty superfluous if you ask me and some an excellent choice to add to your collection. See below my thoughts on what I think are the Best Cricut Cartridges,I based my rating on variety of images, versatility and longevity… basically what is the most bang for your buck.
I would LOVE ot hear what others think- do you agree? What Cricut Christmas cartridge do you like best?

I am compiling list of all the Cricut Cartridges that have been issued that are Christmas related- also rating which ones I think are the best Cricut Cartridges.
New Christmas Cricut cartridge released today, Cricut Scandinavian Christmas Cards and images forthcoming!

What are Best Cricut Christmas Cartridges?

Christmas Village
Meh. I am so-so on this one. If you are the type to want ALL the cartridges then go for it but if just want one or two.. skip it and get a more versatile one. This leans very heaving on nativity scent type images. 6/10

Winter Woodland is actually one of my favourites, Very sophisticated “pretty” designs, The designs work equally well with cards or scrapbook pages. A nice mix of winter and Christmas images and sayings. AND you also get alphabet and 3-d village shapes. I highly recommend. The price at around 20.00 is why I give it a 9/10

Trim the Tree is a bit out there.. think they were stretching things a bit. Lots of intricate filigree work here.. some of it downright ugly. Pass. 4/10

Christmas Cheer has nice solid designs that you will get plenty of use from. Basic Christmas shapes. 7/10

Christmas Cards
This is one of my favorites and I would consider this a must have for Christmas card making. The card shapes- as well as envelope designs can be used year round. 8/10

Joys of the Season Focuses heavily on 12 days of Christmas as well as some classic winter/Christmas images like snowflakes, Santa, Christmas trees, gifts, etc, This is pretty good and I give it 7/10

Winter Frolics is mostly folk art images of children and people. This would be okay if you were teacher.. kids will love it. For the scrapbooking or cards a limited look. 6/10

Cricut Solutions Cartridge- Christmas is older and hard to find. It has really good basic Christmas and winter shapes and if you could only have one Cricut Christmas cartridge this is a good bet. Has usual holly berries, Santa designs, gingerbread, etc. The images would be excellent for scrapbooks, cards and vinyl wall art. 8/10.

Winter Lace Let it Snow Let it Snow, let it snow… this a cartridge of all snowflakes. say no more. Hard to rate.. but for over all usefulness unless you are a weatherman… 3/10.
This cartridge is actually inspiring me to make a “Worst Cricut Cartridges List..”

Christmas Cheer is very popular. Has all the classic Christmas images in traditional very usable styles, Christmas bulb, tree, snowmen, ornaments, gift tags. This I would also say if you could only get one… A perfect compliment to Christmas Cards (see above) 8/10

Gingerbread Mark me down as a NO. BUT you might be able to get pretty cheap- like around 10.00. The whole cartridge is gingerbread shapes. Maybe if you were trying to attract Hansel and Gretal to your home otherwise PASS. 3/10

Speaking of Winter features a very nice “icicle” font perfect for school bulletin boards. Lots of Christmas and Winter shapes ( snowmen, scarves, etc) a good solid bet. 8/10

Update on SCAL and Cricut – Alternatives to SCAL – Using Cricut to Cut Your Own Shapes and Fonts

Lisa-Free Cutting Files and Craft Ideas — Fri, 20 May 2011 03:38:47 +0000

Well, I am sorry to say that Craft Edge ‘s SCAL Sure Cuts A Lot software will no longer work with Cricut. I have actually been fearing this for a while- but I thought maybe Cricut would be smart and buy Craft Edge out. Craft Edge makes the very popular SCAL Sure Cuts A Lot software to sue with digital cutting machines. By and large there biggest customer base was Cricut users. The reason- Provo Craft makers of the popular Cricut have come down on third party softarw vendor making software for the Cricut; they see it as a copyright violation. Cricut might be upset that you didn’t need their cartridges to cut on a Cricut cutting machine. This is how they make there money.

Cricut users- you may want to consider other Craft Cutting machines that are just as easy to use as a Cricut. The Quickutz Silhouette is excellent. Pazzlesis also a good machine- in fact it is almost the SAME machine as Cricut- they are made in same factory. Personally- I like Silhouette for light use but LOVE my KNK (Klic and Kut) and would not trade it for anything. I have had a USED KNK Element for almost 3 years and its has NEVER given me a problem. Yes, there is a bit of a learning curve to use but well worth it.

Will My Cricut Still work with SCAL?

SCAL is in 3 different version. SCAL and SCAL v. 2 will still work with Cricut – but will not be supported.
For those that bought SCAl 2 recently you can upgrade for free to SCAL 3 AND it it will install to a different folder and not overwrite SCAL 2.
So, yes you can use SCAL 2 ( and I believe original SCAL) with your Cricut machine- they just wont be supporting it creating new updates.
You can longer purchase SCAL 2 from Craft Edge- I do believe Amazon is still selling the DVD version of SCAL 2 tho- HERE

Alternatives to SCAL 2?
Right now the only software I know fo that works with Cricut- allowing you to cut using your own images ( in SVG format) and cretae Text and Titles using any True Type font on your computer is Fairy Cut. As Provo Craft has been pretty aggressive- suing both Making the Cut and SCAL I fear that fairy cut will be gone soon as well.

As an aside- SCAL 3 works with other cutting macines- Silhouette, Pazzles, Boss Cut Gazelle, Black Cat Cougar/Lynx, Craft ROBO and Wishblade and Craftwell eCraft™.

Official Statement from Cricut Regarding SCAL and Making the Cut

Official Statement from Provo Craft®

We at Provo Craft would like to address some of the comments that have been made recently about steps we have taken to address the sale of unauthorized software programs. We hope that providing this context will help our customers understand why we have taken these steps, and why we believe we are acting in both a fair and ethical manner.

Speaking generally, we’d like to comment about our right to seek legal protection for the products we’ve developed through legitimate means. As a creative company, we have invested significant resources to invent the Cricut and to continue to develop Cricut products. Cricut is the end-result of individuals having invested their own money, creative ideas, and hard work to bring a unique product to the crafting community. We’re also committed to improving our products, so we continually invest in innovation and in the sourcing and production of new art content for the Cricut.

As we have invented Cricut products, we have been granted copyright and trademark rights that protect us from, among other things, any company that unlawfully circumvents or ‘hacks’ our security measures for its own financial gain. We regret that exercising our legal right to protect ourselves from such activity would give any of our customers a reason to be upset with us. But we also believe that provided the facts, reasonable people will understand that the steps we have taken are legitimate and fair by virtually any standard of law and ethics.

With regard to Make the Cut!, in a jointly stipulated injunction filed in March, Make the Cut! agreed to discontinue the sale and support of its software for use with Cricut as remedy to the unlawful manner in which the software was developed. The unlawful actions cited in the injunction include violation of the Cricut Design Studio end user license agreement and violations of U.S. copyright and trademark laws. Earlier this month, Provo Craft and Make the Cut! amicably resolved the matter in a confidential settlement.

Provo Craft has filed suit against Craft Edge, Inc. alleging similar violations. Because that involves ongoing litigation Provo Craft cannot comment further on the suit at this time.

Lastly, we know that some of our customers want the ability to cut with their Cricut certain images that are not available in the Cricut library. Many of you know that in April we are releasing the first version of Cricut Craft Room, which is an all-new, free, online design platform for Cricut. Though this specific feature won’t be available initially, we intend to provide our customers the ability to cut some of their own images in Cricut Craft Room in the future. Like our customers, we’re passionate about creativity, and we’re committed to providing great products for the crafting community.
More News and Information about SCAL and Cricut lawsuit:
Provo Craft Sues Sure Cuts A Lot, Alleging Copyright Violations
Fur and Green Feathers
Official Statement on Lawsuit from Cricut

Newest SCAL Coupon Released

Lisa-Free Cutting Files and Craft Ideas — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:01:12 +0000

Craft Edge has released latest code, Coupon Code for SCAL ( Sure Cuts A Lot) Software for Cricut. The code also works for older SCAL users who want to upgrade to latest SCAL 2 version.

SCAL lets you use your Cricut cutter without any cartridges. You can cut image files downloaded from the internet or create you own. You can also cut any TrueType font installed on your computer- and there are literally 1000′s of them!

For more info visit Craft Edge website

New Version of SCAL Sure Cuts Alot Software for Cricut SCAL Version 2

Lisa-Free Cutting Files and Craft Ideas — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:03:44 +0000

Craftedeg has come out with a new upgrade version of SCAL, the software program that allows you to cut images and type with your Cricut cutter without using any cartridges,
If you bought the old version after June 22, 2009 you can upgrade for free. Upgrade Sure Cuts Alot HERE
Users of the older version can upgrade (for a limited time only!) for 30.00 Upgrade SCAL HERE
New users can buy the software for 75.00 HERE

Craftedge will often release a coupon code, usually a 10 % discount, you can find current codes here, Coupon Code for SCAL Sure Cuts Alot.

What the New Version of SCAl Does:
* New ways to maniuplate ond organize objects including Select All, Group and Ungrouping
* Add multiple pages
* Use layers to organize objects within a page
* Modify text more easily
* Auto tracing feature to automatically convert images
* Show rulers using inches or centimeters
* Mac version is expected to be released later this year.

Chris Durnan of Visual Designs has created a comprehensive comparison sheet they shows you the difference between SCAL v.1 and SCAL v.2.
The ability to group, ungroup and modify text is deal breaker for me- i would fork out the extra 30 bucks and upgrade.

SCAL Sure Cuts Alot Comparison Sheet

Click on image to enlarge

Is the Provocraft Gypsy Viral Marketing Campaign Backfiring?

Lisa-Free Cutting Files and Craft Ideas — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:44:10 +0000

In an attempt to create anticipation and excitement over a new product marketers will often be vague and let little or no information leak out to the public. Apple is famous for this.
Proocraft, makers of Cricut Cutting machines and other scrapbook tools have been using this strategy to promote their newest product, The Gypsy for Cricut. Basically Provocrafts Gypsy is a portable design studio. They have been using a viral campaign in the form of Youtube videos and nothing else to spread the word about the new product. You are really playing with fire on this one- as scrapbookers are unrelenting int her quest for information on the newest and latest gear.
Confusion abounds! Blogs and forums have been quoting Provocraft representatives giving conflicting information. Prices have been quoted as high as 500.00 for the Gypsy!
Even worse, the rumor- or is it?- that The Gypsy will not only transfer the information from your 100.00 cartridge but YIKES will erase it!! Wow- what a way to freak out your customer base!

At the Scrapbook Review she list the details of three different phone call made to provocraft- all giving different information and both confirming AND denying that the Gypsy will erase your cartridges.

Scrapbook Update quotes Provocraft vehemently denying Cricut cartridges will be erased by The Gypsy.

So, with talk of erased cartridges, prices in the $300-500 range, Provocraft has successfully shown us how a cute concept viral marketing plan can go wrong.At least we are talking about it -)

What should Provocraft have done differently or have they go it right?

More Info on Provocraft Gypsy

Free Cricut Cartridge Handbooks in pdf format

Lisa-Free Cutting Files and Craft Ideas — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:09:57 +0000

These are handy to print out for use with your Cricut. I belive the pdf images might be vectorized as well.

She has uploaded:
Storybook
George
Celebrations
Accent Essentials
Beyond Birthdays
Plantin Schoolbook
Walk In My Garden
Fabulous Finds
Christmas Cheer
Doodlecharms
Stretch Your Imagination
Alphalicious
Wildcard
Disney Cars
New Arrival
Going Places
Joys of the Season
Cuttin’ Up
Don Juan
Graphically Speaking
Paper Doll DressUp
All Mixed Up
Opposites Attract
Locker Talk
Animal Kingdom
My Community
Printing 101
Sesame Street Font
Sesame Street Friends
Hello Kitty
Hello Kitty Font
Happily Ever After
Tinkerbell
Disney Pooh Font
Printing Press
Zooballoo
Disney Pooh and Friends
Disney Mickey and Friends
Disney Mickey Font
Mini Monograms
Learning Curve
Tags, Bags, Boxes & More
Disney Dreams Come True
Teardrop
Paper Pups
Jasmine
Speaking of Winter
A Word Party
Cursive 101
Life’s A Beach
50 States
Garden of Words
Stamped
Ocean of Words
Speaking of School
Potpourri Basket
Lyrical Letters
Basecamp
Cricut Sampler –

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=7832315ad3a0af34ed24a2875c7fa58ee04e75f6e8ebb871

New Product from Provocraft for Cricut: The Gypsy

Lisa-Free Cutting Files and Craft Ideas — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:57:40 +0000

Provocraft is being very secretive about their newest product- The Gypsy.

update: Here is video of the Gypsy in Action:

Provocraft make all the Cricut machines as well as Cuttlebug
manual cutter and dies.
The Gypsy is is set to be released in 2 weeks at the end of July. It is designed as a portable system to use instead of your Cricut cartrdidges and Cricut Design Studio without using computer.

Picture of New Provocraft Gypsy from Cricut

What is The Provo craft Gypsy?

The Gypsy is like a portable Cricut Design Studio. You can use the functions of design studio without a computer.

More Info on the Provo craft Gypsy

So You can:
-Uses a stylus on touch screen.
- You store all your cartridges on the Gypsy and leave Cricut cartridges at home.
- Comes with 2 cartridges pre-loaded into device
- works with all Cricut machines and cartridges
- You can weld, re-size and preview. ( Quikutz Silhouette SD creators take note!)
- Will store your own Cricut Design studio creation
- Stores all your manuals.

Videos of Provocraft Gypsy

Provocraft has come up with a HILARIOUS series of videos to promote the new Gypsy. The are eally, really funny and wwell worth watching. Any scrapbooker will find themselves lauging- they sure do capture are obsession!

Freebie Friday: Free “Snail” Cutting File in SVG GSD and KNK Format

Lisa-Free Cutting Files and Craft Ideas — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:29:10 +0000

Free Snail GSD SVG and KNK cutting files

Yes, I know its early and not Friday yet
I try and offer a free file with each new premium file collection I design and this week I finished up my ode to five yrear old boy who loves frogs…
“Pond Pals” is A VERY cute cutting file collection for little boys ( and girls!) who love playing in a pond and catching frogs.
I did up this little snail file for you to download and use on scrapbook pages and cards. Enjoy!

Snail Cutting file for Cricut/SCAL SVG Cutting File is for use with your Cricut using SCAL ( Sure Cuts A Lot) software.

You CAN cut files without a cartridge using your Cricut. Read my post SCAL Sure Cuts A Lot software and Cricut- Cut Without Cartridges for more information.

Free Snail GSD Cutting File can be used with(QuicKutz) Silhouette machines, Xyron Wishblade and Craft Robo. You just use the regular Robo Master that comes with your digital cutter..

Free Snail KNK Cutting File is used with Klic n Kut ( KNK Element, Maxx, etc) OR use KNK Studio GE software with your craft robo, Wishblade or Silhouette.

Do you have a cutting file suggestion? Yes, I do take requests- post your suggestion in comments section or email me with your cutting file requests. Feel free to enclose a link or image.

Download free snail Cutting file HERE

Pond Pals File:

Useful Links:
SCAL Coupon Code

Coupon Code for SCAL ( Sure Cuts A Lot) Software for Cricut

Lisa-Free Cutting Files and Craft Ideas — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:01:41 +0000

Updated October 2011

Looking for SCAL Sure Cuts A Lot Coupon Code?

Craft Edge , the developers of SCAL software for Cricut die cutting machines have a promotion on- they are offering 10% off the price off their SCAL software.
~~In a nutshell, SCAL lets you cut files on your Cricut without using any cartridges~~. You can cut any True Type font installed on your computer, including dingbats ( shapes) as well as cut using SVG file images. You can find free SVG files on my site as well as many other on the Internet.

Newest Coupon code for SCAL Sure Cuts A Lot :
I post newest SCAL coupon code as soon as it becomes available.
You can email me and I can put you on list to let you know when next one comes out.

Latest SCAL Coupon code is for 10% off – I don’t know when it will expire. This worked as of Feb. 28 2011.

SCAL Coupon Code: 9388463
and use HERE to Buy SCAL Sure Cuts A Lot on Craft Edge website.

UPGRADE for existing SCAL users to newer SCAL 2 .
Click here for more info

Another new SCAL Coupon Code is for $ 16.00 of the purchase price and is a it better value than the 10% off. This is first time I have seen this promotion and is best value I have seen in last year.
It expires February 15th, 2009
$16.00 off SCAL Coupon Code: 2237421
and use HERE to Buy SCAL with coupon code now.

More info on SCAL- SCAL Home Page
Buy SCAL ( Sure Cuts A Lot) software using coupon code