Class updates, some more awards and a sneak peek...

Jen and I have been busy teaching Design Studio classes. We started out with just the basics (101 class) for Design Studio beginners and have now added a Basic Card class. We will continue to add more topics as we work through the requests and will develop each new class to make these lessons as helpful as possible for those who are trying to figure out all the ways Design Studio can expand their creative potential with the Cricut.

We have had some great feedback and we are working to take suggestions for new classes into account. The unique feature of these classes is that they are live - we are online sharing our computer screens with the students so they can see exactly "How to Do that" and ask questions in real time. We will continue to develop new classes - if you have a specific topic in mind, please email either of us. If you have time constraints for attending, please let us know your time zone and what time of day works for you and we will try to accommodate everyone at some point over the summer months. Some of the more advanced classes will be project specific and include .cut files and project instructions.

The Basic Card class does include some files and other resources. Our Thursday class is nearly full (it may be totally full by the time you read this) but there are still some openings in the Friday class at 1 p.m. Eastern time. Click on the blog banner at the top of this post or at the top of the side column to see all the details and instructions for signing up for a class.


I am feeling very "awarded" these days - I have gotten several comments and notices about blog awards that people have sent me and I didn't want to let more time go by without acknowledging them.



Thanks to Rosy for this award - here is a LINK to her blog.

Thanks to Barb (Snowmanlover) who sent me this award - here is a LINK to her blog.

Thanks also to krazykropper for this award - here is a LINK to her blog

More thanks to Diane M or lostgrl16 also for this award - here is a LINK to her blog

Thanks again to Linda or Lilgreenbug also for this award - here is a LINK to her blog

There is a lot of "Honest Scrap" going around!

In receiving notice of these awards, I realized that I wasn't sure if I ever completed the process of notifying the bloggers I passed awards along to last month. I will try to find time tomorrow to catch up. Here is a LINK to the post with all of those awards.

I thank everyone who sends me these awards - it is getting to the point where I find it difficult to keep track and promptly pass along awards and I think it would be great if you could find a newer blogger who needs some encouragement when you have one of these awards to pass along. Just having people read and comment on my blog is award enough for me! Thank you.



Finally, here is a sneak peek at one of my designs that will be shared on another site very soon - more details about that in a day or so.

A Lovely Day for a Concert

Yesterday we drove to New Jersey so we could see our son's college Chorale and Orchestra Concert which took place this afternoon. The weather had been quite rainy, but it turned into a lovely day for a concert. We got there late yesterday afternoon and went to dinner at a restaurant where every dish contains garlic. Remarkably, we didn't have a "certain air" about us after the meal (it was delicious) and we should be well protected from random vampires for a while!



This little garden was created next to our son's building by a few friends - it looks so inviting and unexpected on a college campus.



My favorite thing about it was the helpful garden gnome! I think I may turn this little fellow into a "digital sticker" for some future projects.



The day was very sunny and the season is definitely further along in New Jersey than in Massachusetts. This older house is actually the Admissions building and is directly across from the Arts Center with the Concert Hall.



An "action shot" from the concert. The music was beautiful and we really enjoyed the afternoon.



Here are the proud parents and son outside after the concert. Doesn't he look great in his tux!

We originally planned to stay through to Sunday, but with final papers due and exams starting next week, our son really needed to get his work done, so we decided to return home and have a bit more weekend time to do things around the house! It was a whirlwind trip - about 36 hours - but we are so glad we were able to attend the concert and have a quick visit.



We came home to find a large box waiting for us - it turned out to be this lovely gift basket full of treats from Louisiana that was sent by our recent house guests who visited for the Boston Marathon. We were too tired to undo it all tonight, but I am sure we will be enjoying some pralines tomorrow!

Happy National Scrapbook Day - now that I am home I will get back to posting projects again. Thanks to all who took guesses about when the cards from yesterday's post were made. I appreciate the research some of you did. I'll follow up on that post tomorrow when I have a chance to look through all the responses.

Just a note about the new teaching blog - I know a lot of you have been patiently waiting for me to get this off the ground. As I mentioned a few days ago, JenC (jensbrainthings) will be joining me in this venture and we are very close to scheduling our first online classes - we are just working out the final kinks in the logistics. Watch our blogs for updates - it is so exciting to finally be able to provide what has been requested so many times!

Shadowing Welded Words - Design Studio Video #4

Today's addition to my Design Studio video lesson series is on the much requested topic "How do I make a shadow for my welded word?" It is a little rushed at the end - I got right up to my time limit - but I think you will have all the information you need to make these shadows quickly and easily.
Click on the image at the top of this post to go to the video

EDITED May 3, 2009 - I have changed the link to share the video - when you click the image above you should see the video appear on your screen, ready to play. Please let me know if this new sharing method works for you - Thanks!

Edited (again!) 2:00 p.m. - the  videos worked for most but not all people, however, there were bandwidth limits which were quickly exceeded so I have changed the link back to the 4shared site.  I am sorry if this doesn't work for you - I will keep trying to find a better way....

For those of you who are not able to see the video play, I did a little research and found that you need to have a browser plugin version of the Macromedia Flash Player, which is free and available online.

It is very helpful to get your feedback. A lot of you have been leaving comments at the download site. If at all possible, I would prefer that you leave comments that contain questions or requests on my blog so I can answer them where others who are reading my blog can see them too. Despite having the site preferences set to send me an email when someone leaves a comment, I never get notified of new comments on the 4shared site and have to go checking for them to see if you are having any problems. Since there is usually not a way to contact you left in the comment I have to do a lot of copying and pasting to move the questions here and then hope that you see my answers - this gets complicated!

I have copied and pasted bits and pieces from the comments over the past few days here so I can answer them - the inquiries are in bold and my answers are in italics. (I added a few of the flower photos that I took last weekend to make this post a bit prettier - there were just too many words!).


Thanks for the video. I missed the second one. It went to my SPAM.. luckily I caught the 3rd one. Is there a way for me to see the 2nd?

I am not sure how you would get the video in your spam since they are hosted and not actually sent in the emails that go to the readers who subscribe to the feed. However, you can watch any of the videos by clicking on the linking images in each blog post and there are links to the video posts at the top right corner of my blog.



Would love to see a video on the Wild Card cart. - especially on sizes for cards and envelopes. Like for instance on a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card, at what size do you cut your envelope?

I will show you how to do this in a future video or as part of the online lesson on designing cards with Design Studio. If you just need to know how to make a basic A2 envelope (for a card that is 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches, check out the Scor-Pal site - here is a LINK to their excellent directions).

I would like to see a video on aperture cards with letters in the center please.

This is the next topic in my list so look for it in another day or two..



Looking forward to your next one, especially shading welded words.

Today's video is on this topic!


Can you also maybe explain what the different pages are used for as far as layering, etc. I really don't understand some of the cut files of layered items and which page you actually print...or do you print all of the pages with the different papers neces...


I will do a video explaining the layered cuts soon - this is also the topic of one of the live online lessons that will be available soon!

I needed that lesson--thanks so much for your time--will your lessons be available all the time or do I need to download and keep them?

The videos can be viewed directly from the download site. At this time, I have no plans to remove them unless I run into hosting difficulties.




I would also like to know what system you are running DS on. My dh wants to upgrade mine to Vista and it truly scares me! Help! :)

I have an HP laptop with Windows XP - my neighbor runs Design Studio on Vista with no problems. I believe the issues with some incompatibility with Vista have been resolved with the more recent updates but I am not "up to speed" on this since it does not affect my computer. You may want to check with Customer Service for more detailed information. Be sure to make back up copies of all of your .cut files before you make any changes.

..can you explain how to do do the word book....

Word Books are on the list and coming soon.


I am a beginner and I need all the help I could get. My problem is knowing how to do the ratio's. How do I know what number to use to make it smaller or larger besides just stretching it with the arrows and taking a chance by cutting it out?

The online lessons will include a session on the basics which will cover this topic.

I am very interesting in more videos and on line lessons so count me in.

Online lessons are coming very soon.

I would like to see a word book and something with Disney carts.

Yes and Yes - word book and Disney layered characters are coming...



Maybe I'm too new, but it would be nice to see a video on what buttons you're using, how you move things around on the mat, how are the layers used, Can I Make a Square if I don't have George? Is George a must to have with DS?

If you are totally new to Design Studio, be sure to watch THIS VIDEO on the Cricut.com site - it gives you a "guided tour" and explains basic functions but it was made before the updates to the software and does not cover many of the topics requested in the comments above. If you got your software without the CD or manual, you can download the PDF of the manual from the Cricut site - here is the LINK. Once again, this manual has not been updated so there is a lot of information missing but it does give an explanation of the basic functions.

George is not a "must" but is very useful for lots of designs and, since it is the native cartridge for the Original Cricut and can be used to cut in the trial version of the software, you will find many shared .cut files that use George.

The online beginner classes will cover this information as well - info on how to sign up for these is coming as soon as we work out a few more details.


****So - What's the scoop on these online lessons?***

For over a year I have been trying to figure out a way to do online classes that will be affordable and helpful for those who are struggling with the Design Studio software. Many people live far from any store that offers classes and need help getting started in creating their own files. Others would appreciate truly personalized lessons that address their "problem files" and how to fix them.

I have invited my friend, JenC, from the Cricut Message Board, to join me in this "Design Studio School." (Just call us the "Studio Goddesses" - a term that has been jokingly used to describe us at times!) We both have extensive experience in using the software, and, since we are on opposite sides of the USA, we can cover class times for the various time zones more conveniently.

Jen and I have done some trial sessions with volunteer students and we have been very happy with the effective teaching we can do using the service I have paid for. There will be fees for lessons and classes which will vary based on the number of students in the class and the length and topic of the class. We will teach some classes individually and there will be some "clinics" where the "Studio Goddesses" will both attend and troubleshoot the thornier Design Studio issues that you may be encountering. We will also have some project-based classes that will include .cut files and full project directions.

Our testing will take a bit longer, but we are very excited by the chance to use our skills to help others learn and to make our "hobby" help pay for itself!