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Cricut Chatter

The NEW Cricut Expression 2 Anniversary Edition will be highlighted on HSN on Tuesday, April 26, during the following times (all times EASTERN): Midnight - 2:00 a.m.; 6:00 a.m. - 7:00 a.m.; 11:00 a.m. - Noon; 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.; 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Watch the HSN schedule as they will sometimes change these times.

If you want to be one of the first to see it, you'll need to watch your clock on Monday night, April 25. Central time zone - tune in at 11:00 p.m.; Mountain time zone - tune in at 10:00 p.m.; Pacific time zone - tune in at 9:00 p.m.

So what's new about this "new" Cricut Expression 2 (CE2)?

Pre-Loaded Cartridges: It will come pre-loaded with Cricut Essentials, Cricut American Alphabet, Cricut Decals, and Just a Note! The Cricut Decals and Just a Note are exclusive to the CE2. Just a Note was designed by Cosmo Cricket.

LDC TOUCH SCREEN: Larger, faster, full-color LCD touch screen display with stylus.

NO KEYPAD OVERLAY REQUIRED! Mat Preview: See shapes you're cutting and where they fit on the mat before you cut. (Similar to using the Gypsy.)

Materials Profile: Choose a default setting for materials you like to cut OR customize a material setting just the way you like it.

Load Mat: There are now brackets on either side of the loading area to make sure your mat stays in place.

Cartridges: It will use both the regular Cricut and Imagine cartridges. You cannot print the Imagine cartridges, but you can cut the images!

Cutting-area Light: A light under the cutting blade to let you see where you're cutting on the mat.

Layered View: See ALL creative features and layers right on the screen, including shift layers. NO NEED to keep referring back to the handbook!

Wrapping: Fit a sequence of images or letters to a specific length by wrapping them onto more than one line or mat.

Independent Image Sizing: Size each image on a mat on its own. (Similar to using the Gypsy.)

Apply All: Apply all of the edits (scale, flip, rotate, etc.) you do for one image to all images on a mat at the same with just one button.

This machine was first introduced in January, and is just now being made available to the general public.

There are several blogs that have announcements and videos for the new CE2. One of the more informative videos (approximately 20 minutes) can be found here: www.mypinkstamper.com/2011/03/cricut-expression-2-anniversary-edition.html.

I haven't seen any pricing yet, but will keep you posted as more information becomes available!

Spring 2011 - Overall Winner

This stunning layout was the overall winner at the Spring 2011 Retreat. It took about two hours to hand-cut all of those little squares. Congratulations - thanks for sharing such beautiful work!

Spring 2011 - Winning "Other" Project

Cindy Tyner won for the best "other " project. She created this adorable mini-album entitled "Summer". Congratulations Cindy!

Spring 2011-Winning Scrapbook Layout

Randee Hallmark had the winning layout at the Spring 2011 Retreat. The banner on the left-side page was created using the Tie The Knot Cricut cartridge. Congratulations Randee!

Spring 2011 Retreat - Done!

Well, the Spring 2011 Retreat has all been boxed up and put away. We'll rest a bit, and then start preparing for our Fall 2011 Retreat.* (*More news about that retreat in a separate post). We had a wonderful week-end, with 43 people in attendance! We had croppers from Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and, of course, Arkansas! Mary Ellen created name tags in the shape of the state to represent each cropper. It was fun to see where everyone traveled from. As usual, we gave away lots of fun prizes, and free goodies! Dora taught a class on a 'waterfall' technique that was used on the free layout kit. I demoed how to stamp on your pictures, a technique that was used in the Early Bird layout kit. We also gave each cropper a mini magnetic bulletin board kit, and a test tube candy holder kit. 2Katies, a local design team, came on Saturday afternoon and taught a beautiful 2-page layout class. This was an optional, extra, class that people could purchase if they wanted. Saturday night we had our layout contest. We had 27 entries - lots of layouts and a few cards, mini-books, etc. All of the entries were awesome, but the winners were truly works of art! We'll post those in a separate, photo-heavy, post. Sunday comes awfully fast! All too soon it was time to give away the last round of door prizes, the grand prize, and then the "big" grand prize! :) At this Retreat, we gave away an Ott lite - many people have been asking about them, so we gave away a small one that can be used for travel - like coming to a crop! Our "big" grand prize is always a "free ride" on the next Croppin' Train. This time, Dana Reed, a first-time attendee, won the free ride. Dana - we look forward to seeing you again in the Fall! We hope everyone enjoyed themselves, and that you got a few things accomplished, too! All of us at Croppin' Train truly appreciate your attendance at any Croppin' Train event, and hope to see each of you again soon! Thanks for riding with us!! Pat

CRICUT ALERT!

Many of you have asked about 'good places' to buy Cricut products. We can sometimes offer sale pricing, but there's a few websites out there that you want to keep an eye on. One of them - www.allthingscricut.com - is having some great bargains right now. Be sure and check them out today -I don't know how long their current prices will be in effect.

Spring 2011 Shirts

Our new shirts are here - and we are so excited...

S-XL are $10 and 2XL-5XL are $12

Another Sneak Peek!

For everyone that fully pays their registration early, we like to thank you with an extra layout kit. This Spring's layout kit will be using Vanilla, Black and Turqouise, with the following picture sizes: (1) 4x6 or 6x4, and (3) 3x3. You can do some stamping on this - you can even stamp directly onto your pictures if you'd like. The kit also includes two pre-cut Cricut pieces.

“It’s the Little Things”

We are pleased to offer a third class opportunity for you this Spring retreat.

Join the 2 Katie’s of 2 Katie Designs for this fabulous 2 page layout class! This class will be on Saturday at 4pm.

They will focus on making pages fabulous while still quickly scrappin’ those 4x6 snap shots! Join them to create this memorable two page layout featuring a newly released paper line from Fancy Pants Designs. Capture the “little things” in your life while learning fresh scrapbook techniques that will leave you inspired and motivated to scrapbook the memories that are often forgotten.

This class is for an additional fee of $15. Click the paypal button to the right to sign up and pay for this class.

Spring 2011 Retreat Class Layout Teaser

It was requested last retreat to let you know what colors we are using for the class layouts you receive. Great Idea!

The layout kit is a Springy layout. The colors are yellow, orange, pink, red, green, cream. Lots of colors as you can tell.

You will need these photos: a 4x4 or 5x5 and seven 2x2's and a 4x4 and a 2.5x3.75

It features an interactive waterfall technique for the photos. We will have an actual class on how to construct this piece on Saturday of retreat at 10:30am.

We are excited to share this technique with you.

Spring 2011 Retreat

We only have 10 spots left for the Spring 2011 Retreat. If you haven't signed up yet or if your friend hasn't, now is the time.

Challenge

Read this article then post what you create with this technique.

Learn more about overlaying textures onto your photos to enhance the stories you're telling.

I can't wait to see what you create

What Can You Expect

We want to invite you to attend the Croppin' Train Scrapbook Retreat week-end.

We are excited to have the retreat back at the Embassy Suites and Convention Center in Rogers, AR. This venue is easily accessible from the highway, and is very centrally located to a variety of food establishments and other shopping areas. Signed, Sealed and Delivered is directly across the street. 

For those that have not attended a Croppin' Train event in the past, here's what you can expect.

Friday:
The week-end ride begins at noon. Pick out your very own 8' table (let us know if you want to be seated with a particular group of croppers) and set up your work area. A little later in the evening, when most people have arrived, we'll introduce ourselves, pass out the Welcome Aboard goodie bags, and take a brief tour of both the Supply Depot and Boxcar Store. You can crop as late as you want.

Saturday:
If you are staying in the hotel, you can start the morning off with a hearty breakfast (we have to fortify ourselves for all that scrapbooking!). The crop room will open at 7:30am. Throughout the day, we'll offer demonstrations of new products or techniques at our Demonstration Station. If there's a product or a technique you are particularly interested in, please email us before the retreat so we can try and include it in our demonstrations. 

Sunday:
This is always a short day. The crop room will open at 7:30am. After breakfast (if you are staying in the hotel), you'll want to give yourself that 'last-minute' push to get more scrapbooking done. We'll draw for the final ticket prizes, and get you all on the road by 2:00 p.m.

Door Prizes
We like getting prizes when we attend events, so we want to make sure you get lots of prizes at a Croppin' Train event. In addition to prizes, you'll also win tickets throughout the week-end. You can use those tickets to try and win your favorite prizes on Sunday. These are special prizes that will be put out Friday night; we'll draw a ticket for some prizes on Saturday and the rest on Sunday. You do need to be present on Sunday to receive the ticket-prizes.

Supply Depot
We are proud to offer one of the best Supply Depots in the area! We want to make sure you have all the basics, plus several 'cool tools', at your disposal - and you don't have to bring them from home! You'll find a substantial listing of available tools on the website. Check it out periodically - we are continually updating it with new tools, stamps, etc.

Boxcar Store
We celebrated the Grand Opening of our Boxcar Store at the Spring 2008 Retreat. We are able to offer an impressive array of products -- cardstock, designer paper, fibers, embellisments, alterables, storage / organization items, etc. -- at very low prices (at least 15% off MRSP)! Again, if there's a particular product you are interested in, please email us before the Retreat and we'll see if we can make the item(s) available for you. 

Classes

You will receive layout materials for two classes. We will have a tool area set up specifically for these class kits and have samples to view while you are at the retreat. These classes can be completed at your own leisure. And we are there to help you while you work too.

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.” — Mary Lou Cook

We need your input

Please use the poll on the right to vote on your top two date picks for the Fall 2011 event.

Crop Express on Feb 5th

Our Crop Express on Feb 5th is sold out.
For those of you that are signed up - see you soon.
For those of you who missed it this time, we plan to have another in May.

Cricut Station

At our last Crop Express I took a picture of our Cricut station. This is the same station we set up for our Spring and Fall retreat except that we have two Cricut Expressions for you to use there.

This picture only shows half of the cartridges that we bring to share with you:
Here are the rest of them:
To see the whole list check out our Cricut post here.

9 New Stickles Colors!!

9 New Stickles Colors and we will have them at the Spring retreat just for you.

Let your projects sparkle with everyone's favorite—Stickles Glitter Glue! Nine luscious new colors of Stickles in the same high quality, non-settling formula that you know and love.

The new colors include:

• True Blue
• Mystic Green
• Paprika
• Lagoon
• Midnight Blue
• Thistle
• Glam Pink
• Firefly
• Tropical Tangerine

Use Stickles to add glittery dimension to craft projects—easily add dots, lines, doodles and draw on paper, fabric, plastic, wood, metal and more.

check out this blog post on Ranger to see them http://blog.rangerink.com/blog/2011/01/nine-new-stickles-colors-and-a-contest.html

Scrapbooking - Wedding Photos

The daughter of one of my best friends from high school got married last fall. I've created a scrapbook for her as a late(!) gift. All of the base cardstock used is from Best Creations - their Mr & Mrs line. It's all double-sided; one side is embossed and glittery; the other side is plain (but still nice). Everything coordinates nicely, and makes it easy to add any accent colors you wish. The bride's colors were eggplant, plum and silver. I could never find any plum paper that really worked, so I stuck with (SU!) Elegant Eggplant, Basic Black and Silver. I also used LOTS of bling on these pages (at least LOTS for me!) Most of the bling was added with the iRock tool, but some were Heidi Swapp self-adhesive jewels. And lots of Cricut cuts - several different cartridges. Hope you enjoy! More pictures can be seen on our Facebook page. Thanks for looking! Pat