Elmo And Friends

     Whoot whoot!!! It's the last Friday of the Summer and time for some fun @ My Cricut Craft Room (we always have fun,lol). I was so excited when Erica asked the Design Team to create a lay out using a character. While on our huge family vacation we visited Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA where they have a Sesame Street section. Our youngest grand child just loves Elmo so he was super excited to meet him in person. Here is the lay out I made to capture the memory using Elmo's Party.

     Where to begin? I usually add more than one picture on my LO but today I decided to use just the one that we bought at the park. Charlie was not happy to have to look at the camera rather than his friend Elmo, lol. Most of the cousins were there (we are missing two). I thought the title says it all "Elmo And Friends". I cut all the letters at 1" for the font and the font shadow.

     After cutting the letters I used some Stickles on the letters for some pizzazz. It seems I am using the CCR for a lot of my projects and this one is no exception.I wanted to use a banner and include the kids names. This is so easy to do when you have the Imagine. I used the banners CCR exclusive digital cut and the same Elmo Font for their names. You use 2 separate mat layers. On the first mat I place my banners @ 1". On the second mat I made my names and then placed them over the banners. Now when you go to use the Imagine, I printed the mat layer with the names and then went back and cut only the banners.Voila, done. I didn't ink the banners because I wanted the pic and all the other embellishments to be more prominent.

     I had cut a lot of flower shapes a long time ago so whenever I needed some they would be ready to ink and use on any project that needed them. I just used some Cherry glimmer mist and added a brad for the centers. I wanted my flowers to be "grounded" so I drew in some stems and leaves. I really wanted a playful look. Speaking of playful, how about Elmo? This image is on page 31 and I cut it @ 3". I used some enamel accents in black to bring out his eyes more.

     Would you believe the background paper is My Mind's eye Sweet Dream Holiday Avenue. Yup, it's a Christmas stack! Although I have the Imagine and many pattern carts, I still want to use up some of the paper packs I have and this was perfect. The red roping and pennant banner were from my stash of K&Company banner packs.

     If you are looking for some crafting bargains then you should check out Erica's Store. She is having a fabulous moving sale that you won't want to miss. You can find it HERE.

     Hope you have something wonderful planned for this week end but be safe. Now please head back over to My Cricut Craft Room and see what my Design Team Sisters have to show you.

Cricut VS Silhouette

     This is an exciting giveaway Erica has for you this week. Why not head over to her blog and take a look at all the wonderful prizes she is giving away. Can we just say Thank you Erica. She is always having great prizes over there. You can find out all about the prizes Here
      Today I am going to do something I don't usually do but here goes anyways. It has come to my attention that a group on facebook has posted a survey of sorts to ask you your opinion on the Cricut vs Silhouette die cut machines. The problem is that the question was posed to Silhouette uses and not Cricut uses. In fact, many of those commenting don't even own a Cricut machine!
     I will tell you up front that I have been hunting around for a sale on the Cameo Silhouette and really haven't found any. Then I was researching this machine and found it is a completely different type of machine in the mechanics of how the machine works.
     The one thing I did like about it is that you can print an image from your computer by way of your printer and in their software place registration marks and then cut with your Cameo.Sounds good right?
     Well when I really rationalized it, I realized several things:
1.I need a computer plus access to my printer
2.I need to research my images on line if I don't find what I want in their software
3. I need to have my computer plugged into the Cameo
4. I have to make sure I have enough supplies (extra blades, mats etc) because there are no stores near me that carry these supplies let alone the machine.
5. My craft room is in one end of the house while the computer is in another.
6. I don't always have use of the computer in the evening when my husband is doing his business on our shared computer.
     Why did I spend so much time looking for that pot of gold when I have it right here already, lol. I have the following Cricuts: the baby bug, Expression, the E2,Cricut Cake,gypsy and the Imagine. I don't even want to tell you how many carts I have! The ones I use constantly are my Gypsy and I just love my Imagine. If I think I am losing my Mojo all I have to do is go to a booklet and the creativity begins to flow. I can design where ever I am and then just go home, plug in my gypsy and Voila my project is done. If I need extra PC supplies, they are easily available to me @ Michaels, Jo Ann's and ACMoore. I also can find great prices on line @ stores like Erica's from My Cricut Craft Room or Cricut.com 
     My feeling is that competition is always good however it is better to promote the qualities of your product without bashing another brand particularly if they are completely different machines. For me, I am not the most technically expert person so the simplicity and ease of use makes me a devoted Cricut fan .Plus I have my craft room to work in without disrupting the house to use the computer when I want to craft.
     Thanks for listening to my feelings on the subject. Please feel free to add your own 2 cents on the matter. I'd love to hear what your feelings are.