Silhouette Cameo!

Disclaimer- this is MY personal opinion based on day 1 with my Silhouette Cameo.

So all day today I was impatiently waiting for my Silhouette Cameo to arrive. Finally at around 7pm (after hubby came home with my new Mini Van!) =) it came! I was so infatuated with my new car that I didn't start playing with my Cameo until later this evening and boy was I in for a rude awakening.

I'm a Cricut girl. You all know it. I hoard cartridges and machines, so much so that I could barely muster the strength to sell my Pink Expression even though I have an E2, Imagine and Cricut Mini. The Silhouette Cameo is definitely made for those who are not use to Cricut. With Cricut, yes, you are limited to the cartridges but that is what makes it so awesome, it's literally out of the box ready to use. The hardest thing to figure out are the keypad overlay keys. But not with the Cameo. And I thought I was prepared. I am still trying to figure out exact placement on the mat, I almost broke a nail trying to insert the blade housing and I wasted a bunch of paper. (Not good paper, but nevertheless, paper). After finally deciding that the settings the software was telling me was not actually working (the image would cut half way and the rest would just barely scrape the paper) I finally figured out to change the blade depth and it cut beautifully! Granted, I have only tried to cut fonts right now after I changed the blade but it was able to cut a font I've tried to cut on my Cricut using SCAL that I never could. At 1"!

So my opinion? If you are a true beginner (like most of my friends) definitely start with the Cricut. I am pretty computer savvy but if I would have gonethrough what I did 3 years back when I first bought my Cricut, I would have never scrapped again. But if you are up for a challenge, like I am, then this machine has totally endless possibilities. :) I love being able to cut true type fonts from my computer. I know there are other software for it for Cricut but believe me, this thing definitely cuts AMAZING. Like I said, JUST my opinion! :D

Birthday Decor

I was so excited last week when I walked into Michaels and saw they still had a few Ribbons and Rosette carts available so I quickly snatched one up! The cashier said that it was the hottest selling cart that day and now I can see why! I'm so obsessed with it! I know how to make rosettes without the Cricut but this is just so freakin adorable :))

Last night I was just looking at my craft space and decided that I had not taken out my E to play for awhile. I was originally going to sell her off but I decided now I just couldn't. It seriously is so hard! So I went old school, pulled out the handbook and overlay and cut out my rosettes at 5". I then used my Mini to cut out the crowns at 2.5" from Life's a Party as the centerpiece. Super easy! This is gonna go great in my banner for Julianne's princess party! :)

This is what I meant going "old school". hahaha :) I love my E!

Cricut Mini and 3D Bow

I am so excited! My new Cricut Mini came in today and I can tell you that I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE it! :)) It's so cute and small and it cuts perfectly! In the picture, the green patterned paper is REALLY thin and it cut it with no tears :) This is quickly becoming my fave!

So with the HSN bundle, I also got a $25 credit and used some of it to download "3D Bows". This is my first attempt at the single loop bow, so cute and so so so simple :) This mini bag measure 5 1/2 x 4 so perfect for tiny gifts for the holidays and the bow was cut out at 4".

Life and some Christmas goodies! :)

Hey! Wow, has it been a crazy past few weeks! I don't share a lot of this but I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety and depression a few years back and recently had to go back on my medication. The stress of life and this past year have just been a lot and I could feel myself spiraling out of control so off to the doctor I went. Now I don't know about you, but when ever I get anxiety or depression I start to "google" anything and everything that could possibly be wrong with me which leads to an even worse problem which is why I have been away a bit. I believe that all the prayers everyone has made and after talking to some amazing friends on the Cricut message boards have tremendously helped me and i'm so greatful for that! :)

On to the better news- hehehehe =) So last week I don't know if you heard me talk to Jinger on HSN on tv but my sister bought me the Cricut Mini! Thanks sis! It is my early Christmas gift ;) And if that was not enough, DH bought me the Silhouette Cameo as an early Christmas gift too! I'm soooooooooo excited to get to venture onto a new machine and software! Believe me, my Cricuts and cartridges are going nowhere but change is always nice! It says it should be delievered in early December so I can't wait! I'll be sure to show you on here :)

I've had a few people leave me comments on some posts lately and thank you so much! I really do love when you take the time to comment, makes me feel good and def brightens my day! :)

Yudu :)

Hope you all had a great Halloween- I still can't believe that the year is almost up! I for one, can say that I will be opening 2012 with open arms, this year has been really tough on our family but we're still here, together and God is good :)

Now onto my Yudu project- so since I was directed to Ryonet to buy liquid emulsion, OMG. I have become obsessed with my Yudu! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I have screen printed sweaters, tee's and a few days ago I bought a 220 Mesh screen so I hope to be able to try my hand at paper screening :) So much fun. I will post about my adventures with the liquid emulsion in a next post. Lets just say I had QUITE a learning curve but you know what? TOTALLY WORTH IT! :)

If you own a Yudu I strongly suggest using your coupons up at Michaels or Joanns, they accept them since it's not a "Cricut" product :)

I screen printed my DD a Michael Jackson sweater (because she's awesome) and yesterday I was at Walmart and saw the cutest silhouette tee. I figured I could make my own and with an even cuter design so I came up with the little elephant. How cute right??

Hope you guys had a great week and holiday :)