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Review: Cricut Design Studio Scrapbooking Software

June 21, 2011 By tmscrapb Leave a Comment

The Cricut brand is no stranger to scrapbookers and the Criucut Design Studio software can save a scrapbooker time and money. The Cricut Design Studio is a software appliation that connects your computer to your Cricut machine and helps with designing layouts and manipulating images.

What is the Cricut Design Studio for?

The Cricut Design Studio is an easy way to design a cutting layout by organizing everything on the on-screen cutting mat. You can combine shapes and letters from any Circuit cartridge available, rotate doodads, and resize shapes. You can also “weld” letters together (this cannot be done without the software). Cricut.com provides updates to owners of the Design Studio software via downloads from their website.  Cricut Design Studio works with both the original Cricut machines and Cricut Expressions.

Installation:
Cricut Design Studio is easy to install. Simply load the CD into the tray, and follow the on-screen instructions. The software installs in less than five minutes.

Features:
The onscreen cutting mat is the main feature of this software. I’m a very visual person, and for me, the Cricut Design Studio is a great way to visualize what you’re doing before you actually cut the paper.  I’ve wasted so many pretty scrapbooking papers cutting designs that ended up being the wrong size, or just didn’t work with my creative vision for the page. The program offers a “preview” option, so you can see your design exactly how it will appear on the paper before sending it to the machine for cutting.

With every tool, there is a learning curve, and the Cricut Design Studio is no different. While the software is initially easy to use and operate, some features might frustrate users. For example, the “weld” feature wasn’t working properly – it was still cutting each letter individually. After ripping a few hairs out and wasting several sheets of paper, I found out that I needed to select “weld” for each letter individually. You don’t need to be computer guru to use this software, but there are a few nitpicky options you’ll need to learn.

Cricut Design Studio has a searchable library of every image and font letter design Cricut has on all of its cartridges, making it easy to find what you’re looking for.

Product Specifications:
Included in the box is the Circuit Design Studio software CD-ROM, a 10-foot USB cable, and a Cricut mousepad.


Price & Availablity:
Cricut Design Studio software can be found for around -. You can purchase this software at most craft or scrapbooking stores, or online at Cricut.com, Amazon, or eBay.

Cons
You can only cut shapes and letters from the Cricut cartridges you own. For me, this posed a problem when I first got the software. At the time, I only owned two Cricut cartridges. After searching the Design Studio library, I saw so many other cute fonts and doodads that I went out and bought more cartridges. Buying this software proved to be an expensive investment. If you can exhibit more self-control than me, you’ll be fine!

You also can only load the software on one computer. I recommend installing Cricut Design Studio on a laptop, so you can move it around with your Cricut or take it along to scrapbooking parties. If you are installing on a desktop computer, make sure you have space available to setup your Cricut machine.

Currently, Cricut Design Studio is only available for PCs (Windows operating systems). It is not available for the MAC.

Final thoughts:
I recommend this software to any avid Cricut user. Welding letters and having complete control over the patterns and doodads was very important to me. With the digital cutting mat, I waste less paper—if you saw how much paper I was wasting before getting Cricut Design Studio, I’m sure this software has already paid for itself! If you’re interested in this software, but aren’t quite sure if you want to buy it, Cricut offers a free trial download on their website. Happy scrapbooking!

Written by MissyJess

If you thought digital scrapbooking looked complicated, so did I. When I first came across the term while searching for scrapbooking stuff online, I gave it a wide berth – until eventually I looked a bit closer, and was relieved to find lots of help avail
Video Rating: 3 / 5

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500 Scrapbooking Sketches Book Online-500 Scrapbooking Sketches Book

June 21, 2011 By tmscrapb Leave a Comment

Do you want to surprise your husband and youngsters who employed to laugh at your inability to use a pc? Do you would like your pals be envious of your fabulous loved ones album?
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Of course, each woman’s reply is Yes! But how can to attain these objectives?

By hrs of creative thinking and doing work?No, my solution is 500 Scrapbooking Sketches, a magical device that can make your life more light and colorful!

For a personal computer rookie as well as a veteran, pages of e-books are regarded as to become a huge work,but by using 500 Scrapbooking Sketches, beautiful personalized pages will not be a dream!As it is possible to see in the name, 500 Scrapbooking Sketches can offer you with a pool of500 different but amazing layouts.

You just choose one of those programs laid in advance for you, you simply require to choose 1 and place in your images.
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The huge quantity of layouts not just saves your valuable time but additionally pull you out off the hopelessabyss with the sense of pc illiteracy. You might have to acknowledge that most of men and women are not that geniuses, but ordinary people like you and me. The demand for Michelango-like creativeness always drives us crazy. Feeling incapable undermines our confidence and destroys the happiness of our lives lives.

After choosing up the suitable template, all you’ve to complete is filling within the blanks in your very own fashion. Many hundreds of layouts can inspire your own creativity, sparking your creativity.
Concentrate on writing feedback and developing the shades and patterns of one’s titles,
backgrounds and boarder strips. Though you are using the exact same basic templates as others, it really is your customization that may make a exclusive album which is the envy of everybody. So, let’s overlook about t indecision and self-doubt, your life is as much as you! By using 500 Scrapbooking Sketches, your existence will probably be filled with power and happiness again!

Concentrate on writing feedback and developing the shades and patterns of one’s titles,
backgrounds and boarder strips. Though you are using the exact same basic templates as others, it really is your customization that may make a exclusive album which is the envy of everybody. So, let’s overlook about t indecision and self-doubt, your life is as much as you! By using 500 Scrapbooking Sketches, your existence will probably be filled with power and happiness again!

 

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ezinearticles.com – New to Digital Scrapbooking? Not sure which software to use? Here you can understand 3 types to consider: * Scrapbook Layout Programs * Photo editing software * Online photo album creation services

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How to Make Numerous Scrapbook Gift Calendars On a Dime

June 21, 2011 By tmscrapb Leave a Comment

Everyone loves a unique gift, especially family. Capture the best memories of the year in a personal scrapbook calendar. Have 10 people to make them for and want to save time–and money? Read on! 

Things You’ll Need:

Scrapbook supplies

A nearby office supply store

Photos of the family from throughout the year 

Step 1

First, gather together all of your photos from the last year. I myself, after scrapbooking pages, put all my extras in a folder. That way, at the end of the year, I have already printed photos to use for the yearly calendar that all of the family has come to love! 

Step 2

Figure out what pictures you want to use for what month. For example, if little Bobby’s birthday is in April, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do that month’s design with photos from his last birthday party. Follow that same guideline for other holidays–previous Halloween costumes can be for October, Valentine photos for February, etcetera etcetera. 

Step 3

Scrap your pages on a landscape (wide, not tall) 8 1/2 by 11 paper. Not 12×12–trust me on this. Do one for each month, and then be sure to make a cover page for the front of the calendar. 

Step 4

Take your finished scrapped pages to your local OfficeMax or Office Depot, or other friendly office supply store that has a copying department. I prefer OfficeMax myself, as they always have sales on their calendars near the Christmas holiday. Ask to have a yearly calendar done, and let them know what order your pages go in (in the event you don’t have the month incorporated in the page). 

Step 5

In about 24 hours (depending on their workload), you will have numerous calendars that are exactly the same, but you only scrapped once! They come out looking great, and they’re perfect for the person who has everything! But watch out–sometimes, these become a family favorite, and you’ll be EXPECTED to do them each year! 

TIPS AND TRICKS 

Make your designs pop–use lots of contrasting colors, and make full use of the paper! 

Don’t put anything important too close to the edges–they may get cut off a little while processing at the copy department. Keep about an inch border before adding any special details. 

Sara Haley is a freelancer currently living in Nebraska with her husband and two children, along with numerous four-legged friends.  She writes for Bukisa, eHow, and her own personal blog at sarakhaley.blogspot.com.  She has written for numerous publications both online and off, and continues to enjoy sharing her knowledge and love for life with others.

Written by SaraHaley

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