Luisa’s Scrapbooking IdeasCapture Family Memories With Fun Scrapbooking Ideas

Scrap booking is not only a terrific hobby, it is also a way to keep and preserve memories. In addition to the photos and knick-knacks, how you decorate and the decorations you use say also a lot about the event and how you felt about it. But sometimes, you can feel limited with just some glue, stickers and a pair of scissors. Wouldn’t it be great if you could make custom-made paper crafts, being able to cut any shape and not be limited by preset paper punches?

Provo Craft has made that possible with the Cricut. The Cricut machine, pronounced the way you would the word ‘cricket’, uses cartridges to create exact die-cut shapes and letters without having to use a computer or other hardware.

If you’re thinking of buying your own Cricut cutting machine, you can more about it and how to take advantage of its creative potential, with this quick run-through.

The machine comes as a portable unit that plugs into a standard 110V electrical outlet. Each machine may have specific installation procedures so read the manual before operating it the first time.

A Cricut machine comes as a standard package with one cartridge. If you need more, you can buy more cartridges through craft and scrapbook specialty stores, discount shops, or even online retailers. The blade is electronically guided which means that you do not have to do anything to operate the Cricut beyond pressing the ‘on’ button and feeding the paper into the machine.

As far as paper stock is concerned, the Cricut can cut vellum and board stock up to half a millimeter in thickness. To maximize the machine’s potential, you can also get cardstock and designer paper made by Provo Craft that work with the shape Cricut cartridges.

The Cricut can cut letters and shapes as tall as 1 to 5 and half inches tall and as long as 11 inches. (Basically, the limit is dictated by the paper stock you use.) It has a paper-saving option that lays out letters and shapes in such a way that waste paper is minimized with each project.

Cricut cartridges come in as many variations and shapes as you can think of. They also come in themes and motifs depending on the subject of your project. The selection ranges from sports to Hannah Montana Cricut Cartridges, and from beach to wedding themes. You’ll be able to find one that meets your event and project.
To find good deals on Cricut cartridges, you can check out http://www.cricutcartridges4less.com.