A Child's Year - One of the Best Yet!

I feel like my birthday came early (it isn't until next week). This morning I received a copy of the new "A Child's Year" cartridge to preview for you and I can tell already that this is going to be one of my all time favorites. This is a full cartridge and it is absolutely packed with great images, cards, tags, wonderful icons and even a full upper and lower case font - WOW!!!



The creative features include Monogram - capital letters in scalloped ovals or balloons,



Icon - so many great images and lots of nice realistic ones for those who don't care for some of the "cute" images on other cartridges,



a Card feature with folding cards and flat note cards,



Tags with some interesting layering options,



a full font which is very classic and useful - on first glance it reminds me of a cross between Alphalicious and Doodletype



and finally, a shadow feature for all of the intricate, Scherenschnitte style images on the main keypad.

I am so eager to start cutting - this cartridge is not in Design Studio yet but will be added soon (I believe they are working on adding the keywords). I resisted the temptation to go play right away so I could take photos to share with you - next I will be off to try some cuts which I will try to post later today.

This type of cartridge has so much to offer even if you don't use Design Studio - let me show you what it includes....(remember you can click on any photo to see it in a large size)



Birthday images with yet another cupcake option - the child in the high chair is adorable!



Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day - the shamrock and hearts are wonderful!



Two sets of Easter images - I love the little chick and the bunny in the tag.



Children with umbrellas - I remember someone was recently asking for a "Morton Salt" image - this would work very well. Next there are three pages of garden images - the border in the shift of the Icon looks great and I really like the girl pushing a wheelbarrow.



More garden images, a great watering can and potted plant and wonderfully detailed realistic leaves.



Outdoor - fishing images with a very nice fish on the Tag option and then some special "Mom" images. The roses and doves with a heart are beautiful.



"Dad" images with baseball, bat and cap and yummy ice cream - cones and a sundae!



Three pages of beach images - cute beach balls and beach umbrella vignette.



The third page of beach images and 4th of July (this was the image that is on the Products page on Cricut.com) The little go-cart looks fantastic - so much detail...



More 4th of July - watermelon and crossed flags and some very nice reading images and book icons.



Some school images, including a cap and diploma and a lovely realistic apple with detailed leaves.



Music images - take a look at that violin and the grand piano - I know I will be using these! The shaped card on that page looks very nice as well. The "craft" images include some nice scissors, the heart in hand motif (common in quilting) and a sweet girl at an easel.



Two sets of Halloween images - great pumpkins and costumed children.



Thanksgiving "Pilgrims" with a detailed turkey and some wonderful winter images - the snowman is very charming and the snowflakes icons are lovely and different.



Two sets of Christmas images - the holly icon is very stylish for a card and the steaming cup of tea and the teacup card can be used throughout the year.



Pages of images with animals including a duck and a very detailed beetle (almost scary!) along with some lovely bird images.



More birds and some cats! (I know many people have been wishing for more cat images).



The dogs are not forgotten and there is a cute folding tag of a bone



Some sets of girls playing old fashioned games and a very cute hand card.



A few cooking images and a rolling pin, wooden spoon and mixing bowl - also some more teacup and teapot images including a nice aperture card and tag.



Baby doll and airplane images - some "captain's" wings and a suitcase - also some nice word art.



Two sets of toy images - the tricycle and little wagon are very detailed - also a great card with a scalloped front.



"Dress up" images - a lucky horseshoe and stick pony and a cute princess dress and crown.



Just look at those teddy bears - they are great! and the bubble bath images are also sweet...



Time for bed - a lovely card and tag, another cat and the "tooth fairy" with a tooth and tooth brush - the little girls with fairy wings are precious.

The designer of this cartridge is Sharyn Sowell and I have to say I think she is amazingly talented and has given us some wonderful new images. I like the fact that many of them are very realistic so they can be used for all sorts of things and are not limited to "Kids" projects and pages. This was a cartridge that I have been interested in ever since I heard about it from the reports from CHA last winter and it not only lives up to but far exceeds my expectations.

(Thanks to Cathy from the Cricut Message Board I am adding a LINK to Sharyn Sowell's website - truly incredible work!)

I am going to go do some trial cuts and will post them as soon as I can - I am sorry to be such an "enabler" but I think that once you look at these images this cartridge will end up on a lot of "wish lists" because it is so classy and versatile.

I'd like to say thanks again to Provo Craft for the honor of being asked to review this cartridge.