On Thursday I hosted a small group of Cricut enthusiasts for a get together here in Concord. Two Cricut Circle members from Minnesota posted on the message board a few weeks ago asking if there were any Circle members in the Boston area because they would be in the area for an extended visit with family.
Some people from New Hampshire responded and, since I live midway between NH and the area the Minnesota folks were visiting, I offered to have the group meet here for coffee and then go on for more adventures in shopping and sightseeing(!). We lost a few people to illness or work schedules so we were a small but lively band, just ask the people at the LSS (local scrap shop) that we went to!
 | |
| Nancy, Renee, Kelly, Tina (back row) Sheryl, Diane, Mary (front row) |
I put my little Cricut plushie in the wreath on the door to signal that they were at the right house. We are having work done and I "bribed" one of the carpenters with some of the fabulous gateau that Renee brought and he took photos of our group on the front steps.
We had coffee and treats (thanks again to Renee for baking and Nancy for bringing the fruit!) and then we headed out in the rain to visit a nearby shop called "Ink About It." We found some great bargains - the store had a yard sale a week or so ago and they had some rubber stamps on clearance for $1 - how can anyone resist that? I was able to find a few things (at regular prices) that I have been wanting to try - particularly the honeycomb paper for making fun pop-ups inside your cards (from Inky Antics) and a large La Blanche stamp (I saw these at CHA and wrote about them HERE).
We were worn out from shopping so the next stop was a local sandwich shop and ice cream stand. I didn't bring my camera and forgot my phone so I don't have a photo of the "kiddie" cones we ate. The girl working at the stand described it as a "softball sized scoop" - it was delicious! (I'll add a photo if one of my new friends sends it to me).
 |
| Tina and Mary with their Imagine printed pages |
We did a quick "drive by" tour of some historic sites in Concord (it was getting late and it was pouring rain) and then came back to my house for some crafty time. We made flowers using the Cuttlebug quilling sets (no one but me had used these before) and then Sheryl and I showed Mary and Tina the Imagine. I think we may have convinced them that they "need" this machine. We printed a few full page images - one from Nursery Tails and one from Snow Angel. Tina also made a pirate from Buccaneer.
I think the pirate looks great on this winter page!
I had a wonderful time and I think everyone else also enjoyed the day. To me, this is the sort of thing the Circle should be about. The first year is almost over and while there were some start up issues (and there are still some things that need to be improved or added) I think the Circle is getting closer to what I thought it would be. The cartridges this first year were not all to my taste but there are many other aspects to be considered as part of the membership.
I hope that in the coming year more can be done to facilitate small groups getting together informally. It is always nice to spend time with people who enjoy doing the same things that you like to do. There could be a lot of opportunities for local groups to meet and share without having a formal, organized event with a lot of extra costs involved. It is also a nice way to teach each other to use all of our machines and tools.
I am looking forward to getting together with the "local" people again - thanks to Mary and Tina who came all the way from Minnesota to motivate us to get together!
More cartridges -
Eight more Cricut cartridges were announced on Thursday. Here is a LINK to the announcement page. There were no look books listed yet but they may be coming.
Four are "Events" cartridges with a "soup to nuts" set of items for throwing a theme party (invitations, decorations, favors, etc.)
Girl's Makeup Party
Princess PartyRobot Party
Space Party
and four are "Project" cartridges and cut everything you need to make certain types of projects.
Sweet Tooth Boxes
Word CollageFancy Frames
Flower Shoppe
These carts have limited and specialized content but will be quite useful for some people. The one I am most interested in is the Flower Shoppe. It contains a number of flowers that you form by twirling a spiral - similar to the files I designed after seeing the DCWV roses at CHA in January (you can see those HERE). I was curious to see what the pricing would be for these cartridges since they do not contain very much content and saw that they are listed on the Cricut.com site for $29.99. Terri at Stamps Alive is offering them for $20.95 and she is great to deal with.
You can see images of these cartridges and projects made using them on the Official Cricut Blog HERE.
There are more projects on the "Hello Thursday" blogs - here are some links for you
Joy's blog
Tammy's blog
Mixology Crafts
I have lots to do today to get ready for my Peachy Keen Guest Designer week - it starts Monday! You won't want to miss the great set that Peachy Keen gave me to give away to one lucky person.
Subscribe to Capadia Designs
What a fun day (rain here, too)...I have the Imagine on my Xmas list for this year....only 6 more months...sigh.,...lol...love the page you did...and that pirate is perfect on it...made me LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteIt would be so much fun to get together with other cricut enthusiasts!! I don't really know anyone around my town that cricuts! When I worked at Hobby Lobby, I met others who had a cricut but never really hooked up with anyone!!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite of the new releases is Flower Shoppe, too. Good to know Teri is selling it. Thanks for the info!
Thanks for posting the prices. I had no idea they'd be less expensive. I'm off to email Terri right now.
ReplyDeleteAlso, we used to have a lot of meet-ups from the old MB. I have met several cricut friends that way. I don't see why we have to be members of the circle to do that & why they took away the swarm threads.
:-( wish i could have been there.. sounds like everyone had an AWESOME time... hugs
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on the new releases, can't wait for payday next week to buy the fancy frames cart. Your meet up sounds fun, I'm in the Boston area and always keep my eye out for references to your local shops to find new places to go!
ReplyDeleteNice Photo of all of you! Looks like a good time was had by all and I am with you on get togethers of our own and getting to know one another! I have joined for another year and my expectations for Provo craft are a bit higher because Of all the troubles and dissapointments we endured through the first year, and it should be a better second year! I have to say that they are already on track and Improved. Thanks Diane for sharing your fun time with circle friends!!
ReplyDeleteRexann♥
Looks like you had a great time. I was wondering how you got the pirate to print onto winter scene. I love the pages but I didn't know if they were already designed in the Imagine or if you designed them somehow.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Kathy
The winter scene was a pre-designed page from an imagine cart and the pirate was made separately, just placed on the layout :) And we (Mary and I) certainly had a wonderful day playing in Capadia's craft room and seeing the historical sites in Concord! So a big thank you to our crafty friends!
ReplyDelete