The New Toy...

So...the new toy. No, it's not a spinning wheel. That would've been lovely. What I got is still pretty cool, I must admit.


The Cricut Expression...personal electronic cutter

First, the back story. I didn't buy this for myself. It was a gift. A gift from my mom. My mom's hobby has always been shopping. She was always a devout and prolific shopper. Since she fell ill and basically housebound a number of years ago, the desire to shop has manifested itself in catalogue and tv shopping. I've always been rather grateful, despite the inconvenience of not being able to send photos or messages instantly, that she does not have access to the internet.

So when I go to visit my mom, she usually has a box (or many) of things that she's accumulated through many shopping adventures. I have in my posession, a Magic Bullet , a Perfect Pancake, a Q Grill etcetera etcetera etcetera. You probably think I am kidding. I assure you I am not. In fact, I'm just waiting for a Snuggie to show up at my door.

I was vaguely aware of the Cricut. I think I had passed by the informercial on some bleary-eyed, early Saturday morning. It failed to make any impact or impression greater than 'Huh' on me. Namely because I don't deal in paper crafts. So I'm not entirely sure what the thought process was on my mom's part other than crafty + Marti = purchase.

So she gives me this big honkin' box while I'm home visiting and all I can think is 'how the hell are we going to fit this in the van?' But we dragged it back to Nova Scotia with us and I figured I'd at least give it a go. And I gotta say, this thing is pimped. It's basically this little computerized, electronic cutter that when you insert a cartridge, spits out any number of symbols/shapes/fonts in just about any size. Still, I had no idea what to make with it. Then finally something came to me.



Flash cards. There was a whole mess of other stuff that came with the machine itself, including two cartridges, so I picked a bunch of basic symbols and a tag design and viola, I'm knee deep in another bloody craft/hobby, which I need about as badly as another skein of sock yarn.



After all the cutting and pasting of symbols, I cut out the words, glued those too and it's all over but the laminating. Then I'll either find a ring of some kind to put the tags/cards on or use a ribbon. Easy peasy, lemon squeezey.

So despite what I may have thought in the beginning, I'm having fun. And you know the best part? This thing cuts fabric. Stay tuned...