The end of Design Studio updates...

Provocraft have announced that they will no longer be releasing updates to Design Studio. This includes both program updates and Content (cartridge) updates. Here's their announcement:

"In order to focus our attention and resources on creating and improving the Cricut® experience, we will not be providing further updates to the Cricut DesignStudio® software. In addition, any cartridges released after April 11, 2013 will not be updated to appear in the Cricut DesignStudio® software. We will still offer support, but there will be no additional content updates for the Cricut DesignStudio® software."

The final content update (v130401) was released early April 2013. That update contained the following cartridges:


Animal Antics
Boho Graphics Iron On
Brooklyn Iron On 
Creative Cards
Creative Memories Tiny Treasures
Folk Art Festival
Outdoor Man
Southwest
Simple Cards
Something to Remember
Teresa Collins December 25th.

Any cartridges released after the above won't be added to DS.

You can download the above update from: http://www.cricut.com/home/support/cricut-designstudio-reg-support/

(Select Cartridge Update 2.)

Any previous cartridges will be found in the Program Update (cartridges released up to Nov 2009) and Cartridge Update 1 (cartridges released after Nov 2009.)

Ready or not... here it is!

Please ignore the mess!

The decorators haven't quite finished!  And the removalists haven't finished unpacking!!!

http://thenon-craftycrafter.blogspot.com.au/

A little bit of news.....

Many of you know that I am a long time fan of the Cricut machines along with its various software programs. OK, I tolerate the Gypsy, but the others I love! Yes, even my Imagine which almost made it to the deep end of the pool a month or so ago. But it decided to behave again and is out of the dog house! :)

Anyway.... I'm all for trying new things so like many other Cricut users I have looked around at other machines and software and I recently took the plunge and bought myself a Silhouette Cameo.

Be still my heart! If it would cook me dinner I'd marry it! (Not that hubby ever cooks me dinner.... but he buys a mean takeaway!!)

Does this mean I won't be using my Cricuts anymore? Of course it doesn't!!! I love each of them. I use my Cricuts just about every day. In fact they're working overtime at the moment creating gifts for the Circle Mania Crop in Atlanta in April. (Come on April 17!!!)

Does this mean I won't be writing any more tutorials for Design Studio? Well... on that front there's really nothing left to write about is there? The program hasn't been updated since 2010 (mainly because it's been replaced by Cricut Craft Room), there hasn't been a cartridge content update since October 2012 and I'm thinking we'll be lucky to see another one. I hope I'm wrong though. While ever Cricut Craft Room has to be used online there will always be a place for Design Studio in my craft room! Now if PC ever decided to release a stand alone version of CCR that doesn't require us to be online to use it.... then I'll gladly retire my Design Studio!

So what does this all mean for this blog then? I've put a lot of thought into that question and here's what I've decided to do.

I have created a new blog which I am still working on which I hope to release this week. Rather than try and maintain three blogs (this one, the Cricut Craft Room blog and the new one), I'll post any new tutorials/information on the new blog.

All the content on this blog will remain available though. I won't be closing it down. There's far too much info here and I'm not sure I'll have time to transfer it all over to the new blog.

The new blog will have any new Cricut tutorials on it, links to the old blogs where relevant and I'll also be sharing what I learn about the Silhouette. Plus, I'll now have a place to share other paper crafting stuff apart from die-cutting!

I'll still be maintaining and updating my Cricut Fonts list as well as my Full list of Cricut cartridges list. You'll find links to them in the sidebar on the new blog. 


I'll post soon with the link to the new blog. I sure hope you'll make your way over there and become a follower and/or subscriber! I don't want to lose any of the 962 followers here!!! :)  Almost made it to the magic 1000!

Latest version numbers of Cricut machines and software

You'll find all the latest version numbers over on my new blog.....

http://thenon-craftycrafter.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/cricut-latest-versions-numbers-machines.html

For updates feel free to follow/subscribe over there! :)

Carts with Fonts list updated for October 2013

You'll find my Cricut Fonts list over at my new blog => http://thenon-craftycrafter.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/cricut-carts-containing-fonts-with.html

For updates please come follow me or subscribe over there! :)

Teddy Bears in Oz Blog Hop

Welcome to the Teddy Bears in Oz Blog Hop. You should have arrived here from Paulette at Around the Block with Scrapalette

We are featuring teddy bears created from the Cricut Lite cartridge Teddy Bear Parade dressed as characters from The Wizard of Oz. Fun, right?

I'm a little nervous because this is my first Blog Hop everrrrrrrr!!!

If you are just joining us, start your journey down the yellow brick road at RockinRenee's blog: I came, I saw, I created.

The character I am sharing with you today is Glinda the Good Witch of the North.

Here's my inspiration:

And here's my bear:

I cut the bear out at 4" and dug through my daughters Barbie doll clothes and found a ball gown I cut up for the top layer. (No trauma involved. When I asked her if it was OK if I sacrificed one of Barbie's ball gowns she just rolled her eyes...

Maybe because she's 16!!!!) :)

For the gown I used the Queen of Hearts costume on Teddy Bears Parade. It's the 5th key on the top row of the cartridge.

For the "puffy" sleeves I actually used the top layer of the dress which I rotated 180 degrees and welded it to the base layer of the dress. (I first used Hide Contour to hide the heart and the ruffle.)

I wanted Glinda to be all sparkly so as well as the sparkles that were already on Barbie's ball gown I also used glittered cardstock for the other layers of the dress. Here's a close up:

Instead of using the wand (or I guess it's a scepter) from the Queen of Hearts I created my own using a rectangle and star from Cricut Craft Room Basics.

Hope you like her!!!

Thank you for joining us today. The complete file to recreate The Wizard of Oz character bears can be found at the starting blog. Your next visit down the yellow brick road is at paper, craft & scissors

And here is the complete blog list in case you follow the wrong path:

1. I came, I saw, I created

2. Melody Lane Designs

3. Stamp, Cut, Create!

4. A Day in the Life of a Horse Bunny

5. Random Thoughts of a Scrapbooker

6. Sara W. Andrews

7. Around the Block with Scrapalette

8. The Cricut Lover's guide to Design Studio  (that's me!)

9. paper, craft & scissors

Full list of Cricut Cartridges

You'll now find my Cricut cartridge list over on my new blog here: Full list of Cricut cartridges

Hello Thursday July 2012

Back again with the July Hello Thursday cartridge release.

Three carts were announced this month - Fontopia (a font cartridge plus some cool looking card bases), A Frighful Affair (Halloween) and Close to My Heart's new cartridge collection called Artiste. Like the previous CTMH collection the cartridge comes with co-ordinating stamp sets and chipboard sheets.

All three have already been added to Design Studio. You can download the new Cartridge Content from here: http://www.cricut.com/cds/Update.aspx

As usual, go check out the Cricut Blog to see more fantastic work from the Cricut Design team.

Provocraft have done something quite different with the release of Fontopia. Not only have they released the full cart that includes a monogram font set, crests and cards, they have also released for sale digitally just the monogram font set, just the crests and cards set and all the monogram letters individually.

However...only the full cartridge is available on Design Studio. But if you use Cricut Craft Room or a Gypsy you can make use of the digital downloads.

Cricut Craft Room has everything available to purchase separately as listed above.

The Gypsy contains the full cartridge, the Monogram set and the Crests & Cards set. The individual monograms aren't available.

I think it's a great idea that PC are now going to be offering individual images for sale!

Fontopia

A Frightful Affair

CTMH - Artiste

 

Paper Dolls Teen Scene layering

This tutorial has been moved to my new blog here: 

http://thenon-craftycrafter.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/cricut-design-studio-paper-dolls-teen_3.html

June Hello Thursday

Well, a very late Hello Thursday post from me. I've been sick with the dreaded Flu but am finally back!

You've most likely already seen (and possibly purchased) the carts from June's Hello Thursday announcement but just in case here they are.

There were two carts released in June - A Quilted Christmas (can't wait to get that one) and Dr. Checkup. That looks like a fun cart!

Both have just been added to the Design Studio Cartridge content update. You can get it here: http://www.cricut.com/cds/Update.aspx

Interestingly, PC have also added the CCR Basics cartridge to DS. I'm not sure how that's going to work but I'll give it a try and see what happens!

See you around the 19th for the July cartridge release. Some of us were lucky to see a sneak peak of a cartridge called Create a Critter 2 in CCR. It looks similar to Create a Critter 1 but the animals appear to be dressed in seasonal outfits. Can't wait to see if it's released this month!

Paper Dolls Teen Scene door size doll

This post has been moved to my new blog here: 

http://thenon-craftycrafter.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/cricut-design-studio-paper-dolls-teen.html

Hello Thursday - May 2012

Three new carts released this month. Check out the Cricut blog for projects created with the carts.
Official Cricut Blog

A quick side note - Art Deco, Chip Decor, Paper Dolls Teen Scene and Spring Cottage (the carts from March and Apr/May) were added to the Cartridge Content update yesterday! Download from here: Cricut Design Studio Home

To the Cabin (Seasonal)

Word of Mouth (Imagine Art cartridge)

Spring Chic (Imagine Pattern Cartridge)

Spring Cottage reference sheet

If you've purchased the Spring Cottage cartridge you will know that there is no handbook or tri-fold card showing the images. So, I put this together and hope you find it useful!

Here's a sample:

You can download a PDF from here:
https://www.box.com/s/94e6264c1f8b4ab408df

Hello Thursday Apr/May 2012

The April Hello Thursday was delayed until the first week of May. There were 5 new cartridges announced.

Over the Hill (Events)
Paper Play (Projects)
Pretty Pennants (Projects)
Tablescapes - Spring & Summer (Events)
Wildcard 2

Check out the great samples by the Cricut Blog Design team here: http://cricutblog.org/?p=4579&doing_wp_cron

Here's the preview of the carts:

Over the Hill

Paper Play

Pretty Pennants

Tablescapes - Spring & Summer

Wild Card 2

DS for Newbies manual

Back when Design Studio was first released I started putting a beginners guide together. For some reason I never got around to posting it on the blog. Instead I concentrated on putting individual tutorials together.

Well, a month or so ago I dragged the guide out, dusted it off and finished it!

So, if you're new to DS or just want a refresher on what the program can actually do, here it is! Just click the link below to download the PDF.

=> Cricut Lovers Guide to Design Studio <= 

If you find the guide useful I'd appreciate it if you could become a follower (if you're not already).

If you wish to share the guide with your friends - great! However, I'd love it if you could direct them to this blog rather than just share the link to the file.

Till next time!

Hello Thursday - March 2012

Five fabulous carts this month!

Art Deco
Chip Decor (Exclusive to Hobby Lobby)
Contemporary Nature (Imagine Pattern cart)
Paper Doll Teen Scene
Spring Cottage

Don't forget to visit the Official Cricut Blog to see the projects created by the Cricut Design Team!

Here's a preview of the carts:

Comparison chart CCR vs DS vs Gypsy

This post has been moved to my new blog - here:

http://thenon-craftycrafter.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/cricut-comparison-chart-ccr-vs-ds-vs.html

Please come follow me there!  ♥

Hello Thursday - February 2012

Yes, I'm a bit late again.... :)

And you've most likely already seen the new carts for February. But just in case you've been on a desert island for the last 4 days here's the cartridge release for February.

3 new carts - Garden Soup, Tags Bags Boxes and More 2 and Creative Memories Divine Wedding.

All 3 have already been added to the Design Studio Cartridge Update along with the 2 missing carts from December - Victorian Romance and CM This & That.

All images are from the Official Cricut Blog. Make sure you go check it out! The Shirt box on TBBM2 is so cute! And I'm told (thanks Scrapalette) that the Cracker actually pops!

Finally fixed!

It took me 2 days and lots of swearing but I finally got my blog back to normal.

I've decided I don't like Blogger very much today! It's been acting weird for about a week with things like my Edit button (the little pencil) going missing.

For now I'm just glad it's back to it's pretty self and I didn't lose any posts!

Note to self...

Several notes actually...

1: Drinking two cans of V Energy drink and 5 cups of coffee will result in insomnia.

2: Insomnia means that you'll still be awake at 2:00am. Then you'll decide that it's a great time to do some work on your blog...using your iPad because you're away from home visiting your Mother for the weekend.

3: Working on your blog at 2:00am means you'll stuff something up badly and not have your backups available to fix it.

4: Next time read a book!!!


So, this is how the blog has to look until tomorrow! :(