Thursday, August 24, 2017

CRICUT: Colour order in Design Space

Prior to Design Space 3 the cutting order of the layers was controlled by the colours Hex code in order of lowest to highest.

For example the Hex code for white is #FFFFFF and the Hex code for black is #000000.

Black would always cut first (as it's the lowest number) and white would cut last, with all the other colours being sorted by Hex code value in between those two colours.

In Design Space 3 that has now changed and the layers are sorted by HSV - that's Hue, Saturation and Value.

Here are the Basic colours in the DS palette in the order they appear in the layers panel.



And here is the order that the Basic palette colours are sorted when you go to cut.


For some reason the first two colours (white and gray) swap around depending on which one is higher in the layers panel. (If white is higher gray is cut first. If gray is higher then white is cut first. At least that's my experience.)

So what does this mean to you?  Nothing really, unless you want to force Design Space to cut your layers in a particular order.  Just use the second image above as a guide as to the colour you should make your layers.

For example, say you have 3 shades of pink in your design and you want to cut them from lightest to darkest. You could change the colours in your design to Cactus Pink, Pink Crystal and Rose Pink and that's the order they would be cut.

Remember that this is only the Basic colour palette.  If you use a colour that's not in the Basic palette it will be sorted according to its HSV value.  That's when it gets messy.

There are HEX to HSV converters available. Here's a link to the one I found the easiest to use.
https://codebeautify.org/hex-to-hsv-converter

If you search the colour Pink, select 100 entries (top left) then click the top of the HSV column the colours will be sorted from lowest HSV value to highest.  (You may have to click that column twice if it orders them from highest to lowest.) You'll notice that some of the darkest colours have the lowest HSV value.  And that's why I said it gets messy! ☺



I think it's easiest to just stick to the basic colours. However most of the images you use (Cricut and imported) will use colours other than the basic colours.  At least now you'll know how they've been sorted when you click "Make it"!


If you have a penchant to know more about colour sorting you can go here: http://www.alanzucconi.com/2015/09/30/colour-sorting/

Here's the info on HSV sorting from that website.








Happy crafting!  ♥






Monday, August 21, 2017

CRICUT: What is the Cricut Circle?

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.


Quite a few years ago Cricut created a club called the Cricut Circle.  It had it's own private message board and special events that were only available to Circle members. There was also a free Cricut Circle exclusive cartridge every quarter, 10% off purchases and free shipping. The cost to join (from memory) was around $300 per year.


Over the years the Cricut Circle has been scaled down quite a bit.  When joining you now get just the one cartridge per year (you select the cartridge each year when you purchase your Circle membership) and you receive 10% off your purchases from Cricut.com and receive free US/CAN shipping.  The cost to join now is $79.99. It doesn't auto renew so you need to purchase your membership each year and select your cartridge.

The 10% discount is stacked on top of the 10% discount you receive if you have a Cricut Access Subscription. And again on top of my NARELLE 10% discount that you can use during checkout.

The NARELLE code doesn't work on Cricut Explore/Maker machines, Cricut Access subscriptions, the Cricut BrightPad or the Cricut EasyPress. But the Cricut Circle and Cricut Access discounts do work.

So if you do a lot of shopping at the Cricut store and there's a cartridge in the available list that you like (there's 20 to choose from) then the Circle membership could be totally worth it especially if you also have Cricut Access. When all available discounts are stacked together you can get up to 30% off your purchases. And that's on top of any sale prices!

Here's the link to the Cricut Circle page: CRICUT CIRCLE MEMBERSHIP LINK

Scroll through the available cartridges and click on the one you want to receive with your membership. Complete the purchase details and you're done!  The physical cartridge will be mailed to you (US/Canada only) and any discounts and free shipping will be added automatically when you next purchase from the Cricut store. ☺



Happy crafting!  ♥






Sunday, August 20, 2017

CRICUT: EasyPress is available now!

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.


Wasn't expecting the EasyPress to be available until next week but it's there now! ☺

Don't know what the EasyPress is? Here's the info from Cricut. 

Get professional iron-on results in 60 seconds or less. An evenly heated plate and simple controls make EasyPress™ the foolproof way to get flawless transfers that really last. 

● Easy to learn, simple to use 
● No press cloth needed for most base materials 
● Adjustable heat up to 360℉ (180 C) 
● Intricate transfers stick after repeated washes 
● Great for large or layered iron-on projects 
● Lightweight, portable, easy to store 
● Compatible with major brands of heat-transfer material

For best results, use with Cricut Easy Press Silicone Mat (not included), or a hard, flat surface


The Cricut Easy Press Silicone Mat isn't available for purchase yet.

For those of you who live in Australia, the EasyPress is NOT dual voltage.  So using a travel adapter won't work.  But Cricut are working on an EasyPress for our power grid.  There's no date for that launch but they're in full swing getting it ready!

Happy crafting!  ♥






CRICUT: The Maker has been launched!

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

The Cricut Maker has launched at the Cricut store!

You can get yours here:  https://goo.gl/ahq8ew

Want to know what's different about the maker? Here's a chart from Cricut that compares the Explores and the Maker. (Click to enlarge)



The cost of the Cricut Maker is $399.99.  If you're a Cricut Access Standard or Premium subscriber you'll save 10% off that price. And if you're a Cricut Circle member you'll get an additional 10% off.

Use the code AUGSHIP to get free US/CAN shipping.  (Cricut Circle members automatically get free shipping.)

Head over to my Facebook group - Cricut Explore and More to see Admin Elise's unboxing video and her video showing the Maker cutting fabric with the Rotary blade.)

Happy crafting!  ♥






Friday, August 11, 2017

CRICUT: Welding in Design Space

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.


Here's an article I recently wrote about Welding in Design Space. Hope you find it helpful.


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Q: What is Weld?
A: Welding is used to join text or images together so they cut as one.  For example:

These two samples of text are unwelded. There is space between all the letters and that’s how they will cut out.


The text below is welded. The letters have been moved closer together so they touch and then weld has been selected from the Layers panel. How you see it is how it will cut. (Note that some letters do still have spaces between them, but that’s because they look better that way.)

Script text usually looks best when it’s welded.



Non script text generally looks better unwelded.



But welding isn’t just for fonts.  You can weld images together too.

Say I want to use this image to create a title across a scrapbook page.




I just duplicate the image the number of times I want on my layout, position them how I want them…




... then making sure they are touching, select them all and Weld.



Now they’ll cut as one object instead of 5 separate objects.



Another example would be if you want to make a shaped card.

Let’s say you have this cute frog image from the Live Simply Cricut cartridge and you’d like to create a card that shape...








Start by adding that shape to your Design Space canvas.
Using the Edit bar, change the size to the height and/or width you want your finished card to be.







With the image selected go to the Layers panel and select Ungroup.





Click on the bottom frog layer then select Duplicate.







A copy of the bottom layer will appear.

Click on the “eye” next to the three middle layers to hide them.  


Now only the two solid layers will be showing.






Decide whether you want a vertical folding card or a horizontal folding card. For this tutorial I’ll be making it a top folding card.




Select the top frog

From the Edit toolbar click the Flip button then select Flip Vertical. The image will be flipped upside down.






To ensure that the two images are symmetrical we also need to flip the top image horizontally.

With the image still selected click the Mirror Horizontal button.





Now drag the top frog up and position it so the two heads are touching.  

It’s up to you how much you want these two pieces to overlap.


Select both frogs then click on the Align menu from the toolbar and select Align Left.



Now, with both frogs still selected, click the Weld button at the bottom of the Layers Panel.

You can see that the two images have been combined into one.



If you feel that the join isn’t going to be strong enough when the card is folded, select Undo (to reverse the weld process), move the two images slightly closer together then Weld again.


(Make sure that both images are still Aligned left otherwise your edges won’t line up.)





Go back to the Layers panel and click on the closed eyes to show those hidden layers.


Those layers will be positioned beneath the welded layer.

Select the welded layer then click on the Arrange menu and select Move to Back

You can now move the top layers into position on top of the welded layer to see your finished card.




Here it is as a horizontal card.



You can also weld text onto and inside images.



Notes about welding
Welding cannot be undone once you have closed your Design Space file.  You can use the Undo button to reverse the welding process even after saving your project. But if you weld, save and close that project you will not be able to go back and unweld.  It’s always a good idea to duplicate any images/text before you weld.


Happy crafting!  ♥






Wednesday, August 9, 2017

CRICUT: August Mystery Box

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.


The August Mystery Box from Cricut is here!




This months mystery box is all about the glitter!

Here's what you'll find in the box.

From left to right...



All that for $29.99. (RRP $95.90)

Use my discount code NARELLE to receive 10% discount and free USA/Canada shipping.

That's on top of the Cricut Access and Cricut Circle 10% discounts where applicable. 

As usual, stocks are limited. 


Click below to purchase your Mystery Box

→ → AUGUST MYSTERY BOX ← ←


Coming soon!!
Shop new arrivals from Cricut!



Happy crafting!  ♥





Tuesday, August 8, 2017

10% discount on Cricut Explore Air & Air 2

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

Save 10% on the Cricut Explore Air and 


Use code AUGUSTAIR to save 10% and receive free 
USA/Canada shipping.
(This is in addition to the 10% Cricut Access & Cricut Circle discounts where applicable.)

Also applies to Air & Air 2 bundles

Offer Expires August 31, 2017
You can see the entire Cricut Explore Air and Air2 range here:



Happy crafting!  ♥






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