20% Off

For those of you that are still buying cartridges, Creative Express is having a big January sale. Details below.

Make The Cut! vs SCAL

Make The Cut! and Sure Cuts A Lot are both 3rd party programs that work with your Cricut machine to cut out fonts and images from your computer. When SCAL was introduced, I got a copy with high hopes of saving on my Cricut cartridge purchases...and I did to a certain degree because it will cut most of the fonts that are on your computer but shapes were a different story. To do shapes, you had to download a program called Inkscape to design and manipulate the images in. Then you would have to move the image back to SCAL to cut. That was just too time consuming for me not to mention keeping up with all the files. I ended up going back to my cartridges and abandoning SCAL.

Now fast forward to just last week. There is a new program in town! It's called Make The Cut! and it is changing the way I scrapbook! No more Inkscape, no more learning curve, no more time wasting and best of all, no more overpriced Cricut cartridges. With MTC, you don't need Inkscape, shapes are easy to separate and cut. There's even a yahoo group now for MTC and everybody over their is thrilled with this program.

And right now, Make The Cut is offering 40% off the regular price ($129.95 - 40% = $77.97). Try it yourself for FREE by downloading the trial version by clicking HERE or to order Make The Cut simply click HERE. You will not be sorry!!

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Imagine It. Create It. Cut It. It's That Simple. Make The Cut! allows you to easily cut virtually any shape you can imagine (including TrueType Fonts) using your Cricut™ machine without needing to purchase expensive cartridges. With its easy-to-learn interface, the possibilities are endless. Go unleash the true power of your Cricut™!

Make The Cut! Features:

* WYSIWYG Interface [image]
* Works with the Cricut™ Expression™, Create™ and Personal™
* Automated Cricut™ Driver Installation [image]
* Preview/Use Any SVG [image]
* Integrated SVG Gallery (Coming Soon!)
* Shadowing (Coming Soon!)
* Work on Multiple Projects at a Time
* Choose From 3 Standard Mat Sizes [image]
* Use Any Installed Font or Import TTF Files [image]
* Convert Raster Images to SVG Format [example]
* Break/Split/Layer Shapes and Edit Them [image]
* Weld/Join Shapes Together [image]
* Export Shapes to SVG Format or Personal Library
* Cut, Copy and Paste Shapes Between Projects
* And Much, Much More!

Make The Cut! Update due out January

Make The Cut! has a new update coming out next week and I am so excited to see this one. It will give us the ability to shadow. Oh and FYI, Make The Cut! updates are free and will always be free. Check this out.

To order Make The Cut simply click HERE. You will not be sorry!!

Oh, I also forgot, right now you should know that Make The Cut is offering 40% off the regular price ($129.95 - 40% = $77.97) which is a significant savings. So hurry because there is no way of knowing when the price will go up. Make sure to get your copy of Make the Cut today and save.

For an additional 10% off coupon on top of the already 40% off promotion, use coupon code: FRUM-7C6P.

Merry Christmas Ya'll

Make The Cut! Tutorial

Download the trial version and try it yourself by clicking HERE or purchase by clicking HERE.

OH MY GOODNESS!

I find the most interesting 'things' over at the Cricut message board! A gal was venting and posted this LINK. Now don't get me wrong. I love my Cricut and would not want to scrap without it but people! An "F" for customer service! Provocraft, say it isn't so!!

2 OH So Cute Fonts - FREE!

These will cut awesome in Make The Cut! (Thank you to Kut-n-Print over at the Cricut Message Board for bringing this cool find to our attention.)

Click HERE for Gingerbread Cookie.

And HERE for Christmas Cheer.

Make The Cut! FAQ's

hat is the difference between Joining and Welding shapes?

What is the difference between Breaking, Splitting and Layering?

How do I resize a group of shapes with no constraints?

How do I move tiny shapes without resizing them?

Click HERE to purchase.

Make The Cut! Cool Stuff

The program shows you a little preview of the font AND you can import shapes from TTF files. No need to bog down your computer.

Soooo simple to weld. Just group and click weld.

Preview your files without opening them.

And last but not least: When you purchase MTC, you're licensed for two computers. That's right, you can put it on 2 computers!! Yay!

Gypsy Give Away

Scrapbooks Etc is giving away a Gypsy. Enter the contest by clicking HERE.

Last one, I promise (for tonight anyway).

Look what I found. A library! To use the cuts there, just click on the Make The Cut icon over on the right.

Here are some of the cuts already there along with a promise of more to come.

Just click on download and here it is now on my mat. I'll break it apart (see 2 post back) and it will be ready to cut. SO STINKIN' EASY!!

Break Example - Make The Cut Program

Here's an image I pulled from the fonts by double clicking on the font image.

Highlight it by running your cursor over the image. Click on Edit and Shape Magic and then Break.

And voila! You can now move all the pieces around to different parts of your mat. Like say, I want to cut the phone out from black paper and the keys and ear/mouth pads in yellow. All I have to do is place the paper on my mat accordingly. Cool huh.

I tell ya folks. I'm liking this program. Download the trial version and try it yourself by clicking HERE or purchase by clicking HERE.

Customizing the Make The Cut program

When you use this program for the first time, look to the right and you'll see the screen below. Customize your mat size, zoom in, set the default size of your shapes/letters and even change the color of your mat. Click on the use these setting box to save your choices.

Under Custom Shapes you can edit your own artwork. I pulled in my logo from my photography website and was able to manipulate the font and shape image. Do you realize how huge that is. I took a picture and was able to pull the font off of it!!

Here is the Text and Fonts screen. You can pull any font, shape or wingding off you computer to cut. See my next post to see how easy this is.

Make The Cut Videos

More on the Make The Cut program.

Video One - click HERE.

Video Two - click HERE.

Download the trial version and try it yourself by clicking HERE or purchase by clicking HERE.

My Interest is Peaked

Have you guys heard about this new program that works with your Cricut? I've not got it yet but I'm very interested. Click HERE for some more information or click HERE and then click on MAKE THE CUT to check it out. Oh and before I forget, here's a 10% off coupon on top of the already 40% off promotion if you are interested! FRUM-7C6P

Download the trial version and try it yourself by clicking HERE or purchase by clicking HERE.



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The Make-The-Cut program is possibly a bit more user friendly than SCAL for those that want to use an image on their Cricut that is not already in the right format (SVG). This makes it easier to turn your school or business logos etc into an image that is quickly and easily cut on the Cricut. To do the same thing with SCAL you would have to import the image into Inkscape and convert it into an SVG image before you could load it into SCAL and cut it. This seems to me the main advantage to Make-the-Cut.

Imagine It. Create It. Cut It. It's That Simple. Make The Cut! allows you to easily cut virtually any shape you can imagine including TrueType Fonts using your Cricut™ machine without needing to purchase expensive cartridges. With its easy-to-learn interface, the possibilities are endless. Go unleash the true power of your Cricut™!

WYSIWYG Interface,
Automated Cricut™ Driver Installation,
One-Click Cutting,
Use Any SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics),
Integrated SVG Gallery,
Work on Multiple Projects at a Time,
Choose From 3 Standard Mat Sizes,
Use Any Installed Font or Import TTF Files,
Convert Raster Images to SVG Format,
Break/Split/Layer Shapes and Edit Them,
Weld/Join Shapes Together,
Export Shapes to SVG Format or Personal Library,
Cut, Copy and Paste Shapes Between Projects,
Custom Mat Themes,
And Much, Much More!

New Cartridges $39.99

I just saw that Memory Miser also has the new cartridges for $39.99. PC must be bringing the prices down...and good thing too!

We have a WINNER!!

Monday I posted THIS.

And today, I'm posting the winner of the Above Rubies DVD called Cricut A to Z.

I did the Random Number thingie and our winner is post number 173.

Post #172 came from Debbie:

Anonymous said...
What a wonderful gift to receive for one of your "friends".....thanks for all you do!!!
debbie
deb3654@yahoo.com
December 14, 2009 9:04 PM

CONGRATULATIONS GIRL!!! Someone from Above Rubies will be contacting you shortly. =)

Tie The Knot - Design Studio Screen Shots

For those of you that don't have Design Studio I thought I'd show you some of the new cartridges. We'll start with Tie The Knot.

Here's the hype: Capture the magic of weddings! This wedding themed shape cartridge is filled with images such as doves, a church, a wedding ring, and more. The coordinating tags, invitations, and cards can be used for a variety of projects. This cartridge also contains 3D objects that could be used as decorations or party favors.

This cartridge includes: Tag, Invitation, Card, Monogram, Monogram Shadow, and Blackout/Shadow creative features. (Click on the image to see it better.)