One More Christmas Card and some Cricut Fun

Here's the last of my Christmas cards.

Believe it or not, I am still crafting Christmas. Last night, I stayed up after the kids were tucked in for the night, and created 5 more of these sweet penguins. Oh wait....let me back up for a minute. GUESS WHAT?!!! Christmas morning, there was a large, rectangle box under the tree. You know how when you first start dating, or even when you're first married, and you see a little box, and your heart starts to flutter? LOL Well, when I saw that large box, I was wondering if it might be, but I didn't want to get too excited...play it cool, Casandra. 

I think I might have squealed. Teehee. My husband bought me the Cricut Explore Air for Christmas. I hadn't said anything about wanting it because I had the Expression and it was fine, and he had bought me that five years ago for my birthday. Why did I really need that Explore? I mean, it's shiny, and it's pretty, but did I really need it? (You can insert an answer below.)

Did you know that you can write with the Explore? I figured someone was really clever and doodled with a metallic pen. Imagine my surprise, when I create the first free project (below), and it says insert the pen. Really? How cool! 

Of course, I went to the store right away and bought a package of pretty pens. They have fine point, medium point, and metallic. And you can search for pen projects in Design Space if you want to play with them more but don't know how. I haven't really gotten quite that far yet. I'm still cutting cute little critters like the penguin above and layering them. Glue pens are a fabulous tool for projects like this. It will even prompt you (when cutting) to use certain color cardstocks, and that's how you will know which cuts to make in red, black, etc. You can change it up if you want, but for now, I'm just happy to follow the examples given. I made an adorable prancing reindeer last night with a shiny, red nose. 

I think the Explore has opened my eyes up to the never-ending possibilities of crafting that can be done. The Expression is great; it does all the basics, and Craft Room helped me to learn how to expand on those basics. But the Explore makes you want to use the Cricut, rather than just dusting it off once a month for your workshop cuts. 

If anyone has any tips or tricks, or suggested videos to watch to help me learn my Explore faster, I'd love to hear about it. You can leave a comment below or email me at casandrab1976-at-yahoo-dot-com. Look at me, being all incognito. Feeling like a ninja, today. Ha!

Have a fabulous weekend, my friends. And I hope it will be a crafty one!

Casandra