ReeHart – Blogging from the Heart

Posts Tagged ‘projects’

If you love arts and crafts then you need a Cricut Expression! It is a wonderful cutting machine that can be used for a wide variety of projects. It can cut paper or vinyl and is the crafting tool all arts and crafters should have.

Even for those few people left who do not own a computer this machine can meet your needs. It does have the appearance of a printer but in actual fact works completely independently from a computer. The cartridges that work with it have font or shape designs on them. You decide which letter or shape you want, what size and on paper or vinyl and then the machine does the rest.

All you do is decide what you want and the Cricut will cut it for you. When you purchase it, it comes with two cartridges (one font and one shape) and a cutting mat. When you want to add to your cartridge collection they cost about $35. Do not worry about being limited by the cartridge designs ” there are 78 and will probably be more still in the future.

As stated, it does not need a computer to work. However it is an advantage should you have one, as there is some software called Cricut Design Studio which has electronic font on which you can plan out what you want. It then sends this to the Cricut which will then cut out what you just designed on your computer. Other great products that go with the machine are a starter kit, different types of paper and vinyl, and more.

Perhaps one of the more interesting extras you can buy is the Jukebox. Instead of having to swap out cartridges when you want to swap from font to shape, the jukebox can take up to six cartridges at once! You can connect three Jukeboxes to the machine giving you the possibility of 18 cartridges. There is no doubt the Cricut is a fantastic crafting tool. Martha Stuart wannabes, teachers, children, expert and beginner crafters, all should have one!

Kids love to do craft projects, there is no doubt about it. But I think children, especially younger children like to have their projects less structured. A good strategy is to keep it simple and fun. I totally think this is true because they can be more creative and have more fun that way.

Do not understand me wrongly, I arrive at craftiness thoughts for my youngsters and we enjoy many hours of fun with them, only she appears to experience more enjoyment making her personal craftiness thoughts. It’s beneficial to allow the imaginative juices flow in the youth minds.

A couple of years back I shopped at our local goodwill store and purchased alot of craftiness supplies for really small amount of money. I purchased beads, leather, pipe cleaners, glitter, stickers, feathers, yarn, lace, buttons, and simply a ton of crafty typeitems. I put it all in a bigger box with some glue and glue sticks. This is how my girls Creativity package came into being.

We have since added stickers, markers, cotton balls, sequins, and other stuff we find. I bought a big tablet of thick paper and thus her “scrapbook” came into existence. She loves to get it out and create different pages of ideas and creations. She cuts pictures out of magazines and adds them to it as well.

Occasionally she simply arrives at her own craftiness plans from the textiles rather than making her “scrapbooking” and she enjoys herself greatly. The single problem to her scrapbooking is occasionally she utilises more glue and we must wait for it to dry out prior to turning the page and progress to her succeeding creative activity.

Therefore do not always think structure when it comes to craft ideas for younger children. You and they’ll probably have a good deal more fun if you allow their imagination run the project. After all it is their creation so there’s no wrong or right way to do it. Children are less likely to become frustrated if they can’t make their creations appear just like they are suppose to as well.