CRICUT IMAGINE MACHINE

Yes, I did take the leap and buy the Cricut Imagine!  I got a really good deal on it and have seen it on ebay for 160 dollars!!  The machine is so cool!  It will print and cut out images from both my original file of cartridges and the new Imagine cartridges.  Hooked up to my Gypsy it can do everything my Expression 2 can do and more.  The major drawback right now is finding replacement ink cartridges (although I do not need them yet, I like to have a couple on hand just in case because it is a long drive to find one around here!)
I am waiting for an RMA label for the my Gypsy though, because it has a charging issue (it is over a year old but they will still fix it for me at no charge!)  Love the customer service at Provo Craft!!
I do not have any pictures of projects to post yet, but I will soon.  I have been playing with it working on my grandson's second scrapbook. 
I have seen some posts asking why anyone would need a machine that prints when you can cut out images on printed paper or use the Copics to color the images yourself.  I actually felt that way myself until I got into researching the Imagine.  I must admit, I am a gadget freak!!!  I love learning about the latest gadgets and figuring out the bugs.  I did the same thing recently with the IPhone Tiffany got me for Mother's Day.
I am hoping technology will keep my brain cells from drying up with old age!!! 
I wish I could update you on the new program from Provo Craft that is to replace Design Studio called Craft Room, but so far they don't have a release date.

USING JUST-RITE STAMPS DOWN BY THE SEA

I am missing the ocean as the weather gets hotter! 
This is a template card with at least three layers.  Hope you like it!  No special occasion card, just one I felt from my heart!
I used the Just-Rite stamp set and colored the images with my Copic markers.  I love the way the template pops out in 3D!!
I cut out the ovals using Lacey Labels Cartridge and Design Studio to get them just the right size for the stamps!

THE RHYME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER

3D CARD

I attended an all girls Catholic high school in Connecticut.  I had a nun English Literature teacher, Sister Ambrosia, who had a passion for, of all people, Edgar Allen Poe and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  She inspired me to memorize the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, and I can still speel off this and many other verses from that poem.
Here is to all of the teachers who inspire their pupils as she inspired me.  By the way, all of my classmates hated her and laughed at her.  I thought she was the smartest person alive!!!

CRICUT AND COPIC PROJECT

Here is a card I saw on a blog I subscribe to and changed it to use my Copic markers.
First I cut the jars from the Doodlecharms Cartridge using the shadow mode at 51/2 inches.  I then flipped one side and welded them together on my Gypsy.  I then cut the normal jar image at 5inches.

I think I cut the fish using Paper Dolls for Everyday  The bubbles came from A Child's First Year
I then folded the welded jars to make the card.  I used the Copic BG000 for the shadows on the jar and Y25 and 28 for the lid.  I used Y13 and Y08 for the fish, and accented with YR68. I then used the BG000 again for the bubbles and added a line of Bahama Blue Memento Marker on the bubbles.  I coated the fish and the bubbles with Diamond Glaze and let them dry.
The sentiment was done using Office 2007 and cut out with an oval punch from Stampin Up.

I HAVE BEEN BLOGGER DELINQUENT

Sorry I have not been keeping up my blog very well.  I have been making cards, just not getting them up on the blog.  Here goes though, today is a catch up day!!  This is one I made this morning after I was reminded that Sunday is Father's Day.   Since my dad passed away in 1990, I have not been able to focus on Father's Day until my son became a dad in 2010.  This is a card I designed for him, using several recent photos and a template demonstrated by Debbie Olsen on her blog.