Carmen Collection – Layout 1

Materials Used:
AG1554 Carmen 12″ x 12″ Paper – Yellow Quatrefoil  (view)
AG1557 Carmen 12″ x 12″ Paper – Honeycomb Pink (view)
AG1561 Carmen 12″ x 12″ Paper – Pink Rose Tonal (view)
AG1563 Carmen 12″ x 12″ Glittered Paper – Floral Brown (view)
DE1232 Carmen 3-D Title Stickers with Glitter (view)
DE1235 Carmen 3-D Stickers with Gold Foil & Gems (view)
SB207 Carmen Text Paper Pad (view)

Carmen Collection – Layout 2

Materials Used:
DE1232 Carmen 3-D Title Stickers with Glitter (view)
DE1233 Carmen 3-D Art Stickers with Glitter (view)
DE1241 Carmen Embossed 3-D Stickers with Gold Foil (view)
SB111 Carmen 12″ x 12″ Specialty Cardstock Paper Pad (view)

Carmen Collection – Layout 3

Materials Used:
DE1232 Carmen 3-D Title Stickers with Glitter (view)
DE1234 Carmen 3-D Stickers with Gems (view)
SB111 Carmen 12″ x 12″ Specialty Cardstock Paper Pad (view)

Carmen Collection – Layout 4

Materials Used:

DE1232 Carmen 3-D Title Stickers with Glitter (view)
DE1233 Carmen 3-D Art Stickers with Glitter (view)
DE1234 Carmen 3-D Stickers with Gems (view)
DE1235 Carmen 3-D Stickers with Gold Foil & Gems (view)
DE1241 Carmen Embossed 3-D Stickers with Gold Foil (view)
SB111 Carmen 12″ x 12″ Specialty Cardstock Paper Pad  (view)

Carmen Collection – Card 1

Materials Used:
DE1114 Carmen Vellum Quotes (view)
DE1233 Carmen 3-D Art Stickers with Glitter (view)
DE1241 Carmen Embossed 3-D Stickers with Gold Foil (view)
DE1414 Carmen Border Sticker Rolls (view)
SB111 Carmen 12″ x 12″ Specialty Cardstock Paper Pad (view)

Carmen Collection – Card 2

Materials Used:
SB307 Carmen 5″ x 7″ Mat Pad (view)
DE1232 Carmen 3-D Title Stickers with Glitter (view)
DE1234 Carmen 3-D Stickers with Gems (view)

To view the Complete Carmen Collection Click here

The Willow Collection

Willow Collection – Layout 1

Materials Used:
DE1317 Willow Chipboard Alphabet Stickers (view)
DE2104 Willow Assorted Diecut Shapes (view)
SB208 Willow 12″ x12″ Text Paper Pad (view)
SB413 Willow Journal Pack (view)

Willow Collection – Layout 2

Materials Used:
AG1586 Willow 12″ x 12″ Decorative Paper (view)
AG1589 Willow 12″ x 12″ Decorative Paper (view)
AG1590 Willow 12″ x 12″ Ivory Flocked Paper (view)
DE1236 Willow 3-D Title Stickers (view)
DE1243 Willow 3-D Stickers with Gold Foil (view)
DE1415 Willow Border Sticker Rolls (view)

Willow Collection – Layout 3

Materials Used:
DE1236 Willow 3-D Title Stickers (view)
DE1237 Willow 3-D Art Stickers (view)
DE1239 Willow 3-D Stickers with Silver Foil (view)
SB112 Willow 12″ x 12″ Specialty Cardstock Paper Pad (view)
SB208 Willow 12″ x12″ Text Paper Pad (view)

Willow Collection – Card 1

Materials Used:
DE1239 Willow 3-D Stickers with Silver Foil (view)
SB112 Willow 12″ x 12″ Specialty Cardstock Paper Pad (view)
SB413 Willow Journal Pack (view)

Willow Collection – Card 2

Materials Used:
DE2104 Willow Assorted Diecut Shapes (view)
SB112 Willow 12″ x 12″ Specialty Cardstock Paper Pad (view)

To view the Complete Willow Collection Click here

Materials:
AG1522 Cecile Christmas 12″ x 12″ Glittered Cardstock (view)
AG1512 Cecile Christmas 12″ x 12″Decorative Paper (view)
AG1513 Cecile Christmas 12″ x 12″ Decorative Paper (view)
DE1227 Cecile Christmas Glitter 3-D Art Stickers (view)
AG1527 Cecile Christmas 12″ x 12″ Glittered Diecuts (view)
DE1229 Cecile Christmas Glitter 3-D Title Stickers (view)

Materials:
AG1516 Cecile Christmas 12″ x 12″ Decorative Paper (view)
AG1517 Cecile Christmas 12″ x 12″ Decorative Paper (view)
AG1527 Cecile Christmas 12″ x 12″ Glittered Diecuts (view)
DE1229 Cecile Christmas Glitter 3-D Title Stickers (view)
DE1412 Cecile Christmas Border Sticker Rolls (view)

Materials:
DE1222 Calisto Christmas Glitter 3-D Title Stickers (view)
DE2102 Calisto Christmas Glitter Diecuts (view)
SB206 Calisto Christmas 12″ x 12″ Text Paper Pad (view)
SB306 Calisto Christmas 5’ x 7″ Mat Stack (view)

Materials:
DE1111 Calisto Christmas Vellum Quotes (view)
SB206 Calisto Christmas 12″ x 12″ Text Paper Pad (view)

Why invent the Cricut Imagine when the Expression works fine? It’s what most companies who are on the move tend to do: they’re trailblazers, leaving a pack of followers behind. They create industry trends and listen to their customers, and improve their product line.

The Cricut Expression was and remains a fantastic tool for the arts and crafts industry. But theCricut Imagine cutting machine opens up unheard of avenues of creativity. Reading this, you may be ready to moan, since you own tons of cartridges for the Expression, right? Maybe you’re wondering if your old Cricut blades and such will work…

Which tools will still continue to work in from the Expression and the new Imagine models? And if you don’t own a Cricut product yet, which model should you get? Before getting to those questions, let’s look at the first thing first.

What is the Cricut Imagine, anyway?

If you’re not a Cricut Circle memeber yet, you may have entirely missed the announcement. The Cricut Imagine is the latest in the line of ProvoCraft’s Cricut line of “die cutters” that cut paper and other media – for scrapbooks, creating cards, home decor, office and school decoration, gift making…

Legions of mothers, teachers, happy scrapbookers, stampers and those creating signs have caught the design bug, and interestingly it’s a Cricut! On former models of the Cricut cutting machines, you would need to have your paper in the colors of your choosing.

For example, if you had a design that involved pastel blue colors for a baby shower, and then had some pink bow shapes cut out, and then added in a white crib silhouette in the background, you would need three different stocks of paper on hand. You would also need to cut the letters individually and layer everything by hand.

This is where the Cricut Imagine makes your life so much easier!

What Does the Cricut Imagine Do?

Here are some of the functions of Cricut Imagine machine:

• Creates Multi-Colored, Layered Designs In One Cut
• Give YOU Total Control Over Patterns, Layers, Specific Design Elements
• Allows You To Easily Create Professional-Grade Crafts Right From Home
• Puts All the Design Control At Your Fingertips – With a New Touch Screen
• No More Wheel Adjustments Needed
• Uses White Paper But Hewlett-Packard Inkjet Printing Technology
• Prints and Cuts Complex Designs
• Features Artist Suggested Patterns and Colors For Professional Crafts!

Put Down The Scissors And Pick Up The Cricut Imagine!

What are some advantages of using the Cricut Imagine machine?

The advantages are obvious with the Cricut Imagine, especially when you see it in action.

Full Design Control

The Cricut Imagine, unlike any other available machine at this time, allows you full control over your images. If you want to use a cute filigree but don’t like the color, you can change it, or change the size. The other benefit of the Cricut Imagine is that you have full control over the individual image elements.

If you have an image where you love all but one design feature – it just has to go! – normally you would be left trying to manually replace the image by cutting it out and gluing something in its place (so long as the size was just right) or you had to just settle for what you didn’t want, or use another image altogether.

The situation has completely changed with the Cricut Imagine cutting machine! See, all you have to do is edit the image. Don’t worry, it’s all built-in to the machine, all you need to do is use the easy touch screen and select the image you want. Then you can edit either the entire image (flip it, re-size it, change colors) OR you can edit every layer, every element in the picture!

Not to state the obvious pun – but can’t you just imagine the possibilities? What does this mean for you?

The Cricut Imagine Saves Paper

This machine will save you on paper costs big-time: no more keeping reams of paper stashed away! Since the Cricut Imagine has teamed up with the leading inkjet manufacturer in the industry: Hewlett-Packard, you don’t have to buy 50 different colors of paper.

The Cricut Imagine Saves Space

Not only does the Cricut Imagine save paper costs, it saves space in your home since you don’t need to store all your favorite colors of paper! As you look around your garage or arts and crafts room, you can probably see the benefits of having more space open up if you’re like most.

Professional Help

A great benefit of the new Cricut Imagine machine is that you will have the benefit of a professional designer with the cartridges. In every cartridge (the art cartridges as well as the new pattern cartridges), you will have a choice of colors to choose from for every design element.

But what if color coordination isn’t your strong point? If you want to have a professional designer come help you, that’s what you get with the pre-loaded color selection in every cartridge. ProvoCraft hired a team of artists to ensure you get the best selection with the designs selected – or you can just go off the map and choose whatever colors you please!

The Cricut Imagine is Simple To Use – No PC or Mac Needed!

One of the most overlooked features for those new to the Cricut experience is the benefit of not needing a computer to use the Cricut Imagine. Without a doubt, this increases the portability and the overall ease of use – no more long, complicated tutorials, and you don’t need to worry if the Imagine is PC or Mac based when you don’t need the computer.

All you need is your library of existing Expression cartridges – or you can buy the new Imagine cartridges – and simply plug it in, edit your image, and load your paper. Simplicity at its best, to say the least!

Compatible With Gypsy

Since this is a Cricut Imagine review and not a Gypsy review, suffice it to say that for those of you who are planning or who do own the Gypsy, you will have no problem with cross-compatibility, ProvoCraft has made it clear that both machines will be able to ‘talk to each other’ and even play nice.

The Cricut Imagine Machine: Art Design Simplified

So you can see that the Cricut Imagine has a nuber of benefits for you, a number of reasons that it will become the new “must-have” item for the dedicated scrapbooker, card maker, teacher and gift-giver. If you run any sort of home-based business around arts and crafts, I’m sure your wheels are turning with the possibilities! But…

Which tools will still continue to work in from the Expression and the new Cricut Imagine models?

Answer:

All of them. . .mostly.

Cutting Mats:

There isn’t 100% compatibility with the mats, for instance. If you are planning to upgrade to the new Cricut Imagine machine, you’ll need to purchase new mats as well. However, the NEW Cricut Imagine mats will work in former models, and they are 12 x 12 in size.

That’s good news, believe it or not – and I’ll tell you why. It’s because the Cricut Imagine is self-aligning. There are black lines around the Cricut Imagine cutting mats, these help the computer to align the inkjets as well as the cutting blade for excellent results. There’s no need to align your images just perfectly – the machine will take of that for you!

Cartridges:

Thankfully – breathe a sigh of relief, Cricut fans! – the former cartridges will work in the Imagine! Of course that’s good new for the existing customers, but think of this: you can save more money if you buy the Expression cartridges on sale. Food for thought, not like you hadn’t thought of it already!

Blades:

Oh, yes! The blades are interchangeable, perfectly compatible between the two machines.

Become a Professional Designer With The Cricut Imagine!

What Comes With The Cricut Imagine?

The Cricut Imagine comes with a 12 x 12 inch mat, and the cutting mat is improved with not only the self-aligning registry marks, but is also using a better adhesive that won’t peel off as may be the case with other models in the Cricut line.

It will also be packaged with a proprietary “Imagine More” cartridge, with new designs and professional-looking patterns and art (which you can easily manipulate to suit your colors, size and theme). Included will also be the HP color inkjet cartridge, as well as a black and white cartridge.

Why Buy the Cricut Imagine When I Have Expression?

Great question! The answer is simple – you will save time and money, cut less paper and waste less paper, and not be limited to the images in the cartridge images on hand. In other words, if you find yourself spending a lot of time on your Expression in planning your design, making sure you get the layers all just perfect and wasting a lot of expensive paper (or simply buying a lot more paper than you’ll ever use!), you will want the Cricut Imagine as soon as possible.

Think of the ability to plan your projects using a professional-grade image editor, with all of the best colors, art direction from professional artists (without the expense of actually hiring one? Score!), and easily being able to separate all of your image elements (including the background or border) to either tweak them or get rid of them altogether…this machine brings a lot of creative power to your fingertips.

Needless to say, if you are new to Cricut and want to simply buy the best machine to cut your paper and print cute designs, buying the Cricut Imagine would be the better investment in the long-term. You might as well start off with the best in the industry, second to none. Why limit your imagination when you can unleash your creativity at the push of a few buttons?

Click here to buy the Cricut Image from Scrap-a-Doodles

Some examples using distress inks

Here are some facts that makes Tim’s Distress Inks unique.

STAYS WET LONGER - (which allows you to blend and shade on paper, grunge & photos – also emboss) other dye inks on the market dry too fast especially on photos so you end up with lines and marks if you adhere direct from the pad.

COLOR WICKS OR SPREADS OUT - (distress inks will travel across the surface of your paper when slightly spritzed with water) other dyes do not travel as much although they might bleed a little when wet, Tim’s Distress Inks “wick” or spread out alot further creating several tone on tones. Giving the best distressed look I have seen.

COLOR STABILITY - (the colors of the Distress Inks will not fade and break down when watered or heated allowing you to have more color control for the finished look of your project) other brown colored dyes will break down when water is added leaving you wit a pink & green hue.

COLOR PALETTE - Well these are different than ANY other colors of inks you’ve seen. The color palette of Distress Inks is:

Different ways to use these inks: (endless possibilities)

TO DISTRESS :

Tim says, ‘I like using water when I am distressing. I think it gives the papers more of a weathered texture, so here’s how I start.’ Working on any type of paper (manila,

cardstock, or text weight), crumple the paper up – always press in the center of any heavyweight cardstock or manila stock – this will break the surface tension of the paper and allow you to crumple up the paper easier without tearing it.

Next rub the Distress pads over the surface – you can work with several different colors or just one – Walnut Stain is ideal for this method. Then spray the inked surface with water, using a mini mister or tiny spray bottle.(you will notice the ink travelling outward when water is applied as these inks are designed to react with water).

Now heat the surface to dry – and here’s why… Although you don’t have to Heat Set these inks for any reason, I like to dry the water using either my Heat-It Craft Tool or an iron. This will allow for more tone control and keep areas dark and others light. Ironing the paper will also give you a much smoother surface to stamp on without compromising the aged finish. See on top some Faded Jeans distress stickles was used from Tim Holtz. You can easily dry the Distress Stickles with a heating tool, so no more waiting!

*Note If you allow the surface to air-dry most of your color will end up on the edges only because the paper will bend and buckle when wet, automatically forcing the ink and water to the edges.

Also notice that these Distress Inks retain their beautiful color value even when wet and dried.
Making double distress tags:Crumple tag and apply 2 colors (one new tone and one original tone) of Distress Inks directly from the pads to each crumpled tag. Spray with water and dry.

Wrinkle free distressing:
To create the look of aged papers, from times gone by, without all the lines and wrinkles – give this a try. Working on your non-stick Craft Sheet, begin by directly

applying various colors of Distress Ink Pads to the surface of the Craft Sheet. A couple of swipes of a color or two will do the trick (you might also try using an original color of Distress Ink along with a new one!).
Get out your Distress Re-Inkers for this next step if you want to add a bit of intense color for the ultimate vintage look. I like using Walnut Stain or Vintage Photo for this, so remove the glass dropper from the bottle and drag it across the inked Craft Sheet – do not squeeze any drops of ink as it will take over everything!

Next slightly mist the Craft Sheet with water to allow the inks to begin mixing and blending – usually 3-4 sprays is plenty. Then take your paper or tag and place in directly on the inked Craft Sheet and lift it off. If you have any un-inked areas simply place that area of the paper on any left over inks on the sheet.

Finally dry your paper or tag using an iron or a Heat-It Craft Tool ( if you allow your papers to air dry they will curl and force most of the ink to the edges so I prefer to heat them to dry.). To finish your attic-fresh look, ink the edges with Distress Inks using a piece of Cut n’ Dry Foam.

FOR STAMPING: What can I say about the many stamping applications these inks can achieve. Once again the special formulation on these Distress Inks provides a versatile finish on papers yet still allow for “normal” stamping applications. I like to stamp on uncoated (matte) papers and immediately rub the image with a cloth – this will soften or shadow your image without even smudging any detail – VINTAGE PHOTO, WALNUT STAIN, TEA DYE, BLACK SOOT – wonderful for this one!

Another option is glossy cardstock – keep in mind this is a different type of dye ink so when you stamp on glossy, certain areas of your image will “bead” up, once again providing a Distressed look without you doing a thing (this is probably one of my most favorite looks) – some areas of the image appear “pitted”. Brayering on glossy cardstock is also wonderful because you can still manipulate the inks with different tools, brushes, your fingers, whatever. Even after the ink is applied you can achieve amazing texture and color shading. Remember the Ink Blending Tool works very good see below, and you can wash the blending foam and re-use or buy refills!

ON PHOTOS: Finally ink formulated for photos! Whether you’re a scrapbooker or not you can use all types of photos (vintage or new ones) on your cards and pages.

The Distress Inks work on all types of photos – inkjet, laser, toner copies, regular photos (matte or glossy) and even color photos! Start by using the lightest colors ANTIQUE LINEN or OLD PAPER with either a brayer or DTP (direct to photo). Cover the photo in the lighter colors, blend the colors with a small piece of Cut n’ Dry Foam after you apply the inks – these inks stay wet long enough for you to blend out any lines or marks other ink pads leave on photos. Next age the edges with VINTAGE PHOTO or WALNUT STAIN by applying the pad directly to the edges – soften and mix the tones with a small piece of Ranger Cut ‘n Dry™ Foam.

Of course to complete the aged process lightly sand – YES SAND – the photo with medium grit sand paper. Don’t go over anyone’s face, but just make a few scratches here and there.

Photo Tinting:
Distress Inks acid-free, easy to blend formula makes them your best choice for photo tinting. Make a black and white copy of your favorite photo onto Ranger Gloss Paper. Select areas of your photo to colorize. Pick up ink directly from the Distress Pads with Cut n’ Dry Nibs and color. It’s that easy! Cut n’ Dry Nibs provide the control you need to place colors exactly where you want them. Distress Photo Edging Make any photo look antique. Cut a small square of Cut n’ Dry Foam. Ink the foam on one of the Distress pads. Rub the inked foam around the edges of the photo for an aged effect.

THE RE-INKERS: The Distress re-inkers are so versatile and fun, especially the bottles they’re in! These vintage looking glass dropper vials are perfect for aging a “batch” of tags, fibers, linens or whatever, in baths of Distress Inks & water. You can also create your own palette on your craft sheet using the re-inkers and hand tint any black and white photo color by color (very fun thing to do). I also like using the resist ink or Perfect Medium and the re-inkers to create amazing stained backgrounds on papers. Enjoy the journey…

All talked about products is available under our Tim Holtz Category in the shopping section.

Click here to view all the Tim Holtz Products