12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop (Day Four)

First of all... I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful and you were able to enjoy your friends and family. I also hope you are not currently incurring injury from the Black Friday masses. And with that...

Welcome to the back to the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop (Day Four)! This hop will take place  November 24th through December 5th. Each of us will be posting something Christmas related each and every day at 8:00am, Eastern time (so for my Pacific Time Zone peeps... that's 5am... But don't worry, you can sleep in, and we'll all be here waiting for you, too!)... for 12 WHOLE DAYS! Let us inspire you to finish up that layout, make some special Christmas cards, or wrap that gift in a fun and festive way. If you've already started, you probably came from Barbara. She is so awesome, isn't she? Let's continue this 12-day crafting party!

As I've said in Day One, I'm starting my portion of the hop with paper things. Things that are simple and easy to do. As with Day Two and Day Three,  I took a cut from Design Space (covered by either my subscription or purchases -I don't remember!). Today, I created two cards. As usual, things didn't quite go my way, but if you know me... and you frequent here often, you knew that already. At this point, I've come to the conclusion that nothing will EVER go my way. And I fully intend to contact Cricut (both Customer Service and Tech Support) on another day, when the week isn't so hectic with all things Turkey-and-fixin's-cookin'. (btw... it was quite yummy at my house... How was yours?)

This one really truly brought out my frustration. Ugh. Ugh. I'm surprised I have any hair left.

I brought in a hexagon card from Design Space. I was going for super simple, no extra cutting, and just using the card cut and have Design Space do the writing of both the graphic and the sentiment on the front. Easy, right? Ugh. Ugh.

Let's start at the beginning... I added the hexagon card image and re-sized it according to what I wanted (5.5" wide, as I was going to duplicate it and get some more Christmas cards out of the way).

 Found an AWESOME "written" snowflake and added that and the sentiment in different colors, so the program would prompt me to change the pen, when it needed me to. I attached the snowflake to the sentiment...

Then placed that where I wanted and attached it all to the card...







It looks good, right?

 Sent it to the mat, changed the "1" to "2", clicked "Apply"... Still looks like it should....Wait for it...

And the writing stops...



The machine kept writing... It was "ghost writing". So I switched pens... Shouldn't have had to do that. It was a BRAND NEW PEN. And yes... they are all Cricut Explore Pens.

And it wrote again... Not in the same places, as it didn't line up. I don't know why. And kept skipping, as the pen kept popping up. Yes. I did make sure it was completely clicked down in the first place, the second place, the third place, the fourth place, the fifth place, and the sixth place. It popped up SIX times! And the dumb thing wouldn't even pause. And then it would (pause) when I hadn't even hit the pause button. BTW... when that happens... just hit the Cricut button on the machine, and it will (hopefully) resume. Mine did.



And if you look really close... it's not an illusion and doesn't change with the light! The color and pressure thickness look different. It really is. Why? This is WHY Customer Service and Tech Service will be getting a call! But hey! It cut just fine.

And now I had to do perform the Great Christmas Cover-Up... I added embellishments to both cover the blank spaces and distract the eye from the inconsistencies or massive lack of perfection.


Then I got over the major flaws (not really) and added Faber-Castell Gelatos in white to soften the effect and the harsh contours of the cut.

I blended the Gelatos with a finger sponge... and Voila!

Here are the end results... I'm not really happy with them... They will do...

I am hoping... the next time I decide to show my friend how "GREAT" the Cricut Explore Air is and all the wonderful things it can do, it will behave appropriately and do what it's supposed to...

There is more in store for you, so hop along and please comment on each and everybody. 'Cause you know we all love a little love... And BE SURE to check out the "other" Lisa, as she's the one with all the blog candy and sponsor info! Have a great time, and don't forget to come back tomorrow!

Here's the Line Up for Day 4:
  1. Lisa P. - http://honeybearzdesigns2011.blogspot.com <==== the "other" Lisa!
 ** Beth -  http://thecraftyscrapyard.blogspot.com  (Guest Designer)
  2. Madge - http://www.thescrappinlounge.com/blog
  3. Ashley - http://marinewifesscrappinlife.blogspot.com
  4. Sandy - https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/scrapbook-blessings-club-5722003
  5. Elizabeth - http://CraftsByHappyStamper.com
  6. Angela - www.crazy3monkeys.blogspot.com
  7. Alicia - www.goldengoddessdesigns.blogspot.com
  8. Miranda - www.nanasscrapspot.com
  9. Daphne - http://craftyscrapsofstuff.blogspot.com
10. Rhonda - craftingwithblue.blogspot.com
11. Charmagne - http://www.sanurascraps.blogspot.com
12. Barbara- http://barbarab3.blogspot.com/
13. Lisa F - http://lisaslittlerascals.blogspot.com/ <=== You are HERE!
14. Sharondalyn - Http://www.clippingsbysharondalyn.blogspot.com <=== Next stop!
15. Jessi - http://www.mylifeinartsncrafts.co
16. Heather - Http://www.paper-junkie.blogspot.com