Why, stamping and die cutting, of course! Now,
I'll be the first to admit that before Jeanette Lynton announced two Thursdays ago at Convention that Close To My Heart and Provo Craft were pairing up to create an absolutely breathtaking 700-image Cricut cartridge that coordinates expertly with our stamp sets, I had lukewarm feelings about this die-cutting gizmo. And as long as I'm making admissions, I'll be honest and say that my feelings had very much to do with the fact that I couldn't offer Cricut products to my friends and customers through my Close To My Heart business.
So when my mother, who owns the big-daddy Cricut Expression Machine, moved to Chile last year and was unable to take it with her, I shrugged and said, "Eh," when my sister asked me if I wanted it. I felt no sense of loss when she happily packed it into her car and drove it to her home in Tampa, clear across the state (and a three-and-a-half-hour drive) from where I live.
Well. Needless to say (but yes, I'll say it anyway!), my feelings have changed. Was I excited when Jeanette made the announcement? Yep. Did I squeal? Oh yes. Was I among the thousands of consultants jumping up and down with her hands in the air? You betcha. I guess I had always coveted (secretly, of course) the crisp, perfect shapes this machine can make, but couldn't fathom a life sans stamping. This partnership makes perfect sense. It's one thing to embellish your layout with say, a precisely cut cardstock star or, depending on which side of the stamping/die-cutting fence you fall on, a not-so-precisely cut but beautifully stamped star. But 'tis a far, far better thing to embellish your layout with a star that is both stamped and precisely cut! It's a marriage built to last!
And speaking of marriage, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my husband for so graciously agreeing to drive three and a half hours out of our way coming home from Maclenny last weekend so that I could retrieve my mother's Cricut from my sister. And mad props to my sister too, because she like, totally understood and handed it right over.
So there you have it: I have officially jumped on to the Cricut bandwagon. I must say, it feels good. I am counting the minutes until my Close To My Heart Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge arrives so I can put this bad boy to work. Ain't nobody got nothin' on us now!
