Cynful Designs Is:

Mary Lynne Design Team, Cricut Specialist

It’s Nearly Christmas; Do You Know Where Your New Year’s Resolutions Are?

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Perhaps that’s because that, like me, deep down inside you know that you need to take care of yourself first before you can take care of others. Scrapbooking and cardmaking and goody-making is not *just* about the memories, it’s not *just* about the hobby, it’s also about time we set aside for ourselves. It’s about a little bit of pampering, sure, and most importantly, it’s a matter of keeping our sanity! Everyone needs that little something that gets them through the day, the week, the month.. That something that gets them through, when that vacation is far away on the horizon, when the weekend is just a few days (like five) too many far away! Hey, what other pampering can you think of that is so productive, and oftentimes (apparently) selfless as being the Keeper and Guardian of the memories and the benefactor of others by making them cards or items by hand, thus sharing and showing our love so freely with items we gave of ourselves to make and gift?

This is one reason why I say, in the midst of this madness, don’t curtail yourself too sharply with Resolutions! Resolutions are meant to be kept, and an entire year of a shopping ban is just harsh! You wouldn’t go a full year without buying yourself Advil (or Tylenol, or aspirin) would you? What about toothpaste? Taking care of your mental health is vitally important for your upkeep, I dare say just as much, if not more so, than keeping up your day to day physical upkeep! Without our brains, without our spirit, to drive our bodies, what good are they in prime physical condition?

So! Make those Resolutions, certainly, but make them realistic and make resolutions that aren’t going to drive you crazy, even if you think it’s a short trip! ;) If you must curtail your spending next year, perhaps

the purchase of a few gift certificates for yourself is in order by the end of this year (a fantastic suggestion also from the Cricut General Chat Forum). Then you can spread out your spending next year, though you’ve already done the spending this year! Plan ahead for those new releases and don’t torment yourself. After all, you have the arduous task of keeping the records, the memories, and of keeping your loved ones in hand-made goodies that will, in turn, help them keep their own respective sanities! (Not to mention make you a lot more pleasant to deal with if you’re happy, hehe!)

Silhouette Corner

Have you tried using a pen with your Silhouette yet? You should! With a downloadable lovely dingbat font (available for free from www.dingbatdepot.com ) like this “90 STARS BRK” and a sufficiently thin pen and your pen holder that came with your machine, you can create something like this:

Another great tip, you can obtain gorgeous .GSD files (the kind the Silhouette uses) for prices from free to fairly cheap at www.paperthreads.com.