New horizons in crafting

I got a new toy today and am super excited! 

I purchased the Original Cricut machine today from a friend for only $75!!

It's brand new.

Box is still sealed.

And white with PINK accents!

Its very pretty.

The machine only cuts images up to 5 1/2" so its the perfect starter machine.

I've been wanting one for years.

Originally so I could create shirts with vinyl.

CDH awareness was my main focus.

But now that I've been looking at all it can do Im super excited about the prospect of

making homemade cards and scrapbook embelishments.

Now all I need to do is sit down and play with it.

I tried tonight but Miss Lanie kept talking in my hear so I couldn't concentrate.

Being a mom,

you gotta know when to walk away.

In my search for help and ideas on how to use the cricut I can along some resouces that I not only want to bookmark, but thought I'd share:

1) http://www.myvinyldirect.com For those who are looking for vinyl they have it at the best prices i've found yet. You can buy vinyl by the yard. 12"x1 yard is $2.98 and shipping is pretty cheap too. They also have iron on vinyl, transfer tape and more.

2) Apparently most machines come with the George and basic shapes cartridge and apparently it is already uploaded on every machine you just have to unlock it. The cartridge is very expensive but this site shows you how  you can easily make one and it works great. Theyve only seen 1 in 100 users not work. http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-Cricut-George-cartridge-for-free/

3) The few minutes I had to sit down and play with the Cricut made me realize it was going to be harder than I imagined. I got to looking at the manual and read about the craft room. Its a free software download thats compatible with all cricut machines. Even though you don't have to have a computer to use your machine it does make it easier. From what I read you just drag and drop the images until you get what you want then you connect the computer to the cricut and cut. Sounds pretty awesome http://www.cricut.com/home/craftroom

4) Pintrest had lots of great ideas. I just searched "Cricut project ideas"