The Cricut Design Studio : A simple way to learn about the cricut and Design Studio software

Did you get a new cricut for Christmas? Visit lots of blogs and wonder how these ladies create all those great projects and you are just trying to figure out how to turn yours on?

Now, the Cricut brand has made the machine even more exciting and creative with the Cricut Design Studio Software. This software takes the Cricut machine to soaring levels of creativity. The software allows you to hook your Cricut to your home computer and create countless new designs and shapes for the machine to cut.

The software includes a searchable database of every letter, shape and number in the whole Cricut Cartridge library, putting thousands of designs at your fingertips. And, Cricut offers online updates to continually add to the library collection. Also, with the tools included, you can have total control over your Cricut, allowing you to meld (called welding) letters into one word, as well as to format and shape items on a virtual cutting mat before your machine even begins its work.

A few things to remember about the Cricut Design Studio Software:

1. Though the software allows you to view and design with any cartridge out there, you can only use the machine with the cartridges you actually have. The good thing is that designing different items on the computer will give you a better idea of what cartridges you would like to purchase next. And, you can save your designs for later use.

2. Having a off day creativity-wise? Need some new inspiration? Check out the Cricut message boards or search the internet to view and download the cool and creative files that other Cricut Design Studio users have created. This is a neat way to add different styles to your own designs, but to also get new and fresh inspiration.

3. You can create a design using more than one cartridge; you will just need to have all the cartridges available when you are ready to cut.

4. You can still create different layers for your designs, like shadows and other elements. The key is to create each element on another layer in the design studio software so that your Cricut machine will know to cut these layers separately and on the paper of your choice.

The Cricut Design Studio Software is a great tool but has a major downside: It Doesn't Come With A Comprehensive Manual.

Many cricut design studio fans have had a long learning curve trying to understand the software. Luckily, you don't have to go through the same hardship. A handy guide to Design Studio is now available online, it's called "Taming The Green Bug". Taming The Green Bug is a step-by-step manual that covers how to use all the features of design studio. Using it will unleash all of your creative ideas and expand the Cricut's abilities to whole new levels.