QUESTION:
I feel that our Cricut cartridge is right at the top for leading in innovation.
How many years in development did this cartridge take? I love it so much that
it stays in my new Cricut at all times. --Submitted by Casandra, January 20,
7:18 am
ANSWER:
I'm with you, Casandra! I am head over heels with the Art Philosophy Cricut
Collection. It's so versatile, it really could live in your machine all the
time and may be the only cartridge you ever need… for now, at least! :)
I think
I've shared before that typically Close To My Heart is designing products at
least one year in advance of their release. For very large-scale projects, it
can even be much longer than that (for example, Studio J was nearly three years
in development, and a how-to book often takes about 18 months). Putting
together a cartridge with 700 shapes, along with the coordinated stamp sets,
Dimensional Elements, and the projects to test and showcase the art is honestly
a project that should take about 14-16 months of internal development. But did
we have that long? Not by a long shot!
The
opportunity had been percolating for a long time, and we'd been exploring the
possibilities with Provo Craft but didn't have anything final. Ultimately and
wonderfully, it came together quickly in about January 2011. That's right, just
6 months before Convention! We literally pulled all of our internal resources
together and people worked incredibly hard to meet a Convention-release
deadline. I don't think I have ever seen a team work so hand-in-glove or so
focused as we were in working on that project, because we all knew how
important and elevating it could be. We aren't eager to make such sprinting our
modus operandi for any other products, but sometimes you have to be willing to
perform extraordinary deeds to reap extraordinary rewards. We're glad you think
the effort was worth it!
I absolutely LOVE this cartridge too. It is definitely my favorite!!!! It is so fun when I've made a project for a workshop and everyone asks oh what cricut cartridge did you use for this. 95% of the time it is our Close to My Heart cartridge. Most everyone who attends my classes has it on their wish list. How exciting is that
ReplyDeleteSix months!! That's amazing! I can't even get my husband to clean the garage in six months! Very impressed.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding work by the CTMH team. I've demoed for Provo Craft and have taught a lot of people how to use the cricut. The number one question I get asked is which cartridge/cartridges should I start with. I used to go into a spill about different ones depending on their interest or uses now I say plain and simple Art Philosophy hands down. It will fill everyone's needs for a LONG time. Thanks for a fabulous cart and I hope we have another one coming in our near future.
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing. I love this cartridge it truly is hands down my favorite. I can't even imagine if you had more time what you would come up with. Thank you so much for creating this cartridge along with all the stamps sets. I am going to go broke, trying to get them all.
ReplyDeleteI am just amazed that Art Philosophy came together in just 6 short months - kudos to all the people who worked together to pull it off. Art Philosophy is an absolutely fabulous product and I use it literally every time I craft now. I am looking forward to additional cartridges from CTMH and more stamps that coordinate!
ReplyDeletePaige
Absolutely love it haven't used another since!! Have even had customers order it before buying the Cricut because they love the demo. It does sooo much. Thx for all your hard work
ReplyDeleteI haven't used another since. Thank you for your great effort and development of our AP cartridge. It is amazing!
ReplyDeleteLove AP and anticipating another release soon? Maybe? I think you gave a bit of a hint above!
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing that it only took 6 months considering what must have been involved. I actually bought my Cricut Expression BECAUSE of this cartridge. Before it's announcement at Convention, I just didn't think the Cricut was for me. Then, I went to Convention and saw all of the amazing things others created and I went home and bought my Expression ... after already ordering the AP cart! Now, I feel like I'm "cheating" on my AP cart if I use any others :) Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Jeanette & Corporate Team!! I'm with Casandra in that my AP cartridge stays in my Cricut all the time! Love it so much! And I've never used my Cricut as much as I have since after Convention. And I'm with Lucy on buying the Expression machine because of this cartridge! I had the baby bug machine and didn't use it very often, nevermind all of the cartridges I had collected. I upgraded to the Expression and don't think I have used anything else but our wonderful Art Philosophy cartridge since! It's lots of fun to find coordinating shapes to some of our older stamp sets and show my customers! Really looking forward to Convention this year! I hope your "for now, at least! :)" comment is a hint of more wonderful things to come in July!!
ReplyDeleteWhat would be MORE awesome is if you offered these designs to NON Cricut users!!
ReplyDeleteTHIS is my ideal scenario:
With each time a set of stamps is ordered, for an extra amount of money, the customer would be able to go to a website to download SVG files that they could cut out on their NON Cricut machines.
This way you would satisfy the itch of those who use other machines besides Cricut.
Here is a list of some of OTHER machines:
Silhouette Cameo & SD,
KnK Zing,
Cougar,
Bosscut Gazelle,
Pazzles,
Craftwell eCraft and
Sizzix eClips
These are just SOME of the machines that offer the ability to cut images from a computer, opposed to a cartridge.
Please consider this request!
Thank you.
OH I'M with JH Schott! As I own a Cricut and like you said the Art Philosophy lives in it and it's the only cartridge I own. The only reason why I haven't sold my machine. BUT please other options - I own a Silhouette also and it cuts so much better.
ReplyDeleteYES please consider JH Schott and now my request. Please.
I do love the suggestion to provide on-line resources for non-cricut users but as someone with a Cricut I love love love our AP cartridge and have not taken it out of my machine since I got it back in September - I have not needed too :) Thanks for all the hard work you put into each and every CTMH product!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, thanks for answering my question. And 6 months? Okay, jaw-dropping, even more impressed with this cartridge now, kind of moment. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd in an air-headed moment that I was having as I was reading through favorite current blog posts, and saw my name, I was thinking how cool is it that someone with my name was getting their question answered. Hehe. Yes, it's been that kind of day for me.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read through our posts and answer them. I can only imagine how busy you are. Bless you.
I LOVE this cartridge! I am so glad that I invested in it. I have been able to create so many great projects with it! It is worth every penny! Thank you for all of the time you invested in this!
ReplyDelete6mos! That shows the creativity and dedication of some really super crafters. I LOVE this cartridge and use it on almost every project I do and I don't feel like I've near used it all. CTMH rocks I tell you! Thanks so much for everything you do.
ReplyDelete