How to Make Design Space work after the Google Chrome Update

On Thursday, April16, Google Chrome started rolling out a new version update. This new version from Google has dropped your Design Space plugin. Here are a few quick and easy steps to check your version and restore the plugin.

1. Open Google Chrome.
2. In the upper right corner, click on the menu icon (it looks like three horizontal bars).
3. Choose “About Google Chrome” from the drop-down menu.
4. Check your version.
a. If it is version 42.0.2311.90, continue with step 5.
b. If your version is lower than 42.0.2311.90, wait for the update to complete then move on to step 5. (Make sure to “allow” if your computer gives you a prompt. You may also need to refresh your browser to see the update.)
5. Copy and paste chrome://flags/‪#‎enable‬-npapi into your address bar.
6. You will see “Enable NPAPI” highlighted. Click “enable”.
7. Now you are ready to go back to Design Space. You will be prompted to reload your plugin.

Personalized Plastic Eggs

Just a quick little vinyl project for my nephew for Easter! He loves having his name on anything and everything so it was fun to add this little bunny and his name. The image was made from shapes in the Cricut Image Library and it's cut from vinyl with my Cricut Explore.

He was thrilled when he got it. . .I'm not sure if it was because his name was on it or if it was the big bag of jelly beans in it!

Special Hangers for a Special Bride on her Special Day!

The daughter of our long time friends is getting married! As a special gift for her and her Bridal Party, I decided to make special hangers for their dresses! The hangers came from Ikea and a bit of vinyl and my Cricut Explore and viola. . .

I used the Lavanderia Sturdy font for the name and Times New Roman font for the "titles".

And the Bride's dress hanging on her special hanger!

So happy to be able to use my Cricut and create special touches for our special friends!

Cricut Design Space Update!

Cricut has been listening to it's customers and has been working on Design Space to improve the performance issues and enhance the search function. Here are some screenshots to show you what is different. {remember, you can click on the photo to make it larger}


The Landing Page has slightly larger photos and when you choose a Make It Now project, it will go to the Cut Preview screen, bypassing loading the project onto the canvas first. If you want to customize the project, you can still click the Customize button and the project will load onto the canvas for you to make changes to the design.

Once on the canvas, the layout is a little different. Most noticeably is the Options Panel on the right. You can collapse this panel by clicking the arrow along the scroll bar.

Example of the canvas with the Options Panel collapsed.

When you click on Add Image, you will notice a BIG difference! You have the option to make the images bigger. You can search by cart through an alphabetical list. And, you can search within a cart!

This is where you change the sizeof the images.

This is where you search by cart.

This is where you search within a cart.

This is where I searched for "georgia" within the 50 States cart.

This shows the Filter Option for searches.

This shows when you search an image and select images to add to the canvas.

This shows how the images now look when added to the canvas and what the image handles now do.

 This is an example of the Color Sync panel.

This is the new Cut Preview screen.

And yes, you can still drag and move an image on the Cut Preview mat!

An example of the Add Text feature.

An example of the Upload Image screen with a little more info to help you choose the right upload option.

And this is the pop box you get when you click your name on the canvas.

Overall, the performance is greatly improved. The search options are wonderful! And if all goes as planned, Cricut can start working on design features that we've all been wishing for in Design Space!

Want more info? Need help with your Explore or Design Space? Want to see what other Design Space users are talking about? Or what projects they are making? Then come join me on Facebook in 

Cricut Lovers Guide to Design Space

Yourself the Elf!

The Cricut Design Team has a totally adorable print then cut project in the Make It Now section of Design Space! It's called Yourself the Elf and you can make "anyone" an elf by uploading their photo, sizing the head to fit the elf suit then printing from Design Space and letting the Explore do the cutting. One slight problem, the file does not contain the holes needed to assemble the Elf using brads. Not a big deal if you are making only one or two, but if you want to make your entire family into dancing elves or maybe your child's entire class, you don't want to hand punch all those holes. I added them to the file so your Explore can cut them for you!

 If you want my file with the holes added, just be a follower of my blog and leave a comment on this post with your email address and I'll send you the file. Remember, even though you can open the file, you will still need to purchase the MIN project {if it's not still included in the subscription or if you don't have the subscription but it's only 99 cents} to be able to cut it!

Cricut has now updated the project and added the holes to the files! Click this link for the updated file: Yourself the Elf with added holes for easy assembly

Win a Cricut Explore!

Yes, that's right! You can win a Cricut Explore! You've heard me talk about it. You've seen my projects using it. And now, you can win one! Entering is easy ~ answer a simple question, follow my blog {if you're already a follower THANK YOU!}, visit Narelle's blog and find a secret word {hint. . .look to the right on her blog but don't tell her I told you!} and fill in the Rafflecopter gadget! That's it! In 6 days, someone will win a brand new Explore!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Olaf + Warm Hugs + K Cup box!

Here's another version of the 2 K Cup box that I designed in Design Space {and am sharing the box file for Free in my facebook group Cricut Lovers Guide To Design Space }. For this box, I cut then folded all the score lines and then embossed the box using my Cuttlebug and snowflakes folder. I used the circles that cut out of the box for the K Cups and backed them with a slightly larger white circle fro the tops of the K cups. Then I used two Olaf images from the Frozen cart and the print then cut feature of the Explore. The phrase "warm hugs" is also from  the Frozen cart.