Ok now you are hooked and interested in the new Cricut Personal Cutting System by Provo Craft but there's more to each cartridge than you think.  The Creative Feature Keys are a BIG Plus in this new innovative cutting system.  On the cartridge given with your system is George & Basis Shapes which comes with six Creative Feature Keys.  These include Sign, Slotted, Charm, Silhouette, Shadow and Shadow Blackout.  With these added keys you are given thousands of different choices to expand usage with your cartridge.   Image this.  Each letter and phrase is capable of being made from 1 inch to 5 1/2 inches.  with the use of these feature Keys you have just added another 6 options for making each letter.  This alone gives you the opportunity to create words with different font effects without having a different font.  my two favorite are Silhouette and Shadow.  Silhouette gives you delicate looking letters that with the cuttings gives a professional look to each letter.  Do you want your letters to be looking more chunky?  Well use the shadow key and see the difference in your words and phrases.  Add the shadow Blackout and there comes another whole new option for creativity.  Using the phrases on this cartridge you can get so many different looks with the Creative Feature Key that you won't need to be looking for stickers in your store anymore.  Play with your cartridge and learn it's capabilities.    The guide in the back of all of the cartridge books shows what each letter and phrases is able to be made and how it will look.  the phrases are not all capable of being made in every creative feature key but with some knowledge of your Cricut you will learn how to enhance everything you make to the best ability. 

I have found that just with the George & Basic Shapes you have so many opportunities to create that this makes you wonder just what some of the other cartridges are capable of doing.  Your shapes which are accessed by SHIFT are also able to be made with these Creative Feature Keys.  The Cricut Personal Cutting System allows you to create perfect size letters for any project, page or card.  Now that is something no other die cut machine is able to do.

How hard is it to use the Creative Feature Keys?  Well that's the easy part.  Just select it before the pressing of the cut key.  The letters and shapes are displayed on your LCD screen and will cut in the style chosen. 

The Foundation Keys are the solid version of the images used with Creative Features.  On this cassette they are the Sign and Slotted Oval. There you have just added two more variables for your letters.

Take time to play with your machine to learn everything it can and will do.  This alone will be the best lesson to mastering the Cricut.