RE: Provo Craft Boycott

The following is the text of a letter that I sent to the President of MME after receiving an invitation to join their newsletter this morning that included a chance to win a Cricut Expression – I am not looking for a response but if I receive one, I will be sure to share it.

 

29 March 2011

Dear Ms. Cornell,

I am writing to you today to make you aware of a situation that is ongoing within the paper crafting community – something that based upon your association with Provo Craft, you should already be aware of.

Provo Craft recently settled a lawsuit with Make the Cut, makers of an independent software application that worked with the Provo Craft Cricut machines. I am not going to get into the details of the lawsuit – the case was settled and as such no legal ruling was made by the courts.

Andy, the software engineer responsible for Make the Cut, had revolutionized the way paper crafters were able to use their Cricut machines – they were able to download free files created by others from the internet, cut true type fonts from their personal collections and even design custom cuts to suit their needs.

Provo Craft has also filed suit against Craft Edge, the makers of Sure Cuts A Lot, another software application that offers much of the same functionality. That case is still pending. There is one other software, Fairy Cut, that is being marketed by a Canadian company. At this time, there has not been any word of a lawsuit against Fairy Cut.

When word of the Provo Craft/MTC settlement reached the news, supporters of Andy and Make the Cut rallied to show Provo Craft that they will not settle for a cartridge-only machine that limits their creativity. Within days, several things happened:

1. People started actively getting rid of their Provo Craft Cricut Machines, selling them at a fraction of their cost on ebay and craigslist.
   
2. Sales of competing machines – many several hundred dollars more expensive than the Provo Craft machines – have soared! Bosskut offered a weeklong special on their Gazelle machine and sold out several days before the promotion was schedule to end. That's Scrap, the sole US distributer of Black Cat cutting machines, ordered 30 of their lower priced model ($499) and before they even left the factory, they were sold out.
   
3. A formal boycott of Provo Craft branded merchandise has been organized on Facebook and after just over 2 weeks, has nearly 1600 members.
   
4. A youtube video entitled "I Want my MTC" has well over 4000 views in just a few days.
   

Like myself, many people purchased their Cricut machines only after the release of SCAL and/or MTC. We purchased the Cricut for various reasons – lower cost, wider retail availability, local access to the necessary consumables (i.e. mats & blades), and/or we weren't aware of all of the other options available.

This situation with Provo Craft is actually the final straw for many Cricut owners. Provo craft's own message board is awash with tales from people regarding poor customer service, unfulfilled promises, and complaints about the products – at least until Provo Craft decides to delete those threads. Provo Craft has also allegedly shut down many entrepreneurial endeavors by private parties – and later used those same ideas to launch similar products and services.

So now you probably ask, why am I writing to you about all of this. This morning I received an email from your company asking me to sign up for your newsletter and as a result I would have a chance to win a Cricut Expression. I have to tell you as a big fan of MME, I did sign up for your newsletter. However, after reading your March newsletter online, I unsubscribed. I cannot in good conscience sign up for the newsletter of a company that has any business association with a company that I have chosen to boycott.

I love My Mind's Eye papers but I am very disappointed by your association with Provo Craft and will no longer be purchasing your paper packs – there are many other wonderful brands to choose from. It is a matter of choice – just as I feel what I cut with my cutting machine should be.

One final thought for your consideration: there is a whole market of crafters out there who are looking for alternatives. They will voice their approval by spending their hard earned dollars in support of companies who respect their creativity. I bet they would jump at the chance to win a machine that would work with MTC/SCAL– if you were to offer one of those machines, you'd get my attention and I would spread the word to everyone I could possibly reach. As it is, I will be posting a copy of this letter on the Boycott Provo Craft Facebook page. If you care to respond and address our concerns, I'll be more than happy to share that as well.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

 

A former MME customer,

My first MTC file share!

NOTICE: Please go to the SVG tab at the top of my blog for important information regarding SVG downloads. 

 Back to working on the wedding album - less than 3 weeks so I don't have much time to get it done. I've been slowly learning about MTC and this file is the first one that I have designed and cut in MTC and I was very impressed with the results.

My machine seems to cut smoother and faster with MTC than with SCAL - has anyone else with both software programs noticed this? I also love how it shows you what exactly it is cutting!

I finished "the Groom" page and thought I'd share a quick picture of it - sorry I cut off a corner! I hope you can see the groom in the picture - it is black on black but IRL he is pop-dotted so he stands out very well.

I'm keeping these pages quite simple so that the bride will be able to add pics and a little journaling. I am doing about 20 pages for her and then I will be including all the cardstock and B&W patterned papers, flowers, gems, and even a few extra "die-cuts" for her to create additional pages that she may want or need. (She does a little bit of scrapbooking herself but not much.)

First Dance SVG - Trying out Google Docs for file sharing

NOTICE: Please go to the SVG tab at the top of my blog for important information regarding SVG downloads. 

I previously shared pictures of some wedding layouts I've been working on. The First Dance layout features svg files that I created - the bride & groom and the title cut. Here's the layout:

I CHOOSE to boycott Provo Craft

More than two weeks have passed since the settlement of the MTC/Provo Craft lawsuit. Andy and the MTC team have removed the Cut to Cricut option from the MTC software. While I was fortunate to be able to buy and download the latest version of the software prior to this change and can continue to cut with my Cricut, I am not able to do any software updates now. I'm sure there will be many more wonderful features added to this software in the days, weeks, months to come.

Check out this video made by a very talented MTC forum member and one of her friends.

It bothers me that PC believes it has the right to tell me how I can use my machine after I purchased it. Many have made this point over the last couple of weeks -how is it any different from using an HP printer on a Dell computer, apps on a phone, 3rd party inks in a printer, etc.

What if no one ever experimented to see what we could do - would we even have the technology that we have today?

I have never been a "cutesy" scrapper - just not my style - so cartridges never worked for me. Most of my pages pre-Cricut featured detailed paper piecings that I made and cut from coloring pages, etc. The same thing I do now but instead of drawing on paper and cutting by hand, I draw in Inkscape and cut with my machine. Honestly, I didn't even consider buying a Cricut until the introduction of SCAL. I was about to purchase a craftROBO and was doing some on-line research when I found SCAL - bought my Cricut and SCAL the very next day. (For those of you who do not know - SCAL has also been sued by Provo Craft but that case is still pending.)

There are many other concerns with PC besides the 3rd party software issue: poor customer service, false and misleading product representation, poor quality coupled with poor tech support/warranty service, "borrowing" ideas for new products, unethical business dealings (ask some small LSS owners), ....... need I say more?

All of this has lead me to my decision to actively boycott Provo Craft and all its brands - Cricut, Cuttlebug, Yudu, Your Story, etc. What do I mean when I say I am boycotting? For me, it means I will not purchase any new items that are in anyway associated with Provo Craft - no new mats (Aleene's Tack It Over and Over works great!), no new PC blades (roland blades are available on ebay for a much more reasonable price and right now you can buy 5 blades for $15 & free shipping direct from Seikitech here), not even a new CB embossing folder (going to try Sizzix). I am working on compiling the most complete list I can of PC products and will be posting it on my blog soon.

Am I selling my machine and cartridges - NO. I am choosing to continue to use my Cricut for the time being. I am in the process of purchasing a new cutter but still do not plan to sell my Cricut. Selling my Cricut means that most likely the person buying it would then want to buy cartridges - which would mean that I was helping to put money in PCs pockets. I'll just keep it around for a back-up. As for the few cartridges I have purchased- I think 4 total-I've given them to my daughter to use with her machine (she hates cartridges too but a couple were Disney ones so she'll probably use those). I'll just not update the firmware and I'll keep the last MTC and SCAL software on my laptop so I can use it.

So, what am I buying? I've read reviews, compared cuts from all of the machines, watched tons of you tube videos and seriously evaluated my cutting needs. Based on everything I've read and what I want/need from a machine, both now and in the years to come, I've decided that the 12" Black Cat Lynx is the best investment for me. It'll probably be a few months before I have it but I know that it will be worth the wait.

Do I expect everyone to agree with me? Absolutely not! That's what's so great - we are all entitled to our own opinions and even though we may not agree, I RESPECT your opinion and your right to express it. I just ask that if you disagree and choose to voice that here, that you do so in a respectful way. I've changed my comments to require approval for now - I will approve comments that voice another view as long as I don't feel they are rude, hateful, or disrespectful.

I did it!

I joined the MTC family before they pulled the Cricut capability. I bet they had a boom in sales the last few days - I never planned to purchase MTC but with all the hype about the settlement, I decided to check the program out for myself and am SO GLAD that I did. MTC is amazing and I am so excited to get started using it.

Yes, I know I can no longer update my Cricut firmware - but since I don't use cartridges at all there is really no need. I updated to v. 2.34 in order to be compatible with the latest release of MTC and will be content with that for the duration of my Cricut's useful life - it's over 3 years old so I don't really expect it to last much longer.

Been out comparison shopping new cutters so I'll be ready to make a purchase as soon as I can save up the funds. I've got my heart set on a Black Cat Lynx (and Black Cat supports MTC development - I read that they actually sent Andy a machine so that he could write the necessary drivers for it).

Still waiting to hear what the outcome will be for SCAL (since PC has also sued them for the same reasons).

That's it for today - have to get ready for work - but I do have some new files that I'll be sharing soon!

Greek Alphabet

NOTICE: Please go to the SVG tab at the top of my blog for important information regarding SVG downloads. 

Someone posted on the svgcuts forum that they would like a greek alphabet to cut things for sororities, etc.

I wasn't sure if everyone realizes that the Greek alphabet symbols are available in many of the Windows fonts that we all have on our computers. To use them you have to utilize the Character Map and copy and paste them into your application. This can be time consuming so I thought I'd put together one file containing all of the upper and lower Greek alphabet symbols converted to svg format.

I used the Book Antiqua font but there are many other styles that you can use - just like there are different font styles for our alphabet.

The download is one file that contains the upper and lower symbol for each letter - I've included the name of each in red text - the red text is not a path and will not cut. Here is a screenshot of what the file looks like when you open it.

Download Greek Alphabet

Hope someone can use this!

SCAL or MTC - your opinions please?

I have been pondering all of my options in light of everything that has happened with MTC and Provo Craft. I'm really kind of in limbo right now waiting for an official statement from Andy at MTC. I am seriously considering the purchase of a Black Cat cutter but I want to be assured of the future of MTC before I take that step.

I have to state that I was never a cartridge user - think I bought 4 or 5 and I have personally used only ONE of them. I gave all the others to my daughter because she had access to a cricut at some crop nights she was attending. I'm left with Plantin Schoolbook that came with my machine - and when I just need some quick text without welding, etc - I like the font and will use it.

I love the combo of SCAL & Inkscape and have become quite competent at creating the files that I want/need for my pages. Even before the advent of the cutting machines - I made my own intricate paper-piecings rather than purchase stickers and die cuts - I'm just not a "cutesy" scrapbooker. Don't get me wrong - there is adorable stuff and I love a lot of it - it just doesn't fit with my scrapbooking style.

While I wait for an official statement on the future of MTC, I decided to download the trial version of the software and see if I can figure it out. I keep reading how it is more user friendly than SCAL. I don't see it yet - but maybe it's just because I've used SCAL from the beginning.
I will say that the trace feature seems to work very well - I haven't tried breaking any images yet to clean them up and separate them ( I haven't figured out how to do this yet).

I'd love to hear from any of you who own and have used both software applications - which is your favorite and why?