First Big Cricut Cake Project

As soon as I heard about the Cricut Cake machine last January, I knew I HAD to have one! They didn't go on sale until May though, so I waited, impatiently waited, for this wonder machine to become available...I stayed up until midnight the night before the Home Shopping Network offered them and bought it as quick as I could!
I tried it the day I got it and took it out of the box...unfortunately, it was a little trickier than expected. I tried fondant paisleys for a little birthday cake box...they worked a little, but not nearly as wonderfully as I'd hoped. I wasn't ready to give up yet though. I blamed it on the thickness of my fondant...surely that was the problem.
Next project - my nephew's awesome 13th birthday soccer cake! Surely I could make awesome things this time. Maybe I just need to use the icing sheets that came with the machine? Yeah - those didn't work so well AT ALL! But I was in a hurry and didn't really have as much time as I wanted to make it spectacular. So, I still didn't give up!
Over the next few months I "played" with it here and there - a name on a groom's cake, some butterflies on something else, even tried another soccer cake. I got more comfortable with it, but still not so comfortable that I could count on it. At the beginning of January, I was bound and determined to get the thing to work for me! I studied online blogs about what worked best for others and tried their suggestions. I had a cake opportunity that would be beautiful if I could make it happen. Would it work when I really needed it?
First try - mix tylose with fondant (store-bought black - duff's brand), roll it out and freeze for 1 hour. This cut beautifully, however, I couldn't get the pieces off without destroying them. Never fear, I have another "practice night" before I have to resort to a very cramped hand from all the piping I'd have to do if I couldn't get it to work.
Next attempt - mix black fondant, gumpaste, and some extra tylose and black gel coloring. Rolled it out very thin. Heavily loaded the mat with crisco (well more than I had in the past). I added the rolled out fondant to the mat and hit cut!!! I watched as it cut each piece close to perfection....but is it going to come off the mat? OMG it worked! I have all these pieces still intact! It worked it really worked!
After several more cuts for the decorations, I was ready to decorate the cake. I was pretty happy with the results :-) Can't wait for my next opportunity to use it!