First Vinyl Project

I have been "saving" glass jars for awhile now to make future projects. My Sweetie doesn't appreciate my hoarding tendencies but this time it paid off. My mom gave me some vinyl and transfer tape last month. She was hoping that I could figure out how to use it then teach her. Today I finally got brave and tried it out. It took 3 tries before my projects turned out. But hey it was a learning experience so I would call that a success. I created my design using the Cricut Craft room. The cute little bird is from the Create a Critter 2 cartridge and the font is from the Basic Font Cartridge.



Trial #1

With my first try only the first line of the sentiment came out correctly, the second line was a bit damaged during the cutting process. The bird came out great, except the layers got askew because I put them on the jar 1 at a time. It was really difficult to line them up through the transfer tape. I had changed the pressure to medium but forgot to switch the depth to medium so there where parts of my image where the blade cut all the way through the vinyl and the backing.



Try #2

On my second attempt I made the font bold instead of regular. It seemed to really help the letters not rip during cutting. I also adjusted the dial on the blade (depth) to 3 and the pressure to low instead of medium. The adjustments really helped the blade cut only through the vinyl and not the backing. Also on try #2 I assembled the layers of the bird before putting it on the jar. The results were amazing all of layers were even and looked great. The only problem with try #2 was that the letters were put on to close to the top of the jar.

Before I began Try #3 I scrapped off the letters from Try#1 and then carefully peeled off the bird. I cut out the letters again. This time using the correct settings on the Cricut and once again the bold font. After I got the phrase on the transfer tape I carefully added the bird to the tape. I noticed there was a seem on the side of the jar. I used the seem to center the tape on the jar. This time the images were perfectly centered on the jar.

I'm not sure if I will fill the jars with candy or put some glass stones and a candle in them. Either way I have some cute gifts for my sisters.

 Here are some tips for using vinyl.
Tip 1: Try cutting a scrap piece of vinyl first to make sure settings are correct. I used low pressure and medium depth. You want the blade to cut through the vinyl only and not through the paper backing.

Tip 2: If using words use a bold font or one where the letters are wide.

Tip 3: If you are using an image that several layers, Put all of the layers together before putting the image on the surface.

Thanks for checking out today's post. Hopefully my mistakes will be able to help you!
 

Cardabilities #67

February has brought on my inner cupid and I have been obsessed with making Valentines Day Cards. The boyfriend keeps inquiring who these cards are for. I just smile and say not him :) He thinks that V-Day is a made up holiday and therefore hates to celebrate it. Maybe that's why I am going over board. So today I would like to share with you my latest creation.

I have been a fan of Sketchabilities for quite sometime now and just discovered they have a sister site dedicated to card sketches. How cool is that? I used this week's sketch from Cardabilities you can find it here.

I started with a blank card in baby pink ( looks white in the picture). I then used the eraser end of a wooden pencil and stamped the red circle boarder. I really like how each circle is as different amount of ink. While the ink was drying I cut out the key, banner and lock using the Victorian Romance Cartridge for the Cricut.

This card has a lot more little details than I usually do and I'm very pleased on how it turned out. I used a fine tip black Sharpie and made stitches around the red outer section of the lock. I also used the Sharpie to outline the lock pieces. The inner brown piece has a bit of a red tint, I used a sponge to apply the ink. It gives a nice texture. The key I uses Studio G gold glitter glue.

For the inside of the card I used the same newspaper print paper from the front, then mounted a reddish brown card stock on top of to add the sentiment. I had to hand write the sentiment as I don't have any Valentines Day sentiment stamps. I hope to play along with future Cardabilities sketches. Thanks for checking out my latest project.

Toilet Paper roll stamps

Happy Friday All! The cold weather here is going to be the end of my sanity, Tiny Human has been a little wild since we haven't been able to play outside. Lucky for me he does enjoy art projects, so we made finger paints. If you need a recipe check out this previous post. This time around we used flour instead of corn starch. I like how it gave the paint more of a pastel type color.

I shaped the roll to look like a heart, by making a crease on one side. The rolls quickly got mushy, but that may have been because Tiny Human loves to coat everything in paint.

Here is the final project. Notice the huge glob of paint in the middle.

We also did one using the tubes to make circles. The circles seemed to hold up better than the hearts. I helped a little with this painting, it just looked like to much fun and I couldn't help myself. Tiny Human loves to do things with his mommy so it was ok.

He preferred the paint brush to using his fingers.