Finding Nemo Card

I made this card using the Pixar Cricut cartridge. After searching Pinterest for some inspiration I found a card with Squirt on and decided to make something similar as I wanted more of a scene, rather than just Squirt on his own.

I used a textured holographic paper which I got in a craft bundle which made a perfect background. 

This would have been a great picture for a frame too. The hardest but was putting the orange flowers in his back as it was so hard to figure out which one went where.

Minnie Mouse Chevron Heat Transfer Vinyl - Cricut Explore

With just over five months until my trip to Disneyland Paris I decided to get my bum in gear to sort out some t-shirt designs. I have only used Cricut heat transfer vinyl before which was pretty expensive for a small amount so I ordered some vinyl from MDP Supplies. I was able to get 1 x 0.5 metres of iron on vinyl for less than the price of the Cricut vinyl. I decided to buy white and black vinyl for stretch fabrics (so it has some stretch to it), pink holographic/glitter and printable heat transfer vinyl. The printable one was in A4 sheets so it will go in my printer and I'm hoping to try and print and cut characters with my Cricut Explore from my Disney Cricut cartridges. 

The only thing that put me off buying from MDP in the past was the cost of postage as its via courier and dye to package size, although I could collect from store, but an option came up for Royal Mail for just over £5 and it arrived the next day (New Years Eve!)

So today I decided to have a go at making a design I saw on Pinterest which was a chevron Minnie. 

To make this I used the Mickey and Friends Cricut cartridge (Minnie's bow and Mickey Ears), and for the chevron I used Chevron Pattern Overlay from the Edge to Edge cartridge (in the Cricut subscription). Ignore the file name, I saved it quickly omitting the 'v' from chevron

I duplicated the bow and Mickey head. I then welded Minnie's bows to give me just one piece. 

With the Mickey head layers I made it so I only had the white outline and main Mickey head shape, highlighted them both and then used the slice button to give me a frame. Then with the other Mickey head I only had the White back layer and this is what I used to slice the chevron.

After highlighting the Mickey shape and chevron I sliced, and after removing the pieces I didn't want, was left with what I needed.

I then put the two Mickey pieces together and welded them.

If I just wanted a Mickey shape I would have stopped here but I wanted a pink bow to make it Minnie. I wasn't keen on layering my vinyl so I placed the bow on the Mickey shape where I wanted it, highlighted the bow and head shape and sliced them.

After removing the cut parts I was left with the below so both pieces fit together without overlapping.

I then cut this out of my vinyl. I found that the glitter vinyl is quite thick, and the vinyl for stretchy fabrics is quite stretchy (as you would expect) so found it best to double cut both times on the iron on + setting which helped when weeding.

My normal cutting mats are a bit unsticky so I decided to use my (very underused) light mat and it was just perfect for this so I think I'll be using that more now for vinyl projects. 

Now I just have to decide what to iron this onto! 

His and her Mickey Mouse birthday cards

It's my husbands Aunt and Uncles birthdays at the end of the month and as they're currently in Florida on holiday visiting Disney I thought I'd make them Disney cards. They're birthdays are a day apart so I've made the matching cards.

For Wendy's card I printed a leopard print design on some goldish Centura pearl and then cut this on my Cricut Explore.. I cut a bow on the Cricut too from the Mickey and Friends cartridge with the button bit from double sided adhesive sheet. The text was also cut from adhesive sheeting. I cut some black card into a 6 x 6 size and lined the outside with red liner tape and then put gold gilding flakes over it. I stuck the text onto the card then guilded the button on the bow and text.

 

With Malcolm's card I guilded the text as per Wendy's card but decided to just used coloured card and buttons for the rest. 

I love how these have come out!

iPad Geeky Snow White Decal

It was my birthday last week and my parents, very kindly, brought me an iPad! I brought myself a Samsung tablet 2 years ago (on my birthday, an exdisplay from John Lewis) just so I could go online without getting my laptop out, however after getting the Cricut Explore I really wanted an iPad so I could use the Cricut App which only works with iPads, not Android.

Since getting my iPad I've loved being able to play around on the Cricut app, finding all the images I have in my subscription easily and also being able to do it away from the study/craft room. I've also got a Pay As You Go sim for my iPad so that I can design cards etc on the go.

One of the first things I did when I got my iPad was set up a Pinterest board on vinyl decals, but in fact I went with a decal I have wanted for years (over 7 years or more) when I had my iMac. It was a nerdy Snow White but at the time I could only get it from America and it was so expensive I went for a different design, but now I can cut my own Vinyl in the Cricut Explore I made my own. I'm so please with how it turned out! I've now put a case on my iPad but I brought a clear back one so the image is still visible (I would have a similar decal on my phone but as I always drop it on the floor, down the loo etc I have a really rugged case which completely covers it)

My friend at work has asked me if I can make something similar with a geeky Ariel (Little Mermaid) which I'm going to try (ie putting some glasses on Ariel)

Another good thing about an iPad is that I can blog so much easier! Hurray!

Snow White Anniversary Card

Today is my third wedding anniversary and I spent Friday making this card for my husband. I say 'I spent Friday' as it took virtually all day due to a fault in our phone/internet line so I kept loosing internet while cutting the lattice and having to start again. I also had some teething problems using my new iPad with the Cricut Explore.

I made this card based on the ribbon that we had at our wedding which said 'and they lived happily ever after' and the fact my wedding dress had a jacket with a neck like Snow Whites dress.

The lattice was from Cricut Paper Lace which I made into the sides of the card. As I was using Centura Pearl card I had to use the glitter card setting which cuts twice (or it doesn't cut through) so it took ages. This was the 4th attempt due to my internet problems and even then I ended up having to hand cut some sections 

The Snow White and Prince silhouettes were found online via Google. 

Inside I used my Cricut Antiquity pens  and added this verse from Cricut Design Space:

I'm really pleased with how this turned out in the end. 

Vinyl Phone Case Decoration

Both my sister and I have Griffin Survivor iPhone cases as we always drop them (on the floor or in water) but they look boring and we wanted to jazz them up a bit. I used the silver vinyl from the Cricut Explore starter set and chose a Little Mermaid text design for mine from a Cricut cartridge, and my sister had a Tinkerbell silhouette I uploaded myself. 

The designs stuck well for the first day but then started moving and letters started coming off mine, and the wand on Laura's Tinkerbell moved too. I think it's due to the material used for the phone case as it's not got a completely smooth surface. I think a stronger vinyl may work better or if I used the vinyl as a stencil and then painted through it. Vinyl sticks fine to other phone cases, I just think our cases that have a problem with the vinyl. 

Donald Duck Birthday Card

Just a quick post. I'm planning a post on using different pens in my Cricut Explore but my phone went wrong and I had to reset it and lost a video I'd done! 

I made this card using the Mickey and Friends Cricut cartridge and the print and cut feature. Donald's boat is cut by hand as I didn't realise you can only print and cut up to a maximum size (which isn't that big) and the boat was just a bit too big :( 

Better get a start on Valentine's!!! 

Handmade Notebook & Travel Planner

I decided today to make some notebooks as I wanted to use the cute pencil and paper from the Cricut Simply Charmed cartridge. I also had two ring binder book kits from magazines which is not used (one was for a recipe book and the other was a diary from a recent copy of Simply Homemade magazine).

Each book set had 2 rings, 2 squares of thick cardboard, stickers and a paper pad (one had calendar pages and the other recipe pages). I only needed the cardboard and rings for the main design of my binders.  I covered the card in parcel paper, added a square of craft card to the front (to cover where the parcel paper came together) and then punched two holes for the binder rings. I then used this as a guide for where to punch the holes on the back piece. 

I then set about decorating my books. As I'm going to Orlando this year I decided to make a travel planner so decorated the front with the map of Florida (the green shape) and added the wording by cutting adhesive sheeting on my cricut mini and then glittering it. The cricut mini cut through the adhesive sheeting perfectly. I used depth 4, pressure 4 and doubled cut - this cut right through the two backing sheets and adhesives so I may try depth and pressure on 3 next time so the bottom layer stays intact. I was so impressed at how good the cuts were.

For my inside pages I used Craft Artist and designed a number of different styles pages including an itinery for each day as a guide, places we want to visit, restaurants, days left on our park tickets, things to do before we go and a currency chart. I printed them double sided and then added dividers in between each section using cordinations cardstock cut a centimetre wider than the papers. I added labels using a Dymo machine.

The yellow card is covering my trip details.

With my other binder I decided to add the calendar sheets from my free gift set so I can use it for a blog & Design Team work planner.

The great thing about these binders is that you can take them apart and change the contents. They also hold a lot so I'm going to use my orlando planner as a mini scrap book of our orlando trip once we return and I can then keep the parts about what we did each day.

I loved making these and also loved using up the bits I had laying around so they didn't cost me any extra (only the printing) and far cheaper and more personal than buying a travel planner

Playtime with My Cricut Mini (Finally!)

So I broke the blade on my Cricut Mini on Christmas evening......and didn't realise but wondered why the Cricut Mini didn't seem to cut as good as I thought it should. I did it due to tiredness and because I used Adorable Scorable Card thinking that was suitable (I did notice the blade get caught on the card at the time but didn't notice any chipped blade).

Yesterday (Thursday) my replacement blades arrived (having ordered them on eBay on Boxing Day so I had spares). The only problem was I thought they were the wrong ones, then had a little hissy fit until my husband told me the green bits were covers covering the blade (he is so helpful when I get stressed due to crafting).

So Friday night.....I'm a 27 year hold I'm sitting in my craft room armed with a Disney Cricut cartridge, with a glass of non-alcoholic shandy in my dressing gown....and WOW does the new blade make a difference! I have guides printed on the wall with the blade depth, pressure and speed for each cutting material so they really helped and I even managed to cut glitter card! The only thing I need to work on though is my sticking down the pieces when I do my Disney characters, or at least Ariel with her mass of red hair.

Here are a few bits I made tonight while playing with my Cricut Mini PROPERLY with an unbroken blade! I used Disney Happily Ever After Cricut Cartridge, and Damask Decor cartridge.

 
Ariel was my first attempt. She cut fine but my sticking abilities were stretched here. Her hair was the problem because it was so big with lots of cuts in and I think it stretched a little with the glue and I just couldn't get it in the right place. I used 'Anitas Tacky Glue' which was too tacky and stuck fast. She looks more Amy Childs that Ariel to me (I think it's the lips). I'll try again but this was my first project with my Cricut.

 This Flounder card was my second project and I was so pleased with it! My glue skills improved (and it helped he didn't have a mass of flowing hair). I used an apeture card I recieved in a bundle when my card was featured in Papercraft Inspirations Magazine.

 The 'THANKS' was cut from glitter card stock I brought in Home Bargains last year. This is my last sheet of it and it cut so lovely I'm going to try and track down some similar as Home Bargains always change their stock.

I played around with my glues and used Tacky PVA, Collall All Purpose, glue pen and glue stick depending on the area needed to cover, and where they were going (I used the glue stick for the base layer of both Ariel and Flounder and then on the first cupcake card below)

The below cards I made using the Damask Decor cartridge. The top one is the cake design and when it cut, it cut so lovely that the 'waste' was perfectly cut too and I didn't want to bin it, but as it was glitter card I knew it wouldn't be any good as a stencil as it would be too rough and shed glitter so I cut it out and used it in the bottom card. The design is a bit hard to see in these photos but in real life its so glittery it does stand out.  The backing papers were free with the current Simply Homemade Magazine (Issue 38).

I just need to add a sentiment and some extra bits to the bottom card though as the background looks a bit bare.

After all that excitement I'm off to bed (after I peal the PVA off my fingers). I will post a review of the Cricut machine once I've played with it some more. I've definately picked up a few things since I've started playing with it....mostly that I won't be rushing to put Adorable Scorable in the Cricut and time soon!

Welcome home Cricut Mini!

I had such a lovely Christmas Day. The homemade crackers were brilliant as everyone got useable gifts not things that ended up in the bin. The crackers also cracked perfectly! My Dad did the jokes inside each cracker so it was nice not to have the same jokes you have each year and they were suited to each person. 

Inside all the crackers I filled (ie all but mine) I put a Molton Brown minature plus a handmade item. Mum had a keyring with their dog on, Dad got cufflinks with one of his pictures he had taken of a cat woman statue, Lee got cufflinks with his tattoo design on (treble clef and heartbeat) and my sister got earrings I'd made. In my cracker my Mum put a Revlon nail art nail varnish duo.

Also I recieved a Cricut Mini from my parents! I've wanted one for ages but haven't had the room and felt they were too expensive to justify buying one or someone buying one for me but you have to love Amazon Black Friday. I did know I was getting it so purchased a few cartridges I wanted if I could find them at a good price on eBay including Disney Dreams Come True and I made this quickly when I got home on Christmas Day before bed (we were up by 5.45am, at Mother-in-laws by 7.30, then at my parents by 12, home at 8.30pm)

If it doesn't move, it gets personalised with vinyl!

I think I may have a dodgy cricut blade as the cuts aren't that crisp but I have been playing with some vinyl and personalised my hard plastic beaker using Cricut Disney - Mickey Font

Snow White Card

Here's a card I made today using my Tilda stamp, mirror card and backing papers from Kate Knight's Handmade Cards magazine.

My Snow White Stamp Arrived!

While looking in the In2Crafting blog I saw a few years ago someone made a snow white card with a really cute stamp and I went on the hunt to find one myself!

This morning a parcel from Norway arrived and I've been stamping and colouring ever since!

How cool is this stamp!