Decorating Wineglasses with Cricut Adhesive Foil

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. 

My daughter got engaged this summer and was wanting to make Bridesmaid boxes.   These glasses were really fun to make and inspired me to try something new with my diecutting machine.

I love that I can design in Silhouette Studio Business Edition and save as an SVG file.  I find that when you are working with fonts that Studio is much easier to work with than Cricut Design Space.  I wasn't sure about how well the foil would cut with the Silhouette Portrait though, so I uploaded the finished file to Cricut Design Space and cut on a 12x12 mat with my Cricut Explore.

We did four glasses - one for her plus the Maid of Honour and two Bridesmaids. 

The font is Magnolia Sky

The Cricut Metallic Adhesive Foil can be tricky to work with.  It does not like to stick to the transfer paper.  I had to gently pull off the backing and push the letters onto the transfer paper to get it stuck down.   The back of the foil is really sticky, so you need to know exactly where you want it before letting it touch the surface or it may rip if you try and move it.

I had watched a few videos before cutting it.  I was much easier to get it around the glass with the slits cut into the paper.  And the wings on the sides gave me something to hold onto without touching the sticky backing on the letters.

I cradled each glass on a pillow, which kept it from rolling around while I was attaching the words.

Not quite finished here -  we had ordered photo boxes from Amazon and cut out each person's name with the Rose Gold Foil and attached to the box lid.  My daughter wanted to make sure the boxes would be deep enough before adding in more tissue paper and gift items.  I didn't get to see them when she was done but she said they turned out great and everybody loved them.  

 We had lots of foil left over and I'm looking forward to making more items for her wedding. 

Bash My Stash: Christmas Layout using Scrapbook Generation Sketch

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.


I love the Sketches by Scrapbook Generation.  I found myself constantly pinning their layouts so I decided to buy a few of their e-books earlier this year and I find I am using them a lot.

I'm working on older albums and my pictures are all printed in 4x6 format.  I've been scanning the pictures with my Photomyne app before scrapping so I have a digital copy in addition to the original negatives.

I bought a couple of the 4x6 SG Sketch Books and recently added the 6x6 Paper Pad Class to my collection.   I have a bunch of 6x6 samplers left over from when I was with CTMH and I figured the layouts would probably work with almost any paper that I have in my stash too.

This layout uses one of the 6x6 paper pad sketches.   I used up some of my 8-1/2 x 11 cardstock from Michaels (comes in those multi packs that always go on sale each month).

My journaling circle was inspired by some layouts that I saw on YouTube by ohMamarazzi Scrapbooking.   I cut the circle and the mat on my Cricut.

The Holly was cut using the CTMH Artistry Cricut cartridge - I backed it in white and brushed over it with my CTMH Clear Shimmer Brush for some sparkle - to go with the white accent on the Holly on the cardstock.
The titles were cut with my Cricut using the Augenblick font.

I embellished with some CTMH White Shimmer Trim, Whisper Twine and Black Sparkle Flourishes.
I'm trying to use up as much of my stash as possible before buying anything new.  It's fun rediscovering things that I've bought over the past few years.

Early Black Friday Sale at Cricut

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.


Don't miss out on the great deals on Cricut images, supplies and machine bundles during the Early Black Friday Sale!

Cartridges Starting at $9.99

Save on physical and digital titles. 

33% Off Supplies & Materials 

Cricut Explore One™ Coral Deluxe Bundle Clearance!

Get the coral machine and everything you need to get started for only $169.99. 

Explore Machine + Cuttlebug Machine - color coordinated bundle

Don't forget to use the code HOLIDAYDEALS to get an extra 10% off and FREE shipping

(excludes Cricut Access and Explore Air 2)

or

Free Shipping - No Order Minimum with code FREESHIPNOV

US FedEx Home Delivery and Canadian flat-rate economy only

(good towards Explore Air 2 purchase)

Don't forget if you are a Cricut Access Subscriber you also save an additional 10% off all orders on Cricut website and in Design Space.  Great savings if you also apply one of the coupon codes above to your purchase.

Cricut Christmas In July: MIN Watercolour Christmas Card

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

I love the Make It Now Projects in Cricut Design Space, especially the pen projects.  

Here is a MIN Project called Watercolor Christmas Card.  

Instead of using watercolours, I decided to try out a new set of Prismacolour Pencil Crayons that I had purchased off of a local garage sale site.   It's been a long time since I've done any colouring but I really liked how smooth these pencils are - not bad for a $7 purchase.

I used a Pilot Precise V5 Black Pen in my Explore,  it was perfect for the fine lines in this project.
After colouring I added a sequin and a bit of silver cord for embellishment.

The images in this Make It Now Project are from the Anna's Christmas Cards and Embellishments Cartridge - on sale for $14.99 during Cricut's Christmas In July.


Also on sale for Christmas In July:

Cricut Explore Air Bundles starting at $229.99

40% off Supplies and Materials

Cartridges $14.99 or less

Clearance items starting at $.99

Free Shipping on all orders to the US and Canada using code JULYCHRISTMAS

Introducing Cricut Access™

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.


Cricut Image Library Subscription is now Cricut Access™.


A new name and some new features were added to the Cricut Subscription last week.

In addition to the use of over 30,000 images, 1000 Make It Now Projects and 370 fonts in the Cricut Image Library,  Cricut Access™ subscribers now also save 10% off all orders on Cricut.com* and in Cricut Design Space.

Cricut Access™ subscribers will also be the first to access new images, projects and exclusive designs.

Thirteen exclusive new fonts were added with the introduction of Cricut Access™last week, along with new images also exclusive to Cricut Access.  

I love the writing feature in Cricut Design Space and that I can use pens with my Cricut Explore. 

I can't wait to use some these new fonts with my pens to journal on my scrapbook pages.   

Great new images were also added to Cricut Access™ - I noticed right away that some of these will go perfectly with some pages that I am working on. 

Items included in the Cricut Access™ subscription are now marked with an icon to make them easy to find in Design Space.

Look for the green Access™ icon to find projects and images included in Cricut Access™.

Design Space Images - images included have the green icon to the left of the image. 

Make It Now Section: Cricut Access™ images are highlighted with green Access™icon.

  I love that I can now see what is included with the Cricut Access™ subscription.  I was able to quickly choose a font for this tag by looking for fonts that had the Access™ icon.


Cricut Access™ is available monthly for $9.99/month (cancel anytime) or for one annual payment of $95.88 (New lower price! Was $99.99 - works out to be just $7.99/month now!)


*The 10% off discount is only applicable on Cricut.com (USA and CAN only) and in Cricut Design Space™. The 10% off cannot be used to purchase or renew Cricut Access™, to purchase Cricut Circle™, or on iOS in-app purchases. This change does not require any action from current subscribers. Terms and Conditions apply.

Flatten A Cut Image to Print Then Cut with Design Space iPad App

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. 

I posted a few weeks ago about the update to the Cricut Design Space App with Print Then Cut now available to use with the App.  I didn't have a printer set up in my craft room but I found one on sale at Best Buy with AirPrint and have it all set up now.  

The cheapest printer I could find - on sale for $30.

I needed some tags when I was wrapping gifts so I chose the Holiday Gift Tags from the Make It Now section in Design Space.  These tags were set as cut files in the software but I was able to change them to print - a great feature when you want to make something fast.   I didn't want to have to glue all those layers together.

So here I have opened the layers panel so you can see how each tag has the images grouped together.  I've also selected the Actions icon at the bottom and just above it shows the different actions I can do to my selected image.  I love that you can highlight the image just by dragging your finger around the image. 

In this screen shot, I have highlighted the Flatten Icon - you can see to the right in the layers panel that the image layers are highlighted in grey and show the scissors beside it for the original cut file.

Here is my screen right after I touched the Flatten icon.  

You can see in the upper right corner that all the different layers have been flattened into one image with a printer icon beside.  My image is now ready to Print Then Cut.

All three tags are ready to Print - I just have to tap the Send to Mat icon at the bottom right.

Here is my Mat screen and I've set the number of images that I want at the top left.  

I just have to tap the Print icon to send the image on the mat to my printer.

Printer options screen - you need an AirPrint printer to work with your iPad or iPhone.

Here I've selected my printer and picked the number of copies I want.

I print out the tag sheet then hit the Go icon.

Ready to cut - I've loaded my mat into the machine, the Cricut Explore will read the registration marks 

and then cut each tag out.   

 It was pretty quick and I was happy not to be gluing layers together and it saved me a trip to the store.  I'd rather make them myself with supplies that I already have. 

Cricut Make It Now Project: Christmas Pen Art

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. 

I use my Cricut Explore mainly for scrapbooking but have been trying some new things with it for the Holidays.

I love the Make It Now projects in Cricut Design Space and decided to make the Christmas Pen Art Project.

                                   

I love the writing feature in Design Space.  I use it to add journaling to my scrapbook pages.  This project uses pens for Christmas Subway Art.  

I used Pilot Precise V5 Pens in my pen holder and love the very fine line that they draw. 

This project was very quick to do - the longest part was gluing the 5 layers of letters together.  

And that didn't even take that long.  I added some glitter that I had in my stash to the word "Joy",  then I glued the letters on top of the written words on my background sheet.  

I've had this frame sitting in a closet for a while now. 

I took out the glass and the mat so my popped-up project would fit inside it. 

After gluing together the pieces of the Poinsettia, I added a piece of CTMH Foam Tape to the back so it would pop up from my page. 

I added a CTMH Gold Bling Gem to the centre of the Poinsettia.

Here is my finished project - I cut a piece of Recollections Holiday Cardstock down to 8x10 to fit my frame and the  Recollections Red & Green cardstock used in this project came in a coordinating pack. 

Handmade Journaling Cards with CTMH Artistry Cricut Cartridge

I was working on my pocket pages today and have a few pages of the kids playing in the Snow during Christmas Break.     

I used the CTMH Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge to make the 3x4 pocket card then using the attach feature in Cricut Design Space,  I added the font from the Artistry Cartridge to cut the names out of the card.  I backed it with the same patterned paper that I used on the 4x6 card.  The Ambersand was stamped using the new CTMH Zoe WOTG stamp set.  I added a few Bitty Sparkles for embellishment.

I cut a 4x6 piece of patterned paper and rounded the edges with my CTMH Corner Rounder.  I used my Cricut Explore to write my journaling with a Pilot Precise V5 Blue Pen, then inked the edges of the White Daisy Cardstock.

I cut the Snow Day title from my new CTMH Artistry Cartridge in White Daisy and a blue cardstock from my stash.  I added a few small snowflakes for embellishment but they don't show up in the photo.

Close To My Heart products used:

CTMH Artistry Cricut Collection

CTMH Artfully Sent Cricut Collection

CTMH Zoe Workshop on the Go Stamp Set

CTMH White Daisy Cardstock

CTMH Indian Corn Blue Cardstock

CTMH Corner Rounder

CTMH Bitty Sparkles

Cricut Classically Modern - We Go Together Card

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. 

I dug deep into my paper stash today to make this card using my Cricut Classically Modern Cards cartridge.

I love the tandem bike - it reminds me of when I was about 11 or 12 years old and a friend of mine had a tandem bike and we would ride it around our neighbourhood.  Great memories!

I used Stampin' Up Razzleberry Lemonade patterned paper with co-ordinating Crushed Curry and Pumpkin Pie cardstock.  I embellished it with CTMH Bitty Sparkles and CTMH Pixie Extra-Thick Twine.  I love being able to mix and match my new products with the ones that I bought years ago. 

Here is the card with the matching envelope.  It is so fast to make with Cricut Design Space.  I just sized my card to what I wanted and everything else was sized just right too. 

Cricut Make It Now Projects in Design Space

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. 

Now that you’re more familiar with Cricut Explore One™, Cricut Explore Air™ and Cricut Design Space™, it’s time to chat about some of the really neat things you can create when you put it all together. 

As you’re getting familiar with your Cricut machine, it’s a great idea to take advantage of the free Make it Now™ projects and images that you get with Cricut Design Space™. 

For example, check out this adorable 3D Hot Air Balloons Mobile. It’s a fun, easy starter project and makes for the perfect baby shower or toddler’s birthday gift (and can you believe it's made with felt?). And what’s a gift without a card? Cricut has an incredible selection of card examples made with Cricut Explore machines. There’s even a whole selection dedicated to everything baby, which is where I came across this cute baby shower card. 

Birthday

What better way to tell someone how special they are than with a hand/Cricut-made card and gift? This super fun shaker card is perfect for a 21+ birthday. And even if you purchase a gift, you can always use your Cricut Explore machine to personalize it. For example, if you bought a friend a purse or a wallet, you could use your machine to monogram it with their initials. Or if you bought them a plain shirt or sweater, you could customize it with a fun image or statement. 

I love this sparkly pineapple t-shirt. All you need is a blank shirt, a roll of Cricut Iron-on, and images from the Cricut® Summer Love image set. 

Pool Party

Soak up the summer fun with a pool party! You can use your Cricut Explore to create everything from invitations to decorations. Here are some really creative ideas for how to add some special splash to a pool party. 

Engagement/Wedding

Make your own beautiful table decorations, banners, party favor boxes, cards, and more for the happy couple in just a few minutes! You’ll find some really impressive ideas in Cricut’s Design Space, such as this lovely Mr. & Mrs. card. 

There are an unbelievable number of project examples in the Design Space, which are categorized by type (e.g. baby, holidays, home décor, school, food, etc.) and by level (easy, moderate, and advanced). You can also find a ton of great ideas for projects on Cricut's Blog and Pinterest page. 

The summer season is a perfect time to get your very own Cricut machine and familiarize yourself with Design Space and all the incredible projects you can create. Try out a few projects each month and you’ll be amazed at how easy it is. By the time the holiday season rolls around, you’ll be a Cricut pro and will wow your friends and family with your stunning crafting skills! 

Happy crafting! 

CTMH Artbooking Soccer Team Layout

I love how easy it is to create layouts with the CTMH Artbooking Cricut Cartridge.  

You can choose from pre-made layouts or create your own with over 700 images to pick from including a font.   

For my son's first year of soccer I decided to use the pre-made Teamwork Layout from page 83 of the Artbooking handbook.

Using Cricut Design Space I was able to add the entire layout with just one click.  All the layout images are group together just like the image to the left in the handbook.  I just entered the suggested height of 11" and the whole layout was sized to fit on a 12x12 double page spread. 

I sponged the edges of my CTMH White Daisy & CTMH Crystal Blue cardstock 

with CTMH Pacifica pigment ink.  

Then I measured in 1/2" and marked it with post-it notes so my 11x11 overlay would be evenly spaced out.

Close up of the Pacifica Pigment Ink sponged area. 

I played around with the different pieces that were part of the ready-made layout and added in a Soccer title that is one of the extras in the Sports section of the Artbooking cartridge.  I chose to use mainly primary colours in this layout to go with the Leagues yellow & blue uniform colours.

Without doing too much cropping I was able to use the 3-1/2x5 photo on the pre-sized tag and cropped down a picture from one of his games that wasn't a great picture to begin with but I really wanted to include since we didn't take a lot of pictures at the games.

I popped up the photo mats and title pieces using CTMH foam tape for dimension.  It's hard to see in the pictures but it helps define it by having it up above the overlay pieces. 

CTMH Products Used:

CTMH Artbooking Cricut Collection

CTMH White Daisy Cardstock

CTMH Pacifica Cardstock

CTMH Honey Cardstock

CTMH Cranberry Cardstock

CTMH Black Cardstock

CTMH Pacifica Pigment Ink

CTMH Foam Tape

In Canada? You can purchase the products to make this item on my CTMH website:

http://nancyhelmer.ctmh.com

Or start your own CTMH business or join as a Hobby Consultant 

and receive approx. $400 worth of product for just $109. 

 Receive regular updates of upcoming Classes & Workshops 

by signing up for my Monthly Newsletter.  Link in right hand column. 

Contact me for more information: nshelmer@icloud.com

Cricut Design Space and New iPhone App!

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. 

If you read last week’s post, you now know why Cricut’s Explore One™ and Explore Air™ machines are so incredible – and a must-have for any crafter. 

But what bridges the gap between the creative ideas in your head and the Cricut machine is the Cricut Design Space™. 

Cricut’s Design Space™ is software for PC, Mac®, iPhone® and iPad® that you get for free with your Cricut machine of choice. 

Instead of trying to figure out how to make your project, Design Space gives you the ability to focus on what you want to make. Your Cricut machine takes it from there and brings it to life. 

With Design Space, you can start designing from scratch on your computer, iPhone® or iPad®, or you can use a pre-designed, Make It Now™ project. These ready-to-make projects are created by professional artists and include everything from home décor to fashion to paper crafting, and even a variety of FREE projects. 

If you want to use one of Cricut’s 50K+ images, you can try them out in the Design Space to see which will look best in your project before you commit to purchasing it. 

Uploading Images 

When you’re ready to start designing, you can either use one of Cricut’s 50K+ images or easily upload your own using the “Upload Images” tool in Design Space. You can upload and cut .svg, .jpg, .png, .bmp, .gif, and .dxf files absolutely FREE. You can even use fonts already installed on your computer. 

Cut What You Want® tool 

The Design Space’s Cut What You Want® tool makes it easy to convert your design into a cuttable image in just a few clicks! 

The Cricut Design Space™ app for iPad® and iPhone® 

Cricut’s easy-to-use app for the iPad® and iPhone® makes it possible for you can design anytime and anywhere inspiration strikes you.

It also allows you to access all the project’s that you’ve personally designed, whether on your iOs device or your PC or Mac, and gives you access to all the Make-it-Now projects. 

With this app, you can start a project while at the beach, enhance it at the ice-cream shop, add some embellishments while cozying up on your couch, and then cut it on the Cricut Explore in your craft room. Plus, it’s cloud-based, so your projects are always synced across all your devices. 

P.S. Cricut is working on an Android™ app right now, so don’t feel left out if you don’t have an iPad or iPhone. 

In a nutshell, Cricut Design Space™ gives you the creative freedom to design just about anything! Make party invitations, decorations, and favors. Create seasonal home décor or personalize wedding gifts. Add embellishments to your favorite photo memories. 

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! That’s why next week’s post (the last on in this series) will focus on some really fun and interesting projects that people have created using their Cricut machine and the Cricut Design Space. 

Stay tuned! 

Playful Pups Layout using Crafts By Two Font Art Tutorial

I made another Font Art title using the Crafts By Two Font Art Tutorial for this layout of last year when we got our new puppy.  

 I followed the tutorial to create the Playful Pups title with the mats behind it then uploaded it to Design Space. Then I went back to Inkscape and followed the same instructions to make the mat layer for the paw print so it would match my title,  then uploaded it to Design Space where I was able to attach the two images together. 

The rest of my images are from Miss Kate Cuttables.

The Dog patterned papers are from Kaiser Craft, Queen & Co and American Crafts and were purchased at my local scrapbook store. 

The layout design is from CTMH Magic How-To Book

The solid cardstock is from Close To My Heart:

Black

White Daisy

Desert Sand 

& Bamboo

I also added some Recollections Burlap ribbon and a Paw Print brad for embellishment. 

 Receive regular updates of upcoming Classes & Workshops 

by signing up for my Monthly Newsletter.  Link in right hand column. 

In Canada? You can purchase the products to make this item on my CTMH website:

http://nancyhelmer.ctmh.com

Or start your own CTMH business or join as a Hobby Consultant 

and receive approx. $400 worth of product for just $109.  

Contact me for more information: nshelmer@icloud.com

Cricut Design Space App for iPhone Now Available

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. 

I just downloaded the new Cricut Design Space App for iPhone from the App Store.  Love it already!

Even though the screen on my iPhone is small the App is an updated version of the one I have been using on my iPad for the last few months.  I prefer the app to the computer version.  I find it way easier to use.   Now I can work on projects anywhere and then cut when I am ready.

After I downloaded it gave me a few quick pages to scroll through showing how it works.

I logged in and it shows some Make It Now Designs.  

Then I tapped on the icon on the upper left with 3 horizontal lines - that will give you a list of different categories including your saved projects. 

I chose Cards.

Then I selected the We Go Together Card. 

It shows as free on the upper right side because I purchased the Classically Modern Cards cartridge when it came out last month.  

Next, I chose Customize at the bottom of the project screen so it would take me to the Design Screen.  If you look at the upper right you will notice that the square has the middle section highlighted - that is for the Design Screen. 

(left is for projects and the right side is the preview/cutting screen)

I tapped on the Edit icon and the size shows along the bottom. Tap on it again for it to go away.

I did the same for the Layers panel to show up.  

You can see all the icons along the bottom by swiping along the bottom.

Then I tapped Send to Mat at bottom right corner and it came up with my Preview Screen where I can move things around on my mats then tap Go to cut. 

Love it!   So easy to use and will be great to be able to start a design on any of my devices, save and pick up where I left off on another.  I can easily see myself on this a lot since I always have my iPhone with me and spend a lot of time sitting outside while my dogs tear up the yard.

Sasquatch Card from Cricut Simple Pop-Up Cards

I was searching all over Cricut when I first saw this image as part of a Make It Now project in Cricut Design Space.
The Simple Pop-Up Cards cartridge hadn't actually been released at the time, though.

The Sasquatch (or Big Foot) is a well known British Columbian icon featured in the Kokanee Beer commercials.

Isn't he cute!!  

The card front design had the trees and the sentiment in Black ink but it didn't stand out from the CTMH Olive cardstock so I went over it by hand a couple of times with a CTMH Chalk Marker. 

I added a strip of CTMH Kraft Cardstock with a piece of Forest scrapbook paper that I have had in my stash since my early days of scrapbooking back in the 90's.   I added a bit of Linen Thread from my stash also. 

Love the Pop-Up!!  I used CTMH New England Ivy cardstock for the base,  the trees were cut from CTMH Olive cardstock and sponged with CTMH Olive Exclusive Ink and the Sasquatch was cut from CTMH Autumn Terracotta (he would also be really cute cut from White Daisy cardstock if you wanted an Abominable Snowman look).

I backed it with a Recollections Forest scrapbook paper that I bought at Michael's recently.

 Receive regular updates of upcoming Classes & Workshops 

by signing up for my Monthly Newsletter.  Link in right hand column. 

In Canada? You can purchase the products to make this item on my CTMH website:

http://nancyhelmer.ctmh.com

Or start your own CTMH business or join as a Hobby Consultant 

and receive approx. $400 worth of product for just $109.  

Contact me for more information: nshelmer@icloud.com

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.