Tips, Tricks & Tutorials For Using Vinyl with Cricut
When you cut vinyl with a cricut, you are essentially making a sticker, or decal. Once it is cut, and weeded, you will want to use a "transfer tape" to transfer the decal to the item you are placing it on. I like Dollar Tree Clear Shelf Liner [contact paper] for transfer tape.
Once the vinyl is on your item, there is no need to seal it! Often sealers will cause the vinyl to peel.
For best results, leave the vinyl on your item for at least 48 hours before washing it.
Below the section of tips is a section of various projects I've made with vinyl over the years, including links to tutorials and svgs when possible.
Some users prefer a light pad - you can buy them for about $20 on Amazon. To see if they might work for you, try putting your cell phone in a rubbermaid shoe box, or something similar, with the flashlight on on your phone. If that sort of light box works for you, you may like a light pad. Personally, I prefer a good overhead light.
I didn't use an svg for my own canisters, I just used the the Collonar Font and typed the text. These canisters are from the Dollar Tree - find them in the kitchen aisle.
Full disclosure - I did not actually make this. This afternoon I designed this to make a parade candy tote for my grandsons, but when my daughter in law picked the kids up, she told me she changed her plans.. so the kids won't be going to the parade with us. I guess could make this for my husband.. LOL!
There are two svgs. One is all in one, like the photo above. The second one I split, to make it easier to change the colors
First resize to something like 9 wide, so you can see better.
Then ungroup.
Then select everything on the right by dragging your cursor across - once it is all selected, change the color, then choose attach.
Once you have the red attached, and the blue attached, then move the blue over
Here's a quick video [no sound, no talking] showing all of the above:
In the video, I flip the svg horizontal. I do that with all of my htv projects, so that I do not have to remember to click the "mirror" button on the next screen.
I'm very likely to forget to mirror. But If I flip the design before I save it, then it's ready to be cut from htv.
Geocaching is a game - sort of a treasure hunt, but there is no real treasure other than the find. You download the app - geocaching.com - and then look for geocaches near you. Go find them, sign the log inside, and then log it online.
Some of the geocaches will be on guardrails and stop signs, or in a lamp post in a parking lot. NOT my idea of fun. Other caches are hikes in the woods, overlooks, beautiful and historical locations.. those I love. My husband is an avid geocacher - he not only wants to find them all, he builds caches and teaches others about geocaching.
Me? I go along for the fun stuff - the pretty hikes to overlooks, and historical spots. We've found so many cool sights we never would have found on our own, through geocaching.
I've made a LOT of geocaching shirts over the years. But this Geocaching is out there is his absolute favorite. He's always asking me to make him another one.
I've never been able to share the svg with you, because it's someone elses design that I adapted.
But today I realized I could share the link to the FREE design I started with, and just upload the svg that I added to adapt it. So you have to download from two different places, contour out the adventure and is, then add in the second svg and weld them together.
Weld, or combine, whichever you prefer - but you want to weld or combine so that the overlapping h in geocaching doesn't leave cut lines in the "swoosh"
Tips, Tricks, & Tutorials For Cutting Paper With Cricut
The first thing I try to tell everyone when they first get a cricut is "don't try to learn it all at once."
What you need to know to make a t-shirt is so different than what you need to know to make a card. What you need to know to cut a felt flower is completely different than what you need to know to make a print then cut sticker.
In this post, I'm going to go over the basics of Paper Cutting, then direct you to some of my favorite paper crafters to follow.
Reminder - I'm an affiliate for a number of sites, including Amazon. If you click on one of the links below and then make a purchase, I may possibly earn a small commission. It will not change the price you are charged.
Choosing Your Glue
Bearly Art and Art Glitter Glue [there's no glitter in it] are two of the most popular brands of precision glue. Many crafters LOVE them. I prefer plan old Elmers Glue sticks [like the kindergarteners use...], and for precision tip, I've been using the Scotch Tacky Glue. I find it is much cheaper in our local stores [around $4] than online [around $7]
For 3d paper projects, shadow boxes, paper flowers, 3D Models, etc, you may want to use Hot Glue. I use hot glue a LOT. Way more than I would have expected. When looking at a Hot Glue gun, look at the cordless models. I SO
Mats are color coded by stickiness, with Blue being the least sticky, and made for paper.
HOWEVER, if you use your green mat a couple of times, it will no longer be super sticky, and will work great for paper. You'll see that I use green mats almost exclusively in my craft room. When they are super sticky I use them for vinyl, when they are less sticky, I use them for paper. When they are no longer sticky, I wash them.
For more on how to wash the mats and make them sticky again -
This is when you will often hear the word "brayer" used. A brayer is a roller tool that you can run over your paper to make sure your paper is "good and stuck", with no air bubbles, to the mat.
I just use the scraper tool that came in my original Cricut Tool set. The same tool I use to scrape all the pieces off the mat to clean it when I am done.
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CUT SETTINGS
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[Photo from Cricuts Website]
I have two Cricut machines, and my [very] old Air 2 is hands down my favorite. It nearly always cuts better than my Maker. And it has a dial - so for card stock I either choose Cardstock, or, Cardstock Plus [for heavier cardstock]. Quick and easy!
On my maker, there are dozens of paper settings - but for a decent cut, the best choice for me is nearly always "Cardstock For Intricate Cuts". Even if the cut is not all that intricate, that's the setting that I often get the best results with. Exceptions would be when I am cutting vellum, or something special like crepe paper [for which you want the rotary blade]. But for most basic cardstock projects, try "Cardstock For Intricate Cuts".
Once you find Cardstock For Intricate Cuts, I recommend clicking on the star beside it - that adds it to your favorites, so you won't have to go searching for it next time.
To cut 100lb cardstock on Cricut, I use the Posterboard Plus setting on my Air 2, and Posterboard with "more pressure" on my Maker.
If your cuts are still not clean, TRY:
Cleaning the blade. Sometimes a little piece of something gets stuck to the blade, and your cuts will not be clean. You can poke the blade into balled up tinfoil - this does not sharpen the blade, but it does help remove tiny debris and adhesive.
Sometimes it's just the paper. Not all paper cuts well, and even something like moisture in the air can effect the cut. In really humid climates, some crafters iron their paper [NO TEAM] before cutting it. It's maybe worth a shot.
Make sure the paper is FIRMLY stuck to the mat. If your mat is not sticky enough, or there's any sort of debris on the mat, it can lift the paper and cause the cut to not be as crisp
Is your blade old and dull? I cut a LOT of paper, and my blades typically last me months. But if all else fails, try changing to a new blade. I do not use Cricut brand blades - they are pricey! Other replacement brands work just as well.
Here's a video from Cricut on how to change your blade
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REMOVING PAPER FROM THE MAT
After cutting, flip your mat upside down, and peel the mat away from the paper, rather than the paper away from the mat. This will minimize curling.
This video, from CraftECorner, shows the process of rolling the matt back off the paper, at about the 1:37 mark.
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MORE TIPS
This was a tip I learned from The Bearded Housewife - those toddler lunch trays from the Dollar Tree are excellent for sorting out the small pieces in a paper project!
I often use painters tape to hold onto those little detailed pieces. The paper will remove from the tape without tearing.
Attach those score lines. When Uploading a project to Cricut, the score lines will NOT be attached by default, in most cases.
Sometimes a paper trimmer is a LOT faster than using Cricut, for basic "base" card shapes
I can cut through 3 pieces of cardstock at a time.
I drew lines on my cutter for 5x7 cards [my preferred size most of the time] to make it even faster and easier.
I have the paper trimmer by Ecraft - I don't know that it's the best option, but it was on sale when I bought it and I've been quite happy with it. It has a scoring tool too. https://amzn.to/4fg2GTV
When cutting text out of cardstock, there are typically two good options:
1. Use a cursive font, and weld it so it cuts all as one piece. [see the word "Roadtrip" above. ]
2. Use a stencil font and attach it, so it cuts out of the paper without you needing to glue a bunch of tiny little pieces in place - when using a stencil font you layer a solid piece of paper behind the text, to show through, as shown above.
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ORGANIZATION & STORAGE
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I found an old office armoire at our local thrift store - the type that probably came out of a hotel room. That may sound like a rare find, but watch Facebook Marketplace, I've seen quite a few of them for FREE since I bought mine! It's not a Dreambox - but then, it was also only $50, not $2,500. And it better fits both the look, and size, of my space.
For a more detailed look at my craft space - which is a corner of my laundry room - go here:
[We have a spare room I could make into a craft room - but I would never make time to use that. With my craft room right in the laundry area, I can craft while working in the kitchen, or send something to cut before going out back to work in the garden... I rarely have the time to "just" lock myself away and craft. Multi tasking is my life. ]
I use a paper trimmer to trim up my paper scraps before storing them
For 8.5x11 paper, I use file folders - the ones with the closed sides - as dividers. The dividers then hold my scraps
For the scrap storage dividers for my 12x12 cardstock, I used the cardboard backing from the back of packs of cardstock
For a much more detailed look at my paper storage, and how I made my dividers - Go Here:
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