Stamping Solutions Page Layout

This page was made using the Cricut Expression and the Stamping Solutions cartridge.  Click here for a PDF of the directions we used in class!  Enjoy!

Up-to-date!

All of the download links are fixed.....whew! Now I just have to get off of my lazy rump...er-um...I mean sit down in front of my computer on my lazy rump and get the new projects uploaded. LOL. Soon!

neglectful me

I have not been paying much attention to my blog, well lets see.....for the last 3 months or so. All of the links are broken, so I will begin to fix that soon, maybe this weekend. We'll see how it goes! I have a backlog of projects to post and just haven't gotten around to it. (another this weekend project?) LOL

Boo! Book and the deep cut blade

Here is the CUT file for the BOO! Book. I used George and Paper Doll Dress Up cartridges. It is bound using the Bind-it-All.
I made this project using the Cricut deep cut blade and housing. Wow! What a difference it makes. I was able to cut through really heavy chipboard, I think it was about 1/8 " thick. I had tried to cut through this material using the original blade housing and lots of multi-cutting, but with no success.

The deep cut did make it through , but it took some learning. The blade housing has 11 depth settings rather than the usual 6. The numbers still say 1 - 6, but you can set it half way between the numbers also. Which means I had to figure out new pressure/blade depth settings. (I feel like I just finally got a handle on the old settings, LOL) I wish I could say it just sliced through like butter on the first try, but it didn't. My first cut came out terrible, I set the pressure at maximum and the blade depth at 6, and the machine stuttered, and made horrible sounds and ugly gashes in the chipboard. So, I decided to try again with all the settings set a little lower. I made my first cut on 4.5 depth and the pressure at high. It cut, but not all the way through. So it is back to multi cutting. I don't usually turn the multicut feature on in the software or my machine, because I forget to turn it off and end up multicutting an innocent piece of thin paper. I usually just press load mat and load last if I am only using my cricut machine, or I just press the cut button again on the software. (no need to press the load mat button when using the software, because it is programed to a specific start point). If you press unload mat do not try to multicut. The cuts won't line up correctly. Only press the load mat button.

I found a couple of different cutting patterns made it through. We'll call them Deep Cut recipes.
Cut Recipe #1
Multicut 2 Blade depth 4.5 Pressure high
Multicut 2 Blade depth 5 Pressure high
Single cut Blade depth 6 Pressure Max

Cut Recipe #2
Single cut Blade depth 4.5 Pressure high
Single cut Blade depth 5 Pressure high
Single cut Blade depth 5.5 Pressure high
Single cut Blade depth 6 Pressure high
Single cut Blade depth 6 Pressure Max

One other thing to watch for when multicutting is stray bits of paper getting caught in the blade housing and blocking the tip of the blade.

Cricut Halloween Luminary

This is the Halloween project I taught at this months Pixie Stick Club. Pixie Stick Club is the kid's class at our local scrapbook store (Scrapper's Edge).

Ingredients:
Cricut machine
George, Paper Doll Dress Up cartridges
Bazzill heavy black cardstock
Mrs. Grossman's lavender vellum
Making Memories glitter Halloween stickers
Making Memories foam stamps
white and glow in the dark acrylic paint
cob webs
plastic spider rings
electric votive candle (don't use a real candle)

The luminary base was cut from heavy cardstock using my Cricut machine and the Design Studio Software. The window section is backed by a 4.5 x 4.5 square of vellum. Use a 2-way glue pen on the back of the castle and bat to adhere them to the vellum, and plain scotch tape to attach the outer edge of the vellum to the inside of the luminary. Embellish with paint and stickers. When the paint is dry roll the luminary into a cylinder to shape it, I used a rolling pin. Tape the edges together on the inside of the back, top with cob webs and plastic spiders. I cut a slit in the rings and looped them through the pickets on top. Put an electric votive candle or glow stick inside and oooooh! Creepy Halloween fun!

Click here for CUT file

Faux Prima Flowers

I am using my Cricut machine to make Prima style flowers using cone shaped coffee filters and coloring them w/ various inks. They cut very flat, and then I add dimension by scoring and embossing them by hand. A good way to get just the right color flower for a project.
Click here to download a tutorial PDF.
Click here for the CUT file if you have Cricut Design Studio and the George cartridge

Clear Tag Mini Album

Here is the latest project. Click here for download