DIY

Crafting on the Go with EasyPress Totes

March 27, 2019 Cathy UnfilteredLeave a comment

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

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Do you ever want to take your crafting with you somewhere else but not sure how to safely travel with everything? I know in the past when visiting family, I wanted to be able to show off my crafting skills and make them some personalized crafts with Cricut Iron-On but was worried about my EasyPress™ getting damaged in my travels.

Luckily, Cricut has released the EasyPress™ Totes so that you can now take your iron-on skills on the go. The EasyPress™ Tote are the perfect way to safely carry your EasyPress™ 2, Safety Base, mat, and small accessories.

The EasyPress™ totes are assembled with a study, heat-resistant material to keep your machine protected from the bumps along the way as you travel. Whether you use the padded should strap or the strong handle, your machine is kept safely in place by the velcro strap.

Each totes is creatively designed so that you can included your safety based underneath your EasyPress™.

As well, there are pockets on both the front and back of the tote to carry almost all your needs including your mat and Cricut iron-on accessories (both sold separately).

The Cricut EasyPress™ totes are available in three sizes (compatibility is based on the EasyPress™ you currently own.)

* Small – Cricut EasyPress 2, 6″ x 7″
* Medium – Cricut EasyPress 2, 9″ x 9″
* Large – Cricut EasyPress 2, 10″ x 12″ and Cricut EasyPress, 9″ x 9″

Now you can take your crafting inspiration on the go with you. You are not longer confined to your home to craft, you can share you style and Cricut iron-on creations wherever you go.

Making my own style with Cricut Explore Air

March 31, 2017 Cathy UnfilteredLeave a comment

Graphic tees seem to be all the rage these days. I am always seeing these great t-shirts with cute logos and hashtags on them. Unfortunately a lot of them come from the US and shipping to Canada isn’t always an option. So how does a girl stay in style? Use her Cricut Explore Air, of course.

I decided for my latest Cricut project that I would up the style game for my son and myself and make us both graphic tees. Cricut has their Iron On vinyl in a variety of colors including glitter so I was ready to go. All I needed was a t-shirt for each of us and I was ready to start creating.

My son being the huge penguin lover that he is, I knew that we had to find him something with penguins on it for his shirt. I found a cute little logo on Etsy and got that one for him. Once I was able to upload it to Design Space, I was able to use the Set Canvas function to select a child size tshirt to ensure the size of the image would set properly on the t-shirt. This is such a great feature so that you aren’t guessing and wasting supplies or time.

One I was ready to print, I made sure I selected to Mirror image my logo so that it would cut properly.

You need to cut your image with the shiny side down of the iron on vinyl or you will end up with the iron on material on the wrong side.

Once I had the image cut and weeded, I was able to place the image on to the t-shirt to place it properly before ironing it on.

I used my regular iron set on the highest (Cotten/Linen) setting and made sure to iron the shirt just prior to placing the logo so that it was warm. Once I placed the logo in place, I used a tea towel over top to protect the plastic transfer paper. I ensured to use a lot of pressure to make sure the iron on vinyl set properly into place.

After letting the transfer cool a bit, I removed the transfer paper and the shirt was ready to wear. It looked great and my son loved it!

For myself, I just went into Design Space and found a font that I like and using a phrase that I liked, I printed up a t-shirt for myself using the same steps as I did for my son’s.

Both of shirts have now been washed (inside out) and the transfers still look as good as new. So now keeping up with the graphic shirt style is easy for us.

There are so many great ideas on the Cricut website to use for inspiration, I can’t wait to figure out my next project. Stay tuned.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

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DIY

Easy Crafting with the Cricut Explore Air

February 9, 2017 Cathy Unfiltered

I have to admit when I first got my Cricut Explore Air, my mind swirled with the possibilities of what I could make with it. However, when I got home and was ready to start crafting, I felt like I hit a road block. I think I was more overwhelmed than anything else. There were so many possibilities, I didn’t know where to start. I decided the best place to start was with the experts themselves and headed to the Cricut website.

Cricut has an amazing program called Cricut Design Space. This is the program you use to design your crafts and subsequently cut the piece. Design Space has all kinds of fonts, images, etc to help you with your project. It also has an area with already designed projects that you can make for yourself. The Design Space program is currently available for use on your computer and also has an iOs version.

For this particular project I knew I wanted to do something Valentine’s Day related. I was coming up empty on what exactly I wanted to do, so I head to the Valentine’s Section in Design Space to see what projects they had readily available and considering I was leaving this almost the last minute, I needed something quick and easy too.

Luckily, I was able to find some very cute coloring Valentine’s cards that would be perfect for my son. Being 8, he’s at that age that he doesn’t want anything so mushy or “girly” as he describes it. The great thing about using one of there pre-designed crafts, is everything is laid out for you in easy steps that you just have to follow along.

I made sure I had all of the supplies that they required and I was ready to go. If you aren’t really crafty or are short on time and want to come up with something that will wow people, this is definitely the way to go.

One of the neat features on the Cricut Explore Air, not only does it cut projects, it can also draw them as well. With your Cricut pens loaded into the machine it was able to draw the coloring picture on the card and cut it out all at once. You do have to change the pen for each different color in the drawing but it so neat to watch the project come to life.

Before I knew it, my Valentine’s cards had been drawn, cut and were ready for my son to sign his name and insert the crayons so they can color. The end product is super cute and I can imagine his friends will be impressed. It was so easy and having it already available for me to use when I didn’t have a clue of what I was going to make.

However, for my next project I want to design and make something without the help of the Cricut Design Space projects. I am moving in a few weeks and want to make something for my new space that really challenges my creativity. Anyone have any suggestions? I would love to hear them!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

DIY · Uncategorized

A Very Penguin Holiday Season

November 21, 2016 Cathy Unfiltered10 Comments

With the holiday season upon us, it was time to start thinking about decorating our home. I asked my son if he wanted a particular theme this year and his instant response was “penguins”. I shouldn’t be surprised since his favorite stuffed animal that he always uses is a penguin. So a penguin theme it is!

I decided I wanted to put my new Cricut Explore Air to good use and make some ornaments like I have seen so many other crafters makings. They looked so cute, and wanted to incorporate our penguin theme into them. My first type of ornament I decided to make is often referred to as a “floating” ornament. I was able to pick up these plastic clear balls up at my local DollarTree store. Plastic is the only way to go in my home with an 8 year old and a very active cat.

First I needed to make the clear insert to go into the ball. The ball was about 2.5 inches in diameter so I just used a preset circle shape and made it 2.49 inches in diameter. I then added a 1/2 inch square at the top and welded the 2 pieces together before cutting.

I have seen other crafters’ use acetate or overhead film to use for the cut out. I used the plastic from the inserts in a photo album that I had laying around and it worked perfectly.

I was having trouble finding the perfect penguin design that I wanted to use. I finally came across a design on Etsy, that was exactly what I wanted. After uploading my file into Design Space, I resized it so it would fit on to my circular cut out.

Using Circut vinyl, I cut out each of the different colors and applied it to my insert.

Once the insert was completed, I rolled it slightly in order to fit it into the ball.

Now it was time to add some snow. I used snow that I also picked up at my local DollarTree. I taped the tab at the top of my insert to the bulb so that it didn’t end up slipping into the ball and getting stuck. I used a spare piece of paper to make a small funnel to pour the snow into. I must say, if you aren’t careful this snow goes EVERYWHERE. I swear a week later, I am still finding little pieces of it around my craft table.

I ended up pouring snow on to both sides of the insert for a more realistic look to it. I put the top back on and we were almost done.

To give the ornament a little more festive look, I used my hot glue gun to add some ribbon and a bow.

And within just few moments, I had my first penguin ball ready to go. My son loves it! Now to make enough for the entire tree.

We also decided to make additional penguin ornaments just using card stock paper. I used the same template but made it about 5 inches tall. I used spray adhesive and attached all the pieces together to assemble our penguins.

From there I gave my son free range to decorate and bling them as he wished. So far, these are what he has come up with.

I can’t wait to make more and get our tree set up and put our Penguin holiday theme into place. My son is itching to put the tree up now, but I always wait just a little closer to Christmas as our lovely cat often dismantles the tree once or twice after it has been put up. And I am sure I will come up with a few more penguin inspired additions as well.

Now it’s time to check out the other great Christmas Cricut Ornaments from my Canadian blogging friends!