So there is definitely a learning curve with the Cricut. Honestly, I am not sure if I am that patient of a person to learn how to use the darn thing.
I purchased it, so I guess I had better get to learning it, huh? It kind of makes me want to cringe.
I may or may not have said a few choice words like dagnabit and oh poo, throughout the second project, and I definitely sought out Mr. VS for his help. Ha!
The man understands this stuff more than I do, and has more patience than I have for these sorts of projects to0. Maybe between the two of us we will be able to make magic with this machine afterall? Again, I think time will tell on this one.
I do not have a problem coming up with the designs. I saw this one so clearly in my mind, and really the software to design with is okay. It is the cutting, and knowing what sort of material to use, and how to set it up on the screen so it will look the way your mind's eye sees it... and the list goes on, and on, and on.
And here folks is where I got myself into some trouble on Saturday! We know I tend to be a perfectionist and I expect the project to turn out perfectly... only when you are learning all of this stuff, guess what? It is not perfect, which drives my OCD heart crazy!
My vision was a stag head in copper on top of what? Tartan plaid of course! I could see it so perfectly in my mind, framed... a black frame to be exact with a bit of distressing on it. That perfectly metallic copper vinyl popping... it was going to be grand! Just perfect for the second project, the perfect addition to my traditional Christmas decor this year.
I began designing the project and had a wonderful thought oh, I will make two!
What is better than one stag head, but two! Double the fun, double trouble, double headaches was more like it. I thought how wonderful will it be to make one for us, and give one as a gift. I wanted ours' to have our last name with a personalized name tag at the bottom with matching copper metallic vinyl.
I thought for the one that I had planned to use as a gift, we would use the same stag head, but we would have a tag at the bottom with "Happy Holidays" centered so perfectly inside that lovely tag. Are you still with me?
I had everything set up, and I was trying to maximize the use of the vinyl since it can be a little costly, especially when you keep making mistakes. Me being the frugal gal I am, it just killed me to think I was wasting material. I wanted to get every last piece of material utilized on the piece of vinyl I was cutting.
Off I went to get Mr. VS... he came in and looked at it and said hmmm... I think to myself, well this is not off to a good start. If he is hmmming so early... then we may be up a creek without a paddle, better start paddling Cara!
He starts moving things around and then when he went to "make it", it would only show two stag heads on top of each other. Still no name plate tag, or "Happy Holidays" tag that was clearly on the screen where I had designed them.
He had to walk away from it for a minute. That is never a good start because he has way more patience when it comes to this stuff than I do.
He came back a few minutes later and indicated he thought he could make a few changes and it would cut the projects created, plus utilize the foil.
When we went to cut, the foil became stuck in the cutter, it was a mess... so I pressed power and removed the vinyl foil. Of course, he tells me later on if this happens again, press pause, do not turn it off, and yank it out of the machine. My darn temper got the better of me... and that was exactly what I did!
 |
| Foil a wreck, we had to start over from the beginning |
As you can see the foil was crinkled and it tore in one area. I thought I could try to use the other side, only it needs to be perfectly flat, no crinkles when you put it in the machine. Makes sense I guess... but I was still ticked regardless.
I learned a valuable lesson here... just because you purchase a roll of vinyl, doesn't mean it can be fed through the machine without a mat, make sure it is smart vinyl if you decide to do this. I did not know when I purchased it what I was buying. I picked items up before the machine even arrived, wanting to take advantage of the Thanksgiving Day sales. I was glad I had the foresight to pick up mats since that is what saved this project.
Back to the drawing board...
Sooo... I decided to go for a more simple approach. I decided on one name tag and one stag head. This worked well as far as the design went. Hubby figured out how to attach the text to the name plate so it would all print together. When I figure it out, I can share with you.
We did have to cut a new piece of vinyl from the roll I purchased, cut it to size for the mat, and then place it on the mat with the foil facing up. The mats are extra, they do not come with the machine. I figure if I am going to share my projects with y'all, I am going to be honest in my opinions too. Remember, nuttin' but the truth here.
At this point, I can not even tell you how many minutes, or hours I worked on this one project, frustration levels were high. I like easy projects, if you recall, I always share easy things... this thing? Like I said, it is going to be a learning curve for me.
I obviously did not do enough homework. I am not sure if I mentioned this before, but I decided on the Cricut Maker 3 since I thought I would be making all sorts of projects despite my original reservations. The jury is still out on that idea. I think I need more time to sit down, breathe, watch videos, and take my time. Only, I am not a sit down and take my time kind of gal with as much as we have going on right now. Maybe one of these days...
Next, hubby points out to me that I need the transfer tape. I have not purchased this yet, but the machine does come with one piece of 12 x 12 transfer tape, lucky for me. We used the one and only piece that we had on this project.
Above we have it cut on the copper foil vinyl, and then the transfer tape was also applied, only guess what? We really did not need the transfer tape for this stag head.
If you recall, I had wanted to use tartan plaid wrapping paper as my backdrop for the copper stag head. When you wrap presents and place tape on the paper, then try to remove it, what happens?
Yeah, I did not think that one through very well, did I? I was not able to apply the transfer tape to the wrapping paper since it would tear the wrapping paper. So, we had to carefully remove the copper stag head from the transfer tape. Can you see why I was so frustrated?
A million steps later, we finally had a stag head on the paper of my choice. I am sure I have left out a step or two here or there, but this one was part of my so called learning curve.
After our project was complete, we all went into the TV room and watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer all snuggled up in our pj's. We burrowed down under blankets to watch the classic we looked forward to every Christmas throughout our childhoods.
Peanut barked when I would say looky, do you see the snowman? And Santa? And the reindeer? He barked, and barked, and barked... and finally, he decided he wanted to actually lay down and watch the movie.
My husband and I smiled at each other and laughed because really... he is our kiddo and we seriously do things most parents do with their children with our pup, but it is the way things roll around this cottage.
Do you have your Christmas decorations up? Still searching out ideas? Take a look at our Christmas ideas by clicking:
