Easter Shadow Box Card

I have purchased many shadow box cards through my Silhouette subscription but haven't gotten around to making one until last night.  This one is by designer Daniela Angelova.  She has the most beautiful designs - especially her cards.  I do wish she would offer instructions as I was unable to find any on the Silhouette site or her blog.  Tried searching You Tube and found a similar tutorial by Lori Whitlock but there was a glitch in her video and the end part was cut off and that was the part I was having problems figuring out.  Arghhhh!! The card is supposed to be able to fold flat in either direction so that it will fit in an envelope.  That was the tricky part.  After much trial and error finally figured it out.  If I can get my camera to cooperate, I'll try to post a mini tutorial in a few days in case anyone else needs help. 

Mouse in the House

Someone on the Cricut Lover's Guide to Design Space FB page had posted a cute pic of a mouse hole that she found on the internet and cut from vinyl.   I thought it was cute so I went and found the same image and then a few more and did a mouse village in my craft room.  It was very simple - just searched for the term Mouse Hole Silhouette png and then searched images.

Tip: Always try to find and use png images when looking for art over the internet because then the background is clear and there is no erasing and clean up. 

At first I intended to cut just one mouse hole from black vinyl but was having too much fun so kept creating until I had an entire mouse street.  Thought the black cat was a nice touch too.  I have to admit that the first black cat I was going to use looked like it was about to pounce and it creeped me out a little bit - a real evil looking cat.  Decided I didn't want that vibe going on in my happy craft room so went back and searched for a kinder, gentler version. 

The entire project took only about 3 hours.  This included searching for images, importing them into Make The Cut and converting to svg files, exporting and re-opening in Cricut Design Space. Had absolutely no issues with the Cricut Explore cutting the vinyl perfectly and because the images were large and chunky there was not much time spent weeding.  The mice are so easy to do that I didn't even need transfer tape for them.  Just used them like a sticker.

I mentioned in my post on Cricut Lover's FB page that I thought about adding captions to each scene - some thought bubbles above some of the characters because I can imagine what they might be thinking or saying.  Yes, I need to get out of the house more probably....hehehe.  If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them.  Do you think it would look too cluttered if I added more?

The timid mouse hiding in the hole staring at the cat is my favorite scene. I can imagine the small mouse thinking "Feet don't fail me now!"

One mouse family has put their home up for sale due to location.  Too close to the cat!  Far left and cut out of the picture is an adult mouse trying to gather up the babies who are headed towards the cat.

This mouse family appear to be comfortable enough to be outside and visiting despite the cat down the street. The two women mice are obviously gossiping.....but what about I wonder?

The pictures don't do it justice because the whole thing is about 10 feet long and in a semi - L shape.  Thank you for stopping by to look.  I have a few more projects to share as soon as I get the pics taken.

Vinyl on Glass Cutting Board

One of the hot items to find when you're out shopping right now is the mini see through cutting boards at the Dollar Tree.  I've been to every store on my side of town without luck.  Last weekend I finally scored and found 4 of the round ones.  They are small - about 7 3/4 inches in diameter.  The small size and small cost make them a perfect canvas to practice on while learning to work with vinyl.

I picked up this free SVG file today at My Scrap Chick and liked it so much I decided to use it on one of the mini cutting boards.

Here are a few mistakes I made and will hopefully not repeat next time:

• When working on a non porous surface like glass use the wet method to apply the vinyl.  The first time I applied the vinyl dry and was unable to remove all the bubbles so I scraped it off and started over. 
• Put a little bit of liquid soap in the mister bottle and shake well. 
• Use a mister bottle that sprays very fine. Less water is better than more.
• The wet method will also be more forgiving.  If the artwork goes on a bit crooked there is some forgiveness and it is possible to reposition it.
• When using the wet method, don't use clear contact paper as the transfer tape.  It takes longer for the water underneath to dry than it does when using paper backed transfer tape.  I want instant gratification and don't want to wait 24 hours to remove the tape!  I was doing good to wait 30 minutes and had to work carefully with it even then.
• If planning on placing the artwork on the back side of the glass, don't forget to mirror the image before cutting!!!!  I had to do two cuts because I forgot the first time.

This sentiment is entirely true!

Doggone Cute Picture!

I've been experimenting with cutting vinyl with the Cricut.  It's a bit time consuming but the end results are worth it.

Still feeling in the mood to pay tribute to my dogs so I made the framed picture below.

The frame came from Goodwill on half price day for under a dollar.  I used a sheet of metallic card stock for the background.  The phrase is a file from the Silhouette website.

The sentiment is sometimes true....