Category: Paper Crafts

Yesterday, I was thrilled to discover a hack for increasing the number of images that I can print with my Cricut. But, unfortunately, with the Print N Cut feature, you can only print 6.75″x 9.25″. Yes, even on an 8.5″ x 11″ page! Dear Cricut, why were you ok with having so much wasted space on an 8.5 x 11″ page! I’m a new Cricut user, having had it for less than a month, and while I’m enjoying many things about the machine, I’m NOT a fan of so much wasted space.

 

My test stickers were on the above page. These are new stickers, so I’ll need to play around with the settings to get Kiss Cut stickers; however, that’s minor. The stickers are adorable, and I look forward to using them on gifts and giving some of them to a friend.

I include the video below that I found a straightforward tutorial for increasing the number of images printed on a page. I do hope at some point that Cricut makes this standard, so we don’t need workarounds. Until then, I’ll happily use this hack when using Print N Cut. Thank you, GirlyGrrlStyle, for creating the video. It’s appreciated.

A few weeks ago, I purchased the Cricut Maker 3.

The first few weeks I did nothing with the machine. There’s been so much going on in my world, although I wanted to acquaint myself with the device. I had to put the exploration on hold until last week. I enjoyed learning about my Cricket Maker 3, and I had the opportunity to create.

Thus far, the only items I’ve created are stickers. No complaints there since I do love stickers.

They are a great addition to planners; however, I like looking at them also. I have a tiny bowl that holds some of my favorite stickers. Guess what? All the stickers in the bowl are ones that I created with my Cricut Maker 3.

Die-cutting machines aren’t new to me. Years ago, I bought the Cuttlebug machine. It’s manual, and I used it almost exclusively for card-making. Then, a few years later, I purchased the Brother Scan N Cut machine. It was marketed as the only home-based die-cutting machine that could scan the image into the device and cut what it read. It’s an excellent machine, and I used it a lot initially, and so did my daughter. So I gifted that machine to her.

To assist me with learning as much as possible about the Cricut Maker 3, I joined Makers Gonna Learn and am currently watching the 30 Days To Master Your Cricut. It’s a course that’s available to its members. I must say the class has been beneficial, and it has assisted in increasing my knowledge of the machine. One could argue that I could find all that I need to know, for free, online, and while this is true, having the information all in one place eliminates the extra time spent searching for the specific video.

 

I really enjoy sending personalized letters. I enjoy receiving them also. To be honest, I send out much more than I receive, and I’m fine with that. I’m particularly fond of handcrafted cards. I create my own also, but (admittedly) my handcrafted cards are severely depleted. I haven’t made any in several months and since I had been sending out cards and not making any, my card stash was depleted. I might have had five cards ready to send. A few weekends ago, I started making more cards. I didn’t have a lot of time and so I might have completed two cards?

Fast forward to the present and I now have created around 16 handcrafted cards and envelopes! A few of those cards are for Christmas. My daughter and I do enjoy that time of year and while we don’t get caught up in the commercial aspect of the holiday, we enjoy the extra time that we do have to spend together. Since she’s now being homeschooled, I imagine this year will be a bit different since the majority of her schooling will be done at home. She is taking a few homeschool co-op classes.

But back to my handcrafted cards. Since some of these cards (ok most of them) take a lot of time to make, I don’t send these cards to everyone. I only distribute them to people that I know will appreciate them. Cardmaking is the one craft where I don’t think of myself as being proficient and so I do watch a lot of videos and ask my artistic daughter for feedback.

At the beginning of July, I purchased a set of Prismacolor soft core pencils.  Since I had chosen ‘same day’ delivery, they arrived a little after 5:00 p.m.! That’s an awesome feature of Amazon Prime! This is a want that I’d been sitting on for a few years and since they had an amazing deal on their 150 color pencils, I made the purchase. I had a set of Prismacolors before, but it was a much smaller set and I’d given those away to a friend but held on to my Faber-Castell Polychrosmos (oil based) set. Prismacolor’s are wax based pencils and I do enjoy using them, but my preference is still my Faber-Castel Polychrosmos.

July 11 was Amazon Prime Day and it is also the first time I actually purchased something. I only bought two products and the total was $26.34. The items that I purchased were already budgeted and so I wasn’t spending unnecessary money. Since I knew date for PrimeDay, I just held off purchasing the items until then.

One purchase (item needed for car maintenance) wasn’t on sale.

But, the sketch pencils that I also purchased for my daughter, were! Initially, I wasn’t going to tell her about the pencils and just let it be a surprise; however, since I wanted to make sure that I bought the correct drawing tools, I showed her the items and it met her approval. I didn’t want her using the items, if they weren’t what she liked, to be polite. Both items should be here tomorrow. We’re both excited. With my Toyota Prius, I do the basic car maintenance myself. Taking car of the basics saves me from a few dollars to several hundred dollars.

Ok, this is not a cloth related post. This post has to do with paper crafting.

Yesterday afternoon, I found myself working on paper crafts and top on my “to do” list was making cards/envelopes.

A few weeks ago, the BF and I recently decided to send each other hand written letters. We both think it’s romantic and it does take more effort than texting and talking to each other on the phone… because of this I’m making “boyfriend themed” cards also. Thus far, he seems to like the effort. Of course, his notes are written on simple lined paper, but I’m not complaining. I’m just touched that he thinks enough of me to honor my request.

I had intentions of making birthday cards and Christmas cards; however, I stopped after I had made two cards/envelopes? Why? I  ran out of my Tombow Mono Dot Pattern Adhesive Runner Refill.

I guess I COULD use my 3M Scotch Pink Advanced Tape Glider; however, I don’t like it that much. I’m guessing it’s user error based on the amount of people I see raving about this particular gun and so I guess I’ll watch a few videos and see what I’m doing wrong.

This is an extremely simple card that I made for my BF. I really need to invest in some good markers and so I’m finally going to break down and purchase a Copic Marker set.

I’m looking at the above set. They’re a bit pricey… $136 for 36 markers; however, they’re worth it and they are refillable! I will be sure to hide these markers from my daughter. She’s a talented artist, but I’ve already purchased several art sets for her.