CriCut Tips/Techniques

Air Cut
This is a great trick when you don't have the software.

Have you ever had a scrap piece of paper and didn't know if you had enough room to cut a design from your cricut? Place the blade depth to 1 and the pressure dial setting to 1, then cut your design. The CriCut is designed to not apply pressure to the paper in this dial setting, so it will perform an "air cut". Make a mental note of the results. If you are satisfied, then return the blade to the original position, pressure, and depth, and repeat the cut. ¹

Cutting Smaller then 6x12
Line up the bottom left corner of the paper with the bottom left corner of the mat. Remember that after you've navigated the blade to the upper right corner of your paper prior to cutting, you need to select the "Set Paper Size" button. This will tell the Cricut that you have selected a smaller paper size. Otherwise it still "thinks" that a 6x12 paper is loaded. ¹

Cutting letters/shapes smaller then 1 inch
Those of you who own the smaller CriCut (and don't use the software), know that the smallest size you can cut a character is one inch. There are times that this is just not small enough. Here is a trick for getting around this. Most of the Cartridges come with a creative design mode that cuts the keyboard character out of a tag or shape. Well select this mode, then the desired character, make sure the size wheel is set to 1 inch, then press cut. The Cricut then will cut the shape on the inside of the tag. But the tag will be 1 inch and the letter will yield to a smaller size.

Did your CriCut mat lose it's stick?
CriCut mats lose their sticky because lose paper particles, dust, embossing powder and such cling to the mats and after a while they lose their tackiness. Don’t throw away your old CriCut mats! You can make them sticky again by washing them in dish soap, and allow them to air dry. Soaking them for a few minutes in a clean sink of dish soap will remove the dust and grime but leave the adhesive in place! When this trick doesn't work anymore, try buying a can of temporary spray adhesive (quilting basting spray works great).

Creating An Embossing Jacket
This is an awesome tip I found on Cloe's Piece of the Web.
Use your CriCut to cut out the shape you want on chipboard or any thick material - Cracker Boxes/Ceral Boxes are AWESOME. You then glue or tape the negative pieces (piece with the holes) of the image to one side of the 'folder' and the postive(cut outs) to the other. Photographs and step-by-step instructions can be found here.

Cutting Bazzell cardstock with your CriCut
O.k. this is very frustrating, the texture of the Bazzill paper sometimes causes the CriCut to rip when cutting. Here are the ideal dial settings for Bazzill. You want the Speed set to LOW (2), the pressure dial at the highest setting (5), and the depth wheel on the blade to 6. Experiment first. But if you still notice ripping it could be that your paper is not adhered to your mat good enough, and it is sliding during the cutting process. Tape the sides with masking tape to keep the paper from sliding, or the blade could be dull.

Cutting Photos with your CriCut
Do you have photos that offer something to your layouts, but not necessarially a center stage photo? Like perhaps the water from a swimming pool, or photo of the sand on a beach, a group of flowers. Use these photos for cool titles on your scrapbook pages.

Use a fairly bold or wide font for best results (Base Camp is my favorite). Settings should be: blade pressure to 5, Speed to 2, Pressure dial to 6. Simple one word titles are the best for this project. Line your photo up with your cutting mat, type the word, and press cut. Instead of your design being cut onto paper, it will now be cut from your photographs. Although the software is not necessary, it does make it easier when trying to line up your word with the subject in the photo.

Here are some samples of what I mean. Remember that if it is a digital photo it isn't your only copy, so PLAY.

This is a HOT technique, and even hotter design element. You will need a design element from your favorite CriCut Cartridge, Design Studio (you can download a free trial version from http://www.cricut.com), and your paper (preferably solid cardstock).

1. Open design studio, and select your decorative element.
2. Place that element on the stage. Then place your next element, and weld the two designs together. continue stacking, turning, and layering design elements until the page is covered. Just make sure that you select weld for each one.
3. When you cut, they will appear as the photo below. Use these as stencils, or as decorative borders for your pages. You can make cute home decorative accents for lamps and candles as seen in the photos below.

This weekend I discovered an entirely new way to use my CriCut. I made Iron-Ons from Fabric. To make the cutest spirit pennant.

Supplies Needed: CriCut Design (Any cartridge), Color Fabric preferably light weight cotton, HeatnBond Ultra Adhesive, glitter t-shirt paint, spray glitter, and an Iron.

1. Cut your fabric to the desired size for your design.
   
2. Iron the Ultra bond onto the back side of the fabric as directed on the packaging. Let the fabric cool before continuing.
3. Peel away the protective wax paper, and save (it can be used to protect fabric from scorching in a future step).
4. Place the fabric onto a cutting mat. Be careful to make sure the fabric is smooth, and there are no bubbles or wrinkles. I used a clean brayer to roll over the fabric to insure it's smoothness.
5. Cut your pattern as you would if it were paper.
6. Place the design on your project, and replace the wax paper over the top of your design, and Iron it onto your project.
7. I sewed ribbon down the right side.
8. The Pennant was cut from a piece of stiff felt.
9. The stars were ready-made fun foam glitter covered stars.
10. The pom poms were created from fuzzy yarn.
11. The Megaphone was cut from red fabric by hand using a template.

This is an awesome way to personalize an inexpensive fabric album for a loved one. GREAT - CHRISTMAS PRESENT.

Another Reason to LOVE THE CRICUT.

I created this design today by using the George Cartridge and Design Studio.

Tip resources:
1. CriCut Web site
2. Cloe's Piece of the Web