CraftShare: Using Add-on Tools in Cutting Machines

We've been getting crafty with cutting machines this week, so today is all about using different tools to let your creativity go wild.

Both Cricut & Silhouette have designs you can buy and add-on accessories for their machines and most scrapping stores have loads of pre-fab embellishments, but as a someone crafting on a tight budget I can't really go wild with extras.  This is why I love the gear I used for today's projects - more bang for the buck!

My Personal Fave Paper Crafting Tools:

• Sure Cuts A Lot Software makes it easy for me to make exactly what I want with minimal effort and there are loads of free svg files out there so I don't have to design from scratch.  I've never had to buy extra cartridges or files for designs.  EVER.  It also imports all my fonts from my Office Suite so it doesn't involve sifting through cartridges or a giant online catalog to get the right look for my text.  

• CRI-Kits Gel Pen Kits add the detailed touches my horrible handwriting can ruin and are a lot nicer & faster than trying to cut tiny shapes and lettering from paper.  Being easy to use also makes it easier to be creative.  I also love the effects the metallic & glitter gel pens add (and how I can uses them outside my machines as well).

• CRI-Kits Embosser Kit let you get fancy looking with vellum or metal without it being too complicated.  Just like the pens, there's an easy-to-swap-in holder, so you can do your drawings, cuts and embossing quickly & efficiently.

The key element to success with any/all of these tools is doing things in the right order.  For a layered card like the one above above:

Step 1 - I used SCAL to cut out the background card & corners (from a free svg file for making invitations).  

Step 2 - Then I made a rectangle design with my custom text in it (using the cute Care Bears font no less!).  I deleted the rectangle and used a CRI-Kits gel pen in my machine to write the text.  

Step 3 - Then I hit "undo" and deleted the text instead.  Hitting "reload" instead of "unload" made sure the cut would be exactly in the right spot.  I swapped in my cutting blade & cut it out.

Step 4 - For the embossed border I put a sheet of vellum on my embossing mat & swapped in my embossing stylus + holder.  In SCAL I made a rectangle around my original text box and inserted in some baby-themed stock images, shrinking them down so they'd make a perfect frame.  I deleted off the text rectangle and embossed away.  Repeating Step 3, all pieces were now cut & ready to stick together.

Sharing this with my FAVE LINK PARTIES too so click HERE to check them out!

CraftShare: Embossing Decor Tutorial

Yesterday we took a look at how embossing works in Cricut, Silhouette or other personal cutting machines.  Today I'm going to share some ways to use it to make some great decorative accents that are perfect for wall decor, scrapbook pages or cards.

For this little garden themed project I used the CRI-Kits Embosser kit, my Sure Cuts A Lot software, and a Cricut machine.

I used a 12 x 12 sheet of scrapbook paper for my main background and cut a large scrolled rectangle shape from some complimentary colored green paper:

For the vellum center I used my SCAL software to make a rounded rectangle that was 3 inches smaller in height and 2 inches smaller in width than the green background shape.  Then I inserted my text, one word at a time, in various fonts.  I dragged the words around until I liked the placement.

I loaded my embossing stylus & holder into my machine and put a sheet of vellum on my embossing mat.  Then here's the easy trick - I deleted the rectangle so I'd just emboss the words.

After the embossing was done I hit the "reload" button on my machine so the mat would realign in the right spot to cut the shape out (this is critical so everything lines up perfectly every time - DO NOT unload the mat).  Then I hit "undo" to to bring back the rectangle, deleted out the words.

I swapped in my cutting blade and clicked "cut".  When it was done I peeled the excess vellum away first and then peeled off my center piece.

I used the cartridge method for the flowers & leaves, by embossing the detailed version of shapes first, then hitting reload and swapping in a cutting blade to cut the outline version of the shapes around the embossing details.

I also cut the shapes from card stock to layer under the vellum cutouts,

And used small bits of double stick tape to adhere the vellum to the card stock:

Then I attached the accent shapes to the background paper

and the artwork was complete!  

The embossing adds that delicate detail that layered cuts of paper just don't quite have.  

I also like the softness it gives on colors that would normally be a bit louder than I'd usually like.

Got any ideas on uses for embossing?  I'd love to hear them:)  Head on back tomorrow for more die-cutting projects!

Sharing this creation with my FAVE LINK PARTIES too so click HERE to check them out!

CraftShare: Embossing With Cutting Machines

This week's CraftShare Topic is Cutting Machine Crafts.  If you're even slightly crafty chances are you know about machines like Cricut, Silhouette, etc.   You can cut things like paper, fabric, vinyl and more into all the shapes & sizes of your dreams which is very cool.  But did you know you can also emboss with these machines?  CRI-Kits, the maker of the Gel Pen Kits that I love, has introduced an Embosser Kit that turns your die cutting machine into an embossing tool as well.  They ask me if I'd try out and review this new kit, so I'm here to share what I've learned with you!

The CRI-Kits Embossing Kit comes with a magnetic holder, steel embossing stylus and special embossing mat.  It can be used to emboss and deboss shapes, fonts and designs on vellum and thin metals.  There are sets for Cricut, Silhouette, eclips & Pazzles machines.  No need to go to a fancy retail printer for embossed designs or have to stick to the limited sizes of embossing folders!

Getting going is pretty simple: 
Adhere the bottom of the embossing mat on top of a regular machine mat (they recommend you use a spare mat, so it's always prepped to go).  Press or roll over the top so the mats stick together well.  For the adhesive top style, peel off the protective "zebra" stripes and the mat is ready.

Place a piece of vellum or metal on top and carefully smooth it on with a brayer, rolling pin or side of the magnetic holder so it's smoothly attached.

Like the gel pens, the embossing stylus just slips into the magnetic holder and is loaded into the machine in place of the cutting blade.

Select your design as usual.  Set the machine to highest pressure and slowest speed and go!

Like any new tool it takes a few tries to get the hang of things, but playing around with it is a lot of fun! Depending on the design a second "cut" can help make the embossing look more defined.  I was able to try out a lot of different combinations on vellum, since I have a Cricut and a Silhouette, as well as CRI-Kits magnetic holders for both and Sure Cuts A Lot software:

On the Cricut the results were nice and deep when using either a design cartridge or SCAL and about any type shape or font:

On the Silhouette the best results were for simpler shapes using the Silhouette software and definitely required multiple passes.  Designs using the SCAL3 software left some dots every time the machine started & stopped drawing.  The overall results were a bit fainter, but depending on your design or the look you are going for, the softness could be ideal.

The biggest tip I learned was to give the embossing the best background to show off the delicate lines.  Placing deep, solid colored cardstock or paper behind the vellum shows off the results the best.  When planning a project keep in mind that the Embossing Kit isn't meant for use on paper, but besides using vellum, it works well with thin metals to make lovely metallic seals and intricate etched designs in moments.  And CRI-Kits offers sheets of metal in a range of sizes & colors in addition to the Embosser Kit so it's easy to get all the gear at once.

For the next few days I'll share some tutorials for projects using the embosser as well as gel pens and Sure Cuts A Lot in die cutting machines and a very special guest so stay tuned for more die cutting fun!

Review & Giveaway: CRI-Kits Gel Pens!

I have to say I'm super excited to share today's post with you.  I was asked to review and create a few projects with CRI-Kits gel pens.  I had a blast working with them and now you can too!   These pens are meant to be used in a cutting machine like a Cricut, Silhouette, Pazzles or Sizzix eclips, so instead of cutting your paper, you are drawing the images.  Pop them in your cutter to draw detailed designs, add extra embellishments or perfectly scripted text.   And even if you don't have one of these machines, the pens are still excellent to use by hand.  There are tons of crafting possibilities for using them.  So here are a few of my project ideas & how the pens work.

There's a special holder that uses a rare earth magnet to hold the pens firmly in place.  Super easy to load:

Simply swap it in where your blade housing normally is and presto!  You're ready to draw.

The pens have a nice consistent flow - no worries about ink blobs or smearing.  And they dry lickety-split, so as soon as you're done drawing, the ink is dry!

There are several inks available too - Regular & Neon, Glitter, Pastel, Metallic and Swirl, so there are lots of looks you can create.  Swapping the pen colors is easy too thanks to the groove in the holder.  When you've got limited crafting time (like me) the less time required to set things up, the better.

But what can you make, you ask?  Let's have a look - 

I'd seen cute butterfly specimen cutouts before, but by adding a little detail from CRI-Kits metallic pens, this one stands out from the crowd:

I used different colors from the metallic set to add the delicate embellishments.  

The trick is to do the cutting step first and then hitting "load paper" to set things back to get the right spot to draw on.

It is perfect for creating unique cards & scrapbook pages.  I used my Sure Cuts A Lot software to mix several free svg files & fonts I already had to make this one-of-a-kind card with the Regular & Neons:

When you have horrible handwriting & no drawing skills like me, writing things on by hand always seems to wreck all the pretty crafting work already done.  But using the CRI-Kits pens means I can "write" in any font I want, so things look perfect every time.

And this means that personalized stationary is all within reach too.  I created this envelope with the Glitter pens, SCAL & scrapbook paper, so it could be pretty on the inside & out:

I really love how much detail the pens can do - even when the shapes are very small.  Cutting blades can struggle when things are tiny or very fine, but not the pens:

The pens do great on all sorts of paper, but aren't meant for slick surfaces like vinyl or vellum (but there are some new CRI-Kits products that will coming soon).  I used some card stock & attached it to flat magnet paper to make these little magnets for the fridge too:

  

I'm kind of embarrassed to say that when I bought my Cricut Expression last year I purchased a set of these pens, but didn't really do much with them.  Now I've got loads of ideas and wonder how I crafted so long without them!

CRI-Kits will be giving away a pen kit & holder to one lucky Sew Can Do reader!  The winner will get to select their choice of pen kit compatible with their machine.  

And here's a special offer for everyone!!

For a limited amount of time, Sew Can Do readers can use the purchase code "hedgehog1" to receive a 5% discount on all purchases through the CRI-Kits site

Here's how to enter:

• Visit the CRI-Kits site and check out the pens.  Then comment below on which set you'd like if you won

For additional entries (leave a separate comment for each one):

• Become a follower of Sew Can Do
• Become a fan of Sew Can Do on Facebook
• Become a fan of CRI-Kits on Facebook
• Mention & link to this post on Facebook

The giveaway will be open through 11:59pm ESTApril 27th is closed.  The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on May 2nd at the Craftastic Monday party.  Good Luck Everyone!