Cutting leather with the Cricut Explore!

Whew today has been a learning experience. Its been advertised how universal that the Cricut Explore is that it can even cut leather. Well I have been wanting to put my new machine to the test so I thought what better way to do so then to cut some leather. I frequently do leather projects with the cub scouts so I have lots of scraps laying around. I started with a nice thin rectangle piece that I actually purchased from Joann's just for this exploration. I have my usual tooling leather but I didn't really  believe it would cut so I erred on the side of caution and bought this.

My first lesson learned was don't cut the leather fuzzy side down. It basically ruined my mat and no amount of scraping has gotten the fuzz up. I am going to try washing it and see if that revives it but thankfully I keep spares around.

 I also did not attempt to cut this using the regular blade although technically in the settings it says you can, I opted for the deep cut blade based on what I could find on others that have attempted it.

In no way would I say this was an easy project! I went through several tries but hopefully I will save you some!

 

This is the piece from Joann's and it only cut cleanly when it was laid smooth side down. I also was trying to cut it on the leather settings in custom and even on the light setting it wouldn't work. I switched to the straight fabric setting and couldn't get a cut all the way through. On a piece from my scraps that was similar weight I found that if I went 1 click to the left on the dial between fabric and poster board I got a 90% cut.  

 

 

With this cut I have to pull it out at the crevices or do a second cut. I did attempt the second cut but as I experienced before (even with a new mat) this lighter leather lifted up and then was jamming. So I just trimmed at the corners. Things to try again would be a stronger hold mat or going one more click over on the wheel to try and get it on the first pass.

 

 

So now we know the light leather cuts what about that thicker leather? I took a deep breath said a little prayer and sent it through the machine on the heavy leather setting.

I was able to get it cut but with some effort. It took about 6 passes through the machine. Then I started to play with the settings and adjusted the pressure. There was a lot of lint from the multiple cuts. So I tried again since I didn't break the machine!

 

 

 This was a single pass trough the machine with the blade cutting 4x I believe. Again it wasn't perfect but it didn't take 6 tries this time. So I think I will attempt it again with a different design and adjust the pressure a little more.

Now you know that the Cricut CAN successfully cut leather! If you want to attempt this I would suggest you visit Tandy Leather if you have one nearby they usually have bags of scraps you can buy reasonably and I believe you can even order online. It's a little more reasonable that your local craft store for leather usually. You may also want to invest in a brush or something to clean out your machine, there was quite a bit of lint in and around my machine but I blew most of it out pretty easily without any cans of air etc.

If your wondering why they are all Mickey heads, we have a trip planned to Disneyland soon and I like to make my own arrival gifts for the kiddos. So the plan is to make mickey leather bracelets for them to sport! The three head one isn't bog enough for the kids wrists but I like it so I may turn it into a necklace for me!



*This post is not sponsored by any company. The views/experiment/results are my own and may differ based on your materials. There may be affiliate links to Amazon that I receive a percentage of sales in order to purchase products and continue bringing you these posts!

 

Custom Mylar ballons!

I love to have my kids pick any theme they want for their birthday parties. The problem with that is décor isn't always readily available. This happened to be the case with my sons birthday party when he chose to have a hockey theme!

I looked and looked and I ran across one or two designs that were ok, but by the time I bought the overpriced balloons online, paid for shipping, then paid to have someone here inflate them it really didn't seem worth the cost!

Enter my Silhouette Cameo!

I went into the Silhouette Design Store typed hockey and found a variety of images to use! A quick run through my cameo with some black vinyl and voila!

I also did some with hockey figure silhouettes but I didn't get pictures of those! With the permission of the rink I also made a 4 ft hockey guy for the wall. Unfortunately, I had very little time to adhere it so it wasn't perfect but the kids used it hit foam pucks at! Think a hockey version of pin the tale on the donkey!

Hope this helps you plan your parties!

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Tiffany

Signs! Signs! Signs!

I am sure by now you have seen those cute Subway Art signs. I am SOOO late to the game on this one! However, we had a Cub Scout Blue and Gold event (think the yearly big shin dig) and we like to give our den leders gifts for all their hard work. I decided I would take on that responsibility and I may have lost my mind!

Thankfully our pack which used to be quite large had split so instead of the 10 I had to do one year I only needed 6 this year. Cub Scouts is also in process of a lot of changes this summer one of which is changing from the Cub Scout Law to the Boy Scout Law. So I thought what a perfect opportunity to make something with the new Law because it was unlikely they would have anything of the sort.

This project was completed on my Silhouette Cameo and it was a lifesaver. I want to be clear this isn't a quick whip it out type of project it took me soo many hours and so many revisions I was driving my husband crazy!

Here is the finished project!

They were a HUGE hit at the party! The den leaders loved them and I was glad everyone appreciated the time and effort that went into them.

So now for the process which is what I am sure most of you want to know!

I decided not to use the Silhouette software for this particular project because I was using the Samantha Font (a paid font) and the flourishes aren't accessible from within the Silhouette software. So I designed this is Sure Cuts a Lot it took me about 5 hours and at least 6 revisions. I spent a lot of time on dafont to find just the right fonts.

Then I cut the design out on my cameo and weeded out all the excess vinyl.

Huge pile of excess!

I did this times 6! SO I actually did most of them while I was at the car dealership waiting for my oil to be changed. I got a LOT of strange looks but what else was I going to do when I was sitting there.

Just like I went through many revisions on the design I went through several on the application. I initially intended to put this on a wood board and went to Lowes and had them cut a 1x6x12 down into 12inch sections. They typically are pretty nice and will cut it for you they say 2 cuts for free (although I have never been charged but your mileage may vary on that). Unfortunately I learned a very valuable lesson 12 inch wide board isn't actually 12 inches wide!!! I had unfortunately already cut and weeded the designs so recutting wasn't going to happen. I also didn't discover this till I was at home. So I decided hey I have some canvases I will use those problem solved it will still look great. Of course nothing is that easy. I base painted all the canvases and then tried to apply the vinyl (oracle 631) it did not want to adhere. So I googled and tried modpodge it didn't help. I also read gesso might help. I thought great I have some and promptly whipped it out and applied it. Lets see if you can figure out my oops!

OOOPS! It was WHITE gesso! I tried peeling it off but realized it wasn't going to work. I also tried to just adhere it to the white to see if it would work and I would run and get regular gesso. NOPE nothing worked. I was about to have a nervous breakdown it was about 10p and I needed these for 6p the following day.

Now I decided to come up with a new plan. I pulled out that wood that was the wrong size and tested a piece of vinyl to see if it would stick. Success it did! Now I knew I needed wood but it was too late to get it. SO I figured it I would test and try a few methods and see what I could pull together for the morning.

One of my tests was to paint over the words and pull it off and I LOVED that look. I also tested a few methods with stain. I realized I could stain over the vinyl and wipe off the color on the vinyl but I didn't really want to leave it. I also tried staining over and removing the vinyl but the stain seeped. So ultimately I decided it was going to be:
1. Buy a plywood sheet and have cut to the right size!
2. Apply the vinyl!
3. Base paint the wood. Took 2 coats!
4. Remove the vinyl very carefully.
5. Seal with a spray.

I typically am LOST in Lowes it took me so long to decide what kind of wood to buy. I only choose Lowes because its my closest store too, I go to Home Depot as well when its convenient. I looked at the cheap plywood while the price was right since I footed the bill the look and quality wasn't what I wanted. I saw the MDF and I know people use it but again not what I consider a nice finished look.

Then I came across a sheet of Maple plywood in 4x8 sheets with either 1/4 or 3/4 thickness. I opted for the 1/4 because I knew it would hang easier since it was lighter.

They were kind enough to do multiple cuts although the guy did look at me like I was crazy! So I promptly went home and sanded but not much sanding was really required. TIP-For small quick things like this I really like the 3M Sanding Blocks they are easier on the hands then just a sheet and I don't want to pull out a sander either.

Once Sanded I applied the vinyl, and then painted. If you remember I needed these by 6pm and its now 930a so here is my trick to speeding up the two coats of paint.

 

Now that everything is nicely painted you just peel off the excess vinyl.

I used both the silhouette and Cricut weeding tools and personal preference I liked the Cricut. My husband who usually hates tedious work was a trooper and helped with this project without complaint. He said he didn't notice a difference but he may have just been being nice so I could use it :)

I hope this helps you create your own subway art!

Cricut Explore on Sale!

SALE SALE SALE

I have a hot deal for you IF you can find it! :)

It seems that some Walmarts have put the Cricut Explore on clearance! This item shows $229 in my Walmart online but I happened upon 4 of them marked $99 in the store.

I have seen in some Facebook groups that one person found it for only $75 in her store.

This is a hit and miss deal even in the same areas and Walmarts typically wont price match it from what I have seen. Although a friend in Florida who found it for $150 did talk them down $25 out of sheer persistence!

So check your stores you never know what you may find! :)

Disclaimer: I have no way to know if you will find this deal or not. I am not sponsored/affiliated/compensated or benefit in any way from this post.

Who I Am!

So somehow you found your way to my blog and your wondering what does this girl have to add that a million other blogs don't already!

I like to think I am an equal opportunity crafter. I am constantly picking up and putting down new crafts. On any day of the week I could be doing any number of crafts. I think I am add when it comes to crafting and I would bet a lot of you are as well.

Some of the different types of crafts I enjoy are sewing, embroidering with a machine, painting, cooking, baking especially, and a variety of crafts with my die cutting machines. I like to think I am unique in that I am not brand loyal. I own both a Cricut Explore and a Silhouette Cameo and will compare them for you. I am also one of the crazy photography people that own both a Canon and a Nikon camera. I think with many things each has its own strengths and weaknesses and I would love to help guide you find what works for you based on my trials and errors. I also LOVE Ana White and all her home building projects. In the near future I am determined to work up the nerve to use the power tools.

I am also a pintrest junkie Follow me and all my shenanigans at //www.pinterest.com/acrafterforlife/
So like many people you probably wonder if some of the things on pintrest work out the way they are supposed to, so why not let me figure it out for you! I am always open to taking on suggestions too on my next project! I haven't started videos on youtube yet but I plan too!

I am also a HUGE Craftsy addict! I have well over 50 classes and love to learn new things. So you will see lots of class reviews as well! I live near a major metro area but still out in the rural side of it so traveling the 45 mins to an hour plus finding daycare isn't really an option. So Craftsy really helps me expand my horizons!

You will find a variety of projects, product demos, life projects (things for my kids, for cub scouts, for karate) and who knows what else so please come along on my adventure!