Basic Cricut® Shapes for Backgrounds

Looking for a way to spice up your scrapbook pages? We’ve got just the thing! All you need is a Cricut® machine and a little imagination for this technique.

Use your Cricut® machine to create unique backgrounds for you scrapbook pages! #ctmh #closetomyheart #cricut #tutorial #howto #easy #scrapbooking #ideas

First, find a basic Cricut® shape that you like: square, heart, diamond, etc. Next, cut out the shape over and over again on a piece of solid cardstock (we recommend using Cricut Design Space™ so you can more easily control where the shapes cut). Remove the shapes from the piece of cardstock, and then back the empty spaces with different pieces of patterned paper. As you can see from the example above, we repeated paper patterns across the shapes to add a sense of continuity to the page.

If you don’t have Cricut Design Space™, you can still get this effect by cutting multiple versions of the same image, but you could also cut the shapes out of patterned paper and attach them to a piece of cardstock. There are lots of different spins on this technique!

For example…

Use your Cricut® machine to create unique backgrounds for you scrapbook pages! #ctmh #closetomyheart #cricut #tutorial #howto #easy #scrapbooking #ideas

…try backing the shapes with photos! It’s a lot easier than trying to cut your photos on a Cricut® machine because you can slide them around behind the cardstock until they are framed just the way you like.

Use your Cricut® machine to create unique backgrounds for you scrapbook pages! #ctmh #closetomyheart #cricut #tutorial #howto #easy #scrapbooking #ideas

Another spin on this technique is to change up the size of your shapes. Smaller shapes give you a lot more little shape windows to work with. This page also shows how much you can play around with dimension as well.

First, we backed some of the empty spaces with patterned paper and left others empty. Next, we used 3-D foam tape to attach the White Daisy cardstock piece with all of our heart shapes cut out of it. The Bashful background shows through the empty hearts and creates a bit of a shadow. To finish off the look, we took some of the hearts that were cut out and embossed them with gold powder. We then used them to “fill in” a few of the heart-shaped windows with more 3-D foam tape to make them really pop. See how many possibilities there are when you start playing around with your Cricut® shapes?

We used circles and hearts for our artwork, but what Cricut® shapes would you try with this technique? Tell us in the comments below! 🙂


Recipes

12″ x 12″ Sweet Moments Page
B1539 My Acrylix® Pen Pal Alphabet, Z3353 Basics Fundamental Paper Packet, Z3350 Whimsy Fundamental Paper Packet, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X5953 Charcoal Cardstock, X5941 Bashful Cardstock, Z2825 Mink Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z3355 Happy Moments Complements, Z3369 Bashful Pearls, Z3381 Gold Heart Clips, Z3342 3-D Foam Dots, Z3132 Watercolor Paints, Z3188 Paintbrush Set, Z1979 Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen, Z3290 Cricut® Flower Market Digital Collection

Cricut® Shapes:
Flower Market
2 ½” Background <C> (cut 7, p. 33, #MD70813)

12″ x 12″ This Is the Life Page
Z3351 Adventure Fundamental Paper Packet, Z3350 Whimsy Fundamental Paper Packet, Z3352 Enchantment Fundamental Paper Packet, X5941 Bashful Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X5968 Lagoon Cardstock, Z3355 Happy Moments Complements, Z3371 Gold Pearls, Z3387 Cricut® You Are Here Digital Collection, Sewing Machine, Pen

Cricut® Shapes:
You Are Here
3½” Title <i> (cut 8, p. 18, #M282C87A)
3½” Title <Seas> (p. 40, #M27F84BF)
3 ½” Shift+Title <Seas> (p. 40,#M27F84BF)

12″ x 12″ Together Page
Z3353 Basics Fundamental Paper Packet, X5941 Bashful Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X5953 Charcoal Cardstock, Z891 VersaMark™ Ink Pad, Z3364 Basics Ribbon Pack, Z555 Craft Heater, Z2066 Ranger™ Princess Gold Embossing Powder, Z4034 Thin Cuts—Together, Z3342 3-D Foam Dots, Z3290 Cricut® Flower Market Digital Collection, Die-cutting Machine

Cricut® Shapes:
Flower Market
2 ½” Background <C> (cut 90, p. 33, #MD70813)*
*Grouped onto a 11″ x 11″ square and welded in Cricut Design Space™

Numbers starting with #M specify the image number in Cricut Design Space™

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12 thoughts on “Basic Cricut® Shapes for Backgrounds

  1. Oh, I am such a happy camper. In addition to giving some great ideas for layouts, you also INCLUDED THE IMAGE NUMBERS!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is a lifesaver for those of us who have Explore machines. 🙂

  2. Pingback: Make It From Your Heart shared Blog Post: Basic Cricut® Shapes for Backgrounds – bethclarkctmh

  3. Pingback: Basic Cricut® Shapes for Backgrounds — Make It from Your Heart | Tami's Treasures

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