Back to the Basics with Cricut Design Space™—Attach v. Slice

Close To My Heartattach, cardmaking, cricut, Design Space, how-to, Llama, Slice, tutorial Leave a comment

Hello, friends! This week, we’re going to take a closer look at the Attach tool in Cricut Design Space™ and how it relates to other tools on the app. This feature is a fairly basic one, but once you get comfortable with it, you’ll be able to increase your creative possibilities ten-fold! We’ve covered certain aspects of Attach in a previous post, which showed many of the awesome features the Attach tool has to offer. In this post, we will focus more on Attach versus Slice. These tools have a lot of similarities and, while they’re both great, there are some differences between them; having this knowledge will help you decide which tool is right for you and your project.

In our example card above, we kept it simple by attaching a single elongated hexagon shape, pulled from the Cricut^® Artistry collection. This collection has a wide variety of options to lend a bit of polish to each project. Be sure to check it out to boost your creativity!

As you follow along with this post, please keep in mind that the steps below show you how to use Design Space on a laptop or a desktop computer. If you are using the Design Space app on a mobile device, the tools and buttons will be in slightly different places on your screen. Most of these basic features are available on any device.

Attach v. Slice

As we mentioned in our earlier post, the Attach tool not only allows you to cut text or shapes, but it allows you to position them yourself. To save space in each cut, Design Space may automatically shuffle your cuts to use as little paper as possible. This is commonly seen when using the Slice tool.

While this is a handy feature in some instances, there are going to be times where you’ll want to keep your cut aligned the same way you laid it out on your Design Space canvas. By using Attach, your cut won’t be altered or shuffled around on the paper.

Another great feature of the Attach tool is the single cut. When you use the Slice tool, it will often cut your shape multiple times. This not only uses up more paper, but it may also mess up your project with unnecessary cuts. There are some projects where you may want multiple cuts of the same shape, but for instances where only one cut is necessary, Attach is a much simpler way to get the single cut you want.

In these examples, you can see the single cut of the Attach tool in the photo on the top, and the multiple cuts made by using the Slice tool in the photo on the bottom.

Using Attach

Once you’re familiar with how Attach works and how it relates to other features in Design Space, you’re ready to start using it yourself. The Attach tool is located at the bottom of the Layers panel, next to the Slice and Weld tools.

To use this tool, you’ll need to make sure that you’ve got all the shapes and other components of your project displayed on your Design Space canvas. It’s a lot easier to use Attach if you’ve already inserted all the shapes and text you want to use.

Once you have all your project pieces in place, you’ll need to group the pieces that you want to attach. You can do this by clicking, holding, and dragging your mouse over the pieces you want to group. You’ll see a grey box appear behind your cursor when you do so. The pieces you intend to group should be inside this box.

When you let the mouse go, right-click your mouse in the same spot and select the “Group” option from your right-click menu. To make sure that you’ve grouped your images, click on one of the images and try moving it around on your Design Space canvas. If the images you wanted to group move together, you’ve got your group!

Once your images are grouped, use the Attach tool to cut your shapes or text. You won’t be able to move the attached shape as long as it’s still attached and grouped, but it will still cut when you click “Make It.”

If you want to change the placement of your text or shape, or if you even want to scrap that part of your project and use a different shape instead, you can Detach your shape to be able to move or alter various parts of your project. To Detach your shapes, go back to the same place where you found the Attach button. It should say Detach if you have any shapes that are grouped and attached. By clicking this button, you will basically undo the Attach action.

Put It Together

Follow the steps below to recreate the adorable llama card we showed you today!

1) Search for image #M369896 and insert it on your Design Space canvas. Unlock and resize it to 4″ x 5.25″ (W x H).

Tip: All measurements in this post are W x H.

2) Search for image #M41340E from the [insert collection name here] and insert it on your canvas. Leaving the image locked, resize the height to 2.75″.

3) Ungroup shape #M41340E and hide the overlay cut, leaving the solid background.

4) Position shape #M4130E over your 4″ x 5.25″ rectangle and group the images together.

5) Select Attach from the tools at the bottom of the Layers panel and click “Make It” to cut your new card overlay.

6) Cut this card overlay out of Carolina stripe patterned paper from the Craft On Paper Packet.

7) Cut a 4″ x 1″ rectangle out of Bluebird cardstock and draw a border around the edges with a journaling pen.

8) Using the My Acrylix^® Wild & Punny Stamp + Thin Cuts set, stamp and cut a llama on White Daisy cardstock with Intense Black ink.

Tip: Whenever you are using watercolor pencils or a waterbrush over a stamped image or sentiment, make sure you allow the ink to dry fully.

9) Color your llama as shown with watercolor pencils and a small round waterbrush and set it to the side.

10) Carefully position the Carolina stripe card overlay over a plain White Daisy card base and attach it using an adhesive runner. Do the same with your prepared Bluebird cardstock rectangle, as shown.

11) Using the My Acrylix^® Wild & Punny stamp set, stamp “Llama just say you ROCK!” with Intense Black Ink in the center of the card overlay cutout. Paint a color swash over the sentiment and color in “ROCK” with watercolor pencils and a small round waterbrush.

12) Attach your llama to the card using thin 3-D foam tape, as shown.

13) Embellish with sequins and white ribbon.

Whether you’re making an awesome card or a gorgeous scrapbook layout, the Attach feature is a great way to tailor your project to your creative vision. What have you created using Attach? Do you have any tips you’d like to share? Leave a comment below to spread the word!

Recipe:

4¼” x 5½” Llama Just Say You Rock Card (Vertical)
Z4082 My Acrylix^® Wild & Punny Stamp + Thin Cuts, X7245B Craft On Paper Packet, X5987 Bluebird Cardstock, X6027 White Daisy Cardstock, Z4189 Intense Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z4196 White Ribbon, Z4059 Crafty Loose Sequins, Z4242 Watercolor Pencils, Z3224 Small Round Waterbrush, Z1979 Marvy^® Uchida^® LePen™ Journaling Pen, Z3298 Cricut^® Artistry Collection

Cricut^® Shapes
Artistry
2.75″ #M41340E
4″ x 5.25″ #M369896

Leave a comment

April 9, 2019Celebrate, Create, Learn

Easter Treat Bags

Close To My Heartcandy, easter, Egg-stra special, how-to, spring, springtime, treat, treat bags, tutorial 11 Comments

With Easter just around the corner, we came up with a couple of really cute treat bags for you to make and share with all of those people you love to celebrate with!

Take a look at how easy this egg-stra special treat comes together:

STEP 1. CUTTING YOUR PAPER

This project uses a simple base shape that folds up into the treat bag shown above. To help you easily replicate this shape, we created a Cricut Design Space™ file, https://design.cricut.com/#/design/139208505. If you do not have access to Design Space, these little eggs are still doable with a little bit of ingenuity and scissors! 😉 The oval shapes forming the eggs are 3½” tall and 3¼” wide and are connected by a 1″ x 1¼” rectangle. We also recommend cutting out a few small strips of paper to add sentiments and decoration to your finished treat. The strips we cut are ¾” x 3¾” and ¾” x 3½”.

STEP 2. SCORING AND STAMPING

Egg-stra Special Treats #ctmh #closetomyheart #eggstraspecial #treatbag #Easter #Eastertreat #diyEaster #Eastercandy

With a Bone Folder, score the short sides of the connecting rectangle to create the base for your egg to stand on. Then, flip the cardstock over and stamp on the top oval. Using a tone-on-tone stamping technique will create a subtle and delicate pattern.

STEP 3. PUTTING IT TOGETHER

Attach a treat to the inside of the wrapper. Fold your egg and attach the top of the two ovals where they meet with adhesive. Lastly, embellish the front as much or as little as you wish. We added the two small strips of paper that we had you cut in step 1, after stamping one with a sentiment, and attached a small ribbon bow with a glue dot.

Pretty simple, quick, and adorable!

Want to try your hands on one that’s got a little more technique to it? Show some BUNNY just how much you love them with one of these:

STEP 1. PAPER PIECES
For this second treat bag, you will start out with a 3″ x 10½” piece of paper for your base. (We made each one of our bases a little differently, some with patterned papers and some with cardstock.) You will also need a White Daisy 2½” x 3¾” rectangle, a 2½” x ¾” strip cut from patterned paper, and a 2″ light colored cardstock circle. (If you’d like that extra bit of detail that you see around the edges of our White Daisy rectangle piece, cut your shape with a Stitched Rectangle Frames die.)

STEP 2. CUTTING THE BASE.
In order to achieve that fancy top that you see at the top of our bags, we used one of our Fancy Tags Thin Cuts and partially cut into our paper.

You do not want to cut out the entire shape of the tag. (Otherwise all you’ll have is a tag.) Line up your die as close to the top of the base paper, parallel to the edges. Place the top plate of your die-cutting machine only over the portion of the die that you wish to cut. In this case, place the plate over as much of the tag as you like, without including the bottom. Once you run it through your machine, you should have a cut piece of paper like the one you see here.

Egg-stra Special Treats #ctmh #closetomyheart #eggstraspecial #treatbag #Easter #Eastertreat #diyEaster #Eastercandy #fancytags #cuttlebug

Use a paper trimmer (or scissors) to continue the side cuts all the way down to the bottom of the base paper.

STEP 3. SCORING THE BASE

Egg-stra Special Treats #ctmh #closetomyheart #eggstraspecial #treatbag #Easter #Eastertreat #diyEaster #Eastercandy #bonefolder

Using the pattern above as a guide, score the three dashed lines.

STEP 4. STAMPING

On your White Daisy cardstock piece, start by stamping the grass along the bottom. Once your grass is set, move on to stamping the Easter eggs.

STEP 5. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Attach all of the pieces to the base, as shown, and embellish with a ribbon bow. Lastly, add a treat to the inside and then fold the base around it at the score lines. Close it off with adhesive where the top of the front and back meet, and you’re done!

Happy Easter!

Recipes

Egg-stra Special Treat Bags
D1828 My Acrylix^® Egg-stra Special Stamp Set, X7242B I Heart Us Paper Packet, X7240B Something Fierce Paper Packet, X9003 Mix-in Paper Packet, X5991 Lilac Cardstock, X5988 Peach Cardstock, X6016 Pixie Cardstock, X6027 White Daisy Cardstock, Z6506 Lilac Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6502 Peach Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2844 Pixie Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z4194 White & Gold Skinny Ribbon, Z2027 Mini Stapler, 2½” x 2½” Cellophane Bags, Candy

Some Bunny Loves You Treat Bags
D1828 My Acrylix^® Egg-stra Special Stamp Set, X7242B I Heart Us Paper Packet, X7240B Something Fierce Paper Packet, X9003 Mix-in Paper Packet, X5991 Lilac Cardstock, X5988 Peach Cardstock, X6016 Pixie Cardstock, X6027 White Daisy Cardstock, Z2808 Lemon Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6503 Mint Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6502 Peach Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2844 Pixie Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2853 Sweet Leaf Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z4196 White Ribbon, Z4305 Thin Cuts—Fancy Tags, Z4260 Thin Cuts—Stitched Rectangle Frames, Z3318 Thin Cuts—Basic Circles, Z2027 Mini Stapler, Die-cutting Machine, 2½” x 2½” Cellophane Bags, Candy

Leave a comment

March 12, 2019Create, Learn

Back to the Basics with Cricut Design Space™—Card Edition!

Close To My Heartcardmaking, cricut, Design Space, envelopes, Flower Market, how-to, So Much Happy, tutorial 12 Comments

Often the tools we show you in Design Space are illustrated with a scrapbook page or layout, but not today! In this next back to the basics post, we want to remind you that these tools can be used for many, many projects, including custom cards and envelopes. As we continue our review of basic tools in Design Space, you’ll see that it’s easy to create cards and envelopes that are both beautiful, unique, and most importantly, easy!

On the cards above, all of the shapes we used, including the sentiments, flowers, and even the envelopes, come from the Flower Market Cricut^® collection. Flower Market has both flat and 3-D shapes, and you can see we’ve used both types on these cards. This makes it a truly versatile collection, useful for an entire year’s worth of seasons, celebrations, and creativity!

The steps below show you how to work in Design Space from a desktop or laptop computer. If you use the app on a mobile device, the buttons and tools will be located in slightly different places on your screen, but the same features are available on any device.

Basic Shapes

Design Space has a “basic shapes” feature in the Design Panel. The shapes in this section are available to you for free, and it’s an easy way to add simple shapes like circles, rectangles, hearts, or diamonds and also use them as a base for other projects. For example, you could insert a square and then size it for a variety of things, and this is exactly what we did to create our cards.

To create a card front in Design Space, insert a square shape from the Shapes section. Adjust the size to 4.25″ x 5.5″. If you wanted to cut an entire card base, insert a square shape and size it to 8.5″ x 5.5″. In the next section, we’ll tell you how to add a score line to the card base.

Cut Lines and Score Lines

When you insert a shape on your canvas, the line of that shape is typically a solid cut line, but you’ll notice when you add an image, like the envelope from the Flower Market collection (#MD38C82), there is a dash line as well.

This is a score line. Your Cricut^® machine will both cut and score the envelope for you. You just need a scoring tool or scoring wheel, depending on the type of machine you have. You can change lines to cut, score, or even draw. If you aren’t sure what type of lines you have on your shape. You can always look in the Layers panel. It will tell you which ones will score or cut, and you can change the line type in the Edit bar.

To complete your card base, insert a score line. Score lines can also be added from the same Shapes section of the Design panel. Resize the score line to 5.5″, move it over your card base, and select both images. Then under Align in the Edit bar, select Center. Once the score line is centered, keeping both the line and the card base selected, click Attach in the Layers panel. Using Attach keeps your score line exactly where you want it, even if you move the shape on the canvas.

Using the Slice Tool

We used the Slice tool to create the sentiments for our cards. The Slice tool is one of the functions at the bottom of the Layers Panel, next to others like Weld and Contour. With Slice, you can cut an image or text out of another shape. Simply place your word or image over the one you want to cut it from. Select both shapes, and click Slice in the Layers Panel.

Initially, it might not look like anything happened, but if you click on your images, you’ll have two of whatever you cut. One is the shape itself, and the other is the shape you cut from the background.

There are a few important things to keep in mind. First, you can see in the “Thanks a Bunch” banner on this card, we sliced the sentiment from Lagoon paper and attached that to a solid White Daisy banner. For something like this, before you slice in Design Space, make sure you ungroup the image. Images that have multiple layers can’t be sliced. If your sentiment image has multiple pieces grouped together as one shape, like this one does, you’ll need to ungroup them and slice using just one image.

Another thing to remember is to duplicate the solid shape that goes behind whatever you’re slicing, if applicable. If you are slicing into the card base, you wouldn’t need a duplicate piece, but if you’re slicing into another shape, like the banner on this card, you’ll want to have a solid shape to layer behind it.

The last important tip we have for you is that you want to make sure when cutting your project that you keep small pieces that go inside letters or other shapes. With this card, that means you want to set aside the inside of each “a” and the “B” to attach to the banner.

If you look closely, you’ll notice a similar thing happening on the Happy Easter card, but it’s also a little bit different. We sliced the sentiment from the card base, but instead of saving the inside pieces, we cut the sentiment separately and layered a solid piece of White Daisy cardstock on the back, behind the sliced shape.

Put It Together (Basic Shapes, Score, and Slice)

All of the cards in our post today use the tools we’ve talked about including a basic rectangle shape, inserting a score line, and slicing a sentiment. Follow the steps below to put it all together and make the Sending Sunshine card!

First, search for the sentiment, #MD38CC3, and insert it on your canvas.
Ungroup the sentiment, and delete only the “Sunshine” image. Then resize the sentiment to a height of 1.75″, leaving the width locked.
For the card base, insert a square shape from the Shapes. Adjust the size to 8.5″ x 5.5″. Don’t insert a score line yet. You have to use the slice tool first, before attaching a score line.
Slice the sentiment from right side of the card base. This is your card front. Place the sentiment where you want it, select both images, and click Slice in the Layers panel.
Keep both extra sentiments. You’ll cut them from Lemon cardstock and layer the two in another step.
Now insert a score line, also from the Shapes section of the Design Panel. Size it to 5.5″. Place it over the card base, and select both images. Then, under Align in the Edit bar, select Center, and then select Attach in the Layers panel.
Insert other flowers and leaves on the canvas as desired. For our card, we used the Daisy image (#MFADCF2) cut in three different sizes, and we paired it with the Rhododendron leaf (#MD37FB).
Color your project pieces to make it easy to cut on the right color of paper or cardstock. Then select Make It in the top right corner and cut your project pieces.
Attach one 4″ x 5¼” piece of Mint cardstock behind the sliced portion of your card (on the inside of the card). Then layer the two Lemon sentiments and attach inside the sliced section.
Embellish with stamped images, 3-D flowers, sequins, and more!

**Bonus Tip!

Are you unsure how to add a Close To My Heart digital collection to your Cricut^® account? Simply visit www.cricut.com/CTMH and sign in to your account (or create one if you haven’t already). In the list of options in the menu on the left, you’ll see the last one is Redeem Promotion. Select that option. Then enter the code, click Redeem, and you’ll be on your way. Not sure if you’ve already linked your physical cartridges? In that same menu, you can select Linked Cartridges. This will show you the ones you’ve already linked to your account.

Next month, we’ll look at ways to manipulate text in the Edit bar on the canvas with the shapes and unique font from the You Are Here collection. Check back in April for more Design Space fun!

Recipes:

4¼” x 5½” Happy Easter Card (Vertical)
D1797 My Acrylix^® Watercolor Impressions Stamp Set, X7241B So Much Happy Paper Packet, X5995 Clover Cardstock, X6008 Lemon Cardstock, X6027 White Daisy Cardstock, Z2895 Lagoon Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z4235 Loose Sequins—Gold, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Z2089 Glue Dots^® Micro Dots, Z3501 Cricut^® Flower Market Digital Collection

Cricut^® Shapes:
Flower Market
1.5″ #MD72936
3″ #MD72998
2.5″ #MD72998

4¼” x 5½” Thanks a Bunch Card (Horizontal)
D1797 My Acrylix^® Watercolor Impressions Stamp Set, X7241B So Much Happy Paper Packet, X5995 Clover Cardstock, X6027 White Daisy Cardstock, Z2824 Linen Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z4235 Loose Sequins—Gold, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Z2089 Glue Dots^® Micro Dots, Z3501 Cricut^® Flower Market Digital Collection

Cricut^® Shapes:
Flower Market
3.5″ #MD4051F
0.75″ #MD3840E

4¼” x 5½” Sending Sunshine Card (Horizontal)
D1823 My Acrylix^® Word Search Highlights Stamp Set, D1797 My Acrylix^® Watercolor Impressions Stamp Set, X7241B So Much Happy Paper Packet, X6008 Lemon Cardstock, X5986 Mint Cardstock, X5988 Peach Cardstock, X6027 White Daisy Cardstock, Z2895 Lagoon Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2808 Lemon Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z4270 I Heart Us Sequins, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Z3501 Cricut^® Flower Market Digital Collection

Cricut^® Shapes:
Flower Market
0.5″ #MD37FB8
1.25″, 1.5″, 1.75 #MFADCF2
1.75″ #MD38CC3

Envelopes
X7241B So Much Happy Paper Packet, X6027 White Daisy Cardstock, Z3501 Cricut^® Flower Market Digital Collection

Cricut^® Shapes:
Flower Market
10.5″ #MD38C82 (cut 3)

Leave a comment

January 31, 2019Create, Learn

Drawing Shapes in Cricut Design Space™

Close To My Heartcricut, Design Space, draw, drawing, how-to, I Heart Us, shapes, So Much Happy, tutorial, You Are Here 3 Comments

Each Close To My Heart Cricut^® collection has hundreds of shapes that you can adapt for any project. We’ve shown you some ways you can use Design Space to cut shapes for your scrapbook pages, and today we have another tutorial to expand your creative options with your Cricut^® images by changing images from cut to DRAW. This allows you to use the same fonts and shapes to draw a title, journaling, or a background!

Switching an image from cut to draw in Design Space is very simple. You just click on your shape and change Cut to Draw in the Edit bar above your canvas. Today we are going to walk you through how to make the multicolor triangle background that you see in the page above by using the tools in Design Space to draw, rather than cut, this design.

Keep in mind, to use the same image we did, you must own the You Are Here Cricut^® collection. You will also need a Cricut^® machine that is Design Space compatible (any of the Explore or the new Maker machines) and allows you to draw with pens. The steps below show you how to work in Design Space from a desktop or laptop computer. If you use the app on a mobile device, the buttons and tools will be located in slightly different places on your screen, but the same features are available on any device.

1. Sign in to Cricut Design Space™ at design.cricut.com.

2. Insert and resize a basic square shape. Then color the square.

To make the base for the design, you will first insert a square by clicking on Shapes on the left side of your screen. Then add a square to your canvas. You can easily resize this square to 11 by adjusting the width. Make sure to leave the lock icon locked so that the height automatically resizes when you change the width.

In the Edit bar, next to Linetype, select the colored square and change the material color to white. We decided to work with white since we know we’re going to use White Daisy cardstock as the base for the design, and it makes the pattern easier to see as you build it on your canvas.

3. Insert and ungroup the triangle flag. Then delete the extra shape.

The background uses a triangle flag shape from the You Are Here collection. Click Images to add new image to the canvas. Search for the image using #M282C66F and add it to your canvas. Then click on the flag and select UnGroup in the Layers panel on the right. Once you have separated the shape into two images, you can delete the purple flag. We’re only going to use the triangle shape.

4. Resize, duplicate, and flip the triangle.

Resize both the width and height of the triangle to 1. Make sure to unlock the image size so that Design Space lets you modify both. Just click on the lock above the measurements. Then select the triangle and then click Duplicate in the Layers panel. To flip the shape, select the second triangle, and under Flip in the Edit bar, select Flip Vertically.

5. Arrange and group both triangles together.

Now that you have two triangles. Line them up vertically, with a small space in between. Then click the first triangle, hold down the shift key on your keyboard, and click the second triangle. Then select Group in the Layers panel.

6. Duplicate the triangles and arrange in a row, centering horizontally.

Duplicate the grouped triangles five times and arrange them in a row. You can center these shapes by first selecting all five set of triangles. Just like in step 6, you can do this by holding down the shift key on your keyboard. Then select Center Horizontally under Align in the Edit bar.

7. Duplicate the triangle row eight times.

When you have one row of triangles, duplicate the row and arrange as shown above. You’ll need eight rows, with a small amount of space in between each one.

8. Even out the top and bottom rows of triangles.

Once you have your rows arranged, you might notice that part of the design isn’t going to fit on the white square. To fix this, you’ll use the UnGroup button in the Layers panel to separate the bottom set of triangles, and move the last triangle from the bottom of the design to the top. This will give you straight edges along the top and bottom, just like you see in the screenshot above.

9. Change cut to draw and add pen color.

Drawing with Cricut #ctmh #closetomyheart #ctmhcricut #designspace #cricut #drawingwithcricut #ctmhiheartus #ctmhsomuchhappy

With your first set of triangles ready to go, you can now change the Linetype in the Edit bar from Cut to Draw. Then click on the box next to Draw. This is where you can choose the pen size and color.

We used the Cricut^® Sorbet fine point pen set for this project. The pen color for the triangles in the first two rows is Cactus Pink. The third row is Adobe. The fourth row is Yellow. The fifth and sixth rows are Light Green, and the seventh and eighth are Light Turquoise. We’ve found that it’s easiest to use Cricut^® pens since they are designed to work especially with their machines.

10. Group nine rows of colored triangles together and duplicate.

To make the remaining half of the background, all you have to do now is click and drag your cursor over the rows. Then group the rows together and duplicate. Just move this new group of triangles next to the first one, keeping them evenly spaced.

11. Group all rows of colored triangles together. Then align and attach to the white square.

Make sure to group all the triangles together, and then select both the grouped triangles and the white square. Under Align, click Center. This will center the triangles on the square. Then select Attach at the bottom of the Layers panel. This ensures the shapes will draw exactly as you’ve arranged them on the square.

12. Cut AND draw your project!

When you’re ready to draw the design and cut the White Daisy cardstock, click the green Make It button in the top right corner and follow the prompts. You’ll need to load the correct pen color in Clamp A of your machine. Design Space will tell you which pen to use first, and then as your machine draws the design, it will prompt you to switch to the next color. When you’re done, you’ll have a bright multicolor background for your page.

Changing your Close To My Heart shapes from cut to draw will give your scrapbook pages a different look and feel then using cut shapes. You could even use this concept to draw a background or write a personalized sentiment on a card. Take some time to try this out with your favorite Close To My Heart Cricut^® collections. The possibilities are endless!

Recipe:

12″ × 12″ Love Page
X7241B So Much Happy Paper Packet, X7242B I Heart Us Paper Packet, X6007 Lagoon Cardstock, X5986 Mint Cardstock, X6016 Pixie Cardstock, X6027 White Daisy Cardstock, X7242C I Heart Us Complements, Z4270 I Heart Us Sequins, Z1263 Bitty Sparkles, Z3274 Clear Sparkles, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape, Z3502 Cricut^® You Are Here Digital Collection, Cricut^® Fine Point Pen Set—Sorbet, Sewing Machine

Cricut^®Shapes:
You Are Here
1″, #M282C66F

Leave a comment

August 23, 2018Create, Learn

Using Attach in Cricut Design Space™

Close To My Heartattach, cricut, Design Space, Flower Market, negative space, tutorial 5 Comments

One of the amazing things Cricut Design Space™ does automatically for you is arrange the images you intend to cut to save on materials. This is so helpful when creating with your Cricut^® machine, but did you know it’s also possible to arrange images to cut exactly where you want using the Attach feature? Attach can be used in several different ways. Today, we are going to show you how to use this tool to place images and text exactly where you want them to cut, rather than leaving it up to your machine.

With the Attach feature we were able to create the negative space design of the circles and title in the page you see here. In Design Space, we attached the circles and title to a large square and, after cutting our project, layered paper behind the images for a different kind of dimensional look. (You can do something similar with the Slice feature, but the nice thing about Attach is that you don’t end up with any leftover images to delete!)

The steps below will walk you through the process of attaching and cutting images to replicate this 12″ x 12″ page. If you want to use the same font we did, you must own the Flower Market Cricut^® collection. You will also need a Cricut^® machine that is Design Space compatible (any of the Explore models or the new Maker) to link your collections to your account. (If you do not know how to do this, click here.)

1. Sign in to Cricut Design Space™ at design.cricut.com.

2. Insert and resize a basic square shape.

To make the base for your journaling, you will first insert a square by clicking on Shapes on the left side of your screen. Then add a square to your canvas. You can easily resize this square to 11.5 by adjusting the width. Make sure to leave lock icon locked so that the height automatically resizes when you change the width.

3. Color the square.

Adjusting the color of the square will help you see where to place the shapes and text as you attach them to the square. Click on the colored circle next to the scissors icon in the Layers panel to adjust the color of the shape. We decided to work with white, but you can choose any light color.

4. Insert and resize your title.

Before adding any circles, we are going to go ahead and insert the title. Click Text and then under Fonts, search for the Flower Market font in the search box. Once you’ve selected it, go ahead and type the title, “MOOD.” Then, insert a separate text box and type “#.” Having two separate pieces allows you to resize the “#” to match “MOOD.” Resize both to a height of 1.5″. Just like the square, keep the size locked so the width automatically adjusts proportionately.

5. Arrange the title on the square.

Drag the title over the square and arrange it how you’d like it to cut on the square. We placed our title about 7″ from the top of the square.

6. Insert circles and arrange them on the square.

To insert your circles, you’ll do the same thing as you did to insert the square. Click on Shapes on the left side of your screen and add a circle to your canvas. We used three 1.5″, three 1.75″, and one 2″ circle for this project. Resize the circles as you need, and take advantage of the Duplicate tool in the top right corner of your screen to create more. You can add circles and arrange them on your project however you’d like.

7. Attach images and text.

Look over your project one more time to make sure you have arranged everything how you want it on the 11.5″ square. Then click and drag your mouse over all the images and click Attach in the bottom left corner. Now all the images are attached exactly how you’ve arranged them when you cut the project in the next step.

8. Cut your project and create your page!

Once everything is attached, it will all display as one white image on your canvas. When you’re ready to cut your paper, click the green Make It button in the top right corner and follow the prompts. Once your project is cut, you can layer other patterned paper and cardstock behind the title and circles and then attach it to your 12″ x 12″ page. Just add photos and journaling to document whatever “#MOOD” you’re in at the moment. 🙂

Now you know how to use Attach in Design Space to arrange text and shapes however you like! While we used Attach to place images on an 11.5″ square, you can also use it to attach images in relation to each other on the mat itself. Now it’s your turn! Use these instructions to make your first Design Space scrapbook page with Attach, and then keep experimenting with this tool to create layers and dimension on your layouts.

Recipe:

12″ × 12″ #Mood Page
D1772 My Acrylix^® Documented—Scrapbooking Stamp Set, X7234B Documented Paper Packet, X5953 Charcoal Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z2804 Pansy Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, X7234C Documented Complements, Z4177 Documented Dots, Z1979 Marvy^® Uchida^®LePen™ Journaling Pen, Z3290 Cricut^® Flower Market Digital Collection

Cricut^®Shapes:
Flower Market
1½” <font> #MOOD

Leave a comment

March 14, 2017Learn

One Awesome Stamp, Four Incredible Looks!

Close To My Heartalcohol, big, blending, dreamin', embossing, Hello, how, Learn, marker, powder, stamp, stamping, tip, to, trick, tutorial, watercolor 5 Comments

When you find a stamp you love, you tend to use it over and over (and over) again—we get it! 😉 Today we’re sharing some fun ideas to showcase one stamp in four different ways so it’s not the exact same every time. To show you what we mean, we’re going to use the darling “HELLO” stamp from our Dreamin’ Big—Scrapbooking stamp set.

The following stamping techniques range in skill levels—try them all to find your favorite!

When going for a saturated and vibrant look, especially in small details, ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ markers are an excellent choice. They are bright, smudge-proof, and, because they are alcohol-based, they are easy to blend. The fine tip on each marker is ideal for coloring intricate images, like those flowers and leaves in our stamp. To ensure a crisp outline of your stamped image, use our permanent Archival Black Exclusive Inks™ stamp pad. Unlike other inks, Archival Black won’t smear or smudge when you apply color.

For a softer look, use watercolors! Once again, stamp your image using Archival Black ink. Because this ink is waterproof, it won’t run when you apply your paint. In this example, we used a fine tip brush to color the small details.

Ready to add some texture? Try embossing! For those of you who are new to this technique, embossing powder is a special powder that, when heated, melts to form a raised surface. To start, stamp your image using the VersaMark™ ink pad (embossing ink), which will create a clear, wet-looking print of your stamp. While the ink is still wet, cover it with embossing powder and carefully shake off any excess. In our example, we used white embossing powder to make our image pop on the colored cardstock. Use a craft heater to dry and seal your design. Craft heaters blow extremely hot air with a low air current, which keeps the powder from blowing right off—hair dryers are not a good substitute!

After your powder is set, add some shimmer using our gold and clear shimmer brushes. When you use these, prep your brush before you do! You want to squeeze your brush over scrap paper until the shimmery liquid comes out. Keep brushing it on the paper until you get the consistency you want on your brush before coloring in those details.

Okay, here’s technique we’re really excited to share! Did you know that you can pair our Exclusive Inks™ mini pigment pads with clear embossing powder to emboss in any color you want? Yes, really! Stamp an image with your choice of pigment ink, cover it with clear embossing powder, and then set it with your craft heater! It’s that simple! You can match all of our exclusive colors perfectly using this last technique!

Of course there are many more ways to customize a stamp. That’s the best thing about finding a great stamp—you can use it again and again without it being identical each time. Give these techniques a try and have fun dolling up your current fave. 🙂

Recipes

Hello—Markers
D1714 My Acrylix^®Dreamin’ Big—Scrapbooking Stamp Set, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z3271 Archival Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2453 ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Lavender Marker, Z2454 ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Leaf Green Marker, Z2455 ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Light Orange Marker, Z2459 ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Pastel Green Marker, Z2462 ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Peony Purple Marker, Z2463 ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Sap Green Marker

Hello—Watercolors
D1714 My Acrylix^®Dreamin’ Big—Scrapbooking Stamp Set, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z3271 Archival Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z3132 Watercolor Paints, Z3188 Paintbrush Set

Hello—Embossed
D1714 My Acrylix^®Dreamin’ Big—Scrapbooking Stamp Set, X5776 Peacock Cardstock, Z891 VersaMark™ Ink Pad, Z2068 Ranger™ White Super Fine Embossing Powder, Z555 Craft Heater, Z3293 Shimmer Brush—Clear, Z3316 Shimmer Brush—Gold

Hello—Embossed Pigment
D1714 My Acrylix^®Dreamin’ Big—Scrapbooking Stamp Set, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z2507 Sea Glass Exclusive Inks™ Mini Pigment Pad, Z2088 Ranger™ Clear Super Fine Embossing Powder, Z555 Craft Heater

Leave a comment

December 1, 2016Celebrate, Memory Keeping

15 Photos You MUST Take This Holiday Season

Close To My Heartchristmas, hack, help, Holiday, how, keeping, memories, memory, photo, photographer, photography, scrapbook, scrapbooking, tip, trick, tutorial, winter 5 Comments

It’s officially the holiday season! This magical time of year always has us pulling out our cameras and taking photos, but there are some special holiday moments you might not normally think to photograph! Here is a list of 15 things to be sure to capture with your camera this winter:

1. Picking out the perfect tree

2. Opening your daily advent calendar3. Little ones eating sticky candy canes

4. Kiddos writing letters to Santa

5. Decorating the Christmas tree (and putting on the star!)

6. Each kid’s favorite Christmas ornament (after all, your photo can last forever, though the ornament may not!)

7. Family story or Bible time

8. Fur babies in their Christmas gear

9. Christmas shopping

10. Little hands helping with holiday baking

11. Kids wrapping presents all by themselves

12. Setting out Santa’s cookies

13. Blowing or throwing snow in the air

14. Warming up by the fire

15. Hot chocolate mustaches

Also, be sure to check out our video on how to take high-quality photos with renowned photographer, Wendy Whitacre, of Blue Lily Photography.

What unique Christmas photos do YOU like to take? Tell us in the comments below!

Leave a comment

November 5, 2014Learn

All-Purpose Mat Color Splat

all-purpose mat, art, autumn, background, ink, tutorial 27 Comments

When we posted the Halloween-themed cards on our Facebook page last month, the background on the Halloween village card captured many hearts across the world. (Click here to see the card.)

Several of you asked us how it was done. So we took your questions to the artist herself, and not only was she generous enough to show us her methods, but she also created yet another stunning card for us that illustrates this beautiful technique.

Check it out!Isn’t that beautiful?

The technique used to create this kind of background centers on our all-purpose mat. (This tutorial will only add more truth to its name!) The non-slip surface makes it perfect for mixing ink and water to create special artistic effects.

There’s an infinite amount of possible art you can create with this technique, but first try this quick tutorial on creating the background seen on this great Happy Autumn card.

What Tools You’ll Need:
D1604 My Acrylix® Season of Thanks
C1589 My Acrylix® Lifetime of Happiness
Z2123 Goldrush Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z2118 Desert Sand Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z2137 Olive Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z2191 Sunset Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z2101 Autumn Terracotta Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z2162 Honey Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z2643 Canary Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z2172 Whisper Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z2642 Flaxen Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z2641 Glacier Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z1380 Spray Pen
1778 My Acrylix® Spritz Cleaner
Z697 Round Sponge
Z2045 All-Purpose Mat

1. Rub Olive, Desert Sand, Goldrush, Sunset, and Autumn Terracotta Exclusive Inks™ pads directly onto surface of all-purpose mat to create desired pattern. 2. Holding spray pen at a distance of about 12″ from the mat, spray water over ink until it has a dewed appearance. 3. Take your cardstock (preferably Colonial White or White Daisy) and lay it directly down into the watered ink. Rub back of paper lightly to ensure complete coverage. Lift paper and allow ink to dry completely. Use a craft heater to speed up the process. 4. Once ink has dried, repeat steps 1–3 with Glacier ink, except this time, instead of spraying the Glacier ink with water, spray it with the My Acrylix® Spritz Cleaner in order to achieve a more modeled look.

5. Using the My Acrylix® Season of Thanks stamp set, stamp several tree trunks in Whisper. Stamp some trunks with second-generation impressions in order to add depth. 6. Using the My Acrylix® Lifetime of Happiness stamp set, stamp leaves in Canary, Honey, and Flaxen inks. Stamp quickly, using both second- and first-generation impressions. To give some leaves a more finished look, spread some ink on the all-purpose mat, spray it with spritz, dip the stamp in the dewed ink, and then stamp on cardstock. 7. Using the sponge, daube Canary ink around your design to lighten things up and maintain depth. 8. In order to create a soft edge, spread Whisper ink in a circle on your all-purpose mat and then spray it with spritz. Rub each of the edges of your cardstock lightly in the ink until you achieve a subtle border on each side. Allow ink to dry completely.

Voila! Your beautiful background is now complete. Now all you need to do is add your embellishments and other additions to complete your card.

This technique is full of possibilities, so feel free to experiment with it in other ways, too. We’d love to see what you come up with!

Happy crafting!

Leave a comment

Attach v. Slice

Using Attach

Put It Together

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

1. Sign in to Cricut Design Space™ at design.cricut.com.

2. Insert and resize a basic square shape. Then color the square.

3. Insert and ungroup the triangle flag. Then delete the extra shape.

4. Resize, duplicate, and flip the triangle.

5. Arrange and group both triangles together.

6. Duplicate the triangles and arrange in a row, centering horizontally.

7. Duplicate the triangle row eight times.

8. Even out the top and bottom rows of triangles.

9. Change cut to draw and add pen color.

10. Group nine rows of colored triangles together and duplicate.

11. Group all rows of colored triangles together. Then align and attach to the white square.

12. Cut AND draw your project!

Share this:

Like this:

1. Sign in to Cricut Design Space™ at design.cricut.com.

2. Insert and resize a basic square shape.

3. Color the square.

4. Insert and resize your title.

5. Arrange the title on the square.

6. Insert circles and arrange them on the square.

7. Attach images and text.

8. Cut your project and create your page!

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

1. Picking out the perfect tree

2. Opening your daily advent calendar3. Little ones eating sticky candy canes

4. Kiddos writing letters to Santa

5. Decorating the Christmas tree (and putting on the star!)

6. Each kid’s favorite Christmas ornament (after all, your photo can last forever, though the ornament may not!)

7. Family story or Bible time

8. Fur babies in their Christmas gear

9. Christmas shopping

10. Little hands helping with holiday baking

11. Kids wrapping presents all by themselves

12. Setting out Santa’s cookies

13. Blowing or throwing snow in the air

14. Warming up by the fire

15. Hot chocolate mustaches

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: