Supplies part two

One thing it seems you can never get enough of as a crafter, is supplies. Paper, vinyl, glitter, glue, embellishments, washi tape....the list goes on and varies depending on what crafts you make and what they are used for.
Today I want to talk about vinyl.

Now, I used to think it was a pretty basic material used to decorate walls and maybe a stainless steel water bottle or two. But it turns out that vinyl is pretty versatile. I've used it on walls and mugs, water bottles, glass, canvas, notebooks, cases (for glasses, those fidget spinners, and oils). You can slap a label on a box, or pantry container. You can even use it on cards. In fact, I was most excited when I saw how things like vinyl mixed with cardstock. It added a cool dimension and texture to my images that cardstock can't achieve. Especially if you are talking about making things look shiny.

Take this card for example. Most of what you see is actually vinyl or adhesive foil. The black base of the card is cardstock as is the base and face of the little astronaut. The planets are a mix of cardstock and vinyl while the sun and lettering are all vinyl.
I love how the simple shapes of cut out stars on the blue foil makes the card pop. It gives it texture and elevates a rather simple concept card, into something a young boy or girl would actually want to keep.
And you see that dark reflection in the card? That is my phone while I was taking the photo. It is THAT shiny. I am so excited to use more of this material on items I had thought were not vinyl crafts!
You can get your vinyl in lots of places, but I really like Amazon because I often have projects that need to be done within a short time frame and the 2 day shipping (and sometimes you can get next day shipping for extra $$) is a life saver. Yes, you may pay more than if you shop sales at craft stores or use discount codes from Craft groups at Cricut.com but Amazon offers many different brands and again, the speed in which I need my supplies sometimes is more important than the cost.
  To assemble my card, well, the parts that aren't vinyl that is, I used a zigpen and my ATG tape. You can find those products on amazon as well. I got my zigpen at a local store since i just happened to be there at the time with a fellow crafter who recommended it. I ordered my ATG tape and dispenser from Amazon months ago and I do not know how I made cards without it!

The zig pen is great for those tiny little areas and lettering. I use it often for intricate designs and overlays. I use my ATG (advanced tape glider) for everything else. Regular glue can slip, distort, and takes time to dry-and let's face it, when you are making 40 invitations time is an important thing to save! If you click the links below, you can find the products that I used for this card and let your imagination run wild with all the cool possibilities!

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Crafting Supplies

Can you craft without a Cricut machine? Yes, of course. But personally I don't know why you would want to do everything by hand. If you are like me, cutting a straight line is a challenge, so cutting out perfect hearts, stars, or circles is impossible. Sure, I guess there are cutters out there to give you those shapes but with a Cricut (or Silhouette) you can do so much more.
Take for example, this little decal:

Can you imagine trying to hand cut those letters and shapes? I can't. Especially on vinyl. You could try and find stickers I guess that are the right font, color, and size and try to match them up with images you like...but that is not easy...and there is no guarantee that it will actually stick to your water bottle, mug or whatever it is you are wanting to glam up. My cutting machine allows me to make my images and fonts the size I want. It is going to be the color I want to because I choose the paper (or vinyl) that I want. I get to hold it in my hands and ensure that all of the elements look good together before I even cut anything.

Which machine do you choose?

This one is tough. I don't know much about the Silhouette brand of machines so I can't help you there. Cricut on the other hand I have used 2 of their machines and both were great. They have a brand new one out that is supposed to be pretty much the same as the one I have, just faster and in a variety of colors. My machine is the Explore Air. It has a dual housing so that the blade gets to stay in place while the second housing can hold a scoring stylus or pen for drawing. It also is bluetooth capable right out of the box. The Explore One needs an adapter to be able to pull that off. You can hook your Cricut machines up to a desktop or laptop, or if its bluetooth enabled, an iPad or iPhone. They are also beta testing the Android App in the U.S. . Now I tried that one out on my Samsung Galaxy S7 and while it was okay, it was not as cool as the iOS version. The app is great, but the one thing I wish it could do is upload images. If you buy an image from someone you have to use the desktop version of Cricut Design Space to uploaded before it can be used on the iPad. But, one upside to the iPad version, is this cool thing called Snap Mat.
What does that do? Let me attempt to explain quickly. Say you have a cute photo of your sister and her hubby and you want to cut a heart shape out of it but you suck at freehand cutting, you don't want to draw on it and you don't have one of those previously mentioned cutters. Snap Mat allows you to stick that photo anywhere on your mat, take a photo of the mat and then you can drag and position your heart shape over the photo so that you get it exactly how you want it. This is also great for adding writing to previously made or store-bought cards and envelopes. I have also used it to make use of scrap vinyl, ensuring that I have as little waste possible.
Can you make due without an iPad? Yes. But if you already have one, be sure to download the Design Space app. It also allows you to save and cut projects while offline (but only if it is saved to the iPad and not the cloud)

Tools:

The Cricut itself has tons of tools that go with it. A scoring Stylus, pens, tweezers, weeding tool, scrapers, spatulas and scissors.They sell most of the tools individually and in varied sets. For example, you can buy a scraper tool with a spatula. You can buy s scoring stylus (what you need to create fold lines on cards and boxes), tweezers and the weeding tool on their own. You can also save yourself time, and in the long run-money, if you just buy the complete set. My suggestion is to buy the set otherwise you end up like me....buying each piece separately and paying more in the end. Are there ways to get around buying Cricut brand stuff? Yes. I just use my own scissors and tweezers for example, and you can use an old credit card or gift card in place of their scraper tool. The stylus however is not something I have found a substitute for and while you can use things like paper clips in place of the weeding tool, if you are going to be using vinyl often you are better off spending the $6-$8 and buying the Cricut weeder.

Cardstock:
You can buy any brand cardstock you want. I have used stuff from all over, even construction paper. What you will want to keep in mind regarding cardstock is thickness (thicker paper requires a different setting on your machine than printer paper) and whether or not its white core. FOr the average project, the core color makes no difference, but if you are making creases in a gift bag or box or working on a flip book, you will want paper that is NOT white in the center. It looks bad having each crease this bright white while the rest of the paper is the beautiful glitter cardstock...I did this in a trial project and it is not something you can overlook. It looks awful. Lesson learned.

Other materials:

My suggestion is to start with Cricut samplers, You get  6 sheets of 12x12 vinyl in different colors. They have samplers for glitter vinyl and bright colors, metallics etc. It's a good way to test out the product. I did this and discovered that there were colors I used a lot of and ones I struggle to find uses for. I'm glad to only have 1 sheet of a color I rarely/never use that the full regular roll which is 12x48".
If you find yourself really into vinyl, Cricut offers bulk rolls of Midnight (black), chalkboard, gold, and silver. Those rolls are 12x120" or 12x360".
Of course there are many brands of vinyl, but Cricut stuff is the best place to start.
Don"t forget, if ordering vinyl, you will need transfer tape to get your decal off of the paper backing and onto your mug, wall, or plate.
HTV, or, heat transfer vinyl is something I haven't used much. I thought I would do a ton with it, but to be honest I don't have the time for it. Since I don't make much (any at the moment) I'll talk about it some other time along with the other materials the Cricut Explore series can cut.
Check out the cricut.com site to see just what goodies you can throw money at. And a little tip, join a Criut Facebook group. Often times the Admins have special discount codes that can save you up to 15 % on your order. Most cricut users also subscribe to Cricuts image library called Cricut Access. Prices vary depending on the package but all receive a 10% discount in the store.

A new Adventure

Starting something new can be intimidating.
Opening yourself up to other people can be frightening.
Sharing your creations with the world can be nerve wracking.
Doing all three at once...well, you get the idea.

I have been making cards for friends and family for several years. I always enjoyed creating a unique card for each unique person. Of course little kids probably never cared to much about the card and how much time I took to put it together, but to my surprise, older nieces and nephews began to look forward to them. So I put more effort into them. I bought embellishments and tools to help cut fancy edges, hoping to make up for my inability to cut a straight line.
Eventually I found out about cutting machines and purchased my first one off of Craigslist. My husband paid $50 for a used Cricut Mini-a small machine that hooks up to a computer and uses a program (Cricut Craft Room) to cut images with surprising accuracy. I loved it. I bought pens to draw and write messages on cards. I made my own multi-layered embellishments. My cards look much better than they ever had and I was excited to do more and more. 
Eventually my husband surprised me with an update machine-the Cricut Explore Air and my crafting continued to evolve as I discovered the new features of my machine. More intricate cuts. More materials. Printing and Cutting. The ability to cut and draw or cut and score at the same time. I have tried my hand at vinyl decals for water bottles and walls, light boxes, iron-on vinyl, and stencils. I am still learning about new features and tricks to help make my projects go smoother and look better.
I have discovered websites, groups and products that have helped me along the way. I learned how to trace jpeg images and turn them into svg or png files. I have learned how to download and use fonts on my computer and iPad, and there is still more to learn.
I hope that I can help you along the way. Whether you are just starting out or have been at this for a while. I hope that we can have a bit of fun while creating things for ourselves and for others.

At this point my Crafting space is small and my crafting supplies only slightly organized so that I have a general idea of where stuff is. I hope to some day have a room to myself, one with shelves and drawers labeled and neat for my odds and ends, paper, vinyl, and so on. For now I make due with what I have. Boxes and bins for paper, vinyl, and stickers. I stole a hanging wall file holder for my 12x 12 mats, masking tape, and the little pouch I keep my Cricut tools in. I have a small "desk" with my machine on it and a little bin that holds scraps and my portable trimmer.
If you don't have a machine yet, I suggest looking around for one. Craft stores have them but so do places like Wal Mart and online retailers like Amazon. Often times there are sales (but be sure to check the fine print of coupons-they frequently exclude die cutting machines) Try craigslist like I did-it was worth the $50 to see if I would even like the machine, and I ended up reselling it once I got my new machine.
You can use all sorts of paper products. They do not have to be Cricut brand in order to be used in the machine. Same thing for vinyl. You can even find lists of pens and markers that can be used in the different Cricut machines. Cricut obviously has its own brand of pens to be used, and so far that is what I have always done.
My next post will focus on the need to have supplies and the nice to have supplies, later posts will focus on projects I have completed and I hope to provide photos and videos to help show you how to put some things together. Next week I will be showcasing an artist who I think is worth your time.