Did you know that your Cricut machine can do much more than cut little paper die cuts? Oh yes, my friend, it's true. Of course, there are some limitations, but don't let that worry you. ;-) The more you learn about your Cricut, the more you will come to love it!
What else can your Cricut do?
- Draw with markers, mini gel pens, and mini Sharpies
- Score paper
- Cut magnet
- Cut chipboard
- Cut fabric
- Cut craft felt
- Cut vinyl for walls, windows, and home decor
- Emboss paper, vellum, and metal
- Create embossing folders
- Cut acrylic (acrylic mini book pages anyone??)
- Create stencils and masks from many different materials
- Cut craft foam for stamps
- Engrave
- Cut shrink plastic
- Cut iron on vinyl for t-shirts
- Cut flocked vinyl for T-shirts
My absolute favorite thing to create with my Cricut is stencils. Stencils are so versatile and you can use many materials to make them. Some of those materials are probably lying around in your home right now! On my personal blog you can follow the progression of this stencil, at right, from the beginning: from being cut using my Cricut Expression from a file folder, to being used to paint on fabric HERE and finally finished as an art quilt HERE.
If you like stencils as much as I do, please join me for the online workshop "Cricut: Crafting with Stencils". In the 5 lesson class you'll learn to design Cricut Craft Room files and cut stencils using several materials. You'll take your crafting to a whole new level!
What have you tried, besides paper, with your Cricut? What are your favorite things to create?
Happy Crafting!
Shirley Pando
I've never ever ever ever ever ever found fabric cutting to be easy on my Cricut (granted I have an expression and an E2 and not an explore which, according to my sister, cuts fabric like buttah).
ReplyDeleteI love love love using markers (and painting in the images), making stencils, using the positive and the negatives, making "kiss cuts" breaking the surface but not actually cutting all the way through and then using paint or ink to highlight the breaks (on plastic and paper), using my Gypsy to cut a partial image of something huge and making shadow images (the kind that falls behind on the ground) with the skew button, and using the 2 foot mats to make center shapes easily for two-page layouts.
I was so frustrated with Provocraft I actually stopped using my Cricut for a couple of years, but have started using it again recently, still not like I used to use it, but I'm on my way back : ).
Hello Ohhh Snap,
DeleteI have an Expression and it does cut fabric well. Mind you, you need to use 100% cotton fabrics for the best results. I haven't done kiss cuts...sounds like something I must try!
I hear you about PC, but we have this machine, we might as well use it, right?? ;-)
That might have been the source of the frustation! I believe they were all cotton poly blends (fused on various stabilizers, but I don't remember using 100% cotton ever. I might have to try this again lol.
DeleteOhhh Snap,
DeleteAs far as I know, polyester doesn't cut well as it is not a natural fabric. Another tip is to make sure to use a fresh, sharp blade and keep that blade ONLY for cutting fabric. Paper dulls blades (and scissors and needles) faster, so it is best to keep your fabric cutting tools separated from paper cutting tools.
HTH
Shirley