Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Cricut Confession

Hellooo there my friends! Gosh, how time flies.....and how I've missed my blogging time and all of you!! I wish I could say that I've been managing my free time well, but alas that is not the case. I've been very busy working and find that at the end of the long days, I'm simply too pooped to post :( I have been doing a bit of crafting, however--thank goodness I have the great pleasure of being able to create with the Cricut Expression all day..yes, this is my "work". A tough gig, but someone's gotta do it! I love it so much and am finding fun and exciting new things that can be done with the Cricut every day!! What fun!!!
So now that my head-over-heels love affair with this most bodacious machine is out, I've decided to have a "Cricut idea-of-the-week" post beginning today! My goal is to offer up an idea or project that is simple, fresh, fun and will hopefully inspire others to design wonderful things with their Cricuts! :) I also encourage your ideas and input, as much of my own inspiration comes from you fabulously talented peeps as well!
So my Cricut idea for week #1 is this: Did you know that your Cricut can cut not only paper, but also chipboard? You know those big stacks of DCWV and other brands of cardstock and pattern paper that you buy? How about taking the back of the stacks, which is thin chipboard and creating custom chipboard embellishments! Another idea--recycle cereal boxes and use to cut out fun, custom chipboard pieces! You will feel great about being such an Eco-friendly chic and naked chipboard is a great look by itself, but you can also cut out matching designs in patterned paper to adhere over the chipboard. It's an easy way to dress up your chipboard embellies and use those beautiful, but small bits of scrap papers too! On my Expression, I set my regular blade to 5 to cut through the thin chipboard. You may need to adjust your blade higher or lower, depending on its shapeness and the thickness of your chipboard. Here are a few simple examples using the whimsical Storybook and Tie The Knot cartridge.

More ideas for dressing up your chipboard accents:
sponging
painting
run thru your Cuttlebug to emboss!
stamp designs on them
buttons
brads
bling
rain dots
ribbon scraps
stickles or glitter
Turn 'em into:
*ornaments
*dimensional gift tags
*adorn gift baskets and bags
*scrapbook page and handmade card elements--adds non-bulky dimension to your pages!
*lettering for scrapbook album covers
*use your Cricut to make larger chipboard shapes & attach with a binder ring or chain to create custom chipboard albums! I got this wonderful idea from a Cricut owner who used her Cricut to make her son's soccor team unique custom-made soccor ball shaped chipboard albums--how cool huh!
Can you think of more ideas for fun uses of chipboard? Please share! Thanks so much for taking a few minutes to stop by my blog and have a great day!

2 comments:

StampinCathy said...

Sure have missed you. Your projects are so pretty. I don't have a cricut, but I've seen so many things made with it. Maybe someday. Welcome back.

Lee said...

Hey girl!!!! We MISS YOU and your creative amazingness!!!!! I'm so glad you love your Cricut....someday I'll invest in one!!! LOL Big HUGS to you my friend!!!