Using the Cricut Craft Room

Happy Monday all! Today I am sharing a layout I created for the Circut Circle and as I was going through my files I realized I had never shared it here. I thought it might be a good one to share because of how I discuss the way I use the Criuct Craft Room to create layouts. I hope you enjoy the tutorial!

About a year ago, my niece lost her first tooth. My sister was sweet enough to send me the photos. She was so excited and it was spurred on by the fact that Grandpa was there to help!  It had been hanging on by a “thread” all day and he helped her wiggle it loose so that the tooth fairy could come!  She was all smiles and so was he…so proud of their accomplishment together!!!



Now, let’s get into how I created my layout.  The entire basic layout was designed using the Cricut Craft Room.  I love the Cricut Craft Room!  It has so much flexibility because everything I can play with is all in one place.  The search feature helps me locate images that I might want to use for my design and sometimes ones that I didn’t know I might want to use!  In fact, I haven’t plugged a cartridge into my Cricut since the Craft Room was launched….I love it that much!!!  I use it to help me “sketch” out my design.  Here you can see what I mean:



This is not the final design that I used on my layout, but you get the idea. I use the fill mode to add the various colors that I want to use based on the papers that I want to use.  This works really well with papers that are mostly one color.  It helps give me any idea of how things will look before I cut them out and this process keeps me from wasting paper.  I am a very visual person and I usually need to see how it is going to look before I can decide if I am going to like it.  I don’t do well trying to imagine how it will look.  So that is why adding the colors to the different images helps me out.  I ended up switching the design from the screen shot to what you see below after I had cut everything out and was placing it together.  I realized that the blue banner and the blue behind the title were not going to work. You couldn’t see the phrase, so I switched things around a bit and it worked just fine.  I also liked the photo better on the right hand side of the layout because it brought my niece toward the center and put more focus on her.



The next thing I have to share is one thing that I CAN NOT scrap without it…3M Double Sided Mounting Tape.  I really wish it came in larger rolls!!!  Why do I love it?  Most other foam tape options are too thick for my taste and I love that I can cut this to any size I want.



I cut thin strips of the tape to attach this cut to the phrase piece for added dimension.



Here is the completed layout.  Well almost!  You could certainly call it finished with the addition of a little journaling.  I however, felt like it needed a bit more to “dress it up”.



I decided to back the title letters with black letters.  All of the letters are cut the same size, I just offset them so that you could see the color.  I also did the same thing with the “first tooth” phrase piece.   I think it helps the title stand out a bit more!



The stitching on the banners was there in the first layout, but here you can see a close up.  This is something that can add a nice finishing touch or just that little extra something to make your layout shine.  And it certainly doesn’t have to be done with a real sewing machine.  I have seen plenty of faux stitching that gives me a double take and it is a lot faster than pulling out the sewing machine.  I recommend a white gel pen or white out pen.



Another bit I did to dress this up was to add a strip of patterned paper (a ‘B side” scrap from one of my banner cuts) and a border sticker on top of the vellum border.  I then finished it off by adding some buttons to each end.  The placement of the purple buttons creates a visual triangle with the purple letters in the title.



The green thread adds a nice contrast to the buttons but also creates a nice visual triangle with the green border sticker, crown and journaling strips.This is just a close up of the dimension provided by the use of the foam tape and multiple cut layers.





I hope enjoyed a peek into how I use the Cricut Craft Room! Happy Cricuting!!!

SUPPLIES:
Cardstock: American Crafts
Patterned Paper: Echo Park
Other: Vellum, Buttons, Thread, Adhesives, Sewing Machine
Cricut Cartridges Used: Baby Steps, Close To My Heart Art Philosophy, Opposites Attract – Digital, Sophisticated, Cricut Font and Basic Shapes – Digital, Martha Stewart All Occasions Cake Art – Digital
   

6 comments

  1. love all those bright cheery colors!!!!

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  2. The bright colors are awesome on this Juliana and I love the big banner pennants in the background!! The title is so cute and I love how you added dimension with the adhesive!

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  3. This is adorable! I love the vellum 1,2,3 border!

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  4. Must.buy.vellum. Beautiful layout as always! The title is amazing!

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  5. This is sooooooooooo adorable! I love love love the colors, the stitched pennants and loveeeeeeeeeeee that tooth!!!

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  6. What a darling LO, Juliana!! Thanks for the step by step instructions. I have a Cricut and it mostly gathers dust, although I did use it to create a banner for one of my LO's this month. :-) ~ Blessings, Tracey

    http://gracescraps.blogspot.com/

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Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. ~Mother Teresa

HUGS!
JULIANA

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