Using the Cricut for Crafts and Art Journaling

As I said previously I have been taking a class on using the Cricut.  Most of it has been basic but I have learned some new things.  My goals have been to find ways to use the machine beyond it original intent which I think is for people making scrapbook pages and greeting cards and other craft items.  Sure I will do a little of that but I wanted  more.  Initially I thought I would use it for mostly words for my art journal pages but I am finding other uses now which I think is pretty neat.










Here is a card and tag that we made in the first class.  Very cutsey for Valentines Day.










I made these two cards, the argyle and cupcake ones.  I have a cartridge called Wild Card which has some really fun cards in it. The little box I made and decorated with hearts.  You could put a small amount of candy inside.










These flowers were made by using an ink cartridge with the Cricuit.  First you draw the flower and then change back to the blade and then cut the flower out.  The result is your image is then outlined in the color of the ink. I think I will use the flowers to embellish a journal page.

The other thing we learned was how to use the Cricut for glass etching.  First you cut out an image on vinyl and place the background left over on your piece of glass.  Its like a stencil. Then you add etching solution, wait 60 seconds and wash it off.  Then you remove the background image and your etched image appears.  You may have to click on the image to see the little vine I had etched on there.

This is the piece I placed on to the glass before adding the etching solution.

I took the cut out vinyl piece and put it on my Cricut to decorate it.










and here is the etched glass.

This is a scroll pattern that I cut out full size I am going to use it as a stencil for spray painting.










and this one is another stencil.










and another one I just couldn't stop the ideas from coming.  I can't wait till the weather is warm and I can try these out.










These are a series of things I have cut out to use as stencils and masks.  Don't they all look fun.  These were cut from a cartridge called Storybook.

Here are the stamps I made. I put them on acrylic blocks to use them. These will also be used on backgrounds.  I found that its hard to cut intricate things with the stamp material but these came out fine.

The one thing I have not tried yet is cutting fabric.  You need to iron it on to a paper backing and then you can put it through the machine. It can then be used to applique on a quilt or tote bag or whatever else you can think of. I am having a lot of fun exploring ways to use this machine.