Although I can get lost in designing, I know that it’s the techniques I teach that have the most value to my readers. I like to think of it as everyone has a toolbox of their own skills and experiences, and every time you learn a new technique, you add to that toolbox. In this post, I build on the techniques you already learnedin my Engraved Photo Cards with a Cricut Maker tutorial and expanded on it to show you how to cut custom metal shapes and manipulate your print then cut photos to look like they fit inside the globe. I also tell you how to glue and layer metal to create a two-toned version as an optional tweak after you make an engraved snow globe ornament or two!
Yes, there’s the food, the gifts, and the Christmas Carols, but what I like best about the season is the Christmas crafting. This year, I actually started working on this Holiday MakerFest Christmas project in July. I knew what I wanted the final products to be, but I had no idea how to get there. So it was weeks of testing and failing and developing new techniques. That crazy rollercoaster experience you get as you’re inventing something new. BUT, I was able to come out on the other side with THREE amazing new projects. I plan to publish all three projects as tutorials here, but I really recommend you go grab your free ticket for the workshop. Then you can watch how I make a Cricut engraved photo card for Christmas!
One of the biggest challenges with engraving on metal with your Cricut Maker is that it can be hard to see your design. You may think it needs to be deeper, but what you need is contrast. Usually, you would do that by adding black ink or enamel to darken the engraved area. But there is a flip solution, which darkens the metal around your engraving. In this post, I give the full step-by-step to spray paint metal for engraving with a Cricut so that you know what happens if you don’t let it dry long enough, how to test your dry times, and what to do to prep the metal so it bonds to your metal.
Know what to make for the holiday 2020 gift-giving season with this post that highlights the colors, materials, and crafts that are trending this holiday season. Whether you want to sell your crafts, or just want to make gifts that people will like, knowing what’s trending will help you decide how to spend your time and money this holiday crafting season! Knowledge is power. All you need is a little glimpse at what the 4 top Christmas 2020 trends for crafters to make are!
4 Top Christmas 2020 Trends for Crafters to Know and Make
The Cricut Engraving Tool allows you to do all kinds of projects with your Cricut Maker that you may never have dreamed are possible. It can engrave acrylic, wood, and my favorite, metals. I love engraving metals SO much, I just spent the summer writing a book all about it. And in the process of experimenting and crafting, I discovered what I think are the best tools and supplies for engraving with your Cricut Maker.
The holidays are one of my favorite times of year! A big part of how I celebrate is to create Christmas craft projects. They’re always a little more glitter and sparkle in my work. And after the year we’ve had, making this holiday season even more special is important to me. Here on Well Crafted Studio I do my best to make sure you can celebrate the season creatively, with projects that you’ll love to make and love to give.
I’m dreaming of a…
Because don’t we all wish it was easier to find awesome holiday ideas in one easy place? It often takes so much time to find just the right craft or decoration to help bring the perfect look to your house while still keeping everything organized. Or at least quasi-organized!
Wouldn’t it be nice to curl up with some of the most creative names in crafting and learn how to pull off an amazing holiday centerpiece, sure to wow everyone who sees the photos?
Well, I’m teaming up with 40 other creative and talented crafters and we are all SO EXCITED to share our crafts and the ideas we’ve learned along the way about organizing and decorating for the holiday season.
Have you seen the new printable Glitter Sticker Paper from Silhouette? It’s a white sticker paper that well… glitters. I was curious what this paper looked like once we printed on it so I brewed up some fun and spooky gnome stickers on Procreate to test with it. Then I used my iPad and Cricut Design Space Mobile to print and cut them with my Cricut machine. If you read below you’ll find out how to make our own custom material setting in Cricut Design Space and how to upload, print and cut these stickers on an iPad. So read on and figure out how to make glitter stickers with an iPad and a Cricut!
If you aren’t working from home yourself, you probably know someone who is. Remote work or online school, many of us are setting up our home offices right now. Liven up your space with these custom engraved (and a little snarky) desk signs that you can make with a Cricut. This tutorial will walk you through what to spray the metal with, how to cut and bend the metal, and how to engrave it. Once you see how easy creating these engraved desk signs with a Cricut Maker is, I KNOW you’ll want to make one for every at home worker or student, you know!
With fall it’s easy to run for the maple leaf reds, the golden yellows, and the burnt oranges when decorating your home. But sometimes less is more. Without the bright colors, the imagery of fall can really stand out. This stitched pumpkin pillow is all neutrals and perfectly complements the farmhouse trend. Better than being trendy, is how extremely simple this is to make. You don’t need mad sewing skills to make one of these pillows. In fact, the messy stitching only adds to the handmade look. The materials are easy to find and inexpensive, and if you don’t have a sewing machine, you can either skip that step altogether or add hand stitching.
It may be the mad scientist in me, but I love to experiment with art and craft supplies. “Will it blend?” sort of questions are totally my jam. But instead of throwing sneakers in a Vitamix for fun, it’s more along the lines of what bonds metal and wood or what paint adheres to plastic. Adhesives? Love them. “What if” and “what’s possible” are two of my favorite questions to ask. So when the Engraving Tool came out for the Cricut Maker, my mad scientist took over. The results? This tutorial, How to Engrave Spoon Bookmarks with a Cricut Maker is one of my experiments with alternative engraving surfaces. I hope you’re as amazed as I am and as excited by the possibilities! No Cricut? No problem- you can use the same metal stamping techniques from my last project post, How to Make Key Necklaces to create these bookmarks I have a photo of how that looks at the bottom of this post.
