Wednesday, December 30, 2009

My Newly Decorated Cricut Expression Machine


On the Cricut Messageboard I started a discussion about " If you could choose your E (Cricut expression machine) color which would you choose and why" (find the thread here)

I would choose Red - because it's my favorite color and I look good in red :)

It was a great discussion with color ideas to include purple, orange, turquoise, pink & black, champagne and gold. kathyOrta said she would like an "E" with black zebra strips and some bling outlining the strips. Everyone had wonderful ideas for their very own Cricut expressions machine.

"Katyfitz" one of the posters showed a photo of her Cricut machine that she decorated with colored vinyl, it was fabulous!! And "scrappinsista" attached photos of her Cricut that she painted herself, it was red, and she also added skittles (small glass embellishments) all around the edge, and to amaze us even more she painted her cuttlebug to match. This was eye popping!
Another poster "AMZGrace" said... -----------Robin,
You should use your Cricut and cut out some RED vinyl accents or images and personalize it, then you'll have a one-of-a-kind. -------------

Wowza... what a wonderfully crazy idea! So I went to work today designing what I wanted to put on my Cricut.

I love the flourish design that is on the limited edition blue Cricut machine, so I searched for a flourish design that I loved. The design that I found is a brush stroke for Adobe Photoshop found here. I saved the image as a .jpg file then using Inkscape thickened the image just a bit and changed the image to an .svg file. I measured my Cricut machine door so I could get to design the right height which is 5", then cut the image using Sure Cuts A Lot (scal).
(tutorial below)
My newly designed Cricut
My vinyl tutorial from start to finish:

Although my mat was sticky I wanted to make sure the vinyl wouldn't slip while cutting so I added masking tape to the edges before cutting.
I cut the vinyl using my green housing blade set at 6, speed at 3 (med.), pressure 3 (med.). I did not need multiple cuts.
The blue deep cut blade also works, I tested both and found that the green housing works just fine. If using the deep cut blade set at 4, speed at 3, pressure 3.
I cut two of the flourish designs.
After cutting my image using SCAL and my Cricut machine, I carefully remove the outer pieces of the vinyl, because this image is so detailed I cut away at the edges a little at a time so not to get the sticky side of the vinyl stuck on the detailed flourish design.
I then carefully remove any inner vinyl pieces that are not part of my flourish design.
After removing any unneeded vinyl I then place clear transfer tape over my design, I cut excess transfer tape and around the image, then burnish (rub) the image so it will stick to the transfer tape.I turned the image over then slowly and carefully removed the backing from the vinyl, the tricky part was to keep those tiny dots where they belonged.

Now the wonderfully fun part is to place the beautiful design onto my Cricut. I carefully placed my design where I wanted it to be, then rubbed it again. Yes, you guessed it slowly and carefully remove the transfer tape.... beautiful!
With the second flourish design I cut it apart because I only wanted to use portions of the image for the right side of my Cricut machine door. I followed the same steps as above applying the transfer tape, then removing the vinyl backing and placing it into position on my Cricut.
I also used SCAL with the two different fonts for the words.
Before....
After...Now it's your turn.... I challenge you to decorate your Cricut machine. I've started a new post over at the Cricut messageboard click here and show off your newly decorated Cricut. I double dare you. Click here for the post and to see more Cricut designs.

Have a wonderfully creative day!
Robin :)

29 comments:

  1. very stylish and elegant! I have been wanting to paint mine a robins egg blue but am too scared, I think vinyl is the way for me too! I used to have it dressed for the season but now it is just covered with a gorgeous cover that my MIL made me!

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  2. Very Cute! I love the red too! I went and looked at all the ideas and loved the idea from "scrappinsista" to paint it red....I don't know how to reply though and ask how in the world you would paint something like that? Do you know?? I would love to try it. :-D
    Monique

    lovinyahweh@yahoo.com

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  3. The Mrs. said... "I went and looked at all the ideas and loved the idea from "scrappinsista" to paint it red.... Do you know?? I would love to try it."

    Hi the Mrs., I came across a video on U-tube of someone who painted their Cricut, I thought was fabulous video...here is the link...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA76Wh1yyMs
    I hope this helps

    If you give it a try I would love to see your creation.

    Robin :)

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  4. Wow! Your cricut looks lovely. I love the pictures of how you did it. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. Very elegant, I am very new to the cricut (I had the cricut personal cutter bought as a Christmas present) I can't wait to start playing.

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  6. Thank you! Your blog post will be advertised on the DigiFree Blog Cutting Freebie search engine today (look for timestamp: 31 Dec [LA 04:00pm, NY 07:00pm] - 01 Jan [UK 12:00am, OZ 11:00am] ).

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  7. Thank you for sharing the work you did preparing this file in Inkscape, and then posting it in SCAL.

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  8. Thanks for sharing your beautiful file and the how to on transfer tape. I always wondered what do I need that for?! I cut something in vinyl and was not happy with application without the transfer tape. Now I see why I need it!

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  9. thank you so much for sharing your scal file it's so beautiful!

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  10. Here is my post of my cuttlebug...I'm almost done with my cricut...Thank you for the inspiration to do this! :-D

    http://mocrafting.blogspot.com/2009/12/altered-cricuts.html

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  11. Thank you so much for this Freebie. I want to let you know that I posted a link to your blog in Creative Busy Hands Cricut Freebies Search List, under the Elements post on Jan. 11, 2010. Thanks again.

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  12. What do you use for transfer tape? Where did you get it? Do you like it? I've used the cricut stuff and it's OK but I LOVE the clear, then you know EXACTLY where it's going. Please share:)
    I love how elegant those swirls made your cricut look. Beautiful!!

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  13. Danelle asked... "What do you use for transfer tape? Where did you get it? Do you like it? I've used the cricut stuff and it's OK but I LOVE the clear, then you know EXACTLY where it's going. Please share:)"

    For me transfer tape is the key to getting your vinyl to be placed exactly where you want it and to be smooth where you put it.
    Where ever vinyl is sold then I'm sure transfer tape is too. I buy my vinyl on Ebay from "1flychic", however there are tons of places that sell vinyl, just google it.

    Robin :)

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  14. Robin,
    Thanks for the great looking flourishes! I just love 'em. will be putting it on my E soon !

    Cheryl

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  15. Beautiful! Thanks for the file!! I have a red E and am thinking about adding the flourishes in white!

    Hugs!

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  16. Red is my favorite color and I love how you decorated your Cricut with red vinyl. I love your flourish, too.
    Thanks for sharing the SCAL file. It will be pretty on layouts, also.
    Hugs!

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  17. WOW... I love...love...love that swirl... that's so elegant and beautifully done... I have decorated mine with the black vinyl which I had since I purchased my Cricut E package... thanks for sharing... After seing your blog, I might probably run to the nearest craft store sooner and get a new color vinyl for my cricut E.... I should also get that SCAL software, is it user-friendly?

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  18. You have inspired me... I must decorate my Cricut... thanks... I am looking for ideas on how to use the boxes my cartridges come in for the Cricut. I am storing them out of the original box for space saving but, can't throw the boxes out thinking maybe I can make something out of them. Got any ideas?

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  19. Thanks for the file. I looked at all of the decorated Cricuts...so fun and inspiring!

    Betsy

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  20. After every use, I make sure that I cover my cricut machine so it does not get dirty. I cannot believe what I have just seen. The design is so elegant and even if I amso scared doing it, I remembered the saying that goes..."It is better to try than not to have tried at all." Thanks again for inspiring and making my day!

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  21. I love what you have done and especially love that you gave detailed directions on how to do it. I don't know if I will every get brave enough to try this, but if I do, I will looking up this post again. Beautiful job!

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  22. That is simply BEAUTIFUL!!! Nice job<=o]

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  23. How absolutely gorgeous!! I've never even thought of decorating or painting my little bug! I'm just starting to play with vinyl, so this would be a fun project :) And I don't know why I've never thought of making a cover for my Cricut...it gets so dusty. Great ideas, thanks!!
    Beth Lee

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  24. Just saw this post. I never thought about decorating my cricut. What a great Idea. I will certainly being do this one. Thanks for the great idea.

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  25. I just LOVE this! Would like to do the same, but the link for the cutting file says that the file was deleted??

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  26. Hello, LOVE your design for your Cricut, would love to use it as well & add some to make it my own, but like the comment above the Link says the file has been deleted??? Please help! thanks so much!!

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  27. Hi Robin, I just found your site and I love the way you decorated your Cricut machine. It definitely gives it a personalized look and a "red carpet" knockout too!!

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I appreciate you taking the time to visit my blog, thank you so much your your kind comments, they make my day!