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 :)