Another Flower

Click HERE or scroll down for the ‘making-of’ process video

Products Used

All vinyls used for this project are TeckWrap Craft brand vinyls. I am not sponsored or affiliated with them.

Spring Has Sprung

I am really enjoying the spring fever of designs. This time I actually made a spring design as intended! I know it’s yet another flower design, but it’s just so fascinating. Another flower is just another way of celebrating the beautiful spring weather we’ve been having lately. I love days where it’s 60s to 70s then goes to 40s at night. Seriously, I love where I live!

It’s been such a great pleasure lately to smell all of the flowers everywhere in full bloom. My favorite flowers, calla lilies, are in beautiful form in Golden Gate Park right now. Seeing them there has made me so happy. Perhaps I should find a nice calla lily design to make for a future project.

Cut Settings

As always, remember that the specified settings are specific to the Cricut Maker. For a reference guide to cut pressures for each Cricut setting, check out this handy chart:

materials-to-cut.pdf Download

Black crackling pattern vinyl: holographic sparkle vinyl setting with more pressure
Holographic glass flower vinyls: holographic sparkle vinyl setting with more pressure
Pink shimmer glitter adhesive vinyl: holographic sparkle vinyl setting with more pressure

So this project presented another opportunity to try another setting for the shimmer vinyl. This time, I went a tad bit too far. The cuts were super clean, but it also cut into the backing paper. I am not usually concerned that the backing paper was cut slightly. However it became a problem when I tried putting the vinyl onto the transfer tape during the layering part. The backing paper wouldn’t release the vinyl without some prying with a weeding tool.

I Thought I Messed Up A Lot…But I Didn’t…Kind Of

I messed up way less than I thought I had originally. When I first started the layering for the project, I saw pretty quick that I misaligned the fuchsia layer onto the silver layer. That mishap will continue to bug me just ever so slightly each time I look at it.

I originally thought that the fuchsia layer on top of the shimmer pink layer was messed up. It seemed that with the pink shimmer showing on one side and not the other, it was not layered correctly. It wasn’t until after reexamining and having a second opinion that I determined it to be correct. The pink shimmer provides an outline of sorts for some of the interior elements, but not past any of the fuchsia layer.

Overall, I am not super happy with the finished project. The actual mishap is just too prominent to me. Unfortunately this means I will probably lay the design somewhere for a random person to find and enjoy. Most likely, that random place will be the lobby area of my apartment building.

Random Act of Kindness Perhaps?

My completed project box is becoming quite full these days, meaning it’s time to offload some of my designs. Many of the projects are made using designs from sources outside of Cricut allowing for commercial use. I’d like to list those projects for sale to any who are interested. Cricut does not allow for commercial use of designs, so projects from Cricut cannot be sold. For the designs that cannot be sold, I have a couple ideas for them. I was thinking of applying transfer tape to them and adhering to the back a label for how to apply the vinyl decal to a surface. Then I want to randomly leave these decals in places for people to find. Perhaps it would be something to bring a smile to someone’s day.

Another thought I had was finding random people on various socials to send the designs. My niece typically gets first dibs at finished projects, but she’s becoming more and more capable of making the more complex designs herself. So I want to give others the chance to lay claim to them. Maybe I’ll post some pictures of them and say “FIRST COME FIRST SERVED” or something and just send them off to others. I’ll think on it and figure out which idea I like more.

Work Flow is Working

As I write, it is Sunday evening. I have already drafted and scheduled content posts for Tuesday. I have all but this blog post done for Thursday. I’ve really been pushing myself to stay on track to see the full potential of this new work flow. It seems to be working so far, given that I am ahead of my typical pace by 2/3 of a week. It’s my hope that I will have this entire week scheduled and ready to post by Tuesday, freeing up the rest of the week to get a jump start on next week’s projects.

Just Keep Swimming

Pushing myself to continue creating is a great therapy tool. I continue to have focus, share my thoughts with others, and hopefully help other crafters feel inspired to create. Every once in a while, I get messages or comments from others about how my work has pushed them to make something of their own. Those messages are the best because they lift me up more than anyone probably realizes. It’s motivation to keep doing what I do.