Posted in Decal, How To, Layered Vinyl, TeckWrap Craft

October 24, 2020: Mandala Rainbow

Click HERE to check out the process video on YouTube

Products Used (from bottom to top)

Too ambitious, perhaps?

I started this rainbow mandala project on Tuesday. I just finished it and was able to edit the video on Friday. In total, this rainbow mandala has nine layers. Yes, NINE!!! Luckily, I retried one of the TikTok hacks I mentioned from the last post and it worked well this time. You’ll be able to get an idea in the YouTube process video that it does indeed help save time when weeding intricate projects.

Another reason for the time it took to complete was being completely out for the count on Tuesday and Wednesday with bronchitis. While the cough is still there and quite annoying, it’s no longer hack up a lung and throat bruising, so I was able to get it done in time for Saturday’s post.

Previously Used Methods for the Win

I used two previously discussed techniques for this project: grouping cuts on the same mat and a custom cut setting. Since these layers were all TeckWrap Craft, I used a custom setting I made some time ago. For the steps to make your own custom setting, check out the chameleon post HERE. For TeckWrap Craft, I set the pressure to 110. There are times where I find the pressure can be set to less pressure.

Weeding Hack

When working on the cute little hedgehog earlier this week, I tried two TikTok hacks, one of which was using painters tape to lift pieces. I did not do it correctly, which made more work in the long run as it stuck the lifted pieces back onto the design. This time, I made sure to use each section of the tape only once. SUCCESS!!

Here are three simple steps to use to speed up the weeding process:

Step One
First step – lay the painters tape onto the vinyl and use light pressure to make sure it all stays down.

For the first step, it is important to not use a lot of pressure. The more pressure used in this step, the more likely the tape will pull up too much of the design and potentially rip the design. I used smaller pieces of tape to help better control the design as I lifted away the tape.

Step Two
Second step – Slowly and carefully lift the tape up at a slight angle.

I tried many different angles for this step before determining the angle above worked best for me. By all means, try various angles to see what works best for you. What is good for me may not be the best for you. This is why we experiment! I found that no matter what angle I used, the design did lift a small amount at times. That was easily rectified by using my other hand to lightly press the design back down after the tape was removed.

Step Three
This step – Admire your handy work!

I have to say that seeing how effective this hack was made it so much more satisfying. The better I got at using this method, the more I used it and saved so much more time.

This was a lengthy project. I think I can safely say this one was the most intricate/complex to date. This project originally had three hours and sixteen minutes of video content. That time does not include prep work on the computer and cutting each piece. There was a reason it took so long to put together! LOL

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