Cricut – Natale Malan Beetle Card

I fell in love with this Cricut Make it Now project. It is so perfect for Spring.

This card was so much fun and it only took about 20 minutes to make. My kind of project!

I used paper from my stash and foam dimensional squares and was done.

Hope this post finds you safe and well.

Make it in Minutes

I thought it would be fun to feature quick and easy cards and projects that take only minutes to make, but look like you spent more time making them.

I am a huge fan of Lia Griffith designs and love this beautiful Winter Scene Card from the Make It Now projects.

I love how it turned out.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Make it in Minutes Monday

Welcome to Make it in Minutes Monday. I thought it would be fun to feature quick and easy cards and projects that take only minutes to make, but look like you spent more time making them. This project took a little more time, but was so worth it. We had two Thanksgiving weekends with family, so I am really behind on my blog.

I needed a quick and easy card and I was so excited to find the perfect one.

For this elegant card, I used the Cricut Fancy Christmas Tree Card… Make it Now project. Instead of using adhesive foil, I used gold glitter paper from my stash. Super simple! Since I was in a hurry I only cut the tree once and it worked perfectly.

Thanks for stopping by and have a marvelous Monday.

Cricut Maker….. First Impressions

I just bought a Cricut Maker and want to share some of my initial impressions with you. I am mostly a paper crafter, but want to try cutting fabric, felt and wood. I thought the Cricut Maker would be perfect for me.

This card is a Make it Now project and was cut on my new Cricut Maker.

I used paper for my first project so I could compare the Maker to my Anna Griffin Cricut Explore Air when doing intricate cuts. I also have the Cricut Explore Air hooked up to a computer in my family room and the Cricut Maker connected to my laptop in my craft room. That way, I can compare cuts from both machines. I plan to keep both machines until I am more comfortable with the Maker.

The first thing I noticed was no dial. And when I went to cut paper, I discovered there is no setting for regular card stock, even in the custom material settings. I shared my discovery with Cricut’s help desk.

In the custom material settings, medium cardstock has a pressure of 273 and light cardstock has a pressure of 279. In my opinion, medium cardstock should have a heavier pressure than light. I also shared this potential error with Cricut. Their team is amazing and they are so kind.

I also compared my Cricut Explore Air default dial settings to the new Maker settings just to get an idea of what pressures I used to use for cutting light, medium and regular cardstock. After numerous tries, I found that for most of my cardstock, I need to use the medium cardstock setting on the Cricut Maker. However, if my paper was slightly heavier, I set the pressure default to “more” and if my paper was lighter, I set the default to “less”. This card was cut using Recollections paper and set on medium card stock.

Cricut said their cardstock should be cut on medium setting. In the material settings, you will see a Cricut logo by the settings for some of the Cricut materials and papers.

I am still experimenting with the pressure setting for regular cardstock and made a custom setting for a single cut with a pressure of 299. The regular cardstock default setting on the Cricut Explore Air dial is set to a single cut and pressure set to 299. The 299 pressure seemed to work well on the Maker too. My Maker now cuts Anna Griffin cardstock perfectly using my custom setting of a single cut with a pressure of 299.

Thanks to Cricut and their wonderful instructions, setting up my new machine was very easy. I love the new software and I am so excited to be able to right-click again! At this point, I am very impressed with the Cricut Maker.

I just ordered the fabric pen and felt, and can’t wait to try a felt project. I am beyond excited for the knife and new blades to come out. The Maker is solidly built and a very stunning machine. It is now front and center in my craft room.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the new Maker! I am still learning and would love to share any tips and techniques that you have discovered.

Have a great day!

Juke Box Card

I love the Cricut Make it Now projects and fell in love with this file.

I used the Juke Box Card file that is part of the Make it Now projects from Cricut.

Most of the paper is from my stash. The gold and beige paper is from Anna Griffin’s metallic paper collection. I added a few rhinestones and was done.

An envelope image is included in this project, but I did not have time to make it. I am working on a video for Wednesday and it is taking longer than expected.

Thanks for stopping by and have a marvelous Monday!

Make it in Minutes Monday

Welcome to Make it in Minutes Monday. I thought it would be fun to feature quick and easy cards or projects that take only minutes to make, but look like you spent more time making them.

I am behind on making cards for Valentine’s Day, so I really appreciate the Make it Now Cricut Explore Valentine’s projects!

I purchased the Dimensional Heart Card file and it was so easy to make! I used my glue pen to carefully glue all the layers. I then attached the heart to my card using foam dots for added dimension.

Have a great Monday and I hope to have a new video for you on Wednesday.

Box Card Monday

I love box cards and I have made lots of them so I was thrilled when Lori Whitlock designed the All Occasion Box Cards Cricut Cartridge.

I purchased this file from the Make it Now projects for $1.49, but I am planning on buying the entire cartridge. It was so easy to make and I can’t wait to make all of them. I used the Hello Darling Stack from DCWV and it was a perfect fit.



Lori even created a video to help you with the assembly. Click here to visit her blog and see all sizing information for this cartridge. Thanks Lori for making this so easy!! Now I would like to share some of my previous cards. Warning…there are a lot!



I used the Autumn Box Cards Collection from SVG Cuts to make this card.

This was my first box card. Please click here to see my original post.

This card, and all the others, fold flat to fit in an A2 envelope.

Isn't this castle box card adorable?  Click here to see my original post.

I love the strawberries. Click here for more information.

I designed this card using the base card from SVG Cuts. Click here to see the original post and video.

See, I told you I seriously love box cards!

Make it in Minutes Monday.....Wednesday Style

Welcome to Make it in Minutes Monday....Wednesday style. I thought it would be fun to feature quick and easy cards or projects that take only minutes to make, but look like you spent more time making them.

I am constantly amazed at how well my Cricut Explore cuts the most intricate designs. This file is a Make it Now project designed by Dezi Moss.

I was so excited that the file for the envelope was included. I love all the little details and that I can use this envelope for other cards!

A special thanks to all of you for your emails and comments about Jackson. We so appreciate all your support and kind words.

I hope you are having a wonderful day!

Make It Now……

Today I want to share with you a Cricut Explore Make it Now project. I fell in love with this adorable card and just had to give it a try.

I love this simple yet classic card that I made for my husband!

The Make it Now instructions said to cut the letters out of vinyl, but I decided to try to push the Cricut Explore and cut them out of textured paper I had in my stash. I was amazed at how cleanly the Explore cut the lettering and images. Can you see me doing my happy dance? Wow!

If you want to make a similar card using your Silhouette, click here (image # 38354) or here (image # 38250) to see an arrow and heart image that you can purchase from the Silhouette Store. I love having options and I am enjoying using both of my machines! Please click here to see my Cricut Explore review.