Tips and Share with Kate's ABC's

Gaby here today with more of a share and tips than a tutorial.
For the share part:
Some of you might have noticed, but I still wanted to share how the new Cricut Handbooks look like for those of you that have not yet done so.

I really like the new handbooks a lot better than the older ones.  These handbooks are more detailed and have larger pictures of the layers and designs.

I so wanted to get this cart from the day it was released.  I later found out that it would be an exclusive cartridge to Joann (I do not know for how long), so I  immediately visited Joann online and almost daily after that.  I was finally able to purchase at a Joann store on the 12th. It is the cutest cartridge in my opinion.  Anyway, I created this Two-Page LO for my Ahijada (Goddaughter) to give to her on Saturday (her birthday party).

The Layout look better in person and you are able to see the Sweet Girly title with the butterfly much better. I welded the Sweet to the Girl and a letter "y" words and letters available in the cart using my Gypsy.

Tip one:  Use vellum when you want to soften the look of your patterned paper.

Here/above you see it without vellum....

Here/above you see it with the vellum on it!

Once I decided on my design of choice, I printed my pictures and set out to create on my Gypsy.

Tip two: By designing on the Gypsy it really helps you save paper and stretch your designs to dimensions you would not be able to create/cut on your machine otherwise.

Above you can see the cuts....

and below you can see my boo boo caused by enlarging my screen and making sure you/I measured my/your paper correctly!... this would be Tip #3

The S on Sweet was cut outside the paper, so instead of saving paper, I had to waste/use more paper!

But all is well....

Tip #4: Best Cardstock in my opinion is AC (American Crafts). I have used at least five different brands that I can think of at this moment on the Cricut Expression, Pazzles Inspiration, SilhouetteSD, Cricut Imagine and eCraft. I find that AC cuts the cleanest (some might say, cuts like butter). It is Heavy Weight (80 lbs.) and it does not have a white core, so if you do not want/wish to ink, you do not have to.

Tip #5: I always cut twice on any machine for a cleaner cut. i.e. I usually lower the blade number to a 3 when the suggestion is 4 and cut twice.

Tip #6: I used to re-glue my mats with a wide Zig two-way glue. I just recently tried repositionable glue sticks by Scotch and it works better. I tried it on my oldest mat (a year old) and have cut at least 5 times all over and it still holds my cardstock in place.

Share #2: I really like quillin glue and the needle tip container that it comes in, but it is more economical to me to use the glue that I really like which is Scotch tacky quick dry glue and pour into this bottle that I purchased at Michael's.  It comes with several stainless steel tips to fit your preference. I found it were they have all the items to make/embellish t-shirts.  Tip #7:  It does not come with a cover, but a metal piece to clean the nozzle when you are done using. I do not want to clean and rinse after every single use, so I use a stainless steel head pin to keep covered. Please note: if you use a regular pin, it will rust.

Share #3:  This Quicker-Poker-Picker-Upper is the most handy tool to pick up small pieces and glue in place.  And a very handy tool (opposite end) to poke your cardstock that gets stuck on those very small cuts. You can find it at QuicKutz.com and other vendors online for around $5.

Tip #8:  I do not know if I captured it well here on this picture, but if you want a thicker, chipboard like letters, cut them 2-3 times and layer for that chipboard thicker look.  Tip #9:  You can see here (click on picture to enlarge) that I purposely placed my brown letters/title a bit to the side to give it that layered look (exposing the pink cardstock).

Additional items used:

I used a dew drop on the hat instead of the center cut. 

I used an embossing folder by Sizzix to emboss the blue part of the purse.

I used a mini brad by Tim Holtz on the little hole left when the purse it cut.

Additionally, on the pom pom of the shoes I used flocking glittery powder by running the pom poms through my Xyron. (other people use spray glue, this works good for me).

I also used foam adhesive to adhere the pom poms to the shoes and the "Sweet Girly" title.

And she is truly a Girly Girl.

Well, that was a lot of Tips and Shares!!!

Thanks for sticking with me to the end!!

And thank you for visiting and I do appreciate comments!

Until next time!

Gaby