Creating a Layer from a Card

I first want to thank Sheila for this incredible opportunity to share with you a technique I recently learned.  My name is Charlotte (Charlotte C. as a follower on blogs) and I don't have a blog, so this is really an experiment for me and hopefully I'll make myself understandable.  Several cartridges have a card feature and often we just want the front as a layer either on our own card or in our scrapbook or for a gift bag, etc.  Instead of creating and cutting a whole card and then cutting off the back, try this on your Gypsy (or, further below, the Cricut Craft Room).  I've used A Child's Year for these examples.

Size the card on your mat so that the front is the size you want the finished layer to be.  Then hide the outline of the card as well as the score marks. It's important to do this step at this time. Now create a rectangle somewhere on the mat sized to fit over just the front of the card.  You may have to unlink between the width and height to adjust.  Your mat will look like this (card is 5.5 in height).

Now place the rectangle over the card front and group the card and rectangle together.  Go to the advanced tab, click the weld button, and when you preview you should see what looks like this. 

When you cut, you will only get what you see in red on your mat, which is just the front of the original card.  Note:  If you size your original card too large to fit a rectangle on the same mat, you can always create your rectangle on a separate layer, then cut and paste it over the card.

If you do this in the Cricut Craft Room, here's what you will see as your first step.

This is what the screen looks like when you hide the outline of the card. In CCR it doesn't appear you have to hide the score marks; they seem to disappear with the outline.  Once you've hidden the outline, click the "exit" that appears on the mat.  That brings you back to the original screen.

When you place your rectangle in position over the card, it automatically welds and this is what you will see.

Here are two examples of fronts that I've cut. 

And a finished card.  I cut Merry Christmas twice and layered it together to give it some dimension.  Unfortunately, pearl and glitter papers aren't showing up properly.

I hope you see several opportunities to use these as I do, and once again I can't thank Sheila, our Gypsy lady, enough for allowing me the honor of guest posting here.  My wishes to all for a blessed holiday season.