My new friend Sandie showing off her in process crepe paper tulip from Lia’s Cricut Make-a-thon class
One of the highlights of almost everyone’s Cricut Mountain Make-a-thon adventure was meeting Lia Griffith and learning to cut crepe paper with the Maker.
The Cricut Maker is the first cutting machine to master cutting crepe paper and Lia is an artist at re-creating flowers with crepe and her Cricut Maker. Her techniques are now available in the soon-to-be-released book “Crepe Paper Flowers: The Beginner’s Guide to Making and Arranging Beautiful Blooms”.
Although I did make a tulip while at the convention, it didn’t travel well after I had to stuff it in with all my other cool Cricut swag. Oh, well!
Lia Griffith posing with her new book “Crepe Paper Flowers”
Luckily I received a copy of Lia’s new book (thank you, Kestin!) and have begun reviewing it. The awesome thing about the book is that it comes with a code to download all of the SVGs for making over 20 different types of flowers!
So, of course, I have downloaded them all and am busy figuring out how to cut them with my Maker.
I need to get some of Lia’s crepe paper, because it was so soft and stretchy. The crepe paper most Americans know is cheap and generally only used for paper streamers. Lia has circled the globe to find the best crepe paper manufacturers and has worked with Italian and German crepe paper companies to produce two types of crepe paper–extra fine and heavy weight. Both kinds are made in sheets that fit on a Cricut mat and both cut like butter with the Maker using the new Rotary Blade.
Please note that you will not be able to cut crepe paper on any machine other than the Maker. Lia has provided a full library of printable PDFs so you can cut them by hand, if that is the case for you.
Some of the luscious crepe paper available in Lia Griffin’s shop
I am amazed at the range of colors available through Lia’s shop and I am hoping Cricut picks up her line of crepe paper. (Huib-take note!)
In addition, Lia’s book outlines–in great detail–how to assemble the flowers to look realistic and I am enthralled at the photography.
If you like making paper flowers, this book is a must have!
Look for some of my creations in the near future as I continue to digest this amazing new art form!
Last week I had the pleasure of joining a host of Cricut enthusiasts in Salt Lake City, Utah for the Cricut Mountain Make-a-thon. I had an absolute blast being among fellow Cricuteers and all the great people from Cricut.
I was invited to teach at the event and I chose to discuss Box Cards, which are a particular passion of mine. Unfortunately the handout that I prepared didn’t get distributed, so I figured I would post it here for anyone who attended the class and even people who couldn’t make it.
So here it is…I hope you find it helpful and don’t forget you can always contact me by e-mail at: missritatotherescue@gmail.com!
Handout: From FLAT to Fab: Making Box Cards with your Cricut
What is a Box Card?
For a card to be considered a box card, it needs to have one feature–it must be able to fold flat for easy mailing and then pop back up to show off its three dimensional beauty. As you can see from the cards showcased here, not all of the box cards are square…but all of them fold flat and are easily mailable.
Hello Box Card from All Occasion Box Cards in Cricut Design Space
About today’s project:
The project we did today is from the Cricut cartridge “All Occasion Box Cards” by Lori Whitlock, who is considered the leading designer of box cards and variations of the box card theme. We did the “Hello Box Card” Design (pictured above). If you are interested in this cartridge and need the handbook, you can find it here: http://content.cricut.com/b/pdfs/res/handbooks/all_occasion_box_cards_handbook.pdf
For all the projects on this cartridge, you will need to resize the files. This is very important, because using the files straight from Design Space will result in a very small card. If you choose to use the envelope that comes with each box card, Cricut recommends you resize the entire file’s height to about 10.8″.
For even more specific instructions, please visit the Cricut sizing guide for each of the cards on this cartridge, which you can find here at the end of the handbook on page 41: All Occasion Box Card Resizing Guide.
Sizing Template for All Occasion Box Cards by Lori Whitlock
Or you can use my tip about resizing, which is to ungroup the entire file, eliminate the envelope and then sandwich all of the images on top of each other. Once your elements are sandwiched neatly, go ahead and re-group them and resize the entire design to 10.5″. The resulting card will fit nicely into a pre-made 5″ x 7″ envelope. Here is a visual of that:
Screenshot of how to ungroup and resize the All Occasion Box Card designs so they will fit in a 5″ x 7″ pre-made envelope
About me:
My name is Ritamarie Cavicchio, but a lot of people call me Miss Rita because of my “Miss Rita to the Rescue!” website and blog. I have been creating things for as long as I remember. I am an accomplished soap maker and herbal/aromatherapy artisan. In addition, I love to make things with my Cricut Maker. My favorite things to make are cards, but I do dabble in home decor and iron on projects. I also knit, sew, cook and bake.
I am a blogger and a Cricut Product Expert. I like to blog about Cricut related news, recipes, home economics, corgis (my favorite breed!) and my 12 year old son (aka MO) who has Autism. When my son MO was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2, I chose to take a break from my successful small business “La Diva Bella” to care for him. Now that he has grown and is in doing well, I am eagerly looking for ways to express myself creatively.
You can find my blog at: MissRitaToTheRescue.com
On Facebook, you can find me under my name: Facebook.com/RitamarieCavicchio and my Facebook Page: Facebook.com/MissRitaToTheRescue.
In 2013 I started one of the first Facebook groups for Cricut users. Since then, my groups have expanded into three very large groups that are managed by a team of great moderators. You are welcome to join any of them! Simply search for them by the names below and request to join:
Cricut Newbies & Pros for Explore and Maker
Cricut Newbies & Pros for Expression, Personal and Create (the legacy Cricut machines)
Cricut Newbies & Pros for BUSINESS (for starting and maintaining a Cricut based business)
I sell my handmade designs at my hometown marketplace (Peabody Pop Up Market) and I also have an Etsy shop (etsy.missritatotherescue.com).
I am also on Pinterest /missritatotherescue and on Instagram at /ritamariecavicchio
Buying and using SVGs from designers in Cricut Design Space:
Lori is a wonderful designer and, in addition to her two Cricut cartridges, she also has a large selection of SVGs that you can purchase on her site: Lori Whitlock’s SVG Shop.
I recently posted a very extensive response to a question I received about the best sites for buying SVGs. While there are many great designers out there and on Etsy, my post covers my top picks for the most beautiful, best designed and well thought out SVG files. Check out the post here:
Anna Griffin recently jumped into the box card realm with her brand new Cricut cartridge called “Anna’s Window Box Cards”, which is available in Design Space or from HSN. I now own this cartridge and it produces really stunning Print Then Cut Window Box cards like this one:
Quick tips on the new Cricut Scoring Wheel:
The new Cricut Scoring Wheel is a major new innovation for the Cricut Maker and does a fabulous job of scoring files! If you don’t have a Cricut Maker, the Cricut Scoring Stylus still works in Explore machines and also the Maker.
Remember that most materials will use the 01 Scoring Tip, but do keep your 02 handy for use with thicker materials such as glitter cardstock, sparkle paper and kraft board.
To prevent cracking while using the scoring tool, you can face your paper “fancy side down”
When removing your Scoring Wheel, remember to check that you replaced the fine point blade housing correctly or it will not cut your project.
Miss Rita to the Rescue! 