How to Cut Thin Patterned Paper on Your Cricut

I have been struggling with figuring out how to cut patterned paper on my Cricut for weeks! Mainly because I had gotten so many requests to make my Minnie Mouse bows out of polka dot paper. I researched and thought that I found the answer. However, no matter how careful I was I still ended up tearing the paper.

Then I took another look online and came across this nifty Cricut cutting guide. As it turns out, I was being too careful. I thought that because the paper was thinner than card stock that I needed to go slower. Boy was I wrong and now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense that I needed to speed up the machine. 

I did have to tweak it a bit for my machine. Here's a tip: use computer paper for patterned paper as they are practically the same thickness to keep from ruining your precious paper. I'm in love with my machine again. :) Well at least until it's time to get a new mat. I really hate using new mats...


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Great Father's Day Scrapbook Ideas, Layout Examples

Here are a few great examples I found for Father's Day scrapbook page layouts. The day will be here before you know it :). I really need to get on recording things about my father for my future children. 

I love the colors of this layout. Source

You can never go wrong with chocolate brown and blue for any male themed page. Cute! Source

The mixture of different patterns on this page is fantastic. A great idea for using up your stash of paper strips. Source

Great color scheme for a page about a young girl and her daddy without the page looking too girly. Source

The girly pink is toned down by the black as well as the black and white photos. Love this layout. Source

Great layout. Even though there are a lot of embellishments on this page, it still doesn't look cluttered. Source

Using circles in your layout can seem a little tricky at times but this definitely works. Source

Really cute layout and a great way to utilize lots of photos on one page. Source

Here are a couple of pages that I have in my etsy shop that are perfect for a baby and their daddy. These are digital pages that can be downloaded instantly. 

How To Make Your Own Inexpensive Mailers and Envelopes

Below is a quick example of how I made my own mailer/envelope on the cheap. This came about mostly out of a time crunch and a bit of laziness lol. I was almost finishing up my orders and needed two small envelopes but really didn't feel like going to the store and then coming back and finishing.

So I looked around to see what I had and I saw that I had plenty of paper bags because I use them to make paper bag scrapbook albums in my etsy shop. So I simply cut off the bottom edge and sewed it shut with a zigzag stitch. I inserted a piece of thin chipboard inside. Then, I taped down the thread on the back to make sure it didn't come undone with handling. Easy and quick!

I think that it looks rather cute especially with the pink paper (pink and brown is my favorite combo). I think that I am going to use this to mail out the Mickey Mouse ear punches that I have in my Mouse Party House etsy shop as I sell a lot of these and tend to run out of envelopes quickly. I love happy accidents :).

TIPS:

• Use sturdy a sturdy bag, you don't want your envelope to come undone :)
• I taped down the flap (when I folded over the bag) with a wide shipping tape and wrapped around so that it would also make sure the folds on the side stay flat. Next time to be on the safe side I am going to tape down the sides of the bag as well.

Here are a few more ways to make cute envelopes. One example uses pretty scrapbook paper and the other magazine pages. Who doesn't have magazines around?

The first examples comes from 27 things. Cute right? 

Cute way to reuse your magazines. See the tutorial HERE.
 

Quick Journal Cards and Mini Albums Using My Mind's Eye

I love My Mind's Eye papers. They are so beautifully decorated, sturdy, and are decorated on both sides. This make them perfect for journal cards, Project Life albums as well as mini albums. Below are some examples of using some of the papers in projects.

This wonderful layout uses the Collectable Unforgettable papers. Because the paper pad is so wonderfully coordinated it makes for a beautiful page. The paper pads always have different designs that you can journal over. See the rest of the layouts over at Leah Cameron's Corner.

I love the way that Shelly uses the paper scraps to decorate a page in her Project Life album. I am a terrible paper hoarder and hate to throw away even the tinniest scraps so this is a great way to use up those scraps that you may not want to part with. See all of the layouts HERE.

How cute is this card! I love all of the elements. The card uses My Mind's Eye Cupid Arrow selection. See some more wonderful projects including this one HERE.

Another great way to use up some scraps to coordinate with the rest of your pages and mats. Also how easy is it to cut the paper into 4x3 sections and round the corners. If you are using the 6x6 pads then you will have some extra that can then be used to decorate grid paper or the ledger Project Life cards as shown below. See this project HERE.

I love this mini album. The different shapes and beautiful patterns just beckon you to look through the pages. See this project HERE.

I have a few My Mind's Eye pads available on eBay to buy now at a great price.