Best Way to Restick Your Cricut Mats

I love my Cricut and had to figure out a way to make the mats sticky again as it seemed that I was buying new mats way more frequently than I wanted to. I searched around on the net and came across people who swore by using Aleen'e Tack it Over and Over Again. The steps were that you would thoroughly clean the mat and use 1 part glue to 1 part water. Spread evenly and let dry. Sounded great until I went out in search of the glue and realized I couldn't find it anywhere.

So it was on to step two :). I saw some Krylon Easy Tac in my local Michael's store and wondered if it would work. Read some reviews and crafters said that it worked well. So I rushed home to try it out.

First, I am going to give a disclaimer that any method such as this will affect the warranty claim on your machine. Here is what I did: I first cleaned the mat. I cleaned it by soaking it in some soapy water (using Dawn detergent) and cleaned with a scrubber brush. If you are more exact you can put some stuff on it to take off the glue completely.

Then, I taped off the edges with masking tape and sprayed a few light coats and let it dry. I found that it wasn't quite sticky enough (probably due to the fact that I skimped on the cleaning in the first place) so I sprayed another light coat and viola! A re-stuck mat. It was amazing! At the time of this post I have cut out over 60 pages with no problems. I have another mat waiting for the moment when this one needs to be redone so there's no project waiting time.

I will say that in the past I have stuck some masking tape on the corners and in a few places on the paper to secure it in place. However, I found this to be time consuming and the paper can shift slight so you don't get as precise a cut as you do when the paper is adhered properly to the mat.

Hope this helps and happy crafting!! :)

Beach Scrapbook Page Layout

Need some ideas for your beach scrapbook pages? Check out these two that I created for my etsy shop.

I wanted to have lots of room for pictures as you take many pictures at the beach. I then accented the page with coordinating stickers. I love the sand background paper and the blue is going to make any photo pop as it will go well with the beach pictures.

You could also use double matting and put a lighter paper on one of the darker blocks and use it for journaling like I did in the last layout.

         

Great Ways to Display Scrapbook Pages

I have gathered some ways in which to display those scrapbook pages that you worked so hard on because sometimes they are too pretty to stay tucked inside of an album :) Plus, I found some great, quick projects to make to display your photos (located at the end)

Great look for a focal wall:

Source

Source

This is a great look and you can change out the look easily and frequently.

Source

This is a great photo display/shadow box idea. You could keep all kinds of momentos in this.

Source

Great little nook. How awesome would it look to combine some mixed media pieces with your scrapbook pages? 

Source

This is probably the simplest idea here with a big impact. Simply put your premade page into a shadow box and add some more elements and you are done. View lots of shadow boxes here

The below video features a very talented young lady. Love this idea although instead of using the hot glue I would apply some Aleene's Tacky glue to make it a bit neater (is there anything that this stuff ISN'T good for lol). Side note I am really loving mini colored clothespins right now.

Here is another great idea for a fabric frame (Fast forward to about the 2 minute mark for the beginning of the project)

***Visit my shop www.etsy.com/shop/pattichic to see some cute premade scrapbook pages, handmade cards, mixed media art and more!**

5 Great Ideas for Cute and Easy Balloon Themed Handmade Greeting Cards

Here are 5 great ideas to create some cute greeting cards quickly. Why not make up a few and have them on hand for those birthdays that seem to sneak up on you lol. No need to rush to the store to look through what seems like hundreds of cards (Is it just me or are cards these days not that great). 

**I have a lot of handmade cards in my etsy shop**

This first YouTube video is great. She makes 5 cards in less than 25 minutes. That's pretty good. She also used some products that I had never heard of. I love the Avery Elle brushed clear stamp, so easy for perfect placement. The die set is so unique and I like the fact that it can be used with any die cutter. The glitter dust can have so many uses. 

Source

Source

Source

(Click above image to view product description) Video using the above die.

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...


You may also like:  

 

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.