Category: CRICUT TUTORIALS

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Cricut Tips & Hacks!

We recently started posting some Cricut Tips & Hacks on our TikTok account & we wanted to make a blog post with all these tips! We will be adding more as we learn them!

CLICK HERE to check out our TikTok account full of Cricut tips, project inspiration, & other craft resources!
Make sure you follow us to stay up to date on all our videos!

This post contains some affiliate links for your shopping convenience. This simply means when you shop using our links, we make a commission & at no additional cost to you! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. This helps us keep making great content for you all! Thank you for supporting our crafting community! See our privacy policy for more information.

You can click the links in each tip to take you to purchase each item included in these tips!

1. When pulling vinyl off your mat, turn it over & BEND & pull up on the mat (the mat is made a little flexible so you can do this!) while removing TO PREVENT PAPER CURLING!
BEND THE MAT, NOT THE VINYL!

2. TO CUT MULTIPLE COLORS OF VINYL ON THE SAME MAT
On the “Make It” screen, click the THREE DOTS (they appear when you select an image), & select “Move Image” and manually move every image onto the same mat & lay each color using the number guides.
You can also do this by making the entire image the same color. Then all parts of your project will appear on one mat & you can manually move them to arrange them how you’d like & just place the vinyl as described above.

3. Store your vinyl scrap pieces in a 3 ring binder with clear sheet protectors to separate each different color. (These items can also be found at Dollar Tree!!)

4. When dealing with stubborn vinyl that won’t come off your transfer tape, turn it over so the transfer tape is facing DOWN. Then almost fold/roll away, almost creasing the backing of the vinyl, SLOWLY away from the transfer tape.
Sometimes you have to PUSH DOWN (reburnish) another time on the transfer tape for the stubborn pieces BEFORE doing this to ensure your vinyl is adhered to the transfer tape good!

5. You can reuse the same piece of transfer tape over and over again!

6. Use parchment paper for easy layering! Put the parchment paper on the back of your vinyl (on the sticky part. Don’t worry it comes right off really easy!) covering about 90% of the design, leaving just a little of the design exposed on the top. Line up your vinyl (the exposed NOT covered by parchment paper) & once your satisfied with placement, slowly pull away the parchment paper, while slowly sticking your vinyl to the first layer.

7. Store your vinyl UPRIGHT for longer shelf life, or keep it in a roll tightly wrapped.

8. Use Slap Bracelets or rubber bands to keep your vinyl rolls rolled up tight.

9. Use Glad Press N Seal in place of transfer tape when transferring vinyl onto cardstock!

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How to write with Cricut Pens on Cricut Machines!

**This post contains affiliate links, and we will be compensated if you make a purchase after purchasing with our links, at no extra cost to you! As an Amazon Affiliate we earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting our crafting community! See our privacy policy for more info.

Cricut markers are also available on their site &
they go on sale all the time at Cricut’s Shop or on Amazon!

Step-By-Step Directions:

NOTE: These directions & screenshots are based on using Design Space with an IPhone (IOS Device) so there may be a few slight differences when using the desktop version.

1. Open Design Space and click “new project”.

2. Click “Text” from the options along the bottom of your screen.

3. To make it easier to find “writing fonts” click the circle with the three lines next to the text box where it says “Search Fonts” towards the top of your screen, as circled in the picture below.

4. Click the fourth option down that says “Writing” and there should now we a check mark on the right side of “writing” as shown in the picture below. Click the < arrow to go back to the fonts or “Clear Filters” to start over.

5. Select the font that you’d like to use.

6. Type your word out and make sure it’s selected (green box will be around it).

7. Click “Edit” form the options on the bottom of your screen.

8. Click the icon you see above “Style” and click “Writing” (as shown in the image below) & now you should see a checkmark next to the “Writing” option.

9. Still under the “edit” options scroll to the right and find “Operation” it may either say “cut” or draw”, either way click it, as shown in the image below

**If you see a warning message that says “Project Incompatible” click “Change”**

10. From the drop down menu at the top of your screen, if it says “cut” or anything besides “Pen” click the arrow and change the option to “Pen”. As shown in the images below

11. You can select your pens thickness across the top (.04 is the smallest tip and 1.0 is the biggest) and then choose your color. Ultimately it doesn’t matter what color you choose because your Cricut machine doesn’t know that, but it’s easiest to just stick to using the right settings for the right markers.

12. Select the color you want (same as above rule about Cricut not knowing the difference in what color pens you actually use, but its helpful for projects with multiple colors if you just choose the correct color)

13. Click the green “Apply” in the right corner.

When you are satisfied with your project & you are ready to “Make It”, you can select everything you want to stay together and click the “Attach” options from the “Actions” panel as shown in the picture below.

TIP: If your font looks like the image below and needs to be filled in, make sure “Writing” is selected in the “Style”.

**Also note that some fonts won’t fill in this way and you need to fill them in on a desktop version of design space. Check youtube for videos on how to do that!

Your Cricut will instruct you to insert a pen into your machine.

CLICK HERE for our video on how to install Cricut Pens into Cricut Explore Air 2 machine!

CLICK HERE for our video on how to install Cricut Pens into Cricut Joy machine!

You can get off brand ones from amazon, I personally love the XINART brand of mats & markers, just read reviews and pay attention to ratings!

You can get extra fine point pens, fine point pens, gel pens, glitter gel pens, or markers to have a variety of different colors and thicknesses!

Experiment with the “Draw” option and change some images from “cut” to “pen” to see how they look!

Most images turn into an outline but some of them look amazing that way!

Have fun & happy crafting!

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns send us an email at maci@markyourworth.com

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Spiral Betty Tutorial

We will be learning about how to make the popular “Spiral Betty” design & how to get it into Design Space!

Our Spiral Betty Design:

Video: https://youtu.be/_mwmq6pm-qg

What exactly is a spiral betty?

This is a fun concept where you convert an image into a single spiral line, similar to the grooves in a vinyl record.

They also have other design options available besides the spiral design, like lines & dots!

Step-By-Step Directions:

Keep in mind, we used an IPHONE so some of the steps may be slightly different if your using Android or a desktop (If the step number is has a * next to it, that step may be different for android or desktop users!)

1. Go to spiralbetty.com

2. Click the circle that says “+ UPLOAD IMAGE”

3*. Click “Photo Library” to go to your phones camera roll.

4. Click the image you want to use.

5. Click “Choose” in the bottom right corner.

6. Move your image around until you get it how you want it WITHIN the purple circle & when your satisfied click the CHECK MARK. (you can use the horizontal scroll bar on the screen to zoom in and out on your picture)

7. Click the second option from the images pictured at the bottom of your screen. (the first black & white option).

8. Next to your spiral betty, click the 3rd circle down the list on the right side (the symbol is a box with an arrow)

(TIP: you can click the trash can on the top to start over with a new image)

*** It makes this image easier to use with your Cricut machine if you put a check mark in the “CLEAR BACKGROUND” box so you don’t manually have to do that when you upload the image in Design Space)***

9. Click “PNG” and click “Download”

10. It should now say “Do you want to download “spiralbetty_############.png”? (thats the name of your picture) Click the right option “Download”.

11. Close up spiral betty’s website & open up Design Space.

12. Click “New Project”

13.* From the options on the bottom, click “Upload”

14.* “Browse Files” from the list.

15.* Scroll on the “Downloads” screen to find your image (scroll down to the S’s & they are named spiral betty with some numbers) & click your spiral betty image.

(IF YOU ALREADY CLEARED THE BACKGROUND YOU CAN SKIP THE NEXT TWO STEPS)

16.* Click on the first option “Remove” from the icons across the bottom of your screen.

17.* Select ONE blank/white space on the photo to make it remove the background. (now your image should look how you want it to in the box “guide” in the top right of your screen.

18.* Click the GREEN “Next” button in the top right corner of your screen when your satisfied with how your image looks

(if you accidently click the wrong area, simply click the “Undo” button)

19. The top of your screen should now say “Refine” you can just click the GREEN “Next” button in the top right corner of your screen and skip this step.

20. The top of your screen should now say “Prepare to Upload”, Click the image on the LEFT that says “Cut” and name your image whatever you’d like & click the GREEN “Save” button in the top right corner of your screen.

21. Resize the image however you’d like! (for it to be a full sheet, size it to 11.4)

**FOR WEEDING DESIGN SIMPLY PULL UP ONE OF THE BOTTOM EXCESS CORNERS WHICH WILLPULL THE RIGHT STRING TO MAKE YOUR SPIRAL!!***

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Accessing special characters (swashes) to use in Design Space

Do you ever see those special characters in a particular font & wonder how to actually get them into Design Space? We are talking about those swirly accents, hearts, & lines. Like the “i” character shown in the image below:

Well, this is your ultimate resource for accessing those special characters (also known as swashes) on your computer/device! Here we will post TWO DIFFERENT ways to access those characters! We will add more resources here as we find them!

To get AMAZING fonts like the one we used in this tutorial, visit our affiliate font shops:
CREATIVE FABRICA
SOFONTSY
CRELLA MARKETPLACE

#1. USING CHARACTER MAP

1. Download CHARACTER MAP (it’s free!) on your computer/device.
You can CLICK HERE to go directly to it, or search for it in your computer’s app store.

This is how it will look when you search for it in the windows store on your computer & you can see the apps icon:

2. Once it’s downloaded on your computer, open up character map. (It may appear across the bottom of your screen on your tool bar)

Make sure that all the particular fonts that you want to access all the characters for are properly downloaded & unzipped on your computer/device!

3. Find the font that you want to access the characters (from the left sidebar where all the fonts on your computer are located) & click on it.

4. Simply scroll through all the characters available for the font you’d like & click on the exact character you want to use in Design Space.

Now the character you selected should be shown big on the right sidebar!

5. Below the big picture of the character you selected, click “Copy” as circled in the image below:

6. Open up Design Space & select “New Project” or open up an already existing project.

7. Click “Text” from the right sidebar & backspace the word TEXT and replace it with your desired text (leaving out the special character you copied in character map).

8. Change the font of your text to the same font as you copied a character from in character map. You can find your downloaded fonts under “All” or “System” Fonts as circled in the image below:

9. Now your text should be your desired font, right click & click “Paste” (or press “Ctrl” + V) & the character you copied in character map should appear! As shown in the image below:

Now you can “ungroup ” your text and individually move the letters however you want, like closer together or further apart!

TIP: Some fonts in Design Space have some of their special characters come up when certain keys are pressed. So try it out and see if you can get any special characters without having to even use this method every time!
Some examples of common keys used are:
_ [ ] & ( ) -+

#2. USING FONTCLOUD

No downloading required, but you must make a Creative Fabrica Account! CLICK HERE TO MAKE A FREE CREATIVE FABRICA ACOUNT TO GET ACCESS TO THOUSANDS OF IMAGES & FONTS & FONTCLOUD!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN FONTCLOUD FOR FREE!

FontCloud is a FREE online font manager tool!

1. Go to CreativeFabrica.com & across the top toolbar, hover your mouse over “TOOLS” & click on the first option on the list, FONTCLOUD.

2. Click “Open FontCloud”

3. Download any fonts you have by selecting the BLUE “Browse” button (it’s the last option on the left sidebar)

4. Find the font you want to use on your computer/device & select it.

5. Your font should now be listed in the left sidebar.

You can type out your text where it says “Preview fonts with your own text…” to see how it would look with all your fonts, so you can find the one that looks the best!!

6. Click on the font that you want to access all characters for.

7. Scroll through the characters of your font to find the exact special character that you want & when you click on that character it automatically copies that character.

8. Open up Design Space & select “New Project” or open up an already existing project.

9. Click “Text” from the right sidebar & backspace the word TEXT and replace it with your desired text (leaving out the special character you copied in FontCloud).

10. Change the font of your text to the same font as you copied a character from in FontCloud.

9. Now your text should be your desired font, right click & click “Paste” (or press “Ctrl” + V) & the character you copied in FontCloud should appear!

We hope this helps!! We will be adding more resources as we find them!
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, send us an e-mail at markyourworth@gmail.com.

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New to Cricut? Beginner tips, tricks, hacks and must-haves!

Starting out with a Cricut machine can be intimidating! But we are here to help!! We have gathered a list of all our best tips, tricks, hacks, and must-haves for beginners and experts alike! Feel free to submit your own tips & tricks to our e-mail (Markyourworth@gmail.com) for them to possibly be added! Or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to message us!!

Note: This post contains some of our affiliate links. This simply means when you make a purchase through our links, we make a commission (at no extra cost to you). As an Amazon associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Visit our privacy policy for more info.

Beginners Guide to Starting Out with a Cricut Machine!

  • Don’t pay in store prices for vinyl, you can get it way cheaper online!
  • Go to Expressions Vinyl for all your adhesive vinyl needs! (Cheap, great quality, super-fast shipping, great customer service, a great rewards program, & so many beautiful patterns & colors options to choose from!) Click here to shop EV.
  • Get all HTV (iron on vinyl) from HTVRont! Great prices, amazing color selection, bundles, free images & fonts for members (free to join). Click here to shop HTVRONT.
  • Get off-brand mats from Amazon (Xinart & ECraft are good brands, just pay attention to ratings and read reviews)
  • You want to get a few STANDARD GRIP (GREEN), LIGHTGRIP MATS (BLUE), possibly a STRONG GRIP MAT (PURPLE) (& a FABRIGRIP (PINK) mat if your planning on cutting fabric materials.)
  • Do an amazon search for off-brand pens if Cricut’s aren’t on sale (see above about reading reviews)
  • Invest in some cardstock paper (Michaels, Joanne’s, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Target, & Amazon all have good quality paper for pretty cheap)
Click HERE to Shop All XinART Mats on Amazon
Click HERE to Shop All XinART Pens on Amazon
Click HERE to Shop All Cardstock on Amazon
  • Cricut offers free classes on their website! Click here to check Cricut’s page to see all their FREE classes available!!
  • Download the FREE design space app and play around with it. Click each button and see what every button does. Insert a simple shape (free without an Access subscription) and just click each button and test them out! Click the ad below to get an access subscription!
  • If your on a budget, Dollar Tree has a ton of good Cricut (hack) items! They have spatulas, scrapers, & the weeding tool (all 3 for less than $4!) which are the basic tools that come in the Cricut starter kit that’s around $7-8!
  • Dollar tree also sells these “snack containers in the baby aisle that are perfect for your weeding scraps. & In the nail polish aisle, they have this silicone bottle (that’s meant for nail polish remover) & its perfect to out alcohol in to use cotton rounds to clean off your projects before applying vinyl!
  • Dollar tree also sells shower racks that hold about 5 rolls of vinyl per rack (put a few together with zip ties and you can make a longer rack that holds much more rolls!)
    Hang your mats on the wall for easy and quick storage using the black binder clips (also found at DT!)
  • CLICK HERE TO SHOP DOLLAR TREE ONLINE!
  • Use a binder with clear sheet protectors to store your vinyl scraps & separate by color for easy organization
  • Walmart has an iron (steamfast 727) for under $14 that’s small & works great for iron on (big designs have to be done in sections)
  • EXTRA TIP: parchment paper works perfect as a barrier between your iron & the vinyl AVOID using an ironing board underneath, instead use a hard surface with a towel underneath your garment to be ironed on! (You can buy this at Dollar Tree!)
  • Five Below has a LED light pad for $8 that helps so much with weeding small lines! (Amazon has some for anywhere from $20-30)
Click HERE to Shop All LED lightpad’s on Amazon
  • You can get blank items perfect for personalization from places like AMAZON, Dollar Tree, & Walmart for cheap!
  • Keychains are super easy & fun to make & they make perfect gifts!
Click Here To Shop Acrylic Keychains on Amazon

We hope this list helped!! We will be adding more as we find them! Happy Crafting!