Mass Cricut-ing Mayhem!!

The last several weeks have found me in the usual chaos that seems to be my normal life now ;)  With sickness continuing to plague both myself & my family, a bridal shower, kindergarten field trip, sick husband, wedding, house guests, sick kids, baby shower, my bronchitis & sinus infection, and the usual daily routines of laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning....did I mention sick kids???

In addition to all that, I also found myself in my craft room mass producing sets of alphabets for Ella's Kindergarten class, and tags for the bridal shower & wedding using my Cricut.  Here are some pics along with a few things I learned about mass Cricut production:

My first tip is to put away any other projects so that you can't look at them and wish that you were working on them instead of cutting, peeling, and sorting... the repetition gets boring & that adorable layout you've been dying to finish is just staring you in the face!  Ugh!!

Using the 12 x 24" cutting mat means your machine needs lots of room! Turn it sideways to allow room for the mat to move.

Peel the paper away from you - not left to right. It seems to help avoid ripped letters/pieces.

The right tools make a BIG difference!

Check your cutting blade periodically. You may need to increase the pressure &/or blade depth as the blade starts to dull.

Do the math BEFORE you commit to a project!! Making 24 sets of alphabets means cutting, peeling, & sorting 624 letters!

Recruit any willing family members! Ella helped me stamp the envelopes that we put the letters into :)

Popcorn is NOT a good snack while paper crafting!

Think of some creative uses for the negative paper....

...of course, some will just have to be put in the recycle bin.

Using 2 cutting mats saves time - while 1 is in the machine being cut, you can peel the cut pieces off of the other mat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "A" tags were for shower favors; the "E" tags were for wedding favors.

 

 

Chairs to you!

I'm sorry I've been neglecting my blog!!  I realized today that I never posted the May Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! I think this stamp set is really cute and would work for a housewarming card or a congratulations card of any sort.  The first blog you visit has such a cute card using this set and the You & Me Scrapbooking Kit that is available only until May 31st! (See my previous post for details).  See all the creative projects made using this stamp of the month by clicking HERE to start blog hopping!

What a Great Scrapbooking Kit!!

During our May celebration, you can get the exclusive You & Me scrapbooking kit at a fabulous discount! When you place a minimum order of $50 US in Close To My Heart products in May, you can get the exclusive You & Me scrapbooking kit for the discount price of just $15 —that’s more than half off the retail value! You’ll create two fully embellished two-page layouts using the new cardstock-weight patterned papers, D-size stamp set, accessories, and instructions. You can also purchase the kit at full retail for $34.95 with no minimum purchase required. Become a Close To My Heart Consultant during May and you’ll get a You & Me kit for free* as part of your New Consultant Kit. 

Click HERE to view a video that shows everything you get in the kit, along with the completed pages.  All you'll need are your own great photos! Well, and maybe some adhesive ;)