Gold is the new black

 

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Have you heard of the Cricut Design Space™ Challenge? It's a massive blogger contest happening right now. Sponsored by Cricut, of course. Each month we have to make something with our Cricut Explore™ (given to us by Cricut). The theme this month was Fashion/Gear. Definitely up my alley!

I was on vacation last week but returned home and got busy figuring out my new machine. If you haven't seen one in action it's quite impressive. A friend watched it cut the little gold booties and just kept marveling over how amazing it was. It is! I've cut vinyl, iron-on, paper and leather so far for the four projects I created for this challenge. Read on to hear the tips I've got after my short time with the machine.

Cricut put us all on teams. My team is Lucky 13. We chose a theme of Gold is the New Black for this month. I've got to say, gold was a good choice. I'm really loving how my projects turned out.

Project #1: Leather Baby Booties with Heart Cutout

I designed and drafted this baby bootie pattern last week. If you don't know, I design sewing patterns for a living. So baby booties was a natural first project for me on this machine. There was a learning curve cutting leather, however. After cutting 4 pairs of booties here's what I've learned:

1. Make sure you are using the Deep Cut Blade and it's sharp. After about 2 or 3 projects you'll need a new blade.
2. Use a repositionable spray adhesive (in the glue aisle at the craft store) on your mat to get the leather to stick even better. It needs to be stuck tight or it will wiggle and move as the blade is cutting. Your little hearts will look like blobs if it moves.
3. Use a leather that isn't too suede-y or fuzzy on the back. Those don't stick as well. I didn't cut any but I'd venture that faux leather would cut better than regular leather because the back is a bit smoother. 

Read more about the booties and see more photos HERE.

Project #2: Sparkly Feather Earrings

I love feathers and these black feathers needed just a touch of gold glitter spray paint. I love all the earrings I've seen lately with long chains and a focal object. The gold and black is perfect for these. I cut these out of cardstock but leather or vinyl/faux leather would be a bit more durable and fun. 

Read more about how to make the feather earrings HERE.

Project #3: Surfboard Iron-On Hoodie

I've never made an iron-on decal before this project. I'm officially hooked! 

Read more about how to make a surfboard iron-on decal and how easy it is HERE.

Project #4: Vinyl Heart Shoe Decals

Use little vinyl decals to add color and style to your shoes! Any little girl would love 4 or 5 sets of these hearts in different colors. New shoes every day! 

Read more about how to make the heart vinyl shoe decals HERE.

Now check out all my team member's projects! 

Lucky 13 team in the Cricut Design Space™ Star™ team:

1. Booties, Earrings, and Hearts from Andrea of Andrea’s Notebook
2. Children's shirt and gold sandals from Celina of Petit A Petit and Family
3. Cut out leather purse with cross lining from Erin & Tricia of Suburban Bitches
4. Leather cuff from Monica of East Coast Creative
5. Easy DIY hashtag t-shirts from Sarah and Jessica of Pretty Providence
6. DIY umbrella and Pineapple Scarf from MJ of Pars Caeli
7. Leopard leggings and tank from Sadie Jane of Simply Sadie Jane
8. Laptop decals from Crystal of Sew Creative Blog

Thanks to Cricut for hosting the Cricut Design Space Star™! I was compensated with a machine but all projects, ideas and opinions are all mine!