I named myself The Crafting Professor, since I'm a crafter, and I'm a college professor. I went through many, many years of graduate school, and the best source of relaxation and stress relief was being in my craft room or going to a local crop. Back then, I never told anyone that I was a full-time graduate student. I was waiting for the day I would scrapbook my graduation page. Now, I run the ScrapbookerPhD challenge blog (http://scrapbookerphd.blogspot.com), and am bringing my passion for crafting and teaching together. But here, at The Crafting Professor, I'm just sharing my work with like-minded crafters from all over the world.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Halloween Explore: Die Cut or Print and Cut?

Yes, I know, I'm a Cricut user and an SVG-aholic. So image what it is like to find a NEW (to me) SVG company. The card that I am showcasing here is from Fleurette Bloom, and I am excited to share with you how I made this fantastic Halloween scene with a little help from the new Print and Cut feature on the Cricut Explore. Here is the final version, but let's rewind and see how it started.




Obviously, this is a square card, so I simply started out with a black base and a black/gray/white simple pattern of paper.



The next thing I did was cut the moon and sky. I used a similar patterned paper on the moon in yellow, and then a solid blue for the sky. To give both cuts more dimension, I inked both, and then embossed the sky with a star pattern folder. Don't forget to use your dabbers on your inking. It gives you more control of your ink and how heavy you apply it.



I loved the moon and sky so much that I followed the same steps when adding the pumpkins to the bottom of the card. I used some orange patterned paper and then solid orange around the edges. I also inked the pumpkins and leaves.



Cutting the bats was the first challenge in this project. In the photo below, you can see the bat on the left side had some trouble cutting. The wings and ribs aren't clear or cut. The head is actually too big for the body even though they were all sized together. On the right side, the white of the wings and chest are super clear and the face is the right size. That is because the bat on the right was cut using the print and cut function on the Cricut Explore. (That bat is a little off white because I had already inked him.) 


Print and cut is so easy.
I created my bat just as if I was going to cut him in pieces. I told the Cricut to "flatten" and "print". The paper on the left side shows how the bat printed with cutting guidelines for the Cricut. The paper on the right side shows that the bat was cut exactly to shape.



And here it is again, the final product with the sentiment and the Skittles as decorations.



Challenges Entered
A Gem of a Challenge: create a scene
Open-Minded Crafting: pumpkins
Pumpkin Spice: harvest or Halloween
Crazy 4 Challenges: sketch
Simply Create Too: Halloween or orange
Fresh Brewed Blog: pumpkin patch
Little Red Wagon: spooky

8 comments:

  1. Spook-tacular Faith! Love the scene you've created here. Great die cuts and design- just perfect for our "Pumpkins" Theme challenge. Thank you for playing along with us at Freshly Brewed Challenges- We sure hope you join us again!

    Amy- DT Freshly Brewed Challenges
    {Lil Cutie Creations}

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  2. This is fabulous! I love the spooky scene you have created.
    Thank you for taking part in A Gem of a Challenge.
    Sue xx

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  3. This is just a fun card, I really love the scene and how lovely to see the process!
    Thanks so much for taking part in our Pumpkins Challenge at Open-Minded Crafting Fun Challenges!!
    We hope we see you again soon!

    Hugs,
    Milnie DT

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  4. Fabulous card!

    Thank you for sharing with Simply Create Too.

    Warm hugs
    Maarit

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  5. this is such a spooktacular and super fun card! Love all the layers and fun diecuts! Great sponging too.

    Thank you so much for playing along with us at Freshly Brewed Challenges PUMPKIN PATCH challenge!

    Hope to see you stop by next week for our 5 days of Christmas digi release :)

    Heather D.
    www.freshbreweddesigns.com

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  6. How cute!!! Love those little bats!! They are fantastic!! Thanks so much for playing along with us at Open-Minded Crafting Fun Challenges!!! Good Luck! I hope we see you again!!

    - Susan, Co-Owner @ Open-Minded Crafting Fun Challenges
    {Scrap A Thousand Words}

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  7. What a fabulous card...I love seeing that skeleton bat, so fun. Thank you so much for playing along with us at Simply Create Too.

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  8. This is fantastic card! I love the sky-and-moon scene you've created and that bat is just super cute! Great pumpkins too. Thanks for joining us at Open-Minded Crafting Fun Challenge, Good Luck! Hope to see you soon again.

    Hanne, DT

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