Vinyl Lettering and Making Money!

Let’s face it, scrapbooking is expensive! I know you have thought about a way to make your crafts and scraping pay. I have! And this is exactly why I went searching the Internet one night, to find some information on making money with my ideas. I’m so glad I did, I discovered Jami Wardle!

Jami has put together a fantastic program teaching us how to make money providing a vinyl lettering business. See more of Jami’s ideas on her website Vinyl From Home, she has put together what I think is just terrific.

Jami states on her site, “Vinyl Lettering Secrets is the shortcut guide you need to start your vinyl lettering business without a hitch. Once you get the ball rolling, you’ll have the ability to decide how much you want to earn and how many hours you want to work with your own decorative vinyl lettering business!”

Enjoy what Jami is doing on her site Vinyl From Home. I’m having fun with my ideas and much, much more…

Circut Expression by Provo Craft by Maryellen Wagner

I’m here to tell you about the newest and one of the greatest crafting tools to come along in quite a while. It’s the Cricut Expression! Simply fabulous! You can create beautiful craft projects that are fun and easy to make. There are lliterally thousands of designs to choose from which will give all your projects a professional look. I’ve been amazed at what I have done. And, it isn’t limited to just scrap booking. The projects you can create are endless. Some examples would be…

• Cards and invitations
• Gifts and gift bags
• Holiday decorating
• Home decor projects

There are so many features of the Cricut expression it is just impossible to list them all, but here are just a few.

• Affordable
• Portable (only 9lbs.)
•  No computer necessary
• Cuts velum to card stock
• Will cut paper up to 12 x 24
• Cartridges can be purchase on line or at your local craft store
• If you already have the Cricut Machine/29-0001 you can use the same cartridges in the Cricut expressionprojects that are fun and easy to make.

There are lliterally thousands of designs to choose from which will give all your projects a professional look. I’ve been amazed at what I have done. And, it isn’t limited to just scrap booking. The projects you can create are endless. Some examples would be…

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About the Author 

 I have been scrapbooking for about ten years and would like to pass on some of the tips and tricks That I have learned. For additional information and sample photos, please go to: DMW Photo Plus

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Finding time to scrap is difficult for even the most devoted scrapbooker. Our busy lives just do not leave us enough time to relax and play so it is most important that we take advantage of the times that we do get to ourselves to indulge our passions. By employing a few simple techniques we can achieve more in less time. Give them a try and you’re sure to be creating more pages in less time.

 

1. Be organised! No matter what your scrapbooking style, the single most effective method of saving time is by being organised. Make sure you know where all your supplies are and that they are easily accessible. That way you don’t have to go searching through everything every time you scrap. How you organise your supplies is up to you, but I recommend organising by type (eg paper, stickers, ribbon etc) and then by colour.

 

2. Use multiple photos. If you use more than one picture on each page you will need fewer pages to complete your album. You will also find it takes less time to embellish each page as the photos take up most of the space and serve as embellishments themselves.

 

3. Use pre-made alphabets. Alphabet stickers and die-cuts are great for creating titles and adding journaling to your pages without having to cut out all the letters yourselves. If you use a lot of letters you may like to consider purchasing a personal die-cutting machine like a Sizzix or a Cricut and several alphabet dies.

 

4. Use scrapbooking sketches. Sketches provide an easy to follow template and take the guesswork out of planning your pages. They serve as a map and prevent you from wasting time figuring out how to fit everything on your page.

 

5. Finally, don’t be a perfectionist. Scrapbooking is not about creating the perfect page design. It’s about treasuring the important memories in your life and being able to relive them and share them with others for many years to come.

 

Visit http://www.stickersnfun.com for 100s of free Scrapbooking Sketches as well as 1000s of free scrapbooking ideas from Jennifer Gormly, avid scrapbooker and writer.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Gormly

Cricut™ Vinyl Home Decor

This article is also posted Here

Last year for Christmas my husband surprised me with the Provo Craft Cricut die cutting machine. I was surprised because I already own the Sizzix cutting tool made by the same company. He knows how I am always looking for something new as far as scrap booking supplies go. I love trying whatever I can find that has to do with this craft. I tend to look for quicker and easier ways to make scrapbook page layouts. I am a mother of 4 and have little time. I sure do have a lot of photos as I take pictures of every memory making moment.

Some of the advantages of owning the Cricut machine are that it was made for in home use. It is a little pricey but well worth the investment. My husband was lucky enough to find it on sale for 179.99. Provo craft sells a storage bag that has wheels so you can take it to scrapbook cropping classes or scrapbook parties. It is cartridge based and has a large variety of styles of letters, shapes and phrases to choose from. The Cricut cartridges sell for around 90.00. The cartridges come with an overlay that is applied to the Cricut machine. These overlays offer a variety of 3-d effects. Some of them are Signs, charms, tags, shadowing, negative and positive imaging. Everything is right at the touch of a button. It’s only limited to ones imagination.

You can also cut the image as small as 1” or as large as 5 ½”. You can use many different thickness of paper but I tend to use more of a medium card stock. The cutting blade is adjustable. There is a pressure setting for thicker papers. Also a speed setting for how fast you want it to cut. It has an expansion port for future upgrades. The replacement parts for the machine are reasonably priced. For example the cutting mats can be bought 2 in a package for 10.00. The cutting machine does come with everything you need to get started. I did have to play around some with it a little because there is a learning curve. For example, for thinner paper you should use the slower speed or it will rip the paper. Another example for thicker paper you will want to adjust the blade and put the speed button on a slower cut. Once you get used to it, it’s lots of fun to use. I especially love the fact that you are able to layer the die cuts for easy paper piecing techniques. The ideas you can get for new scrapbook page layouts are endless.

A few of the disadvantages are that you cannot customize your own die cuts. You can only use what is available on the cartridges. The mat that comes with the cutting machine is sticky. I found that the sticky wears off quickly. To get more use of the mat I use a repositionable spray on adhesive. You are limited to using just card stock paper. Whatever brand you choose. The blade cannot cut through any other materials. I like to make chipboard monograms and am not able to this with this machine.

I am so glad my husband purchased the Cricut cutter as a gift for Christmas. I really do love this cutting tool. It helps me to get through my scrapbook pages quicker. The cartridges help me to come up with different ideas for layout pages in minutes. I don’t have to cut things by hand. All I have to do is press a button. I have extra time then to focus on taking more memory making pictures of all 4 of my beautiful children.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicolle_Kramer