Products Used
Today I choose to be simple. Cut a design, weed a design. That was all. But as per usual, there had to be SOMETHING to make it just a touch more complicated than that.
I’ve been browsing the available designs in Cricut’s Design Space and have saved several that I want to create in the future. Some are layered mandalas while others are heart designs that make other objects (like a dandelion made of hearts). My last post of the layered leaf is one such design. I have at least three others in line after this one. You have been warned. >_<
The Obstacles
When I first cut this design, I had used a orange/pink shifting opal from TeckWrap. I had 12 inches of it on hand, so I cut the design as large as I could. The cut was not a quick one. Unfortunately when the machine was about half way through the design, my computer crashed, taking the Cricut with it. After booting it all back up, there was no way to continue the cut from where it left off. It had cut half of the inside design of the chameleons body, but not the outer edges, his feet nor tail. I ended up having to give up on the first attempt. I was VERY reluctant to do so and, as my husband can attest, it did NOT blow over well (sorry honey for my temper tantrum).
The second attempt did not go well from the start. Since I couldn’t try to reuse the opal vinyl from the first attempt, I switched to the green opal from Expressions Vinyl. Since I have been organizing all of my supplies for easier access, it has allowed me to more quickly select vinyls for different projects. I’ve even been recently reminded of some vinyl options I forgot I had on hand. This one was one of those forgotten gems. Since there was only 12 inches remaining of this roll.
Apparently, the washi sheet setting on the Cricut Maker was too much pressure because the pieces were lifting out and sticking everywhere during the cut. Luckily, I realized it in time to stop the cut and change the pressure. So even though the second attempt was technically a fail, it wasn’t bad enough to lose the vinyl this time.
Getting It Done Right
For the third and what I hoped was a final attempt, I changed the pressure of the blade manually to 70. For regular readers, you’ll remember that I once stated that custom cut pressure in Design Space couldn’t be set below 100. I was mistaken. That setting can be as low as 70 and here’s how to do it:
Once these steps were complete, I used my newfound low pressure setting to try cutting the chameleon again. Third time is indeed the charm and it cut with no problem. I was able to then weed it, trim off excess to keep as scraps for future projects, and then store this beauty away in the finished projects box as a potential gift for someone in the future.
