Oh man. Today’s 12 Days of ScanNCut day miiiiight just be my favorite! I probably could have said that almost every day so far, but I tried to really filter that statement! Haha, and since we are day 11 and this one is my favorite and only has one more day to compete with, it might take the cake!
I remember when I first heard that I could cut vinyl with my ScanNCut. Vinyl? Why would I want to cut vinyl? I had no clue about adhesive vinyl, both temporary and permanent. I had no idea I could create fake wallpaper (working on Jonesy’s room right now!), create beautiful labels or add decorations to, well, just about anything. ;)
My sister and I often joke (she is a fellow ScanNCut owner and fan) that if you’re getting frustrated cutting something else, just whip out some adhesive vinyl or heat applied vinyl — they always cut so beautifully! You can get incredible detail too.
Back in Pittsburgh, we had round spice jars with lids that slid on instead of twisting. I knew as we were packing up to move that there was no way we could bring them with — well, we could have, but it was a good time to let them go. ;) My mom found these great square glass containers, so when we moved into our home here, I ordered a bunch of them. I’m definitely still building my spice collection, since purging in Pittsburgh and keeping it pretty trim in our apartment.
But before we end up with Cumin in our waffles instead of Cinnamon…. I needed to get these babies labeled!
I made my mom labels for her spice jars over the last few months. We had a few spelling errors and forgotten spices that we needed to make later. I still owe her a few, but that’s what is so awesome: it’s so easy to keep updating and creating with the ScanNCut and ScanNCut2.
And who doesn’t love pretty labels! I know one of my goals for 2016 is to only keep things that have a home. If something just keeps getting shifted around because it doesn’t have a specific place to call home, it’s probably going to go! Labeling and creating spaces that are beautiful and tidy really motivate me to continue organizing my entire home! Well, and my organizing genius of a mom. :)
When cutting vinyl, you want to only cut through the vinyl sheet, not the backing. I typically have my blade at a depth of 1-2 with a pressure of 0. Be sure to run a test before cutting out all of your labels!
I also whipped up labels for our trash and recycling bins!
And an address label for our front door! See? I told you …..EVERYTHING! haha.
And then of course the spice labels…
….and the real-life behind the scenes of nabbing photos of them!
My little helpers! Harlow helped me transfer all the labels to the jars — I love involving her in projects. I will be finishing these labels and posting a download of the cut file soon. Let me know if there are specific spices that you’d like me to include!
I struggle throwing things away, because I love imagining what new life I can give old items. ….marry a fellow artist who also struggles with that, and you get scheduled purging sessions, so the things don’t pile up!
But this project is all my sister’s idea! She loves her ScanNCut just as much as I do, and it is so fun to share ideas and projects with each other.
They had a collection of window blind blades – some wood and come composite – sitting around from the extra length on their shades. She had the genius idea of using them as garden label stakes: let’s jump right in!
For this step, you’ll need a handsaw or bandsaw. Using the natural spaces left for the string of your blinds, cut into shorter pieces. I used two different types and one ended up being about 9″ long, the other about 11″.
At one end, create a point. This side will go into the ground or dirt in a pot.
Next, write out the plant names. I love using handwriting for projects like this, but you can choose a font on your ScanNCut machine or use ScanNCutCanvas as well!
Place your paper on a Low Tack or Standard mat (I like to keep “beat up” standard mats around for scanning computer paper.) and select the “Scan to Cut Data” option.
Use the zoom feature to be sure all of the details were picked up.
You guessed it: I’m really excited to share today’s project with you! Harlow and I had a blast making this produce bag together to use for the Farmers’ Market. We totally lucked out and there is a market held every Monday just 2 blocks from our apartment! They have awesome produce, prepared food, music and kids activities each week: it’s pretty awesome!
For this project, I thought labeling these bags using the built in ScanNCut Machine designs would be perfect paired with the Heat Applied Materials. Harlow picked out Flocking and Glitter for our apple, so it was pretty snazzy.
The great thing about the mesh material is that it stretches and doesn’t fray. We’ll finish the edges on the inside of the bag, but I wanted to keep the inner part of the handle raw, so it would roll and stretch as needed. I love how it turned out!
The first thing we will do is cut out the cotton canvas that will hold our image label. The label will sandwich the mesh material. I love the idea of the perimeter of the label getting frayed with use and wash, so I allowed (and encouraged) that as I removed my labels from my mat and sewed them on.
I used the built in rectangle shape with rounded corners. They are 4″ x 2.75″.
Place your Fabric Support Sheet on the Standard Mat. Place canvas on mat and load into your ScanNCut Machine.
ScanNCut Tip: If you are having difficulty seeing the white canvas in your background scan, change the background from the grey option (less saturated) to full color to see the outlines a bit better.
My favorite cut settings:
// Depth: 3
// Pressure: 5
// Speed: 1
Cut out the labels!
Next we will cut the Heat Applied Material.
My favorite cut settings for Glitter and Flock:
// Depth: 4-5
// Pressure: 0-1
// Speed: 1
If you are cutting a design with multiple colors, resize the image first. Select the color to start with and upon completion, your ScanNCut will give you the options in the above photo. Be sure to choose “Select the next part” to keep your changes (resizing, mirroring) when cutting the remaining pieces.
Layer the Heat Applied Material and iron to adhere to canvas. Use a piece of scrap cotton fabric between the transfer plastic and your iron. Set aside.
Next, we will cut the mesh fabric for our bag. The fold will be at the bottom of the bag and will allow for the bag to stretch. I measured about 14″ wide.
TIP: Cut slowly through a line of mesh hole to ensure a straight edge.
Trim the sides and top.
Next, cut the handle. Measure about 1.5″ from the top and cut a straight line. Start and end about 1.5-2″ from the edges.
After you’ve cut the fabric for your bag, open it up to lay flat, so we can pin the label.
Sandwich the labels on either side of the mesh. Pin in place.
Because this mesh has such large holes, we want to use a tiny stitch length to ensure our needle hits every bit of fabric that it can! Sew around the perimeter of the label – about 1/4″ from the edges.
Next, trim the top corners from your bag. This will allow the bias tape to curve around those edges, giving us a nice and finished perimeter.
Starting at the bottom fold of your bag, clip the bias tape in place. You can use pins, but the thickness of the fabric makes that difficult. If you don’t have quilt clips, tiny duck bill clips can work as well.
Continue working your way around the perimeter of the bag.
When you’ve got it in place, sew around the bias tape edges. You just need to make sure you grab both edges of the tape. Again, using a small stitch length will ensure you hit all the small lines of fabric.
Now head to the Farmers’ Market! This bag is fully reversible, and you could even make the labels different – apple on one side, carrot on the other – if you desire. Text labels work as well, I just recommend working glitter into it somehow. ;)
Have fun! I can’t wait to see your finished projects!
hope you are having a wonderful summer!
xo
This post was done in partnership with Brother International. All opinions and ideas are my own.
I have been wanting to make a mobile for Jones since before he was born. In my mind, I had it all figured out, of course. One early September afternoon, Harlow and I sat outside and painted wooden shapes that I thought just maybe would become a mobile, but they just weren’t quite right.
So I threw in the towel and kept creating this mobile in my head…until now.
One of the great things about having a baby is that you’re up in the middle of the night. Haha, I’m serious. It’s kind of awesome. I love rocking Jones around 2am, because it’s always when my ideas come to me — and since I am already awake, I don’t miss them. ;)
I love cutting wood veneer with my Brother ScanNCut, but it is also one of the materials I am most frequently asked about.
How do you cut the wood veneer?
How thick is the wood veneer?
What mat and settings do you use?
Well I’m going to get to all of those questions today! I have four tips and tricks that I want to share with you. My hope is that you come away from this a bit more confident about cutting wood veneer with your ScanNCut machine. I also have the download for the mobile shapes below if you’d like to use this project to practice.
TIPS & TRICKS
1 | Use Painter’s Tape or Masking Tape to hold your wood veneer in place.
As the mat goes through you ScanNCut machine, there is some give and drop that occurs due to gravity as it goes through the machine. The wood veneer lacks flexibility in this way, so the painter’s tape keeps the wood in place for cutting even the most intricate of cuts. I always use my standard mat, so that as my wood is cutting, it is tacky enough to hold the cut pieces in place.
I have tried using the Fabric Support sheet under the wood veneer, but it almost holds the wood too well. It becomes very difficult to remove from the mat, causing breaking and cracking to occur.
2 |Be sure that the grain of the wood is parallel with the blade.
In the image above, you can see that the grains or lines in the wood are in line with the direction the mat is fed into your ScanNCut machine. Because the blade is a one directional blade, the wood will cut more smoothly if placed this direction. When you cut cross-grain it is much more difficult and tends to crack and chip.
In addition to the grain of the wood, you want to rotate your design so that the direction of the majority of its cut lines are going in the same direction as the grain as well.
3 | Use multiple cuts with minimal pressure.
My “go-to” settings are as follows:
Blade depth: 10-11
Blade pressure: 0
Cut speed: 1
I find that if you increase the pressure, the tip of the blade holder will catch on the veneer as it cuts. When this happens, it can pull the wood out of place or crack it. When you run the cut file the first time, you will see a cut that looks similar to the above photo. As you run it a second time, you should see and even hear the remainder of the design cut through.
Because wood is a material with variance — some has more grain and some areas are a little tougher to cut — be careful when removing your design. I keep a small, sharp scissor near for when I catch any of those spots.
4 | Use a backing material to strengthen the wood veneer.
Depending on the use of your wood veneer, you might want to strengthen it using an iron-on transfer material (vinyl) or paper. Paper can be adhered using a spray adhesive or glue. Be cautious of the glue gumming up your blade, especially if you haven’t allowed it to dry completely.
I love using a thin iron-on material to strengthen my wood veneer. Simply iron it on to your wood as you would any other material and then cut. You will find that some wood is more brittle than others. Maple is the wood I have found to be the most pliable and best for cutting intricate designs.
Begin the mobile creation by ironing the iron on transfer material to one side of your wood veneer sheets. You can leave some without if you’d like as well.
Using the tips and settings above, cut out pieces for your mobile. It is up to you how many of each size and shape you’d like to use for your mobile.
Begin putting the shapes together and then using a sharp needle, make a small hole to thread the needle and tie fishing line in a small knot.
Create a shape with the wire and begin tying the shapes to it, varying the length and placement as you go.
When you are happy with the placement of each shape, cut the excess fishing line, take a step back and admire your work!
I love that as this mobile spins, sometimes you see all wood color and other times you see all bring color. I really wanted to make sure that when it hangs, Jones can see the colors — as so many mobiles only show the color when viewed from the side, not the baby’s perspective.
They look like they are scheming …. don’t they? Life is going to be a bit crazy, I think, with these cousin babes born two days apart. When we were busy packing up the car to drive out and meet Teddy for the first time over Thanksgiving, I of course decided that I needed to make onesies for the occasion.
Of course I did.
“Andy, I’m going to need about 20 more minutes. Don’t ask why.” Ha.
Twenty minutes later I had 4 onesies packed in my bag for these cousin twins. Did I kiss my ScanNCut? You’d better believe I did!
I kept both of the onesies super simple! For the Cousin Baby A and B, I made two text fields measuring the same width. I then positioned the Iron-On Transfer sheets on my mat with a constrasting color in place for the A and B, respectively. These onesies Iron-On Transfer Flock Material.
To make the Thing 1 and Thing 2 onesies, I did a quick google search and came upon this tutorial. While I was tempted for a quick second to make matching strapless dresses for the little guys… (I’m completely kidding — click the link if you are absolutely confused. Ha.) I ended up with boring ‘ole baby onesies for these as well.
I downloaded the images available in the tutorial and uploaded them into ScanNCut Canvas. With quick Image Trace, I had my cut files for these onesies in a minute at most. I saved those files on a USB Stick, opened them on my ScanNCut Machine, mirrored the image, set my blade depth — done and done.
I’m in love with how these little matching projects turned out! And I’m also in love with how easily I made them thanks to my ScanNCut!
I wasn’t even planning on mentioning this, but it seems dumb not to — the ScanNCut will arrive before Christmas! Still time to pop it on your wishlist and receive it before the holiday! Huzzah! That’s pretty amazing.
Harlow’s praying diligently for snow, so I will apologize in advance if her prayers come true for those of you hoping the white stuff stays away!
xo
I’m a paid spokesperson for Brother ScanNCut — all opinions and love for this machine are genuine and my own.
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