Paper Crafter Hacks You TOTALLY Didn’t Know You Needed

How many of us love our Cricut machines but sometimes feel little defeated by paper crafting, right? I absolutely want to tell you that if you have a Cricut machine and you're not using paper to make amazing projects like cards, gift card holders, tags, so much more you are missing out. In today's video I have some of my favorite and best paper craft hacks to use with your Cricut machine and you are not going to miss out on all of these amazing hacks. Let's go ahead and jump right into it but before we do if you're new here hit the subscribe button give the video a thumbs up and let us know what your favorite hack is as you watch the video. Hack number one we want you to know your paper and we want you to do the research to know exactly what you're using because guess what all paper is not made equal and what I see a lot of first-time Cricut users go to the craft store and buy the one sheet you know area of the scrap booking section because it's 12 by 12 but guess what a lot of those papers are not made equal so you definitely want to do your research. This is a 65 pound paper cardstock from Recollections and this works great with your Cricut. You'll find that the fibers in this paper is longer so you're gonna get a better quality cut every single time when using this cardstock. One thing I like to encourage people to look out for is to look at the weight of their cardstock because not all paper again is made the same. So a great sweet spot is the 65 pound to 80 pound cardstock and for bases of cards and 3d projects I will occasionally go up to a hundred pound cardstock. You don't have to remember all this please reference back to this video as you have questions about paper but I just want to make sure that you all know you really need to know what type of paper you're using. I'll link this and more down below for you so that you can use that as a resource if you're ready to go all-in on paper crafting with your Cricut. Hack number two you always want to check your blade. When you're cutting cardstock you'll find that it's really easy to get debris inside your blade. So what I like to do after cutting quite a bit where I'm noticing that my cardstock is not cutting with like really perfect edges I like to investigate the blade. So you can do that by just pressing right here and looking around at the blade. Some people like to clean their blade with aluminum foil it doesn't technically sharpen it but what it does do is it cleans it really really well to make sure there's no fiber or debris on the blade. I also want to let you know that your blade needs to be changed just like your car's oil depending on how much you use it. I cannot with good faith tell you to replace your blade every month because the amount that I'm cutting with my machine is different than yours. So as soon as you notice that you're not getting the best cut quality and you've checked out the blade and you can tell there's nothing you know on it there's no debris anything like that that is a great indication to say hey maybe I should trade out my blade and see if this continues to happen because over time these blades definitely need to be changed out and at minimum I would probably trade them out every four to six months especially for the ones of you that are hobby crafters that may only craft a few times a month. Definitely try to change out your blade once or twice a year at minimum. Now while we're on the same topic of making sure we're getting great cut quality and that you know you're using great cardstock, you know your blades on great, you know you have a nice fresh blade, here's my next hack that I want to make sure you're doing. Number one is I want to make sure you're using a solid mat. Unlike vinyl and things like that, when you're using cardstock it's really important to have a sticky mat that can hold the cardstock down. And then my second hack is I love to use a brayer just to make sure that it's going to stay put. For some reason with cardstock I find that it cannot stay down as well as vinyl or heat transfer vinyl. It just doesn't want to stick as well. So I want you to be more intentional about making sure you're using a fresh mat that is able to hold it down. And if you for some reason only have one mat and it's not super sticky, feel free to use a piece of masking tape around the edges just to help it stay down when it's cutting. If you're using your cardstock and you are wanting to cut something really intricate or for some reason in general your cardstock is just not giving you great cut quality, here's the setting I want to turn you on to. Head over to the computer with me and when you get to the material setting just search for intricate and you'll see right here there's actually a cardstock for intricate cut setting. This is going to allow you to get a better quality cut with your cardstock if you run into any trouble. This is what I always turn to especially when something isn't cutting through properly, the edges are fraying or anything like that. You'll definitely love the cardstock for intricate cut setting to help you in your project. This next hack I want to share with you how to make a custom envelope for whatever size card you're working with. Here at Makers Gonna Learn we offer numerous different cut files for you to have your very own envelope and I want to make sure you know exactly how to take advantage of that. So head back over to Design Space and let me share with you how to do it. So we've uploaded this envelope for any size card right here into Design Space and what I want to encourage you to do first thing is I want you to select your envelope and I actually want you to ungroup it. Once you've ungrouped it I want you to select your square or your rectangle in this case and I want you to unlock it. So once you unlock it here you can now type in your custom width and height. For today's project I am going to use a two size card for example. So the size is five and a half by four and a quarter. So I'll change this to five and a half by four and a quarter. And there you can see we've been able to create the square to that. I am going to lock it back and now I'm going to select holding shift envelope one and envelope two. So now that it's selected we can go ahead and scale this up. My tip here is to make sure your square is not selected. So now you can scale it up and you're going to want to make sure that the square fits in the center of this envelope because what you'll find is that this square is representing your handmade card in the finished project. So now that it fits in here you can actually select the square and you can now delete it. And now last but not least you will want to go ahead and select both of these layers. You're going to want to attach them together because it's attaching the score line with the cut lines. And now you can proceed and cut out your custom made envelope. It's really that easy to make your own envelope every single time. This next hack is one of my favorite ones for paper crafters. So listen up if you're a paper crafter, you want to save time, you may want to save some money, let me share with you this one. So Cricut will traditionally invite you to use the scoring wheel if you're using a maker machine. The only time it will automatically select you to use the scoring stylus is if you're using an Explore Family machine. But guess what? Here's my tip. I actually prefer to use the scoring stylus across both machines. So let me share with you how easy it is to tell Cricut, hey I don't want to use the scoring wheel, I want to use the scoring stylus. And the reason why I prefer that, just so you're aware, the scoring stylus can fit in clamp A where the scoring wheel has to be traded out with the fine point blade in clamp B. So head over to Cricut with me and you'll see it's encouraging me to load in the scoring wheel in clamp B. All we're gonna do, click edit tools, and look at this. We can change it to the scoring stylus just like this. Click on it, press apply, and now it's gonna say hey, load the scoring stylus in clamp A, make sure that fine point blade is loaded in clamp B, and you can go ahead load your material and cut it out. It's that easy to not have to purchase a scoring wheel and you could use your scoring stylus from a previous machine, or if you're debating between a scoring wheel or a scoring stylus, y'all I really love this thing and for most times it's a lot more affordable than purchasing a scoring wheel. Instead of having to rely on your own handwriting, what if I told you that Cricut could draw or write whatever you want, any sentiment you want, inside the card for you so you never have to worry about it. Would you like that? Let me share with you exactly how to do it. So come on over to Design Space and you can see I have this awesome Starbucks card right here from the Maker's Gonna Learn library. It's just a coffee cup and what we've done is we've been able to add a text box and type out whatever we want. We intentionally went with a font that is really great for any type of hand lettering. At Maker's Gonna Learn we have over a thousand different fonts, so if you're a member you'll have access to all of them to download with commercial use license to make money from your machine, which is perfect, and what you'll do is you'll want to make sure to go to Operation Pen and if you notice it is going to draw just one line, so you want to go over to the Maker's Gonna Learn site and choose from what we call a sketch font. That's the secret to be able to make it look like you wrote it. So just use any type of sketch font, we'll link some down below, and then you change it from a cut to the pen function. So now that it has the pen function you can position it where you would like in the card and once you're happy with placement you will select your entire project and you'll want to make sure that it's attached together. So you can see I've already attached this so it gives me the option to detach, but now it is placed right here and you can press attach again and now it is all together. So for example I'm gonna be able to cut this out with my score line and it is going to draw my sentiment in the card to save me from having to worry about it. Isn't it so cool that you can have your Cricut draw your own sentiment? You can customize it for whoever you're making a card for, you can both do this so that you can sell these and have professional sentiments inside the card every single time, which I think is super awesome. My next hack I'm so excited to share with you because this is perfect for anyone that loves cutting out intricate letters but always struggle to be able to cut it, you know, be able to glue it down. I have a hack for you and it's actually going to surprise you. What if you used heat transfer vinyl on cardstock? Does that sound crazy? Trust me, follow the process. So what we've done is we cut out a little thing that says I love you a latte mom and we are actually going to use our mini EasyPress and we are going to apply the heat transfer vinyl onto the cardstock. Let me show you how. So just like so, you're going to apply this on here just for a few seconds and you're going to see that the vinyl is actually going to adhere to the cardstock and then look this very intricate sentiment is now applied right here onto your cardstock. Now that you have this right here, let me share with you how I use an ATG gun to apply all of my paper craft projects together. If you've never seen an ATG gun, it's actually the most affordable way to paper craft. Once you invest in this $20 to $30 piece of adhesive, the actual adhesive replacements are so affordable. You are going to be blown away at how great this works and let me share with you my secret hack for if you ever make a mistake when applying your ATG paper together. So let's take a look. So when working with your ATG gun, you're going to want to apply ATG around the corners of your cardstock just like this. Now that you have the ATG down, what you'll do is you're going to apply it down onto your card. But let's say you accidentally apply it on Cricut, right? So if you ever need to replace it, if it's on Cricut, anything like that, even though it like initially will set and it is adhered down, there's a really fun hack here that a lot of you may not know about. You can actually flip it over and you can peel it back up. So this is really neat to be able to peel this adhesive back up and you just want to be smooth with it. So now you have your card separated and let's say that you applied too much adhesive. I actually like to take my finger and just like this, I like to go in a circle and look at this. You're actually able to remove the ATG gun adhesive from the project with your finger and it's this easy. So there are adhesive removers that you can invest in, but honestly my favorite one has been my finger. So now I have the piece of cardstock again that you could reapply the ATG to. So now we can just reapply it and then we will apply it onto our card just like this and line it up appropriately. And there you have it. It's that easy to reapply and apply this down. Now every single paper crafter needs to have at least one of these next two I'm going to share with you. If you have an ATG gun, of course you are going to need something for more detailed pieces. So we have two options for you. Number one, ZIG two-way glue pens. They come in a fine point and they come in a brush tip. Either one of these will be perfect for your intricate projects. I find the brush tip to be my go-to, but the fine tip is really fun too. The cool thing about ZIG two-way glue pens is it goes on blue and it dries clear, which is awesome. Or we like to have one of these little bottles filled up with Aleene's tacky glue. This is a great way to get a precision tip when working in paper crafting, paper quilling, or anything like that. These are great to have on hand and especially as you become more and more prone to paper crafting, you'll find it extra handy. So let me share with you how we would use a ZIG two-way glue pen to add the top part of our latte onto our card. So again, this could be fun to use your ATG gun with, but I'm going to use the ZIG. As you can see here, it's going on blue and then as it dries it will go clear. So we're just making sure to apply this on bigger pieces like this. You can also feel free to use the ATG gun, but it's great to just have two different cons. And then I like to hold anything I do with the ZIG two-way glue pen just for a few more seconds than I normally would with an ATG gun. And then it'll dry really quick and now you have your awesome card. The cool thing about the ATG gun is it, again, is really quick. It's a dry adhesive. The ZIG two-way glue pen is great for when you're adhering letters down and now you have your awesome card. I mean, look at this. The Cricut was able to rot this sentiment inside here. We were able to use heat transfer vinyl with our really thin letters to make sure it stayed close together and perfect for our card. And now you know all the different types of adhesive and paper you need to have success every single time. In this video, we want to make sure that you have every single hack and every piece of knowledge that we teach to our internal team when they're paper crafting. And something that you definitely want to be aware of is the different types of cardstock. Did you know there is a difference between a solid core cardstock and white core cardstock? When you're a paper crafter, your machine's cutting out cardstock often. White core cardstock is not your friend. You always want to purchase a solid core cardstock. What that means is when you cut through it, it is black through the middle and all the way to the other side. When you're working with a white core cardstock, it is only black on the front and back and the center is actually white. So if you've accidentally invested in any type of white core cardstock, I have a hack for you today to save you to get that professional look even with a white core. What you're gonna do, grab your handy-dandy Sharpie for black. If it's any other color, try to grab a coordinating marker color. You're going to open up your Sharpie and all you're going to do, you're going to go through these edges right here and you're just going to outline them. This actually helps get that solid core look really quickly and really easily. And this helps for late night crafting, right? You have something very last-minute, you want to get the best look, you want to get the best quality, this is a great way to be able to do that. Even if you accidentally purchased white core, let me tell you, it happened to me too many times for me to count. And just like this, we're able to turn white core into solid core really quickly. I'm even getting the fine point tip to go in here on any of the nooks and crannies just to make sure it's gonna look like a solid core across the entire project. And there you have it. Now you cannot tell your solid core from your white core thanks to that Sharpie. This is a great hack to keep on hand and be sure to when you're purchasing new cardstock to get the solid core. Have you ever been cutting glitter cardstock and for some reason you catch a snag and it ruins your entire piece of cardstock? Let me tell you a hack that will prevent it every single time. And that is going ahead and cutting it with the glitter facing down onto the mat. So you would take it, place the glitter down onto the mat right here, grab your Cricut brayer and just bray this out just like so. And now all you need to do is mirror your image on Cricut so that it's going to cut reverse. And that way you're gonna get better quality cuts every single time with your Cricut when you're cutting that glitter cardstock. Our last hack, and you always want to remember it when you're removing your design from your mat, is to not peel it up anything like this. When you start peeling it up directly what you're gonna find is your image is going to be rolled up because it's stuck to the mat. My best tip that I think every paper crafter needs to know is what I call go with gravity. That means we're taking our mat, we're flipping it upside down, and we're actually removing the mat from the cardstock. So when you peel like this your paper gets to stay directly flat while the mat is doing the curling up. And that way it is not going to damage your cardstock, it's not gonna damage your cut design at all, and you're gonna have great results every single time. My friends, what did you guys think of these amazing paper hacks? Here at Makers Gonna Learn we are huge paper crafters, so if you're excited to check out more videos, check out this one right here. You will definitely go find some hacks that are definitely going to help inspire you to stay creative with all of these amazing projects. If you're looking for more support, help, and know-how, definitely check out our membership MakersGonnaLearn.com, the first link down below. As soon as you join, you get access to over 10,000 cut files, a thousand plus fonts, and so much training. You seriously get 12,000 plus crafty friends right at your fingertips to network with and chat with all about your Cricut machine and so many amazing projects. Don't forget to click over and check out this next video, because I know you'll find it helpful, and I can't wait to see you in the next video. Thanks for watching. Bye, guys.