The best thing for DIY crafters is that we can always rely on our Cricut to create art. It’s the more cost-effective alternative to, say, buying paintings. You can customize everything to match your preference. Today I want to break down the best way to make art with a Cricut so you can get great DIY creations on your walls too!
Some of Drizy Studio‘s products featured in this post are free. So, if you’re new to Cricut artmaking we’ll assist you on your first attempt. Happy crafting!
Whether or not you’re making your own design, a shadow box is considered one of the most eye-catching art products.
There are three key elements in a shadow box. From front to back, they are frames, focal point, and background. The simplest shadow box design is usually two layers of frames with a single focal point layer and a solid, uncut background layer.
Originally, you could craft a shadow box by hand from designing to cutting, but now the Cricut machine enables us to cut even more complex and detailed components of the shadow box.
You have the option of creating SVG cut files through Cricut Design Space, Adobe Illustrator, or others. Whichever works best for you.
In this Camping Shadow Box we designed, the focal point are the tent and bonfire, the frames the circular frame, the ground, bush, string lights, and the background is the forest, mountain, and moon. With 10 layers, there is a lot of depth in this template.
You will need a frame which you can either buy or make. You can opt for all-white layers but giving each layer a different color can make a striking difference. Also, if you’re making it all white, you almost always need a light source to just see the design.
Leave room between each layer to boost the 3D effect. It’s nice to keep a stock of foam squares and foam strips.
Make use of the Cricut Foil Transfer Tool. This Cricut accessory works on most materials, you can check the list of suggested materials here.
Foil transfer sheets come in a variety of colors, but gold and silver are the most popular ones. They are thin and quite flimsy. You want to make sure all sides are taped down and no lifting is visible. Otherwise, it can get dragged and ripped.
How it works is basically coating material you put underneath the foil sheet by pressure. Remember though, the Cricut Foil Transfer Tool only foils lines and does not fill in solid areas with metallic coating. So, choose a single-line design appropriate for it.
See our design of Butterflies in a Jar for example. If you want to make it in gold or silver color, pick a darker-colored material. Simply print, frame, and your art product is ready to display.
For this art product, you will need an uncoated wooden board, wood burn gel or Scorch Marker, and heat gun.
To make it, we need a vinyl stencil. Here are the steps:
Tip: Keep moving the heat gun. Staying in one spot can burn wood that is not coated with gel. Also, more exposure to heat will turn the design darker.
Always be cautious whenever using a heat gun. Do it outside of your house because it creates smoke.
To make a wood burn gel, mix 8 tbsp of food thickener, 1 tbsp of ammonium chloride, and half a cup of warm water.
I’d say this is a lovely art product for kitchen walls. You can use a spare cutting wood you don’t use. It also suits a restaurant, bakery, and farmhouse.
We have SVG designs meant for this Cricut project. They are cooking and baking elements with split design for custom text. And they are free! Just click here and here.
When making any Cricut craft, there are parts you keep and parts you throw out even though both of them make the shape. This is a rather simple tip of making a design turn into a beautiful art product. Make use of metallic cardstocks, I love the use of glitter gold or silver cardstock.
I’ll be using this Flower Papercut as an example. Import the file in Cricut Design Space, add a frame in any shape you want, I usually do a square, and slice the objects. You will cut it three times. One gold, one silver, and one “blank”. You can use any cardstock you have on hand for the blank.
Once the cuts are ready, time to assemble. I’m calling parts of this design: frame, flower, and filler. To assemble it:
Now you have two designs. Pop it into a frame and your art product is done.
This technique can be used on other designs. The color combination for it is also endless, you can incorporate patterned paper, non-metallic cardstocks, and more!
Intricate designs are beautiful and high in artistic value, but they can be pretty nifty to cut. Sometimes during the process your Cricut fails to cut or there are rips in places. The best advice I can give you is to ensure that you are using a sharp blade.
Then there are ways you can maximize your sharp blade. You want to keep it clean. It’s as simple as running the blade through aluminum foil. Scrunch up a sheet of aluminum foil and poke it with the blade a few times. Do this every time you finish cutting.
Adjust cutting pressure as needed. If you see rips in your cardstocks, that might be because the blade is putting too much pressure while running. Sometimes less pressure is better.
This next suggestion is in tandem with pressure: speed. Go slow. If your machine provides the “Fast” option, you want to turn it off. You can always turn it on again for simpler designs.
Weed your finished cuts carefully. Usually, you pick up the tiny little pieces one-by-one using a weeding tool. But it becomes too much of a task if you have dozens of tiny little pieces.
Take our Floral Butterfly Heart and Floral Pumpkin Set for example. There are a lot of pieces you don’t need. For this you can make use of transfer tape. Cut a piece of transfer tape, stick it on your finished cut, and lift. Do it a couple of times until the design is clean.
However, that method doesn’t work on lines that are not connected like block letters. For this type of design. Keep a monitor or phone or print of the design with you. Check which to weed and which to leave behind.
Negative space is known for strong, memorable imagery with an element of surprise. Sometimes even creating a story in itself. Negative space is an excellent art product we can produce using Cricut.
See our slightly different take on negative space application – Howling Wolf Sunset. In place of interlocking design between positive space and negative space. We fill up a “space” with smaller, detailed designs.
This next idea is for you who love drawing or lettering but not digitally.
You can take a photo or scan your work. If you’re using photos, minimize the appearance of shadow. You can do so by taking the photo vertically. I’d usually edit the exposure and contrast so it looks more distinguishable.
Import to Cricut Design Space on your phone or computer. You will have to choose the complexity of your image. Remove background and erase any dots or shadows if needed. Then pick “Save as a Cut Image”. You can now cut this SVG file with your Cricut machine.
Although, this trick is not limited to artistic design. You can keep any doodles or meaningful messages someone gave to you.
I personally think this is a nice option for journaling and scrapbooking.
And that’s a wrap of 7 Ways of Making DIY Cricut Projects That Are High in Artistic Value. It’s so much fun and opens you up for so many different amazing craft possibilities – especially for all those custom projects you can make for friends and family or to sell in your very own craft business!
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