This week's Cricut brag post

Hi friends.  I think this might be my last Cricut post for a while.  I've made all the projects that I was feeling a burning desire to create (except one, but I need a break from that one), and I'm definitely needing a break from the library Cricut scene.  The technology specialist told me that he was hoping to get the Cricut set up in a permanent location, and that would definitely be a good idea.  I don't want to talk to the librarians (who recognize me as the Cricut lady now), transport the machine, set everything up, worry about making too much noise, break everything down, etc. If it was already in place, I would get to skip everything except the fun part--the cutting. Which is not to say that I will never use the library machine again--I just need to refrain for a while.

Also, summer.  My kids might want me to do things with them.  Or at least drive them places.

Anyway, here's what I made this week.

 This is white vinyl (Oracal 651) on a stained (Minwax Jacobean) pine board.  This is going to be part of our new gallery wall, when we get around to putting it up.  It's a sweet reminder of a running sorta-joke between AKD and me.

This is white vinyl (Oracal 651) in a 9" square Dollar Tree frame.  Either Hubby (if I can convince him to) or I will make a new frame out of pallet wood (which will require table saw use, so I'm hoping Hubby or one of the boys will agree, at least to ripping the boards for me), and this will also be going on our gallery wall.  I love how the wall color is visible through the frame.

I can't show you this project, because it's a gift for a friend and she hasn't seen it yet, but this is white vinyl (Oracal 651) on a stained (Minwax Jacobean) pallet (oak?) board.  I just love how it turned out, and I hope she does, too.  This is part of one of my favorite Bible verses, and I think one of hers, too.

And then, there's this project.

I love this project so much, but it continues to vex me.  This time the background paint stayed in place, and the letters also stayed for the most part, but the mod podge, which I used in an attempt to keep the background intact, peeled horribly.  It looks great from a distance, but up close and personal, it looks pretty ugly.  And that chicken--it ended up looking more like a goose!

This is the project from which I need a break.  I've decided that when I do pick it up again, I'm just going to cut and apply the vinyl instead of using a stencil.  I'm not sure yet how I'm going to prepare the board.  I still want a thin board with a white faux shiplap background with gray and blue letters.  AKD suggested using spray paint, so maybe I'll try that.  Or maybe Hubby can find some skinny plywood for me--the wood grain might hold the paint better than MDF.  Or maybe I'll decide that what I really want is a wood stain with white and blue letters.

I am also working on a t-shirt design for a friend, and another Bible verse stencil, but those are both now, and will remain, in the design stage, for a (long) while.  That, at least, I can do at home, with minimal human interaction.

So that's it, for now.