*This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. The post contains affiliate links.
**INCLUDED IN THE POST IS A STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL ON HOW TO USE YOUR EXPLORE AIR 2 MACHINE TO CREATE AN OVERSIZED FALL SIGN .
Cricut’s Explore Air 2 Machine has so many capabilities to transform your creative ideas into a reality!! This machine will take your crafting and creating to a whole new level giving you the ability to cut over 100 materials! It’s seriously amazing and so fun to use.
There are so many things I love about the Cricut Explore Air 2 Machine. Today I’ll be sharing my top 5 reasons why I just absolutely love this machine along with a fun step by step tutorial for an oversized 3’x3′ fall home decor sign made with the Cricut Explore Air 2 Machine.
TOP 5 REASONS I LOVE MY CRICUT EXPLORE AIR 2 MACHINE
1. The ability to design and create custom projects. This machine has the most incredible technology and design program to allow you to cut and draw almost anything you can think of. Cricut’s easy to use software is user friendly and very easy to use so that you can get to creating almost immediately!
The Cricut Explore Air 2 has 2 clamps, A & B. The A clamp holds your pens and scoring tools. These tools help to create custom high quality finished projects. The B clamp holds your blades. There are a variety of blades that can be used in the Cricut Explore Air 2 Machine. Fine point, Deep Cut, and the Fabric blade.
2. User friendly and easy to use. The machine itself is very easy to operate. You will create your project in Cricut Design Space and then send it to be cut on the machine. The arrow flashes, you load the mat. The C flashes, you start cutting the project. The arrow flashes again, you unload the mat. The program will tell you when and which tool is needed for the project and type of material you are using. If you are using the scoring tool or the pen for your project, the machine will stop and let you load those tools when needed and then resume cutting or writing the project. You can also easily pause the machine using the pause button. This would be used if you think there may be an issue and want to cancel the project and unload the material. The program will alert you on your computer if there are any problems occuring and also the progress of the cutting as it goes.
3. The Smart Dial. The Cricut Explore Air 2 has a smart dial. This allows you to quickly choose the type of material you are using for your project. Simply turn the dial according to the material and the machine will recognize that and skip that step of choosing the material on the computer! You can then load your material and get cutting immediately. The dial also gives you the option to make a custom material choice by choosing custom on the dial. The Cricut Explore Air 2 has the capability of cutting over 100 material types. Those cannot all fit onto the smart dial so you would then choose that material type on the computer and proceed to cut your project.
I love that the smart dial makes things quick and easy to get a project started and takes out a step of choosing the material on the computer. Since I mostly use the materials that are on the smart dial, this makes for a really great feature that I utilize most of the time.
4. Fast cut mode. The Cricut Explore Air 2 Machine is the only machine in the Explore family that has the fast cut mode. This will cut down on wait time and your project will be done much faster. This feature is great to use for most projects. If your using a questionable fabric or material. This feature may not be the best but for most cases with cardstock, vinyl, iron on this fast mode option is great and will save you time!
5. High quality and professional end results. The Explore Air 2 machine really transformed the way that I craft and the happiness I have of the end product. To be able to create something with such high professional quality that I could even sell it is amazing and makes me want to make even more! From the sign that we will make below to shirts, hats, home decor, holiday decor, costumes, cards, sewing projects, this machine can cut it all and make your vision come to life.
Let’s make a fun, fall, home decor sign and see how the Cricut Explore Air 2 machine works.
FALL SIGN
Did you know that you can cut bigger than the 12×24 mat?? yep it’s possible to make a large sign like this on a Cricut Explore Air 2. These oversized frames are so fun to make for every season and make a big statement! below you will get step by step instructions and a video to help demonstrate application using the hinge method to help keep your letters straight after placement.
SUPPLIES NEEDED -CLICK LINKS BELOW TO PURCHASE!
- Cricut Explore Air 2 Machine
- Cricut standard grip 12×24 cricut mat
- Cricut paper trimmer
- 2 Cricut premium vinyl, suntan
- Cricut transfer tape
- Cricut Scissors
- Cricut large scraper
- 2- 1x2x8ft premium spf furring strip- found at home depot or lowes
- 1 can minwax finish, penetrating stain, honey
- rubber gloves
- lint free cloth
- plastic drop cloth
- white paint
- paint rolling brush
- 36″x36″ piece of plywood
- titebond wood glue
- 12 clamps
Creating the frame-
At the Hardware store you can have them cut your wood for you. Cut the plywood 36″x36″ and the frame pieces, 2-36.25″ and 2- 35″ pieces.
Stain the frame pieces. Using the gloves so you don’t stain your hands. You don’t need a ton of stain just a little on your cloth. Brush it on all pieces and let dry.
Paint the board white using the roller brush. When thats dry, apply the wood glue onto the bottom of the frame pieces. place on board and secure with the clamps. 3 clamps on each side since the frame is so large you don’t want it to sag in the middle
Continue around the other sides. 2 of your boards are smaller and fit inside the longer pieces. Let dry and then remove clamps.
It’s that easy! these are so fun to make and you can make any size for an occasion!
Designing the vinyl-
DESIGN SPACE LINK –https://design.cricut.com/#/design/178651918
In Cricut design space create a 36″x36″ square to use as a template to know how big to make your letters.
Add text to your canvas. I used SKetchbook for cursive and Scotch roman STD roman. Both are Cricut fonts in the program.
Once you have all your text added adjust the size. Group each line together. then see how long each line is. ungroup and select as many letters as you can up to 23.5 inches. You also can do several rows together too just keep dimensions to 11.5×23.5 fro example, i could only fit, EVERY YE on one mat so while the letters are ungrouped select as many as you can fit and attach them together.
Continue for all the lines. keep as many letters and lines and you can together to help when your putting int onto the board.
Your mats will end up looking like this.
Your rolls are 12×48 so you will need 1.5 rolls to complete this project.
Send the Vinyl to the Explore Air 2, Premium vinyl setting.
Place the vinyl onto the 12×24 mat. a little trick with getting it out of the tube is to twist it tighter to make the roll smaller inside and then it will come off the sides. Place in machine and cut. Remove mat and turn upside down. Peel the mat away from the vinyl so it doesn’t bubble. Using the paper trimmer, cut off the extra so you have a nice straight line to place it back on your mat.
Continue for all 3 mats needed. Weed each page and apply the transfer tape. Cut a piece of transfer tape to size. Peel back one short side and match up onto weeded sheet. slide the roll back until the transfer tape is covered and use the scraper to rub so the vinyl sticks to the transfer tape.
Time to apply it onto the board. Place the vinyl onto the board. Using a ruler measure the top and bottom and tape those pieces down so they match. make sure the sides are also even and tape all pieces down and the extra sides that didn’t fit too.
Once they are all in place and look good. Run a long piece of tape all the way down the center or the frame. This will hold all those rows in place.
See the video below. How to use the hinge method to apply one side of the vinyl at a time to keep them in place and straight.
That is how you cut and apply larger vinyl beyond the 12×24 mats!!! Thanks so much for joining me today! The explore Air 2 machine is so amazing and can help you create things both on a large and small scale! I absolutely love this machine and I highly recommend it! Please leave any questions below.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.
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