Hello, fellow crafty friends! It’s almost Father’s Day…are you ready? I still have a few presents to buy for my husband and my father-in-law, but I am getting a head start on making their Father’s Day cards. I wanted to share with you how I made this card for my husband, Alex, for our son to give to him. This card uses the Print Then Cut feature on Cricut Design Space, which is something I use often when I’m making greeting cards. I absolutely love how easy it is to add an image to projects, and it is a great way to use image files with your crafts. (You can find FREE graphics from Creative Fabrica here for all your project needs!)
Print Then Cut allows you to print out an image, and then load the printed sheet of paper, printable vinyl, or sticker paper into your Cricut, where the Cricut will cut it out for you. This is a great way to make stickers, or to cut out custom images with printable heat transfer vinyl. Print Then Cut is available on both the Cricut Explore family of machines, as well as the Cricut Maker. (At this time, the Cricut Joy does not support Print Then Cut.) You will want to make sure you are also using a device to access Design Space that supports Print Then Cut, like a laptop or desktop computer, or an iPad with Design Space for Apple. Currently, Android smartphones and tablets do not have the ability to use Print Then Cut.
Supplies
To make this card, you’ll need:
- a Cricut Explore, Explore II or Cricut Maker
- A printer & ink
- Design Space on a device that supports Print Then Cut.
- Cardstock of your choice
- Paper craft glue & permanent tape runner, or the paper glue of your choice.
- The Best Dad Ever graphic, free on Creative Fabrica. You can find it here.
The first thing you’ll want to do is make sure that you have your materials ready. For this project, I used a blue striped cardstock for the base of the card, white cardstock for the Print Then Cut rectangle on the front, and blue & yellow cardstocks for the ties. I like to use 110lb weight cardstock, but you can use whatever weight you have available. For glue, I have Elmer’s paper craft glue gel and a Tombow permanent tape runner. I find the tape runner to be easier when you’re covering large areas, like the back of the rectangle we’ll be gluing to the card base.
Making the Card
There are plenty of blank card bases available through Cricut Access, but I chose to make my own. I wanted a 5×7 inches card for this project, so on Design Space, I created a white rectangle that measured 10 inches wide and 7 inches tall (keeping in mind that it will be 5×7 when folded in half). I added a score line to the center and made sure that I attached the rectangle and the score line together, using the Attach button.
Then, I added another white rectangle – this is the one that we will be adding our graphic to. This rectangle is roughly 4×6 inches. I uploaded the Best Dad Ever graphic to Design Space, saving it as a Print Then Cut design. After I added it to my project canvas, I rotated it so it would be sideways on the card, since I wanted a landscape format for my card.
Then, I selected both the graphic and the white 4×6 rectangle, and clicked “Flatten” under the actions, which flattens the two items into one, making it perfect for printing.
I also picked a tie design from the images tab and added two of them to the screen – one in blue, one in yellow. The tie image I used is one I had purchased previously, but there are other tie images available on Design Space, as well as on Creative Fabrica. (You can find tie SVG files here.) I made my tie cut outs about 2 inches long, so they’d fit on either side of the Best Day Ever graphic once I printed it.
Now, it’s time to make it! Click the “Make It” button on Design Space to get started and follow the prompts on the screen. Cutting out the card base is easy; you’ll need your cardstock, a Cricut mat, a scoring tool and your Cricut. I chose to use the Scoring Stylus, but the Scoring Wheels work great, too.
When it’s time to Print Then Cut, you’ll want to send the image to your printer. After it prints, you’ll place it on the mat. The Cricut will scan the black lines around the image to make sure that it’s lined up properly before it will begin cutting. After this, cut out your ties and get ready to assemble your card!
Fold your card base in half, and attach the Best Dad Ever printed rectangle onto the card. I like to use a permanent tape runner to attach this, and use the paper craft glue for smaller items, like attaching the ties – which is what you’ll do next. I attached the tie cut outs with paper craft glue on either side of the Best Dad Ever graphic. Make sure to let your card dry before you sign it and place it in an envelope.
Other Options for Your Card
I chose to add tie cut outs to this card, but you could add any cut out that you want and tailor it to the interests of the father figure you’re giving it to. For instance, if I had made this card for my father-in-law, I would have cut out golf clubs and golf balls to add to either side. You could also skip flipping the Best Dad Ever image sideways and stick with a portrait card. It’s a very versatile design.
What do you think? Have you made any Father’s Day plans yet? Let me know in the comments!
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