Hello and welcome back to the craft room and today’s Cricut Vinyl Happy Birthday Card post. Since purchasing my Cricut Explore Air 2 back in March, I have joined a few Cricut Facebook groups. Every now and again I will see a post asking how to apply Cricut vinyl to the front of a card. Everyone seems to be concerned about the transfer tape ruining their card front. This past weekend while playing around with some Christmas ornament ideas, I thought I would find out how the transfer tape I own would work on card stock. Let me show you what I found out.
Supplies
To answer the question “will transfer tape ruin my card front” I experimented with the supplies I had on hand. Since I was already working with Removable Cricut Vinyl, I decided this would be the place to start. My transfer tape of choice, and the only one I’ve been able to get to work, is the Medium Tack Transfer Tape from 143vinyl. I absolutely love this stuff! Also from 143vinyl, is my favorite Pin Pen Weeding Tool.
I found three really pretty floral images on Cricut Design Space created by EliArt Studio. While all of them are beautiful I chose the image on the left for my test run. In Design Space I flipped the image vertically and resized it to fit onto an A2 size card. To keep everything in proportion I also added the Happy Birthday sentiment with the font Grace Day.
Prepping the Vinyl Image
Let’s get this party started! The first step, once the image is cut, is to weed out the extra vinyl. This can be a little tricky as permanent and removable vinyl will sick to itself. Care should also be taken around any fancy swirls and the dot on the letter “i”.
To weed out the inner portion of the flower and the letters I use my Pin Pen Weeding Tool. This is such a handy piece of equipment. Inside the chunky pen case is a sharp stainless steel pin. Holding it at a 45 degree angle, gently pick at the vinyl you want removed.
Next, add a piece of the Medium Tack Transfer Tape to your vinyl image. The best technique is to hold the piece of tape with both hands, so that it looks like a taco. Line this up with the center of your image and lay the center of the transfer tape down. Slowly roll the tape down on both sides, doing your best to avoid bubbles. With the flat edge of a scraper tool or credit card, burnish the tape down onto the image. Do this on the front and back to ensure a proper adhesion.
To remove the vinyl backing from your image, slowly peel the backing paper from the transfer tape. This can be a tedious job as you need to make sure your entire image is left on the transfer tape. If you see a portion of the vinyl left on the backing paper, simply lay it back into place and burnish it with your finger or scraper tool. Once your entire image is off the backing paper, it is time to move to the card stock.
Applying Vinyl to Card Stock
Probably the most difficult part of working with vinyl is applying it to your surface. When working with paper, you often have a moment or two to fiddle with the placement before the adhesive is down for good. With vinyl, that is NOT the case. In my short experience with it, when it’s down, it’s down for good. There is a handy placement tool that works like a charm; parchment paper. I know; how can it possibly work? Well let me explain. The parchment paper is translucent so you can see your project underneath it. When working with the parchment paper, line it up on top of your project leaving a small amount of space for the transfer tape to stick to.
Now line up your vinyl image on top of your project. You can place it down onto the parchment paper if you like because it will not stick! When the placement is correct and you are happy with how it looks, press your transfer tape to the exposed area of your card stock. This is now your hinge. It will allow you to lift up the design, remove the parchment paper and slowly lower your transfer tape to the card stock.
As always, make sure you burnish your design to the card stock. As you can see in the image above, I used my large Cricut scraper. I wanted to make sure it was attached, and it was also a test to see how much pressure would be too much pressure. Then came the moment of truth; would the transfer tape ruin the card stock?? Starting from a corner, I gently peeled it back to reveal a beautiful card panel!
Cricut Vinyl Happy Birthday Card
The Finishing Touch
Talk about being a happy camper! Of course I had to also add some color to the flower, so out came the Copic Markers. On this panel I added RV66 and RV63. I added the darker color to the outside of the petal thinking it would be a fun gradient from the darker wine colored vinyl.
My original Cricut Vinyl Happy Birthday Card test panel turned out just as beautiful, I just didn’t take any photos of the process for you. The photos below show the image I used to create a birthday card for my cousin. I started with a piece of cream colored Recollections 110lb card stock. The vinyl is the same wine color but I chose a different color combination for the Copic markers. I started with the darker R05, adding it in flicking motions from the center of the flower out. The flower was then filled in with the lighter R02 shade.
To finish the card I added a mirror gold card stock mat before placing it onto the card base.
I could not be happier with how these two Cricut Vinyl Happy Birthday Card panels turned out! This truly opens a whole new card making world for me. The design possibilities are now endless. My cousin absolutely loved her card. I have another cousin whose birthday is this coming week that will be receiving the second card.
Have you ever worked with vinyl before? If you have, did you try it with card stock at any point? What did you think of the process and final results? Let me know in the comments below. Until then, have a fantastic week and I will see you in the craft room again real soon!
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