The Bugbytes

I am obsessed with vinyl right now.  I am also obsessed with Pinterest!!!  Hi, Lori Apgar here over at the Bug Bytes with my latest project.  I have a purple and green bedroom (good thing my husband doesn't mind) and wanted to fill up a couple of blank walls.  I bought some 12x12 scrapbook page frames from Michaels and grabbed my Gypsy to get started!

I used Sophisticated for the font.  The "&" is sized at 6.29 inches and the rest are sized at 1.71 inches.  I welded the "U & M" together.

When I cut vinyl on my Cricut Expression, I set my machine at 3-3-3, Pressure, Speed and Blade Depth.  I also use a new blade and a sticky mat or I tape the edges of my vinyl to the mat.  I use my dental tool to weed away the extra vinyl and use Clear Contact Paper to transfer the image.  Clear Contact Paper is very sticky so it is important to dirty it up by sticking it on your jeans before using it.  You can also reuse the same piece a couple of times.

I did not de-stick mine enough and had some trouble so I did not get any photos of that step.

I purchased some of these frames from Michaels.  They are normally $9.99 but they were on sale for $4.99.  Some weeks they have an additional 25% off coupon for frames and shadow boxes.  I adhered the vinyl to the glass.

I took out the back and hot glued the glass to the frame.

It was ready to hang in my bedroom.

    The next piece I made has our family birth dates on it, oldest to youngest - not prison numbers lol!  We also won't discuss who is the oldest in our family ;]

 

I used Hannah Montana for the font and sized the numbers to 1.41 inches.  I set my X coordinate to 1.00 to line the left sides up.  I centered the middle birthdate so my Y coordinate is at 5.5.  I eyeballed the rest.  The   total number of family members will determine the size of your numbers.  You could also use a rectangular sized frame if it fits better.

I usually order my vinyl from Marilyn at www.VinylSuperStore.com  because her vinyl is a great price and you can pick your colors.  The more you buy, the better the deal.  I had used up all of my black vinyl and was too impatient to wait.  I went to Hobby Lobby and thought I got a good deal on 3 sheets of 12x36 vinyl (not Cricut vinyl) for $9.99 less my 40% coupon.  As you can see here, even after I taped the edges the vinyl bubbled in the center.  It also did not cling as well as the Oracle vinyl I usually use.

Again, I did not take many photos as I was fighting with the weeding process here.  I was able to salvage all but one "1".

I re-cut another "1" and was able to trim just enough off of the end of my sheet of vinyl.

I used the extra pieces (above) to line up the new "1" on the paper backing.  Pretty neat trick!

I used the same Clear Contact Paper and had much better luck this time transferring the numbers to the glass.

I put this one in our bedroom also.

I hope I have inspired you to play with some vinyl!!  Thank you Pam for having me over to play today!