“Lincoln” Name Art

Thank you, Cricut, for helping me out with this project! It’s theoretically a simple one if you need a quick gift. (I say “theoretically” because you know these things never go as planned! But this one actually went pretty smoothly because I’ve been trying to learn my lesson and plan ahead.) :)

I used my Cricut to cut Lincoln’s name, placed it on some primary-colored background paper, and framed the whole thing! Cute name art for Lincoln’s nursery.

When I make name art like this, the frame is almost always bigger than the paper I have to use as a background. In this case, the frame was roughly 11”x16” (or whatever size Ikea makes their frames) and the biggest paper I had was 12”x12”.  To make the background look purposeful and designed, I sort of cut up and pieced the paper back together in a new pattern (like quilting!).

I cut the letters out with my Gypsy and Cricut.

I used the font on A Child’s Year. I love that it’s got an old school-book feel to it.  I also added a kitten from ZooBalloo. :)

One of the things I struggle with most when doing fun projects like this is making sure there’s enough contrast between the background and foreground, so I definitely try to test as much as I can (with dry-runs) before I start gluing things down!

I ended up using a white paint marker to draw on some “stitching” lines on the letters, just for fun.

Speaking of glue, these are the two I use the most, and I’m pretty happy with them. Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive and Zig 2-Way Glue.

Then I just added the kitten, popped the artwork in an Ikea Ribba frame, and voila!

A couple of tips when using your Cricut:  (…that I did not follow when I made Lincoln’s alphabet bunting, leading to a less than stellar crafting experience.)

1.) Use a new mat and a new blade.  I know you don’t want to change these things out, and that they cost money, but trust me, it’s so worth doing. Cuts come out so much cleaner when the mat is nice and sticky and the blade is nice and sharp. (This is especially true for fabric, thick paper, and delicate paper.)

2.) Make notes as you use different materials.  There are a several different “cheat sheets” out there for cutting settings on your Cricut (I like this one and this one), but everyone is different, so it’s so helpful to make notes for yourself. I have a sticky note/label on my Cricut with settings for cardstock, fabric, regular paper, etc. (This is especially helpful when cutting different kinds of fabric! And something I didn’t do/wasn’t doing when I was making the bunting!)

3.) Size matters! The Cricut can cut just about anything, but shapes with more intricate details definitely cut out better at larger sizes. When I was doing the bunting, part of my problem was that I was trying to cut out some relatively complicated shapes in a small size and in fabric and without a new blade/mat combo. Just disaster! :) With this project, I knew I wanted to keep everything simple and large and it went very smoothly. :)

If you decide to try a cute gift-project like this, have fun! Share the details with me!