Over the past several weeks, I've been working on a big project in my spare time--decorating potholders for my local Senior Assisted Living community.  This facility has 40 apartments that allow elderly, low-income residents to live independently.  So, after getting all my potholders done, I realized that I just HAD to make them each a card too. 😊

Last week, I was able to deliver them. My goal was to hang them on their doors and slip out without being seen with the idea that this might create some fun, intrigue for them. I was caught red-handed by a couple of residents, and they were quite excited and appreciative of the gift. They seemed genuinely surprised that my family (strangers to them) wanted to do this. I’m hoping I brightened their day and gave the community something fun to chat about.  

I used my Cricut Maker 3; Autopress; Cricut Glitter and Smart Iron-on (various colors); and potholders (Amazon).  My cards came together quite quickly because I used the 2x2 card mat and the S40 Insert Card Kits (Royal Flush Sampler, Glitz and Glam Sampler). For the inside of my cards, I just used my Word processing program to create the simple insert. If you'd like to check out the Cricut line of products.  Here is a link.  

For the potholders I did do some “tweaking” to the Access images, so here is the Design Space Project Link to my project if you’re interested in recreating them.

 My husband was in the military for almost 40 years and we moved 19 times! When he retired our son had just turned 17 and had experienced 9 moves. I still remember in all those moves that it would take a while before our new place would feel like “home” for each of us. Several years before my husband retired, I ran across this saying that seemed to fit our family perfectly, and what our home—no matter where it was or for how long it was—means to us. So, I would cut this phrase out of removable vinyl and place it somewhere prominent in each of our “temporary” homes. To me, it was a way to give some consistency and permanence through all those moves. We have now been living in our “forever” home for almost five years—that’s a record for us! When we moved in, our sign was one of the first decorations to go up. We recently repainted, so our sign was missing for quite a few months while the paint cured. It’s now back in its proper place.

This project is quite large (47” wide) and it was so much easier this time because I used my Maker 3 and the Smart Materials. I really appreciate how great the Smart Materials cut and weed and most importantly that I was able to cut it all in one piece and didn’t have to be concerned with applying that arched text in pieces.

I organize a monthly Ladies Bunco Night in my neighborhood, and recently was inspired by a friend's koozies and decided that this would be a fun, surprise gift for my bunco ladies this month.

Although I could have made these with my EasyPress, I wanted to use my new Autopress (gifted to me by Cricut). I love how easy it is to use and that I don’t have to “manhandle” closing it; I don’t have to be concerned with pressure; and I don’t have to stand over it continuously. I also appreciate the look of the Autopress—it’s a heavy-duty machine, but doesn’t look like some industrial, mechanical piece of equipment—it’s classy looking. Lastly, I definitely like that it has a built-in fan system that keeps the machine from getting too hot to touch.

I think I mentioned before, I am more of a paper crafter, and that’s my comfort zone. However, having the Autopress is helping me to step outside of my comfort zone and think about what other kinds of projects I really can do, and I love that. I’m thinking my next Autopress project may just be something with wood—another first for me.

Long before, there was ever any mention of a holiday to celebrate Son’s Day, my family started celebrating it to honor our son, Jacob. To be honest, it came about when Jacob was about 10 years old, and he asked us why we celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, but we don’t have a day to celebrate him. So, we created Son’s Day and selected the first Sunday in July for our special holiday, and our family has been celebrating it ever since.

I recently saw this cool card design by Pam Gordon in the Cricut Design Space Community and thought it would be the perfect card for Son’s Day 2022. Below is a link to my version of Pam’s card. I created my own title, with two offsets (white and black) and created a sentiment for inside the card as well. Sometimes, I like to use adhesive vinyl for my sentiments—that’s what I did with this card.  Son's Day 2022 Card

I really appreciate the fact that when I create a project based on a fellow crafter’s project, Design Space will link to the original project as well. Thanks, again, Pam for sharing your creativity and project with our community.

I recently finished up my biggest iron-on project ever---48 pot holders!  Close to my home is a Senior Assisted Living community.  It provides local seniors a way to maintain their independence in a supervised and safe environment in their own one-bedroom apartment.  I wanted to make each of them a small gift to brighten their day and decided that a kitchen pot holder would be ideal.  Cricut recently gave me the Cricut Autopress and was excited to use it for this project.  

All images are from Cricut Access and here is a link to my project, if you'd like to make it.  My Cricut Project.  I used all Cricut Iron-On products (everyday, Smart) for project.

Now that I’ve completed my project, I thought I would share some of my experiences.  It was so easy for me to multi-task, because of the self-opening feature, I didn’t have to stand over my press during press time, and because I purchased extra mats, I was able to prep my next set—so I saved some serious time—and that’s a valuable commodity.

I felt very comfortable working around my Autopress.  I wasn’t concerned with accidentally bumping the heat plate because of the wide opening.  Speaking of the opening, I value how easy it is to close as well—it really is a two-finger operation.  I also like that I don’t have to think about pressure at all.   Lastly, I’m personally grateful the Control Pod display is easy to read and the dials make it simple to set.

I think the Autopress is like my other Cricut products—it helps me to expand my creativity, and that’s a priceless benefit.  I’m already thinking about the next large project I can do with this machine!

If you’re a small business owner, or thinking of starting a business I would definitely check out the Autopress. As a hobbyist, it may or may not be a good fit for you—but don’t worry Cricut offers a variety of heat presses that can and will meet your needs.   They’ve also put together this great resource to help you decide.  Which Press Is Right For You?