The Cricut electronic die-cut machine and the Cricut Design Studio software have opened up a world of designing possibilities for both scrapbookers and cardmakers. While most of us have plenty of tools and supplies, the one thing we can always use more of is time. To finish more projects, we have to use the time we are able to find to the fullest. Try these three ways to maximize your time spent creating.
1. Keep your tools in great shape, especially the machine itself, blade, and mat.
By taking a few extra minutes to keep your machine in good condition you will save time and money in the end. The two biggest culprits are the blade and the cutting mat. Change your blade when it starts to dull so that you keep from wasting paper with torn or not-so-great cuts and the time it takes to your images again. If you try to stretch out the use of your mat too long the papers will start to move and slide when the machine cuts. It's more than worth it to do things right the first time.
2. Become familiar with the people who can help you. If you get to know the resources available to help you, it will save time when you get stuck using the machine and software. The primary resource in my opinion is the Cricut message boards. There are some great people on there who are happy to answer any question you have and help with ideas.
3. Don't reinvent the wheel. Unless you just enjoy designing and playing with the software, there's no reason to recreate a file someone else has already made. There are numerous blogs and sites where other Cricut users share the projects and the corresponding files they have designed.
Don't spend precious time creating cuttings from scratch when others have kindly put them on the internet for you to use. Even if you only use the base of the design as a starting point for adding your own additions, you will still save a lot of time not trying to figure out how to design the file from the beginning. One thing to remember is to give credit to the original designer, even if you adapt the file in one way or another.
Spend a little extra time up front by keeping your tools in tip-top shape, get to know where to find help, and use other people's designs when you can. If you do, when you sit down to work on a project you may just find that you have more time to actually complete it than you thought.
1. Keep your tools in great shape, especially the machine itself, blade, and mat.
By taking a few extra minutes to keep your machine in good condition you will save time and money in the end. The two biggest culprits are the blade and the cutting mat. Change your blade when it starts to dull so that you keep from wasting paper with torn or not-so-great cuts and the time it takes to your images again. If you try to stretch out the use of your mat too long the papers will start to move and slide when the machine cuts. It's more than worth it to do things right the first time.
2. Become familiar with the people who can help you. If you get to know the resources available to help you, it will save time when you get stuck using the machine and software. The primary resource in my opinion is the Cricut message boards. There are some great people on there who are happy to answer any question you have and help with ideas.
3. Don't reinvent the wheel. Unless you just enjoy designing and playing with the software, there's no reason to recreate a file someone else has already made. There are numerous blogs and sites where other Cricut users share the projects and the corresponding files they have designed.
Don't spend precious time creating cuttings from scratch when others have kindly put them on the internet for you to use. Even if you only use the base of the design as a starting point for adding your own additions, you will still save a lot of time not trying to figure out how to design the file from the beginning. One thing to remember is to give credit to the original designer, even if you adapt the file in one way or another.
Spend a little extra time up front by keeping your tools in tip-top shape, get to know where to find help, and use other people's designs when you can. If you do, when you sit down to work on a project you may just find that you have more time to actually complete it than you thought.
About the Author:
Are you looking to learn the ins and outs of the Cricut Design Studio? Check out this video enhanced ebook: Cricut Design Studio: The Missing Manual. Go to the LearningTheCricut.com blog for additional Cricut help and information. Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory
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