If you’ve been down the Booktok / Bookstagram rabbit hole lately, you’ve probably seen sprayed book edges adorning bookshelves everywhere. Many of the more popular fantasy novels (looking at you, Fourth Wing and Iron Flame) have special editions with sprayed edges that people (including me!) are going crazy for.

There are edges that are simply one sprayed color or a mix of colors (most using airbrushing). And then there are more complex images that people have painted by hand or created with stencils—which is what we’re going to tackle in today’s post! You can also use this post to simply spray your edges without a stencil—just skip down to that part of the tutorial.

I grabbed my set of ACOTAR (A Court of Thorn and Roses and the subsequent books in the series) and decided to give it a try! I have a free download for this set of books below so you can make this exact project. If you have other books you’d like to see stencils for, let me know and I may add them to my shop!

Spraying book edges is definitely an intermediate project. If you’re brand new to the Cricut, this probably shouldn’t be your first project. You want to be very comfortable with using vinyl and transfer tape, as well as using spray paint, before you begin.

Even I’ll admit it was a bit nerve-wracking. These hardback books aren’t cheap! However, the results were pretty amazing and since I’ve done all five books, I’ve found the process and materials that seem to work the best.

Watch the Video

Because this is a pretty complex project, check out my full video by clicking play below! Or read on to get the full written tutorial.

What Kind of Vinyl to Use

I tested both removable and permanent vinyl for my stencil. The permanent vinyl was much harder to remove from the painted book pages. The removable vinyl peeled up easily and still had nice, crisp edges.

So I highly recommend a removable vinyl like Oracal 631 to create the stencil for your sprayed book edges.

What Supplies Do I Need to Spray Book Edges

Get everything you need to spray your book edges in my Amazon Store!

Here are the supplies I used to spray the edges of my books.

• Cricut or other electronic cutting machine
• Removable adhesive vinyl*
• Green StandardGrip mat
• Weeding hook
• Transfer tape
• Scraper
• Montana Gold Spray Paint*
  • Red: S3000 Shock Red
  • Teal: G6130 Malachite
  • Pink:
  • Blue:
  • Orange: CL2130 Shrimp Dark
• Clamps*
• Wooden blocks
• Brown paper wrapping*
• Scissors
• Painter’s tape*

* Material Notes

• Removable vinyl worked better for me than permanent. It was much easier to remove.
• Choose a satin or matte spray paint, not a glossy spray paint.
• I used quick-release clamps but you can use c-clamps as well.
• For the recycled paper you can use paper bags, but I found that the brown paper wrapping that comes inside Amazon boxes worked really well and is more flexible than paper bags.
• I used regular masking tape in my photos below, but found it actually pulled up at the inside of the covers so I used painter’s tape for the other books and it worked better.

Prep a Book for Sprayed Edges

For this project, I am spraying the edges of A Court of Mist and Fury (the second book in the A Court of Thorn and Roses series by Sarah J. Mass—I did the first book in my video above!). I chose to do the hardback editions because they are sturdier and I thought I could get the cleanest results. I have seen people do paperbacks as well, but the covers tend to ripple a bit.

Select your spray paint colors. I recommend using a satin/matte spray paint versus a glossy one—I think the ingredients in a gloss spray paint may cause the pages to stick more. Montana Gold spray paint is my favorite and it’s satin and it comes in a ton of colors so no matter what book you are spraying, there will be a color that works.

Remove the book jacket so you have only the hardback book.

Then use your recycled paper to cover the entire book. Be sure to cover and tape the front, back, and spine of the book very tightly. You don’t want paint to seep into any crevices and get on your book! I used recycled brown paper packing sheets and painter’s tape in order to do this. Do you remember covering textbooks in school? That’s sort of what this felt like!

Now, you’ll need to create a book press. I used 4″ ratcheting quick-release clamps and two pieces of scrap wood. I suggest wood rather than cardboard because it helps compress the entire book, plus it really protects your book from clamp marks. I’ve seen other people use cardboard, but I found the clamping is more successful with wood.

At first I wanted to wrap my clamps in plastic so they wouldn’t get any spray paint on them, but I got over that pretty quick. They just get a bit of overspray but as long as you’re not spraying a ton of paint into the ratcheting mechanism, I think you’re fine without covering the clamps.

Make sure to tighten your clamps as tight as you can get them. You want the book pressed together tightly and evenly so no paint leaks through the pages.

Once your book is fully clamped together, measure the length and width of your book pages. If you decide to also do a book from the ACOTAR series and use my SVG, I have created the cut file to be the correct size of the book. If you are adding your own design, be sure it is the correct size. I made my designs slightly smaller than the length and width of the pages so nothing gets cut off in the painting process.

How to Cut Your Vinyl Stencil

Let’s make the stencil you’ll use for your book! Start by opening Cricut Design Space. For this project, I’m using my ACOTAR-themed file.

To begin, create a new project in Cricut Design Space. Then click Upload in the Design Panel on the left.

You’ll be taken to the upload screen where you can navigate to the file you want to upload. If you need more help with SVG files, see my post How to Upload an SVG to Cricut Design Space.

Insert your file onto your canvas.

Hide any stencils you are not using. If you’re using my file for your ACOTAR hardcover books, there is no need to resize.

You’re ready to cut your image! Click Make It in the upper right. In the Load Mat screen, choose On Mat (unless you are using removable Smart Vinyl, then choose Without Mat). Click Confirm.

Then you’ll be taken taken to the Prepare Screen. I rotated my stencil so it cut at the top of my mat.

Once your mat looks good, click Continue. Then in the Make Screen, choose your material. In this case, I chose removable vinyl.

Insert your mat into your machine and your Cricut will cut your project!

Once your vinyl is cut, use your weeding hook to remove the excess vinyl.

Place your transfer tape on top of the vinyl. Use your scraping tool to burnish the vinyl onto the transfer tape.

Peel back the transfer tape to lift your vinyl design.

Now you’re ready to start the process of painting your book pages!

How to Spray the Edges of a Book

Now you can apply your stencil to your book pages. Carefully place the transfer tape with the design along the page edges of your book.

Use a scraping tool to press the design to the pages. You want it pressed down really well!

Now, peel back the transfer tape. The vinyl left on the book will be your stencil. I was worried it wouldn’t stick, but overall I had pretty good luck. If any of the pieces pull up, carefully place them with tweezers and make sure they are pressed into the pages well.

Be sure you’re in a well-ventilated area to spray paint. Begin with very light, even coats of spray paint. I like to spray about 6 inches away from the book and make fairly quick back and forth motions. Do this 5-6 times until you feel there’s a nice, even coat. You do NOT want to soak the pages—use more light coats vs. fewer heavy coats.

Also rotate the book and spray the top and bottom edges as well (some people stencil these too, which is an option!).

Let this first coat dry for 25-30 minutes. Take a peek at your pages and determine if you need another coat. I added a second coat for a deeper color and to be sure I got in all the crevices of the book edge. Again, use a very light hand and don’t oversaturate!

Let this second coat dry for at least 4-5 hours. You should have really nice coverage on the book edges.

Once you’re sure the paint is dry, use your weeding tool and tweezers to remove the vinyl from your pages. I did this with all five books and every time I was like oh my goodness, this is GORGEOUS! You really do get a nice crisp edge when you have your book properly clamped.

Do not fan the pages for at least 24 hours. If you separate the pages or fan them, you run the risk of the paint flaking off and looking uneven. You may have some pages that are a bit stuck together, but take care to peel them apart and your book should look just as good as it did when you first spray painted it!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial to spray book edges! Let me know if you try it out!

Print

SPRAYING BOOK EDGES USING A STENCIL

Create a custom look for any books using spray paint and a stencil! These detailed instructions will walk you through all the tips and tricks to spray book edges perfectly so you can customize your bookshelf!

Keyword Books, Stencil

Author Cori George

Equipment

• Cricut or other electronic cutting machine

Ingredients

• Removable adhesive vinyl*
• Green StandardGrip mat
• Weeding hook
• Transfer tape
• Scraper
• Montana Gold Spray Paint* Red: S3000 Shock Red – Teal: G6130 Malachite – Pink: – Blue: – Orange: CL2130 Shrimp Dark
• Clamps*
• Wooden blocks
• Brown paper wrapping*
• Scissors
• Painter's tape*
• Free ACOTAR Stencil SVG #C481

Instructions

• * Material Notes

  *Removable vinyl worked better for than permanent and it was much easier to remove.

  *Choose a satin or matte spray paint, not a glossy spray paint.

  *Used quick-release clamps but you can use c-clamps as well.

  *For the recycled paper you can use paper bags, but the brown paper wrapping that comes inside Amazon boxes worked really well and is more flexible than paper bags.

  *Can use regular masking tape but it actually pulls up at the inside of the covers, so recommend painter's tape as it works better.

  Prep a Book for Sprayed Edges

  Choose hardback editions because they are sturdier and get the cleanest results. Some people do paperbacks as well, but the covers tend to ripple a bit.

  Select your spray paint colors. Recommend using a satin/matte spray paint versus a glossy one, as the ingredients in a gloss spray paint may cause the pages to stick more. Montana Gold spray paint a favorite and it's satin and it comes in a ton of colors so no matter what book you are spraying, there will be a color that works.
• Remove the book jacket so you have only the hardback book
  
• Then use your recycled paper to cover the entire book. Be sure to cover and tape the front, back, and spine of the book very tightly. You don't want paint to seep into any crevices and get on your book! Recommend using recycled brown paper packing sheets and painter's tape in order to do this.
  
• Now, you'll need to create a book press. 4" ratcheting quick-release clamps and two pieces of scrap wood were used to do this. Wood is suggested rather than cardboard because it helps compress the entire book, plus it really protects your book from clamp marks. Other people use cardboard, but the clamping is more successful with wood.
  
• You might want to wrap the clamps in plastic so they won't get any spray paint on them, but it was not done for this project. They get a bit of overspray but as long as you're not spraying a ton of paint into the ratcheting mechanism, you're fine without covering the clamps.

  Make sure to tighten your clamps as tight as you can get them. You want the book pressed together tightly and evenly so no paint leaks through the pages.

  Once your book is fully clamped together, measure the length and width of your book pages. If you decide to also do a book from the ACOTAR series that was used for this project and use the free SVG, the cut file is the correct size of that book series. If you are adding your own design, be sure it is the correct size. The free designs are slightly smaller than the length and width of the pages so nothing gets cut off in the painting process.
• How to Cut Your Vinyl Stencil

  Let’s make the stencil you'll use for your book! Start by opening Cricut Design Space. For this project, the ACOTAR-themed file was used.

  To begin, create a new project in Cricut Design Space. Then click Upload in the Design Panel on the left.

  You’ll be taken to the upload screen where you can navigate to the file you want to upload. If you need more help with SVG files, see this post How to Upload an SVG to Cricut Design Space.

  Insert your file onto your canvas.
  
• Hide any stencils you are not using. If you're using the free file for your ACOTAR hardcover books, there is no need to resize.
  
• You're ready to cut your image! Click Make It in the upper right. In the Load Mat screen, choose On Mat (unless you are using removable Smart Vinyl, then choose Without Mat). Click Confirm.
  
• Then you'll be taken taken to the Prepare Screen. Rotate the stencil so it cuts at the top of the mat.
  
• Once your mat looks good, click Continue. Then in the Make Screen, choose your material. In this case, I chose removable vinyl.
  
• Insert your mat into your machine and your Cricut will cut your project!
  
• Once your vinyl is cut, use your weeding hook to remove the excess vinyl.
  
• Place your transfer tape on top of the vinyl. Use your scraping tool to burnish the vinyl onto the transfer tape.
  
• Peel back the transfer tape to lift your vinyl design.

  Now you're ready to start the process of painting your book pages!
  
• How to Spray the Edges of a Book

  Now apply your stencil to your book pages. Carefully place the transfer tape with the design along the page edges of your book.
  
• Use a scraping tool to press the design to the pages. You want it pressed down really well!
  
• Now, peel back the transfer tape. The vinyl left on the book will be your stencil. If any of the pieces pull up, carefully place them with tweezers and make sure they are pressed into the pages well.
  
• Be sure you're in a well-ventilated area to spray paint. Begin with very light, even coats of spray paint. Spray about 6 inches away from the book and make fairly quick back and forth motions. Do this 5-6 times until you feel there's a nice, even coat. You do NOT want to soak the pages—use more light coats vs. fewer heavy coats.

  Also rotate the book and spray the top and bottom edges as well (some people stencil these too, which is an option!).
  
• Let this first coat dry for 25-30 minutes. Take a peek at your pages and determine if you need another coat. I added a second coat for a deeper color and to be sure I got in all the crevices of the book edge. Again, use a very light hand and don't oversaturate!

  Let this second coat dry for at least 4-5 hours. You should have really nice coverage on the book edges.
  
• Once you're sure the paint is dry, use your weeding tool and tweezers to remove the vinyl from your pages. You really do get a nice crisp edge when you have your book properly clamped.
  
• Do not fan the pages for at least 24 hours. If you separate the pages or fan them, you run the risk of the paint flaking off and looking uneven. You may have some pages that are a bit stuck together, but take care to peel them apart and your book should look just as good as it did when you first spray painted it!

  GORGEOUS!
  

Notes

Spraying book edges is definitely an intermediate project. If you’re brand new to the Cricut, this probably shouldn’t be your first project. You want to be very comfortable with using vinyl and transfer tape, as well as using spray paint, before you begin.

The post How to Spray Book Edges Using a Stencil appeared first on Hey, Let's Make Stuff.

Have you seen the new Cricut Venture yet? It’s Cricut’s largest cutting machine and not only does it excel at cutting Smart Materials on a roll, it also cuts cardstock on huge mats. In today’s post I’m going to do a deep dive into cutting cardstock with Cricut Venture, including types, sizes, intricate cuts, writing, scoring and more!

Everything you could ever want to know about cutting cardstock is in this post! And if I somehow missed something, leave me a comment and I’ll update the post!

Visit my Amazon shopping list to see everything I tested in this post!

What is Cricut Venture?

Before we begin, what IS Cricut Venture? Cricut Venture is Cricut’s large-format 24″ cutting machine that launched in July of 2023. This machine is twice the size of any other Cricut machine and can a wide range of materials more quickly and more accurately than any Cricut that came before it. You can read all about it in my post The Ultimate Guide to Cricut Venture.

I thought Cricut Venture was just a vinyl cutter!

Cricut Venture is more than just a vinyl cutter! Many other 24″ cutters on the market are specifically geared toward cutting adhesive and iron on vinyl on big rolls. But Cricut Venture can also cut a ton of materials on the mat.

Think of Cricut Venture like a big Cricut Explore—if you can cut it using a Cricut Explore, you can cut it using Cricut Venture. So that includes cardstock, paper, acetate, bonded fabric, faux leather and faux suede, felt, and printable materials like printable vinyl and printable sticker paper.

This means you can make so much more than you can make using a regular vinyl cutter, including amazing cardstock projects!

What types of cardstock can Cricut Venture cut?

Cricut Venture can cut just about any type of cardstock or paper that you put on it. It tried several brands and weights I had in my studio and it cut them all perfectly, including Cricut, Bazzill, American Crafts, My Colors, and Carta Bella. It also cut several brands of scrapbook paper really well. My favorite place to buy cardstock is the 12×12 Cardstock Shop, because they carry all my favorite colors of Bazzill cardstock.

I also decided to try poster board, since that’s a material you can get in a large size. It cut it easily and quickly using the poster board setting in Cricut Design Space. I wouldn’t necessarily use poster board for delicate cuts, but that’s more to the quality of poster board than whether or not the Venture can cut it.

What sizes of cardstock can Cricut Venture cut?

Cutting large pieces of cardstock

Here’s where things get fun! You can cut absolutely enormous cardstock on Cricut Venture, including sheets up to 24″ x 28″! Cricut is the only vendor I can currently find that carries that particular size, but you can find other large format cardstock in other sizes, and my guess is that we’ll start to see some other large-format papers being carried by other brands in the size specific to Cricut mats.

Here are a few vendors with other sizes for you to check out in the meantime:

• LCI Paper
• Paperworks
• Blick

I hope to see other brands creating their own paper sized to 24″ x 28″. The Cricut cardstock works just fine, but I find the colors limited and you have to purchase most colors in variety packs. This makes it hard to do, for example, a pink ombre paper flower wall or to create giant paper stars in a wide variety of yellows and golds.

Cutting small pieces of cardstock

Just because the Venture can cut huge projects, doesn’t mean it can’t cut small projects as well. Just add a small piece of cardstock to the mat and you’re good to go.

That being said, I have smaller Cricut machines, and if I was going to make a smaller project, I would definitely reach for my Cricut Joy or Cricut Explore before breaking out my Venture.

Cutting multiple sheets of cardstock on Cricut Venture

Additionally, you can cut multiple sheets of cardstock on a single Cricut Venture mat! Let’s say you want to make 18 cardstock bees with your Cricut Venture. You can cut all the black bodies, yellow stripes, and blue wings at the same time using three different colors of cardstock on the same mat in a single go.

The first step is to change all of the colors in your image to the same color. I am choosing black but you can choose whatever color you’d like. It just needs to be the same. This is how you will tell your Cricut Venture to cut it all on the same mat. Note that for clarity, I’ve moved the wing and body pieces of the bee off to the side so you can see that they are black.

Then hit Make It in the upper right. There will be a pop-up load screen that will ask you how you would like to make your project. I chose On Mat and I chose the large 24″ x 28″ mat.

Now you can see all the pieces on the mat. You’ll see that everything is grouped together at the bottom left corner of the mat, which is a bit different than the top left corner of the mat for other Cricut machines.

Use the Project Copies tool in the top left to create 18 copies. Cricut Design Space will lay it all out on the mat for you in the best way the algorithm knows how.

But we want to cut this in three colors. So let’s look at our mat in quadrants. The top left quadrant will be blue, the top right yellow, and the bottom two black. Move all of your pieces around so that they are within those quadrants, not overlapping the lines that are in between the quadrants. (Note: did you know you can drag and select more than one image at a time to move on the mat? I swear that’s a new feature and it’s awesome for moving a lot of little pieces like this all around the mat!)

You’ll notice that because the mat is actually 4″ taller than it is wide, you’ll have some room in between the pieces of cardstock.

Now place your cardstock on your large Cricut Venture mat. You’ll put blue in the upper left, yellow in the upper right, and then two black pieces on the bottom. Again, make sure your images fit within the boundaries of those pieces.

Press the Mat Support button to extend the mat arms. Add the extra mat supports because we’re using the big mat. Then place your mat into your machine, select your material, and your Cricut will cut all three colors in a single go!

Now if only the Venture would assemble your projects too!

Intricate cardstock cuts on Cricut Venture

One question I’ve gotten several times is about intricate cardstock cuts on Cricut Venture. So I decided to test two of the same image both with the regular cardstock cut and the intricate cardstock cut.

This is a very intricate image (it took all my patience to get it off the mat!) and I was impressed that it cut just as nicely on the regular medium cardstock setting (left) as it did with the intricate cardstock setting (right).

The big difference here is that the regular cardstock setting cut this design in 2:10 while it took the intricate cardstock setting 3:37 because it double-cuts every piece. That being said, you may want to test your images—you may find the intricate cardstock setting is necessary for your brand of cardstock or design.

Drawing on cardstock on Cricut Venture

One of my favorite features of Cricut Venture is the ability to draw on very large pieces of cardstock and poster board! Yes, you can use all of your current pens and markers (Cricut Maker / Explore, not Cricut Joy) in Venture, but they also have some big fat markers that are so fun to use. I made this yard sale sign (Design Space #M27EA8193) so quickly using those new markers—you could always use the text tool in Cricut Design Space to add your address or other pertinent information.

You can easily use these big markers to draw garage sale signs, science fair projects, giant labels, protest signs, party artwork, and more!

Scoring cardstock on Cricut Venture

And then yes, you CAN score using Cricut Venture! I made some giant paper stars when I was working on photographing my Venture for the launch, and I used the scoring tool to score the stars so I could fold them.

Get the file for these on my post Easy DIY Paper Stars with Your Cricut.

Imagine making large boxes, big paper rosettes, and more using the scoring stylus.

Foiling cardstock on Cricut Venture

Another question I’ve received is whether or not you can foil using Cricut Venture. I was skeptical of this one because even though I knew that the tool technically worked inside the carriage, I thought the speed and force of the machine would tear apart the foil in about three seconds flat.

But when I set up my file in Design Space and designated the layer as foiling, Cricut Venture slowed down for that layer. Not just slowed down, but slowed way down. I did have it pull my foil during my cut once, but I think that was due to my poor taping vs. the tip itself. You can see where it skipped in the left side of the dandelion below.

That being said, the largest foil that Cricut currently makes is 12″ x 12″. There’s nothing out there that I know of that will allow you to foil projects larger than that. You can attempt to piece together the foil, though you may have issues wherever the tape comes together. And because the center of such a large piece of foil wouldn’t be secured, you may have issues with it tearing or pulling from the center. Of course, test test test! If you attempt to make a large foil project, report back here—I’d love to know how it goes for you!

Which mat is best for cutting cardstock on Cricut Venture?

Finally, I tried both the green StandardGrip mat and the blue LightGrip mat and I think the blue mat is the way to go. Even after priming my green mat, it was way too sticky. Stick with the blue mat (or maybe a green mat after it’s been used a bunch!) and you’ll save yourself the headache of removing delicate cardstock projects from the mat.

Have any additional questions about cutting cardstock with Cricut Venture? Let me know below!

The post The Ultimate Guide to Cutting Cardstock on Cricut Venture appeared first on Hey, Let's Make Stuff.

This post is sponsored by Cricut, but all opinions are my own.

As a crafter, sometimes you may need to make a lot of one thing over and over. Whether that’s products for your small business or a bunch of t-shirts for a family reunion, there are times when you may be overwhelmed by all that goes into making a bunch of the same craft. I don’t exactly have all the time in the world over here, so in the past few years I’ve learned batching crafts is the way to go—I can get things done more quickly, more easily, and with fewer mistakes.

Today I’m talking Cricut crafts with certain equipment that I love, but these tips and tricks can apply to just about any crafting project that needs to be made in bulk, whether you’re making tumblers, hoodies, jewelry, hats, keychains, or something else!

Next month, our neighborhood is having a big party to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of our little lake community. There’s going to be food and bounce houses for the kids and a craft fair! My mom makes and sells purses (yes I have crafty genes!) and so I thought I’d join her at her table with some Cricut crafts, including some fun plant-themed shirts. I swear everyone around here has a green thumb, so I think these shirts will sell well.

In this post, I’m going to share all of my best tips for batching crafts, but I’ll also share time management and organizational tips that should help you work more efficiently and easily. I’d also love to hear your best time and project batching tips in the comments!

Visit my Amazon shopping list for some of my favorite tools for batching crafts!

What is Batching?

Before we get into all my tips and tricks, let’s talk about batching. Batching is basically grouping tasks together and doing each task all at once, instead of individually. So in the case of my t-shirts, I could cut a decal for a shirt, weed it, and adhere it to a shirt. Then repeat 25 times, making each shirt individually.

Or I could cut all of my decals, weed them all at once, and adhere each of them one after the other. Or even better, I can be pressing some of my shirts while weeding the decals for others to take advantage of the time the shirts are in the press. Batching my project in this way means I am saving a ton of time, energy, and even materials.

How to Batch Crafts

1. Have the Right Equipment

To start, it’s easiest to create projects in bulk if you have the right equipment. The correct equipment can make or break your batching—it can slow you down considerably or it can make your life a whole lot easier.

For this project, I used my new Cricut Venture and my Cricut AutoPress. I wrote a long post called The Ultimate Guide to Cricut Venture, which talks all about this new machine.

While there were many things that impressed me with Cricut Venture, the speed was absolutely number one. It’s almost frantically fast. It took me 20.5 minutes to cut my plant-themed 25 decals. I did a few speed tests comparing my machines and if I extrapolate my numbers, I get the following times:

• 49 seconds per decal using Cricut Venture and matless Cricut Smart Iron On
• 78 seconds per decal using Cricut Maker 3 and matless Cricut Smart Iron On
• 126 seconds per decal using Cricut Maker and Cricut Smart Iron On on a mat (this time does not account for preparing and swapping out mats with materials, so it’s actually considerably longer)

If I add up those times for 25 shirts, I get these cutting times:

• Cricut Venture: 20.5 minutes
• Cricut Maker 3: 32.5 minutes
• Cricut Maker: 52.5 minutes (again, considerably longer with mats)

So overall, I am really happy with the speed and efficiency of Cricut Venture compared to my other Cricut machines, especially for bulk projects! If you’re currently running multiple Cricut machines, you can basically cut all in one go using Venture. If you’re looking to speed up your Cricut crafting, I definitely recommend it.

Additionally, I used my Cricut AutoPress. You can see my full post The Ultimate Guide to Cricut AutoPress to learn more about it.

My favorite feature of the AutoPress while batching crafts is the fact it auto-opens after it’s done pressing. Which means I could press my garment and spend the 30 seconds while it was in the press weeding more decals or removing the carrier sheet from shirts I already pressed. I didn’t have to worry about opening the press manually when the countdown ended.

I also like how the AutoPress doesn’t take any effort to close, meaning I didn’t have to exert a lot of energy closing the press 25 times. The press made it really easy to get into a rhythm, which is vital when it comes to batching.

These are just my preferences! You can, of course, use what equipment you have depending on your craft and your needs, space, and budget. I could do this same set of t-shirts using my Cricut Explore and my EasyPress, it would just take a lot longer!

2. Choose the Right Materials and Supplies

Of course the right materials and supplies will depend on your specific project. For this project, I’m using Cricut Smart Iron-On and a bunch of colorful BELLA+CANVAS tees.

The Smart Iron-On works well with my Cricut Venture, so that was an easy choice. All of the decals were cut in two large cuts—one black and one white. This made cutting and weeding so much easier, and I didn’t have to prepare a bunch of mats, saving me time and money.

And the tees were also an easy choice. BELLA+CANVAS is my go-to garment supplier because they have an absolutely enormous selection of colors (up to 300 in certain silhouettes!), styles, and sizes (up to 5XL). Their garments are ethically made, both when it comes to their eco-friendly dyes and recycling program, as well as the way they treat their employees. I am always confident I’ll get soft garments that fit well and are ethically made when I shop BELLA+CANVAS!

Did you know you can buy BELLA+CANVAS garments at wholesale pricing without a reseller license? Get a BELLA+CANVAS Maker’s Account! This account allows you access to the wholesale side of their business without the need for any permits or licenses. Even better? It’s free! Learn more in my post Buying Wholesale Blanks without a Resale License!

3. Organize Your Work Area

Once you have the right equipment and all of your materials and supplies, you want to organize your work area. You’ll want a good amount of space to work—I find that being crammed into a small space makes me less efficient. Of course, your space is what it is, but make sure to clear off all your surfaces, and make sure you have a clear footpath to move around your space. I always have light stands and tripods everywhere for filming and photography, but I put it all away while working on this projects so I wouldn’t trip and fall. Also move cords or tape them to the floor so there are no tripping hazards.

If you find that you have issues being on your feet, you may want to set up your workspace with an ergonomic chair or stool so that you can take some of the pressure off your feet. I will often put on comfortable running shoes when I know I’m going to be on my feet for a while.

In my case, I found that I needed:

• My Cricut Venture on the Cricut Venture Docking Stand (read about the Docking Stand here)
• A table for preparing the shirts for pressing and cooling shirts that had already been pressed
• A table for weeding and pressing

Because of the size the shirts, I would’ve found it it difficult to finish my project on a single table. I could’ve done it, but I probably would’ve had to split up my batching into two sessions: weeding, and then prepping the shirts, pressing, and cooling.

4. Remove Distractions

I’m a big proponent of removing distractions whenever you’re working, no matter what you’re working. I have a little affirmation/mantra that I repeat to myself “I ignore distractions in order to focus.” This has been something I repeat over and over to myself and it reminds me to stop scrolling or turn off my messaging so I can focus on the task at hand. I find myself navigating over to Instagram and I think “NO! I ignore distractions in order to focus” and it makes it easier to close the app.

Here are a few more ways to remove distractions and focus better:

• Put your phone in another room or turn it on silent. I’ve turned off notifications on my phone entirely (except for a handful of emergency contacts), which has helped a lot.
• Set a specific time to check your social media and email and ignore your phone or other device until then.
• Turn on your focus music. For me, I like this focus music, but if you like Taylor Swift or Beyonce, have at it!
• Wear headphones with noise cancellation, especially if there are ambient noises that are distracting. Our neighbor has been doing a lot of home construction and the headphones help me ignore the sound of saws and hammers.
• If you have kids or other responsibilities, try to set aside a time when they are not home or when your partner or a babysitter can watch your kids.
• Tell your husband to stop using the impact drill in the garage while you’re working (ha! This one only applies to me but he was nice enough to stop working on his car while I was finishing this project!).

Once you remove as many distractions as possible, you’ll find your batching goes a lot more smoothly because you’re not constantly being interrupted and you can focus.

5. Keep it Simple

When you’re planning out your projects and products, think about complexity. To start, I had the more complex image on the bottom I wanted to use, but I decided it was way too intricate so I went with the Plant Whisperer image on top. Imagine cutting weeding all of those little pieces inside the plants and letters! I realized the amount of cut time and weeding would’ve been greatly increased if I’d used the more complex image.

So if when you’re planning out your projects, think about the complexity. Don’t make things harder on yourself by choosing something that is going to take a lot more work when an easier project will do. Even if it’s not a Cricut project—think about the number of seams or beads or prints or whatever. When batching crafts, you want to make things as simple as you can to craft your project.

In the end, I used the following Cricut Design Space images:

• Plant Whisperer (#M497143D3)
• I’m a Succa for Plants (#M497166A0)
• Grow & Bloom (#M497132E6)

6. Make a Plan

Before you actually start crafting, it’s time to make a plan. This will vary depending on whatever you’re making, but I often go back to using a simple spreadsheet.

In this case I had 25 shirts in 5 colors and three sizes, and I had three different images and two colors of vinyl. So there were a lot of combinations! I used a spreadsheet to map out which decals went on which shirts so I would know how many of each size decal to cut in each color.

Then I headed to Cricut Design Space and resized my decals to match my spreadsheet. I was actually pretty impressed with how well Design Space handled all of these files. In the past I think it would’ve been glitchy and slow, but with the recent Cricut Venture updates, I created all these files without an issue.

You can use this simple spreadsheet method for planning just about any craft—how many sheets of Infusible Ink you’ll need for your mugs or different types of hats and their coordinating decals, etc. Having the spreadsheet to refer to as I was crafting really helped!

7. Get Batching!

Okay, now you’re ready to go! I cut out all of my decals with my Cricut Venture in two cuts—black Smart Iron On and white Smart Iron On.

While it was cutting, I preheated my AutoPress, printed my spreadsheet to use as a reference, and organized my shirts by color and size.

If possible, I highly suggest batching crafts with a friend or employee. I know it’s not always possible, but I find projects go so much more quickly if you can divide up the tasks. So I invited my mom over for some “mother-daughter bonding time” and we worked on the shirts together. You could also enlist your partner, a friend, or a child old enough to help (my boys love weeding, for example!). Of course, if you’re running a business, you may want to hire someone to help, especially on big jobs. Having a partner makes batching faster and easier. Plus it’s often more fun!

Then it’s time to find your rhythm. Once the black Iron On had finished cutting, I started weeding while the white cut. I weeded the entire sheet at a single time and as I finished full decals, we cut them off so my mom could figure out on which shirt that decal in that size and color belonged, using the spreadsheet. She also doubled checked each decal was weeded properly so we didn’t miss the inside of any letters.

After she’d match up the shirt with the decal, she’d set them next to my AutoPress. I’d pre-heat each shirt for five seconds, and then add the decal and press.

While it pressed, I kept weeding more of the decals.

Then when the AutoPress popped open automatically, my mom would take the shirt out and place it on the other table to cool for a bit, before removing the carrier sheet and folding the shirt and setting it aside.

(Side note: We made 25 shirts and had absolutely zero issues with the iron on, which I thought was really amazing. Every decal adhered perfectly and the carrier sheet peeled back cleanly. I’ve struggled with some iron on recently and I am beginning to think it’s the age of my materials! Did you know that iron on can expire? It won’t stick as well after a certain amount of time. So if you’re struggling, you may want to look at the age of your iron on or check out my post Tips to Get Iron On to Stick Better and Last Longer.)

It didn’t take us long to get into a good rhythm for these shirts. The weeding was the slowest part, but we mostly kept up with the cycle of weed > match decal to shirt > pre-press > press > cool > peel > fold. By the end, we had every decal on the correct shirt! From start to finish, we were done in under 2.5 hours, which we thought was pretty fast since we don’t often make big batches like this.

8. Debrief and Tidy Up

As I tidy up my space after a big project like this, I like to think over some questions:

1. What worked really well?
2. What didn’t work well and how can I make it work better in the future?
3. Did I learn anything new that will be helpful moving forward?
4. Do I need to add any tools or equipment in the future to make things easier?

I don’t have a formal debriefing process, I just like to think about making it even easier next time. In this case, I thought things went really well but I would’ve probably just made the decals all 10 inches wide. I’m not sure the 1/2″ difference was worth the time it took to resize in Cricut Design Space and match against the spreadsheet. Taking away that one variable would’ve probably saved me at least 20 minutes of planning and execution time.

So those are my tips for batching crafts! Of course, every craft is different so your process will not look like mine. But if you’re a Cricut crafter and you’re looking to make your products or projects faster and easier, Cricut Venture and the Cricut AutoPress are definitely game changers!

The post The Best Tips and Tricks for Batching Crafts appeared first on Hey, Let's Make Stuff.

If you have a Cricut Venture or are looking at getting one, you may be wondering if you should also get the Cricut Venture Docking Stand. (Not sure what Cricut Venture is? Check out my Ultimate Guide to Cricut Venture!)

As Cricut’s most expensive and largest machine, Cricut Venture is definitely an investment in itself—so in this post I hope to help you decide if you want to purchase the Docking Stand to go along with it.

We’ll cover the anatomy of the Docking Stand and how to use it—plus talk about what to do if you don’t want to purchase it. That way you can make the best choice for your needs, space, and budget!

What is the Cricut Venture Docking Stand?

The Cricut Venture Docking Stand is basically a cart specifically made for your Cricut Venture. It makes using your Cricut Venture cutting machine easier, particularly if you’re cutting projects using Smart Materials.

Let’s look at all the parts of the Cricut Venture Docking Stand.

Tray

To start, your Cricut Venture sits on a sturdy tray. There are two small docking posts that secure your Venture so it can’t slide around. I think the tray itself is made of MDF or something similar and it’s very solid.

Roll Holder

On the tray sits two spinning metal bars. This is where you can put your roll of Smart Materials while it’s cutting. The bars spin as the material is fed into the machine, allowing it to feed smoothly. Sometimes the materials will roll nicely back into the roll, and sometimes they will spill over the back into the back catch basket.

Catch Baskets

On the front and back of the stand are two fabric catch baskets. These are basically loops of fabric that “catch” your material as it is fed through your machine.

There is one on the front and one on the back. At first I didn’t understand why the back one would be there, but if you’re cutting projects long enough, sometimes the roll holder can’t keep up and the back catch basket is there to capture any material from behind the machine as its fed through so it doesn’t fall on the floor.

The catch baskets are lined with an anti-static material. I think my house is the perfect place to test this because my Bernese mountain dog Gus has hair that is incredibly annoying to remove if it’s static-ked to anything. So far, so good—much much much less dog hair on my projects than there was when I was using Smart Materials with my Cricut Maker 3 and things just hit the floor. These catch baskets, by far, are my favorite feature of the Docking Stand.

Breakaway Clips

The catch baskets are held up by clips that are designed to break away from the cart. So if they basket somehow gets too full (this has never happened to me) or if your kid or animal gets snagged on one of the catch baskets while it’s open (much more likely around here), these clips will break away. Yes, your material will end up on the floor, but these breakaway clips are designed to keep your entire Docking Stand from tipping over. They do take quite an effort to break away.

Mat Holders

In between the two catch baskets, under the tray, are two hooks. These hooks are designed to hold the larger Cricut Venture mats. I give this part of the design an E for Effort, but they are a bit hard to access. You have to detach the back side of the the catch basket to get to the mats, which is a bit fussy. However, those mats are enormous and hard to store elsewhere, so even though it’s a bit tough to access them, it does give you a good place to store them.

As with all Cricut mats, make sure you are storing your Cricut Venture Performance Mats with the mat protectors to help protect them from dust and pet hair.

Locking Wheels

The stand has four high-quality casters to roll around on. These casters also lock so you can keep the stand from moving around.

Docking Stand Assembly

The box for the Docking Stand is large. And heavy. The box itself weighs 100lbs! My husband carried the box up our stairs, but after that I was able to unbox it myself. Just a few pieces of tape to split and then the box opened like a giant pizza box, with the lid hinging away from the bottom of the box.

The Docking Stand comes somewhat flat-packed, meaning there is assembly required. I found it pretty easy to assemble, though there were a couple instructions that had me scratching my head for a moment before I figured out what I needed to do. The assembly itself, however, was a breeze and it required no specialized tools—just sliding parts into brackets and screwing on other parts.

One thing I want to reiterate from the instructions—keep the styrofoam pieces on the tray piece of the docking stand while you assemble it. The tray piece won’t sit straight upside down because of the roll holder, and that will make assembly much more difficult. I kept mine on but I can easily see how someone would miss that and take the styrofoam off!

How Big is the Cricut Venture Docking Stand?

Here is the approximate size of the Docking Stand once it’s been assembled:

• 36″ wide
• 24″ deep (from front to back wheels)
• 34″ tall (without Cricut Venture)
• 42″ tall (with Cricut Venture)

I was surprised at the height when I put everything together. It was taller than I expected, which is great. I thought I’d probably be bending over a bit to use it, but it feels very ergonomic for my average 5’6″ frame. I’ve been using it for a while now and I think it’s a really good height for average-sized people.

Cricut Venture Docking Stand Stability

One of my biggest concerns when I first saw the Docking Stand was stability. That’s a thousand dollar machine sitting on top of what is basically a cart, and that made me really nervous. I’ve tried to simulate tipping it and running into it (I’m sure the secret camera footage of this would be hilarious!) and I found it pretty darn sturdy. Then I actually DID trip into it the other day and while the whole thing moved a bit, it didn’t come close to knocking it over.

I do think, with enough force, you could knock it over, especially if the wheels catch against the edge of a carpet or something similar. But for day-to-day use I don’t think there is any worry about it tipping, at least for me, even with kids and a big dog.

Review of the Cricut Venture Docking Stand

Overall this is a high-quality storage piece and I am impressed with how stable and durable it is. As I was trying to figure out how to photograph the machine for my post, I wheeled it all over my studio and never once did I feel like I was going to knock it over and despite the weight it glided pretty effortlessly.

The catch baskets are really wonderful when working with Cricut Smart Materials and so far, I’ve had a lot less dog hair on my projects than I did when I was using my Cricut Maker 3 and the materials would just end up on the floor. Definitely my favorite feature.

I also like that it’s so easy to walk around the machine to access the material behind the machine. You can unlock the wheels and easily move it around, making it easier to use than when it’s on a table.

One thing I wish it had was a little bit more storage, maybe on the sides under the tray. I’d love a place to put all of my Cricut Venture accessories—the mat supports, the cleaning kit, etc. It would just be nice if everything could be housed on the stand itself vs. elsewhere in my craftroom.

Other than desire for more storage, I really don’t have much bad to say about it—I really like it! So is it worth it? Yes, I definitely think so!

Do you need the Docking Stand to use Cricut Venture?

Absolutely not! You can use your Cricut Venture on a sturdy table. The biggest thing to know is that the machine needs to go at the edge of the table to allow for the mat to move up and down as its cut at a 45° angle. Good thing, all tables have edges, so just slide the machine to the edge and you’re good to go.

Additionally, not everyone has room for another piece of furniture in their craft room! Maybe you already have a table that will work for your Cricut Venture and there’s no need for the stand. I have a huge craft space was definitely re-arranging in here to find a good place for it to live full time.

Cricut Venture Docking Stand Price

Here’s the kicker. If you buy the bundle with the Cricut Venture machine and Docking Stand, you’ll pay $1249 for both. If you buy the machine ($999) and stand separately, the stand will run you $349. So you’re saving $100 by buying them together. If you want to wait to see if you want the stand in the future, just remember it’ll cost you an extra $100 buying it separately.

Update: July 25, 2023—The Docking Stand is currently only available for sale through HSN. They don’t appear to have the machine + stand combo available yet, though.

Have questions about the Cricut Venture Docking Stand? I’m happy to answer them for you!

The post The Cricut Venture Docking Stand: Do You Really Need It? appeared first on Hey, Let's Make Stuff.

This post is sponsored by Cricut, but as always my opinions are my own.

Cricut users have been asking for a larger 24″+ machine for years, and it’s finally here! I’ve worked with Cricut for nearly a decade (!!) and all that time I’ve hoped for a larger machine to make even bigger projects. So when Cricut invited me to be on the launch of Cricut Venture I couldn’t say yes fast enough.

Cricut Venture is much more than just Cricut’s version of a large format cutting machine. In this post, I’m going to share all of the details of this new cutting machine including a complete overview of the machine and what makes it different from some of the other large-format consumer machines on the market. I also share my overall opinion on the machine, including pros and cons and what you should know before you buy. This way you can make the best choice for your needs, skill level, and budget.

Then in future posts I’m going to share some large-format and batched projects you can make using this machine and more! This post is very long and detailed, but if you have any questions, please let me know in the comments.

Watch My Review of Cricut Venture Here

Want a video overview? Check out my whole review here! If you’d rather have a written review, read on!

What is Cricut Venture?

Cricut Venture is Cricut’s newest cutting machine, launched in July 2023. This machine has some similarities with the other Cricut machines, but overall, it’s a completely new machine designed from the ground up. This is not a bigger Cricut Explore or Cricut Maker—it has its own unique design.

There’s definitely some new lingo here. I used the same language as in the Quick Start Guide, so if you’re not sure what I’m referring to, please ask or check the guide for a diagram of all the machine parts.

Overall Look and Design

To start, Cricut Venture looks totally different than any other Cricut machine. It has a carriage that rides along a rail that sits outside the machine, a bit more like a professional plotter if you’re familiar with one. The carriage is quite large, but it does have an A and B clamp, just like other Cricut machines.

There’s a big lever on the left side that allows you to insert and secure your mats and materials for cutting. It also has holes along the bed of the machine that create vacuum pressure to hold your materials flat for cutting. This does mean that the machine makes a bit more noise than other Cricut machines while the vacuum system is running.

It also has adjustable pinch rollers and guides for using materials of different sizes.

When you load your materials, you’ll need to press the mat support button. This pops up some small guides that allow you to set your mat in the machine without it slipping through.

On the back of machine is the power button, as well as the plug for the cord and a place to connect your computer via USB. I used WiFi to connect, but I will mention that Cricut included two USB cables—one to connect via USB and one via USB-C. This is helpful for Mac folks like me who don’t have a regular USB port on their computer.

The buttons on the right of the machine will be familiar to Cricut users—a load/unload button, a play button, and a pause button. There’s also a status light that can tell you if things are good to go or if there’s an issue.

Overall, it took me a bit of time to familiarize myself with the machine since it’s different than other Cricut machines—using the lever, moving the pinch rollers, remembering to push the mat support button, etc. But after making a few projects I got the hang of things and I was able to adjust the guides and load and unload materials easily.

45° Angle Design

The biggest difference is that Cricut Venture sits at a 45° angle, so your mat/materials are fed at an angle. This may look strange, but it’s actually pretty innovative engineering. One of the biggest difficulties with other 24″ cutters is the amount of horizontal space you need to cut. We’re often talking six feet of space or more across the span of a table or workbench for the mat/materials to move forward and backward through the machine as they are being cut.

But because Cricut engineers designed Cricut Venture to cut at an angle, it utilizes the empty space above and below the machine, meaning you need significantly less space to use it. This makes it much more practical in many craft rooms, instead of needing a large work surface to run the machine.

Because of the 45° angle, Cricut Venture needs to sit at the edge of a sturdy table so the material can move both above and below the machine. This may affect where you want to use your machine, but every table does have an edge (four of them, usually!) so you should be able to scoot the machine to the edge of the table to use it.

If you are using it with the Cricut Venture Docking Stand, it makes it even easier to make projects using long Smart Materials because it has specialized “catch” baskets that help corral the materials as they are being cut. I’ll talk more about the Docking Stand in a bit!

Cut Size

You can make really enormous cuts with this machine using both Smart Materials and cutting other materials on mats.

Here are the cut sizes:

• 13″ 5 ft Smart Iron On, Smart Vinyl, Smart Stencil: 12″ x 56.75″
• 23″ 5 ft Smart Iron On, Smart Vinyl, Smart Stencil: 24″ x 56.75″*
• 13″ 21 ft Smart Iron On and Smart Vinyl: 12″ x 140.75″ (can do repeated cuts at this length for the entire roll)
• 25″ 21 ft Smart Iron On and Smart Vinyl: 24″ x 140.75″ (can do repeated cuts at this length for the entire roll)
• 25″ 75 ft Smart Vinyl: 24″ x 140.75″ (can do repeated cuts at this length for the entire roll)
• 13″ Smart Paper: 12″ x 22″
• On a 24″ x 12″ mat: 23.75″ x 11.75″
• On a 24″ x 28″ mat: 23.75″ x 27.75″

*Cricut doesn’t recommend cutting Smart Iron-On Glitter in lengths over 5 feet. The cuts become less accurate beyond that length.

If you are cutting Smart Materials, you’ll need an extra 3.25″ of material in length added to your design—this allows the pinch rollers to hold the material (this is similar to the other Cricut machines that work with Smart Materials).

You can cut smaller standard materials like regular sheets of scrapbook paper or scraps of vinyl. I also tried cutting four 12″ x 12″ pieces of cardstock on the large mat. Just made sure that none of my images were overlapping the seams and I was able to cut it! Basically this cuts four standard Cricut mats in a single go, which is great if you want to use smaller materials.

Speed

When I got my Maker 3 and Explore 3 machines in 2021, I was really impressed with how much more quickly they cut than my older Maker and Explore Air 2 machines.

But the Cricut Venture? It’s even faster. One of my boys watched it cut and said “I feel like we’re in fast motion!”and I had agree. It’s really hard to describe just how quickly this machine cuts—it has to be seen to be believed. This train image (#M11E4B86D) in just 1:30!

I cut a floral book image (#M48072355) in a speedy 1:40 using Cricut Venture and matless Smart Vinyl. I cut the same image using my Cricut Maker 3 using matless Smart Vinyl and it took 2:39, nearly a minute slower. And my original Maker took 4:17 to cut it using vinyl on a mat—much slower! If you’re cutting/drawing a lot of images, this speed difference is more than a little significant.

And it’s just as fast cutting with a mat in Cricut Venture. Watching it cut cardstock was impressive!

Mat Supports

There are a few ways to support the mat while cutting, particularly if you’re using the larger mats. Press the Mat Support Button on the bottom left of the machine. To start, this will pop up little mat support tabs from the base of the machine. When you slide your mat into the machine, it will rest on these supports.

It will also extend two Mat Support Arms, which will help hold your mat. If you’re using the large mat or a heavier material that is bending the mat on either side of the singular mat support, add the Mat Support Extension Arms—these are two more diagonal arms that will support your mat above the machine.

Quality

While I do think pretty much all Cricut products feel like they are high quality, Cricut Venture feels even more solid and durable with many metal components.

Print then Cut

I was really pleased to see that Cricut included Print then Cut in this new machine. Cricut Print then Cut will now actually work for images on the large Cricut Venture mat—close to 24″ x 28″ (with a little space in the corners for the registrations marks). If you have a large format printer, this is awesome—and I’m totally jealous! Imagine how many stickers you could make in a single go. Sublimation at this size could be so much fun, too!

Design Space

A nice thing about using Cricut Venture is that if you’re a current Cricut user, there isn’t a huge learning curve because you can use the same Cricut Design Space program you’re already familiar with. They’ve updated Cricut Design Space to account for the larger materials, but overall you’re already ready to start making things with Cricut Venture.

That being said, you must use the Desktop version of Design Space with Cricut Venture. You can’t use any of the apps. Projects at a larger scale would be difficult on a small device and I think the desktop version provides a better user experience.

What’s in the Cricut Venture Box?

Inside the Cricut Venture box, you’ll find:

• The Cricut Venture machine itself
• Performance Fine Point Blade pre-installed in the B-clamp
• Cut off tool that stores in a slot in the top left corner of your machine
• Two dark gray roll supports that help guide Smart Material rolls as they are being cut in your machine
• Cleaning tools, including a brush, a microfiber cloth, and a tool for cleaning the rail (tutorial coming soon)
• Two USB cables—one for USB ports and one for USB-C ports
• Power cable
• Mat support extension brackets
• Black and white vinyl rolls for test cutting
• Quick start guide, safety guidelines, and a warranty document

The box with the machine is heavy. I struggled to lift it myself but I was able to get it on my desk to unbox it. You may need a helper. Slit through the tape and then there are four black plastic handles that need to be “opened” (lift the tab) and they will pop out of the box and allow you to open it.

How big is Cricut Venture?

Once it’s out of the box, Cricut Venture is heavy but not unmanageable. I am able to lift it and carry it from place to place.

The Cricut Venture cuts huge projects but I actually think the machine size is very reasonable for its capabilities. It’s about 34.5″ wide, 8″ deep, and about 11″ tall if you’re including the carriage.

Like I mentioned before, the 45° cutting angle means it takes up significantly less room than similar machines. You’ll need about 40″ of space total, split between the front and back of the machine so the material can move back and forth, compared to six feet or more for other machines. It can easily sit on a standard size counter since half of that space is in front and below the machine.

What types of materials can I cut with Cricut Venture?

Cricut Venture, in many ways, is a very large Cricut Explore 3. Which means it can cut 100 materials, including all kinds of adhesive vinyl, iron on, paper, cardstock, Infusible Ink, faux leather and suede, and Cricut felt.

And while it can cut all of those materials beautifully, Cricut Venture really is built to excel with Smart Materials. With the addition of the roll supports behind the machine (and even more features on the Docking Stand, which we’ll get to in a bit), this machine is purpose-built for cutting projects using long rolls of Smart Materials.

Cricut is launching a bunch of new materials along with Cricut Venture, including permanent Smart Vinyl, removable Smart Vinyl, Smart Stencil, Smart Iron On, Smart Paper, and Cardstock in a decent variety of colors and sizes. My hope is that they will continue to expand the colors they have, particularly in the cardstock. I want even more possibilities for giant paper flowers, rosettes, and stars!

What types of blades and tools work with Cricut Venture?

Cricut Venture comes with the Performance Fine Point Blade. This is a stronger version of their regular Fine Point Blade and is designed for the force and speed of the machine. You can use a regular Fine Point Blade in Cricut Venture, but it will wear out more quickly. But it’s nice to know that, in a pinch, you can use a Fine Point Blade from one of your other machines.

Most of the materials in the previous section, including Smart Materials and cardstock, need the Performance Fine Point Blade (or regular Fine Point Blade).

Then you can use other tools and blades that you may have for your other Cricut machines in Cricut Venture as well. So far, they don’t have special versions of these tools for Cricut Venture, but these current tools work:

You can cut slightly thicker materials, like craft foam, cork, and some chipboard using the Deep Point Blade.

You can cut fabric using the Bonded Fabric Blade, though the fabric does need to have some sort of stabilizer applied to the back—it won’t cut unstablized fabric like the Rotary Blade that comes in the Maker machines.

Using the Foil Transfer Tool, you can foil your projects. The sheets of foil are limited to 12″ x 12″, but you may be able to patch together sheets of foil for larger images. Would love to see larger sheets for huge foiled projects!

You can also use all of the pens and markers you have. Additionally, Cricut came out with some really big markers specifically for Cricut Venture. I think these are perfect for making posters for science fair projects, garage sale signs, protest signs, and more!

Finally, you can use the Scoring Stylus in Cricut Venture as well. This is one of the few things I’ve run across that hasn’t worked perfectly. I was scoring the stars I made to hang above my machine and on two of them, I think it exerted too much pressure, tearing my cardstock and sending the Scoring Stylus flying. Cricut can make adjustments to things like this via updates, so hopefully they’ll have this one sorted quickly.

You’ll also notice that the machine does not have the gold gear at the top of the tool housing like the Maker machines. This means it can’t use the Maker-specific tools like the Rotary Blade, Knife Blade, and Quick-Swap tools. Including these blades would’ve made the machine more expensive and heavier, so Cricut opted to keep it for the Explore-level tools only.

What mats work with Cricut Venture?

Because of the way this machine is designed, including the force and speed of the machine as well as the size, there are all-new mats for this machine. They are similarly colored to the existing Cricut mats, but darker in color so you can easily tell them apart from the mats designed for the Joy, Explore, and Maker machines.

The tacks are the same: the blue LightGrip mat, the green StandardGrip mat, and the purple StrongGrip mat. There is no pink FabricGrip mat—just use the regular StandardGrip mat for cutting bonded fabric.

They come in two sizes: 12″ x 24″ and a huge 24″ x 28″. Cricut is also launching larger materials to go on this large mat, including 24″ x 28″ cardstock. Giant paper flowers? Yes please!

Cricut Venture Accessories

In addition to the machine tools and blades and the mats, there are a few accessories you’ll want to know about as well.

The first is the Cut Off Tool, which is used with Smart Materials. It comes with your Cricut Venture and looks a bit like a sliding letter opener. You can use it to manually trim off your project after it’s cut. I found it a bit fussy to use at first—you’ll get a more even cut if you pull down on the material while cutting. The Cut Off Tool stores in the top left corner of the machine.

There’s also the Auto Cutoff Blade, which works in the B Clamp of the machine. This is sold separately. This cuts your material automatically when the cut is finished. I like using this tool with the Docking Stand—without it, your project ends up on the floor.

The Cricut Venture Docking Stand

I mentioned the Cricut Venture Docking Stand earlier. I have a full post about the Docking Stand, but here’s a quick overview.

This Docking Stand is designed specifically to make working with Cricut Venture easier. This cart has some great features, including big rollers in the back for holding large rolls of Smart Materials, built-in storage hooks for the large mats, and easy glide wheels. As I was trying to figure out the best way to photograph the machine and stand for this post, I’ve been rolling it all over the place and it’s really sturdy and easy to move.

There are also “catch baskets” that contain your Smart Materials as you cut, instead of letting your longer projects just fall onto the floor. Dog hair has been one of my biggest frustrations when it comes to using Smart Materials—the static electricity created by the Smart Materials attracts our dog’s hair and it can be a mess. These catch baskets, however, are lined with a material that is “static dissipative,” which means it basically removes that static electricity from the material, making it much less a magnet for dog hair. On top of that, the rolls never hit the ground (where all the dog hair lives!) so Smart Materials remain much cleaner in these baskets than they do otherwise.

Learn more about the Cricut Venture Docking Stand in my upcoming post! (New Post: The Cricut Venture Docking Stand: Do You Really Need It?)

How to Cut Matless Smart Materials with Cricut Venture

Let’s make a couple projects with Cricut Venture, starting with Smart Materials! I’m going to cut a big vinyl frame (#M4BDFCA1B) to add to a metal sign I have so that we can have a place to hang my boys’ artwork without damaging the walls. The piece of vinyl I’m cutting for the frame is larger than anything I could’ve cut on my Cricut Explore or Maker, and then I’m cutting scraps for the wording and stars to show how easy it is to cut “normal” materials as well.

Start by resizing your frame to fit your space. I am using a hanging metal sign, but you could also do a variety of frames made from vinyl on a wall! For my project, it’s 12.5″ wide. I then added some text using the Cricut font DTC Spring Break and two stars (#M4BDF6731).

Once you have your frame(s) sized correctly. hit Make It in the upper right. For my load type, I chose Multiple Ways because I’m going to cut my large frame piece on black removable Smart Vinyl and my smaller scrap pieces on a 12″ x 24″ mat.

In the Prepare Screen, you’ll see your images laid out on the different materials and mats. Use the tools in the left sidebar to change any mat load settings you’d like (I changed my blue and teal layers to cut on a mat).

In the Make Screen, select your material. Cricut Design Space will prompt you for everything you need to do. Note that these images may change as Design Space is updated in the future.

First, make sure you have the correct blade inserted into the B-Clamp of your machine.

Raise the lever on the left. Slide the right pinch roller to the right so it is on position number 2. You will not be able to slide the pinch roller unless the lever is open.

Then look at the dark blue guides on the floor of the machine. You will want the two on the right and left to be open, and the center to be closed.

Next you’re going to insert your Smart Vinyl into your machine. If you have the Docking Stand, there is a set of rollers on the back where you can put your roll. If you don’t, Cricut Venture comes with smaller roll holders that can be attached to the back of the machine to hold your roll. Feed the vinyl in over the top of the machine and under the guides. You want the vinyl to just cover the sensor on the lower left.

Lower the lever on the left to secure your material.

Now you’re ready to cut! Hit the Load button on the machine and your Cricut will confirm you have enough material to make your project. Then hit the blinking play button to cut your project! To cut the two images on a mat, see the next section.

Next you’re going to assemble your project! This post is already SO long, so for more information on the assembly process, check out. my post How to Use Adhesive Vinyl with a Cricut!

How to Cut Using a Mat in Cricut Venture

Let’s cut a cardstock project using Cricut Venture. Let’s make a giant paper flower (#M46FF0) using the new 24″ x 28″ Cricut cardstock. I sized this flower to fit on two pieces of this large cardstock (just using trial and error until it was the size I needed it to be), but you could cut it even larger if you had enough cardstock sheets!

Once you have your flower sized correctly, hit Make It in the upper right. I chose On Mat as my load type, and selected the 24″ x 28″ mat.

In the Prepare Screen, I did a little rearranging to fit all of my flower petals on two mats.

Then it’s time to cut! Place the first sheet of cardstock on the mat. I prefer the blue LightGrip mat for cardstock, but you can use the green StandardGrip mat as well.

Select your material. Cricut Design Space will prompt you for everything you need to do. Note that these images may change as Design Space is updated in the future.

First, make sure you have the correct blade inserted into the B-Clamp of your machine.

Raise the lever on the left. Slide the right pinch roller to the right so it is on position number 2, as we did above for the vinyl. Also make sure that dark blue guides on the right and left are open, and the center guide is closed.

Then look at the dark blue guides on the floor of the machine. You will want the two on the right and left to be open, and the center to be closed.

You’ll also need to use the Mat Supports. Push the Mat Support Button on the lower left of the machine. This will extend the two mat support arms as well as raise the mat stops. Add the extra mat support extension pieces by clicking them into place.

Now you’re ready to slide your mat into the machine. There are small mat guides at the top of the floor of the machine—slide your mat underneath those guides until it comes to rest on the mat stops. Lower the lever.

Now you’re ready to cut! Hit the Load button on the machine and your Cricut will confirm you have the right mat in your machine. Then hit the blinking play button to cut your project! Cut all of your mats. I used the 24″ x 28″ Cricut Cardstock for the petals and a smaller 12″ x 12″ light green cardstock for the leaves.

To remove cardstock from the mat, bend the mat away from the cardstock instead of peeling the cardstock up from the mat. The big mats can be a little tricky to work with because of their size, but after making quite a few cardstock projects, I got the hang of it.

Again, this post is already so long—refer to these instructions for assembly!

Can I make money with Cricut Venture?

I do think it’s possible to make money with Cricut Venture. There’s a lot that goes into running a small craft business—way more than I can cover in this post. Cricut Venture can both speed up your productivity and allow you to make large projects that very few people are making right now.

Check out my posts How to Make Money with your Cricut and How to Set Up Your Craft Space for Your Cricut Business, and join the waitlist for our next Crafting for Profit Camp!

How much is Cricut Venture?

Cricut Venture retails for $999. I know this is outside the budget for many crafters and that’s totally fine! That’s why Cricut has a range of cutters starting with Cricut Joy at $169 all the way up to Cricut Venture at $999.

Cricut Venture Overall Review

So now that I’ve been using Cricut Venture for a few weeks, let me share my overall pros and cons of this machine.

Cricut Venture Benefits

The first is that Cricut Venture is GREAT for small Cricut businesses. The informal work economy has been taking off in recent years and lots of crafters want to find freedom from their nine-to-five jobs or create a little extra money on the side as they raise their kids or move into retirement.

I know this first-hand. In January 2023, I hosted an online event called Crafting for Profit Camp with Angie Holden and we had 35,000 crafters sign up! There are so many people interested in making a little extra money.

Because of Cricut Venture’s size and speed, you can make projects much faster, making it perfect for small Cricut craft businesses. If you’re running more than one Cricut at a time to make your products, this machine can make you so much more productive.

Another huge benefit is the amount of space you need to run it. Yes, there are several other 24″ cutting machines on the market, but Cricut Venture’s unique 45° cutting angle allow it to take up so much less space while cutting.

It’s also FAST. I’m still at the point where I just stare at it while it’s cutting because it’s so impressively fast.

And of course it’s good for making really, really enormous projects, even if you don’t want to sell them. From giant paper flowers to full wall murals to car decals to huge Print then Cut images. If you want to make something big, Cricut Venture is the machine to do it. You can also make a lot of things very quickly—t-shirts for a family reunion, cutouts for bulletin boards, or hats for a local sports team. Maybe your niece wants a huge floor decal for her wedding or you need to cut 300 wedding invitations. You can totally make these types of projects!

All of this, and it will still cut small designs as well, if you just want to make a single t-shirt or card. It does pretty much everything a Cricut Explore machine will do, plus more.

Cricut Venture Drawbacks

Of course, not everyone needs or would even want a Cricut Venture! Maybe you don’t want to make larger projects or you don’t make a lot of projects that require batching. And that’s totally fine.

One of Cricut Venture’s biggest strengths also provided one of the biggest difficulties for me. The materials and mats are HUGE! I had to come up with some new solutions for storing all of the items in my craft room. You will also need a decent sized table for weeding projects, removing things from mats, and assembling huge projects. While the machine itself takes up a much smaller space to operate, you still need some space to store materials and work on larger projects.

Another is the price. I actually think the price is reasonable for the machine itself and everything it can do. But at $999, it’s going to be outside the budget of some crafters and I know some folks will find that disappointing. You can however, use their financing option Affirm on Cricut.com if you want to pay monthly, which is a great option if payments are more accessible.

And then finally, I think there are a few kinks that Cricut still needs to work out. I mentioned struggling with my Scoring Stylus earlier in this post, and there were a few issues in Cricut Design Space as well. I imagine these will be worked out in the coming weeks, but it’s just something to be aware of as they launch this new machine.

Where can I buy Cricut Venture?

Cricut Venture goes on sale on July 24 at 12am EDT / 11pm CDT / 10pm MDT / 9pm PDT! Sign up here to get notified when it is up and for sale.

Because of its size, Cricut Venture will only be sold online. You can’t walk into your local craft store with one. You will be able to purchase here:

• Cricut.com
• HSN (HSN will be the only place to have the Docking Stand at launch—so if you want it, that’s where you can get it until it hits more stores in August)
• Michaels

Have any questions? I’m happy to answer them!

Want to use the Venture to cut cardstock? Check out my blog for The Ultimate Guide to Cutting Cardstock on Cricut Venture!

The post The Ultimate Guide to Cricut Venture: What to Know Before You Buy appeared first on Hey, Let's Make Stuff.