Spotlight: Plantin Schoolbook - End Caps

This was supposed to be shown at the beginning of the month, so I am way behind on my Cricut Cartridge Spotlight.  I am going to try my best to still show everything I was going to show, but I did get a bit behind with everything that has been going on.  Just a recap, each month I am going to feature a different Cricut Cartridge and every Monday I will show some projects I did with that particular cartridge.

I know end caps are a bit confusing, so I thought I would show some of the things I made using this particular feature.  I also tried to put together a tutorial (in pictures), and I will try my best to get that up one day.

First, I made a little sheet that shows all the shape end caps.  Most of these I cut at the size of 1 1/4"  It is amazing to see the size differences depending on which shape you choose.  Having these little sheets help to see which ones will end up being larger.  One thing to keep in mind is that the size you choose is the size of the letters that are cut out in the middle, and not the shapes at the end.  So for my examples here, the 1 1/4" size is for the "hi"

The first real project I really had in mind for end caps was to make license plates for both my sons' bikes.  They have the same bike, and even though they know which one is theirs, I don't!  I also wanted to make it a little personal to them.

Brandon's favorite color is red and Connor's favorite color is purple.  The black layer is the main one you cut out first, with the letters cut in the middle.  For these, I chose 1" for the letters.  Once I cut both of the black layers, I put the red and purple paper through and did the end cap shadow.  This layer goes behind the black, and the color shows through where the letters cut out of the black.  I then cut the regular star shape to layer on top, and I cut this at 1 1/2"  To get the right size for this was trial and error to see which size worked best.  Next I want to laminate them and then attach it to their bikes.

My next project was a bookmark, although I forgot to put the ribbon on this before I took the picture! 

I once again cut the main layer in black, and for the shadow I used paper that I made using distress inks.  The colors are Shabby Shutters and Worn Lipstick.  I rubbed the 2 colors of ink on my non stick craft sheet and the spritzed it with water.  I then took my plain white cardstock and put it down on top of the colors.  I also cut out an extra shadow layer to put on the back so it didn't have a plain white back.

This next project was really my test pieces that I was playing around with, but I think I am definitely going to use them for something for my boys!

Main layer was cut with white paper and then shadowed with black.  I can't remember what size I made this, though.

I know end caps can be a bit confusing when you are trying them for the first time, but after you do it a couple of times the directions start to click.  Even now, though, I can still get confused.  I don't know how well my tutorial pictures came out, but I will try to get them on my computer and post that tutorial some time this week.

A Cricut Thank You: Part 2

It's time for part 2 of my Cricut thank you notes, and I have 4 more cards to show!


Brown cardstock sized at 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" with the top pink layer cut to 5 1/4" x 4" and embossed with the Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder. The saying"how kind" was cut from the Lyrical Letters Cricut cartridge and that was glued onto a bookplate also cut from the Lyrical Letters cartridge. I actually cut a couple of the bookplates and glued them on top of each other to make faux chipboard and give it some dimension. The ribbon is from the craft store, can't remember the brand.


This one actually came out a bit different than what I envisioned, but I didn't feel like starting over so I just went with it. This card was cut from the Wild Card cartridge as well as the Thank You sentiment. I put an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of cardstock on my mat and hit fit to page when doing the card, and it cut it to the size of 6 1/2". The window was part of the card and the frame that goes around the window is an accent piece to it. I then placed the "thank you" sentiment so it showed through the window.
I then just took some floss thread and threaded it through the buttons and used glue dots to stick it to the front of the card.


This one is another standard A2 sized card with black as my base. The top layer was made using Faded Jeans and Dusty Concord Distress Inks. The "thank you" is from the Storybook cartridge using the accent/frame option.


Yet another A2 sized card, but I used Chatterbox patterned paper as the top layer. The thanks was cut from the Mini Monograms cartridge and I glued that on top of a bookplate cut from the Fabulous Finds cartridge. I added 2 pink brads and stuck the whole thing on my card!


Another A2 card with a white cardstock base and some old patterned paper I had for the top layer. "You're the Best" is from Lyrical Letters. There isn't much else to say about this one! lol


So there you have the next 4 cards in my Cricut Thank You series. Here you will find part 1 and first 4 cards I posted. I believe I have enough cards for 2 more parts and then I should have a good collection on thank you notes!