August 2018 – Miss Rita to the Rescue!
One of the highlights of almost everyone’s Cricut Mountain Make-a-thon adventure was meeting Lia Griffith and learning to cut crepe paper with the Maker.
The Cricut Maker is the first cutting machine to master cutting crepe paper and Lia is an artist at re-creating flowers with crepe and her Cricut Maker. Her techniques are now available in the soon-to-be-released book “Crepe Paper Flowers: The Beginner’s Guide to Making and Arranging Beautiful Blooms”.
Although I did make a tulip while at the convention, it didn’t travel well after I had to stuff it in with all my other cool Cricut swag. Oh, well!
Luckily I received a copy of Lia’s new book (thank you, Kestin!) and have begun reviewing it. The awesome thing about the book is that it comes with a code to download all of the SVGs for making over 20 different types of flowers!
So, of course, I have downloaded them all and am busy figuring out how to cut them with my Maker.
I need to get some of Lia’s crepe paper, because it was so soft and stretchy. The crepe paper most Americans know is cheap and generally only used for paper streamers. Lia has circled the globe to find the best crepe paper manufacturers and has worked with Italian and German crepe paper companies to produce two types of crepe paper–extra fine and heavy weight. Both kinds are made in sheets that fit on a Cricut mat and both cut like butter with the Maker using the new Rotary Blade.
Please note that you will not be able to cut crepe paper on any machine other than the Maker. Lia has provided a full library of printable PDFs so you can cut them by hand, if that is the case for you.
In addition, Lia’s book outlines–in great detail–how to assemble the flowers to look realistic and I am enthralled at the photography.
If you like making paper flowers, this book is a must have!
Look for some of my creations in the near future as I continue to digest this amazing new art form!