Step 1: Creating the Bookmark
1: In order to be able to start our Design, we are going to access our Design Space application and in there we are going to click on the + New Project Green button located on the top Right corner of our screen.
2: After we clicked in there, we are going to be able to access our Blank Canvas, in where we are going to start creating our Design:
3: We are going to start by creating our first design, by using the shapes functionality located on the left vertical menu bar, and we are going to choose a Rectangle:
After you add it to your canvas you should have something like:
4: We are going to proceed now by resizing our rectangle, in order to do that we are going to use the Size functionality located on the top menu bar, and in there we are going to add the following measurements: W: 1.2” and H: 4.25”.
💡Tip: You can add the measurements that you like, OR you can resize any of the elements by clicking on it, and then overlapping the mouse in one of the little squares showing on the corners and click and move the mouse in order to decrease or increase the size of your element.
If you want the W and H not to be tight together, click on the lock that is showing, so you can add the different dimensions separately.
💡Tip 2 : Some other bookmark sizes include:
- Standard: 2 in wide x 7 in tall
- Small: 1.5 in wide x 5 in tall
- Large: 2.5 in wide x 9 in tall
- Popular: 2 in wide x 6 in long or 2 in wide x 8 in long
5: Once we have our rectangle resized, we are going to change the color of our rectangle, just to see how the design is looking while we are creating it.In our case we are going to choose an orange color by clicking on the gray square that is showing under the operations functionality on the top menu bar:
6: Using the shapes functionalities again, we are going to add a circle and we are going to resize it (using the same process as before) to: W: 0.29” and H: 0.29”
7: We are going to overlap the circle over our rectangle on the top and using the Align functionality we are going to center horizontally.
💡Tip: You Need to make sure that there is a reasonable space between the circle and the top part of the rectangle, since in there we are going to add our ribbon.
8: Now, we are going to select the 2 elements (circle and rectangle) and we are going to slice them, by using the slice functionality that is located on the right bottom menu:
9: After the slice, if you move the rectangle on a side, you are going to be able to see the following:
10: We are going to eliminate the 2 circles since we are not going to need them anymore. After delete them, you are going to have:
💡Tip: In order to eliminate the elements that you are not going to use, you select the element and using your keyboard you press the Delete key.
11: We are going to add a Name or phrase into our bookmark: CRAFTY (in our case), by using the Text functionality located in the left vertical menu bar,
12: We are going to change the font for: High Tide, in order to do that we are going to select our text and locate the Font functionality in the top bar menu and in there we are going to search for Cricut and select the font mentioned above.
13: We are going to rotate our rectangle by using the rotate functionality located on the top bar menu, and in there we are going to add 270.
14: We are going to place our text over our rectangle, and using the Font size functionality located on the top bar menu, we are going to resize it accordingly:
In our case we end with a Font Size of 115.
15: Now, using the Align functionality we are going to use the Center Vertically functionality
💡Tip: You can also use the Center alignment based on your preference.
💡Tip 2: Every time that you are going to slice or align 2 or more elements, you need to make sure that you select all the elements before applying the functionality.
16: Now, we are going to slice the 2 elements, by using the slice functionality that we used before:
💡Tip: You can also cut the text alone and the bookmark alone and then just glue the letters over the bookmark instead of adding a different color on the back side.
17: At this point, our bookmark is DONE.
💡Tip: If you are ready to cut your bookmark, make sure to delete the 2 texts that were the result of the slice functionality, you should have only the bookmark on your canvas:
If you want to learn something else, we are going to show you two more options that you can do in order to have the same process 3 different bookmarks.
(OPTIONAL) Step 1.1: Adding a different color to the text
1.1: We are going to create another bookmark base, by following the steps 1 through 10. You should have:
1.2: We are going to Duplicate the bookmark (rectangle) that does not have the text on it, by clicking on the element, go to Edit functionality on the top bar menu and in there click on Duplicate
After you duplicate the element, you are going to have something like:
1.3: We are going to duplicate the one that says CRAFTY, with the same process as we used in the previous step.
💡Tip: On this new bookmark you can change the text if you want. Something like:
1.4: From one of the plain rectangles (without text), we are going to change the color to something that matches the Orange rectangle with the text, we are going to change the color as we did before, we are going to have something like:
1.5: This particular bookmark is going to be 2 colors, since we are going to later put the orange on top of the blue one, something similar to:
1.6: Now, to the other plain rectangle, we are going to also change the color and later we are going to glue in there some of the text that we are going to remove from the other bookmarks.
At this point you should have something like:
Step 2: Cut The Bookmarks
1: After you are happy with the design, we are ready to save our design, Click on Save button on the Right Top side of the screen and provide a name to your design and click on Save button.
2: Before start printing and cutting our design, we need to make sure that we are going to cut with the right cricut machine, in order to do this, we are going to click on Maker in the top Right Menu, next to Make Green button and in there, we are going to chose our machine, in our case we are using a Cricut Maker
2: We are going to turn on our cricut machine by clicking on the power button:
3: We are ready to start printing and cutting, so you are going to click on the MAKE green button.
4: Before proceeding with the print and cut, we are going to present to you all the functionalities/configurations that you can see on that screen:
💡Tip: Since we are not using different configurations than the default ones, there is no need to change anything on this page.
5: We are going to click on Continue and in the following screen, we are going to click on Browse All Material:
Once in there, we are going to search by the word: Carstock
Or you just simply can go down to the bottom of the list and click on it and then click on DONE button
💡Tip: If you click on the favorite icon next to the cricut small icon, you can easily access the material without searching for it every time, so you just click on this icon:
6: In our case is just cardstock, so we are going to chose Pressure Default the following configurations:
7: Now that our configurations are ready, we are going to proceed to add our cardstock in our physical mat.
💡Tip: Remember that for this project you can use scraps from previous projects. And also, this is the point that you define your real colors for your bookmarks, in design space is only to show you how is going to look like, and sometimes (and believe me, this happens a lot) you realize that the color that you have on your design, you do not have it physically, and that is OK!
💡Tip 2: Also, you can note that if you follow the instructions from our previous tutorials on how to clean your mat and how to make the mat sticky again, you can use your mats for years! I’ve been using the same mat for the last 3 years and the mat is still working as new!
8: After our Mat is ready, we are going to make sure that we add the mat under the rollers, and we are going to click on the upload button:
💡Tip: Remember that this instructions are for Cricut Maker, if you have another Cricut Machine, the instructions could be slightly different.
9: Once the Mat was uploaded, we are going to click on the Cut button and the machine is going to start cutting and you are going to be able to see the progress of the cut on your device screen.
10: After the cut is done, the upload/download mat button is going to start blinking, meaning the cut is ready, so you are able to download the mat from your machine and proceed to add the next mat following the same process.
Also, you are going to notice a check next to your mat on your device screen, so with this you can differentiate which mat/design was already cut and which ones not yet.
Step 3: Weeding
1: After the cut is ready, we are going to use our fingers very gently to remove the cardstock from the mat:
2: Once you separated all the bookmarks you are going to have something like:
Step 4: Finish the Bookmarks
💡Tip: After I cut the bookmarks, I realize that I do not like the color combinations! So.. I cut them again, so we are going to assemble with the colors that I like better (LOL)
1: We are going to start putting together the different bookmarks. For one of them we are going to add a plain background, we are going to add glue on the bookmark that has the text and we are going to overlap it over the plain bookmark and we are going to glue also the small parts related to the R and A letter in our case:
You should have something like:
💡Tip: If you are planning to do this, we recommend to add a full bookmark on the back and not a rectangle of another cardstock color, it’s going to look better. If you add just a rectangle, you are going to have something like:
If you have a full bookmark on the back, you are going to have something like:
2: We are going to keep one of them without background, just to have a different option:
3: For the last option, we are going to use the letters that we remove from one of the bookmarks and we are going to glue them over a plain bookmark. We are going to first accommodate the letters and then we are going to add the glue.
After we glue the letters:
4: Now, we are ready to add the final details, we are going to add the tassel or the ribbon. The total length of the ribbons that we used is 3”. You pass them through the whole and then do a knot on one of the ends.
💡Tip: As you can see, you can use any ribbon, tassel that you have at home.
5: If you have some ink or paint, you can add them on the borders of the bookmarks, and if you want to add some embellishment (stickers, washi tapes) you can also add them at this point.
6: You can start using these bookmarks and customize them for any occasion! And one more time… you did it! Great Job! You can customize the bookmarks for any occasion (by adding names, phrases, motivational words or some shapes like hearts, stars, let your imagination fly!) and give them as gifts!
