Hello, my name is Melissa and I’m addicted to the Cricut Explore. Today I’m sharing with you my first official Cricut project – a super cute floral cake topper. Seriously, how freak’n cute is this?!?

UPDATE: this cake topper is now available on my Etsy shop! 

I was first introduced to the Cricut back in January while attending Alt Summit and at first I wasn’t so sure it was really for me. BUT – Once I saw some of the great projects that people like Mandi from Vintage Revivals were cranking out with this machine my brain started spinning and I decided I had to get my hands on one. That’s why I was beyond excited when I was chosen to participate in the Cricut Design Space Star Challenge along with my Lucky #13 team members.  Expect to see some great projects the next few months and I’ll be looking for your vote to help me on my path to stardom as the Cricut Design Space Star winner. This here is the magic cutting machine in case you’re not familiar with it.

It’s pretty cool. It can cut everything from paper (duh!), vinyl, fabric, iron-on transparencies, wood and lots of other things you can think of. It also can draw pretty much anything your brain can imagine. You just tell this machine what to do and it does it. It’s better behaved than any boyfriend or child. You can either design your own stuff which is what I do, but don’t worry, if you’re not a designer you can buy designs that are available and make them your own.

Ok, so onto the creative stuff. The theme was celebrations and florals and not surprisingly for me I decided to make my first project a bit of a challenge. I decided that before I even know how the Cricut Explore works I’m going to tackle a multi-layer project. Here’s my fresh & bold colour selection of cardstock – that’s no less than 5 different layers.

Then I got to designing my piece, which hopefully you’ll see available for download on the Cricut Design Space in the future. Check this out, it’s so cool to see my design come to life through the blade of the Cricut. I admit, I let out a little squeal when this came out of the machine.

So it’s a bit of a process to do something with mutiple colours & layers. I won’t get into the details but you can see how it comes together:Pretty cool huh? Sure you could use a knife and do this by hand if you have like a million hours to kill but let’s face it, you probably won’t be able to cut everything exactly the same so it lines up just perfectly.  I added a bit of gold glitter for a little bling bling. It is a party after all.

Just add some wood skewers with a little hot glue and it makes the sweetest topper for the sweetest cake for the sweetest occasion. That there is what I call a Sweet Escape. 

Can you see why I’m loving my Cricut so much? If you’re a big crafty DIY’er and you’re dying to get your hands on one of these awesome machines you should check out the Cricut I Made It! contest. There’s the chance to design your own (!) Make It Now Design Line for the Cricut Design Space as well as be featured on The Design Network. Contest closes September 26th.

Here’s my awesome Lucky #13 crew. It includes Monica of East Coast Creative, MJ of Pars Caeli, Sarah and Jessica of Pretty Providence, Erin & Tricia of Suburban Bitches, Sadie Jane of Simply Sadie Jane, Crystal of Sew Creative Blog, Katie of That Girl Katie, Celina of Petit A Petit and Family, and Andrea of Andrea’s Notebook.You have to check out their great floral themed projects below and stop by the Cricut Design Star Challenge page between Sept 29 – Oct 3 to vote for your favourites. 

1. The Sweet Escape’s Floral Cake Topper
2. East Coast Creative’s Photo Backdrop
3. Andrea’s Notebook Floral Pinwheel
4. Sew Creative’s Paper Bridal Bouquet
5. Pars Caeli’s Flower Lights
6. Petit a Petit and Family’s Birthday Kit
7. Suburban Bitches’ Floral Chandelier
8. Pretty Providence’s Simple Elegant Thank You Cards
9. The Sweet Escape’s Wedding Cake Topper
10. That Girl Katie’s Floral Vases
11. Sew Creative’s Flower Girl Barrettes
12. Simply Sadie Jane’s Flower Stamped Cake and Flower Party Hats