Following on from my blog post all about my love for the Geometric trend and how you need it in your life and your home, I thought I should create something geometric myself. Something easy yet sophisticated enough that I'd want to display it in my own home. A piece of easy geometric art!
When I was researching products to feature in my geometric blog post, I came across all sorts of gorgeous prints and pieces of geometric art. Some were a selection of hexagons, others featured diamonds, but the ones that really caught my eye were the ones using triangles.
Such a simple shape, such a simple idea, but who says art has to be complicated? So after having a play with different designs, I opted for layering up three triangles of the same size, in different materials - faux leather, marbled paper and copper foil - for a cool and contemporary feel.
And I was going to use my trusty Cricut Air2 to make the job much easier and quicker, than trying to judge all those angles by eye. So here's how you can make my easy geometric art.....
YOU WILL NEED
Marbled paper - try your local craft shop
PVA glue
Scissors
Ruler
A3 good quality cartridge paper
1 First things first, log onto your Design Space account, or join if you haven't already! Then click on NEW PROJECT to open the gridded screen.
2 Click on SHAPES on the lefthand panel (this will bring up a selection of different shapes to choose from) click on the triangle. With the triangle highlighted, go up to the top tool bar, click the padlock to open it, and re-size the triangle to W8 H7 - or whatever size you'd like your triangles to be.
3 With the triangle highlighted, click on DUPLICATE on the righthand panel, under Layers. This will bring up an identical sized triangle. And to help me differentiate between the two, I changed the colour of the triangles by clicking on the triangular shape on the right panel, which opens up a box of different colours to choose from - This will also let the Cricut machine know that you want to cut each triangle from a different material.
4 DUPLICATE the triangle once more, and recolour it. Because I wanted the final triangle (the copper foil) to be an outline, rather than a full shape, there is a quick and easy way to do this - Go to SHAPES and click on triangle, resize it to W7 H6
5 Move the smaller triangle over the larger one, once you are happy with the positioning, click ATTACH on the bottom of the righthand panel. This will attach the two triangles together to form one shape, the line denotes where the Cricut will cut.
6 Just for piece of mind, you can also layer the three triangles, one on top of the other to check you are happy with the sizing and to get an idea of spacing. Highlight all three triangles, by dragging a box around them, then go up to the top tool bar and click on ALIGN. Then click CENTER HORIZONTALLY. This will align the three shapes perfectly.
You are now ready to start cutting on the Cricut Air2!!
7 Remember to save your project, then click MAKE IT, in the top righthand corner. This will take you through to a screen which shows you your shapes on the three different mats. Here you can choose what size paper/leather/foil etc you're using. Then click CONTINUE.
8 At this point your computer will search for your Cricut machine - make sure it's switched on - you can either find it via Bluetooth or plug in the USB cable. Once your computer and the Cricut are linked, it's time to load!
9 The first triangle is going to be cut from faux leather. So roll out the leather onto your mat, right into the top corners and press down with scraper tool so there are no air pockets, cutting off any excess. Slide the cutting mat into the guides on the Cricut machine.
Turn the gauge on the Cricut to CUSTOM
This will bring up a menu screen on your computer. Click on FEAUX LEATHER 1mm
10 With the cutting mat already in the guides on the Cricut machine, hold the mat in place then press the FLASHING ARROW BUTTON. Once the machine is ready for action the Cricut logo will begin to flash, press this and it will start cutting out the first triangle.
11 The second triangle is going to be cut from marbled card. So this time turn the gauge to CARDSTOCK +
Press the marbled card down onto the mat with the scraper, as before and load the Cricut machine. Pressing the FLASHING ARROW button then the FLASHING CRICUT LOGO.
[Please excuse the mess on the floor, it's the only way I work when I'm getting my craft on!]
12 And for the final triangle, this is to be cut from adhesive copper foil. So load as before, pressing out air bubbles.
Set the gauge to CUSTOM...
...And choose ADHESIVE FOIL from the drop down menu
13 Once you have all your shapes cut out, it's time to start constructing the picture. I found an A3 piece of good quality cartridge paper was perfect for this project - you don't want to use anything too thin as the heavy card and leather will warp it.
14 It's a good idea to arrange the triangles on the paper first, before glueing so you can decide where you want them to be - using a ruler will help with all those straight edges, Make little pencil marks at the tips of each triangle to help you when gluing in place.
15 Apply some PVA glue to the back of the faux leather triangle first, position on the paper and press down using the large scraper tool. Continue by layering up the marbled triangle next, then finally the foil outline triangle.
Finally place your finished easy geometric art into a frame and display on a shelf for all to see.
Once you get started you'll be chomping at the bit to create more gorgeous geometric pieces of art, like these...
So now I have whet your appetite for geometrics, you best head over to my latest post showcasing loads of lovely geometric accessories for your home (and wardrobe!)
Or you can continue the craftiness and make yourself a totally tropical tropical leaf garland
Happy Crafting!