I love the card kits for the Cricut Joy machine. They are perfectly sized, and ready to go with many choices of pre made cards. It makes the process so easy, and I have made so many cards with the card kits and card mat so far that my supplies are starting to run low. I can get impatient waiting for supplies (if I can’t find them in store), so I made templates available.
I plan on making lots of these and storing them in a box so that I can have them available to either mix and match with my card kits. I love mixing different color combinations, so this will give me plenty of variety for my cards.
To make card base templates and insert
I searched in design space for a card base that I could easily change. It’s easy to make your card templates and adjust for the different size cards that the card mat for the Joy machine can accommodate.
To size the card base template I used the sized shown on the card mat. The card mat size for the card kits is the 4.25 x 5.5 inches. In order to correctly size your template, only double the width, leaving the height the same. For example for the 4.25 x 5.5 you would change it to 8.5 x 5.5.
This will make the card template the exact same size as the ones in the card kit when folded. I recommend using a paper that is smooth and heavier weight similar to the card kits, this will give you even and more precise cutting with your Cricut Joy.
When designing card inserts reduce the size by 1/4 of an inch, so a 4.25 x 5.5 inch card an insert would be 4 x 5.25 to properly fit in the corners.
Cutting and storing
These projects are easy to cut, if you have another Cricut machine. Such as a Cricut Maker or Cricut explore air series machine. You can use the project links below to cut your card bases. It is also easy to cut by hand as well with a paper trimmer.
Then to cut with your other Cricut machine, just click to open the project and follow the prompts to cut your card base and insert. It’s easy to choose how many you would like to cut, and let the machine do the work for you.
You can store your cards categorized in a box by sizes or color for easy future use. There are many ideas how you can store your card bases. I plan on having a box with my card bases and inserts. Then having a box for pre-made cards, it would be so easy to add a personalized message.
To cut by hand
You will need a paper trimmer, a scoring tool (such as a bone folder), paper, and a ruler. Measure your dimensions of your paper and cut, then mark the middle and score with your scoring tool to easily fold the paper. Once completed you can fold over at the crease and have a perfect card base. Repeat the process of measuring for your card insert, then cut your card insert. Now these are ready to store for future use.
It’s fun to create things to make your crafting experience easier, especially to have something on hand to get back to crafting even faster.
A couple of quick tips for Cricut Joy card mat
As you can tell I have been using my card mat quite a bit. I think it’s one of my favorite features right now. So it has started to become less sticky. I cleaned mine lightly (don’t scrub) with a wipe to clean off dust and debris, then a damp paper towel and let dry.
Now my mat has the perfect amount of stickiness!! This will at least help until eventually like all mats will have to be replaced. I also keep the clear plastic on top of the sticky part, just like on my other mats to keep it as clean as possible in between uses.
Project links
Card template and insert 4.5 x 6.25
To purchase papers click the affiliate link below at no extra cost to you.
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