CD player decals for the vision impaired

My mum has macular degeneration, and so she reads books on a CD player. The buttons on the edge are black on black. Hard to read, even for a sighted person.  Product designers should ask themselves if their buttons can be read by a person over the age of 43, when close-up vision becomes more of a challenge.

So, I dug out some black adhesive vinyl and made some decals for the functions. Their positions on the top surface corresponds to the location of the button on the edge.

As usual I used my Cricut expressions machine with Sure Cuts A Lot. [But you can't get that combination any more, if you were to start out now you'd have to get a different cutter if you wanted to use SCAL.]

I will create a pay-it-forward listing on my etsy shop for the decals at cost if you want to do the same for your vision-impaired loved one. 

Reinterpreting a Design

I decided to revisit the original soap tote design and replace the mesh with a mesh that was inspired by the shirt that Rachel Ray was wearing on her show a few days ago. This is just a prototype but the gist of the design is there. The position of the design elements needs reworking, for sure. What was I thinking?

Anyway, there's much less sewing on this design and no zipper so it goes together much faster. I'm going to make a bunch of these and market them at local craft fairs in June.

Sorry for the blurry photo, my husband has the proper camera.

New design! Travel Soap Bag

Churning in the back of my mind has been the problem that my vinyl soap totes are labour intensive; about 70 minutes to sew if I make them with a lot of detail and the inner mesh bag. (I do think I could get that number down if I did them in production mode).

I wondered if the design could be a simple roll, then I thought about that cool mesh I was able to create. Why not cut a mesh pattern on one end for the drying mesh, and roll it all up for storage? That is what I have spent today doing, and here's the first prototype. I put the mesh pattern onto the handle for added pizzazz and I think it looks just great! It fits a large bar of soap and closes with velcro. The pictures show the roll (1) rolled up; (2) in soap drying position; and (3) completely unrolled.

Pardon the quickcam photos, husband has the camera for his business trip.

Please Comment, I cherish your feedback.

Update: I am working on another design with side wings so the soap can be enclosed completely. I have also been working on other mesh patterns, such as the one I saw on Rachel Ray's shirt.

Find the latest in travel soap bags on my website at http://www.vinally.ca/shop.php

Jar with vinyl sleeve

I converted a plain cylindrical jar to a Mid Century Modern vase. I created a drawing of simple, overlapping rings in Illustrator then cut them with my Cricut via Sure Cuts A Lot. This jar was a simple cylinder but I am going to try this technique on my Method soap jar next.

I can't wait to try this mesh design out on some other things! Stay tuned and please comment!

Cricut works on rubber tire inner tube,

but only if you freeze it, first. Otherwise the rubber is too spongy and does not cut well. Also, it is a bit too thick to cut all the way through, but the Cricut is great for making guide cuts, which I'll finish off later with a craft knife. (Note: this off-label use for the Cricut is not recommended by the manufacturer. Just sayin.) I am making rubber stamps for my billboard vinyl wallets and soap totes on my Etsy shop. I'll stamp my logo onto a piece of satin ribbon and sew it into a seam on my wallets and soap totes.

I can't wait to try making soles for shoes on the Cricut. Did I tell you I made shoes, too? I'll save that for another post. Thanks for visiting, and please comment.

Cricut Machine

I finally got my Cricut machine. A Cricut Expressions machine is a glorified craft knife. I am looking forward to testing this out on various materials like billboard vinyl. I am not into scrapbooking or cardmaking, but I see a lot of potential in this cutting machine. And maybe I will make a card or two!

Update: It works for cutting the thickest recycled billboard vinyl that I have. For those who are interested I'm using a high pressure and a blade depth of 6. I don't know if that's overkill but it works for now.

Now I have more possibilities like cutting filigree patterns into the billboard vinyl. Oh what artistic fun!