DIY Project Sharing | Leaves for autumn

[InkiteeWorkshop]

How to cut craft foam shapes on iCraft LLiS
I have hand drawn these little leaves to cut out on 1.8-2mm craft foam, to make ink stamps to use on paper or fabric. The settings were a bit tricky to get right but I kept testing and ended up with a usable result.

There are also no automatic settings for cutting craft foam in the pre-set material library.

Material: cheap craft foam A5 pack, approximately 1.8-2mm thick
Blade: deep point
Machine: iCraft 2.0
Mat: standard grip, with painters tape to secure sides

to get started, I only done test cuts, little squares first then I changed to use my leaves as test cuts because the shapes varied and the blade dragged and made overcuts, so this was the best way to finalise my test.

change the fine point blade to the deep point blade.
When you don’t know what cut settings to use, start with anything

1st test cut
force 8.5
speed 1
passes 1
thickness 0.00
deep force off
test shape: little squares
this setting was a fail! It chewed up the craft foam

5 tests failed, It cut better but overcut the inside curves at the pivot points, here’s how I stopped/minimised the overcuts

4th test low and slow
force 4.5
speed 1
passes 4
check the box “deep cut” cuts the material multiple times with gradually increased force.

this setting worked! Clean cuts and rounded areas as good as it were going to get.
after pass 4 it didn’t look like it cut all the way though, but I was able to pull the cut leaves out of the craft foam easily.

Finishing: add veins on the leaves
Once you have cut out the leaf shapes you can drag a sharp poky tool or a thick needle over the leaf shapes where you would normally see veins. you can add random dots as well, it makes the most adorable little leaves, you can add random dots as well, it makes the most adorable little leaves, and you can use fall colours to stamp them on anything you like.

full process step by step How to VIDEO coming soon

[ZannX]

What a creative idea.The leaves alone looks natural.

[InkiteeWorkshop]

thanks so much @ZannX leaves are fun to work with, we live on the land and are surrounded by natures wonders and colours

[redhada]

Really beautiful! I felt in love with eva stamps when I tried them a couple of months ago.

This is a perfect example on how it is a wonderful resource. Here you can make a quick and cheap tool to get an amazing result, as you can make a bunch of them, for different colours and shapes.

I have some stamp inks pending on my wishlist, as I used regular stamp ink back then.

Please let me recover that project here to compare settings, as I remember I only used one or two passes

DIY Project Sharing | Craft Foam Hearts Stamps

EDIT:

@redhada

I used the strong grip mat, cutting force 11, speed 1, and just one pass

But this is for the Crafter, it would be around 13,2 force in the iCraft, if that makes sense (remember my conversion table is only a theory)

[InkiteeWorkshop]

thanks so much @redhada it looks like you may have used a diferent material to mine, the one i used is very soft. I tested 1, 2, 3 and 4 passes. and started with 8.5 force and it chewed it up a lot, you can see this when i finish editing my video. I do have other craft foam that is diferent to my test sheets. It might be worth it to try the strong grip mat to see if it holds it flatter.

[redhada]

Any time! Yes, I think the strong mat is a key factor here. Although my foam may be different, we may conclude it may be better using more force, slow cutting and as less passes as possible, so the edge can avoid denting. Maybe not that important for stamps, but nicer for decorative foam cuttings xdd

Can’t wait to see that video!

[InkiteeWorkshop]

hey @redhada i done the same cut using the strong mat and in my case it made no diference, I did increase the speed and reduced the times it cut.

[redhada]

Very curious both things, the mat not affecting and the higher speed reducing passes? I guess each enviroment is different

At least we can share the factors we test with

[InkiteeWorkshop]

it is indeed, i was faced with another issue while doing these tests, i will be contacting support to let them know

[redhada]

Out of all the different techniques and materials I’d like to try, I find myself leaning towards stamps.

Testing versafine, now I need the iEngrave to make my own stamps xddd

[Katrina_Moore]

So creative

[MCVDFC]

What a great little autumn project. The veins really stand out well in the end.
I’m wondering though, if you’d be able to set it up as one process, rather than doing the veins by hand. I think you could add the veins as a different colour/layer, then either use the scoring tool, or a low pressure first cut (eliminating the need to change tools.)
It might be worth considering if you ever make the project again. This would also make it easier for other crafters to try to recreate it themselves.
Anyway,

[InkiteeWorkshop]

Thanks so much, @MCVDFC! You’re right, it could be set up as your suggestions. I did the veins by hand because I don’t have a scoring tool, I may have failed to mention this i can’t remember. Anyway it’s a simple step marking the foam by hand.

[BellethehowtoGuru]

Oh, this is fantastic thank you so much for sharing. I’m so trying this

[DianeB]

Thank you for the tutorial! I’d like to get into craft foam projects in the near future, hopefully I can test this out