Happy Saturday,
I wanted to open up a little conversation today — something simple, supportive, and perfect for all of us, whether you’re brand new or deep in your crafting groove.
What’s one thing you wish you knew when you first started using your Loklik cutter machine? 
I’ll go first!
One thing I really wish I knew when I first started was the difference between HTV (heat transfer vinyl) and adhesive vinyl.
HTV needs heat — it’s for shirts, fabric, canvas bags, and anything you can press.
Adhesive vinyl is basically a sticker — perfect for cups, jars, walls, labels, and smooth surfaces.
I used to grab whatever vinyl was closest and then wonder why it wasn’t sticking, wasn’t weeding right, or wasn’t pressing correctly. Once I learned the difference, everything clicked and my projects got so much smoother.
Your turn — what’s something you wish you knew when you first started with your Loklik?
Let’s help the next wave of makers grow with confidence and clarity 
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One thing I didn’t realize and is different from other cutting machines is that if you have your group layer let’s say its white and go to cut it out, if cuts everything that is white in that project. So now I change all my cut layers to different colours so I know that it won’t cut through something I don’t want it to.
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The number one thing I wish I’d known in the beginning is to arrange each color and element of my layers on the canvas in the IdeaStudio to get the most out of my materials, so I’m not wasting them, as I shared in this post 
IS Tips: How to Save Your Vinyl (and Every Other Material).
I wasted so much vinyl just leaving everything arranged in the IS, as it would be assembled on the blank, before cutting. 
I wish I could go back in time and save it all! 
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Yes, arranging things saves so much vinyl. Although I often tell beginners if they are nervous lining things up to just leave it where it is until they get comfortable using adhesive vinyl or whatever they are using.
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I think adhesive vinyl is so much easier to line up and deal with without all that excess carrier sheet, though. There were so many times I wanted to pull my hair out when dealing with that stuff. For me, it’s much easier to handle in smaller sections, but everyone is different. Some people may not have the OCD eye that I have and have a hard time aligning on their own, so it’s helpful for them. But for me, it’s the opposite. I’d rather use rulers and do the math than deal with excess carrier sheets or waste vinyl. I started out watching Bethadilly, Makers Gonna Learn, and Jennifer Maker, & I saw them aligning with one piece, so I did that, but eventually realized I wasting a lot of material. 
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Oh, I’m totally the same, I personally think it’s easier too. But I taught a class at a craft fair, and we were working with adhesive vinyl. I’m like if you really want to, you can just peel them off like they are a sticker and not worry about transfer tape and burnishing and aligning things. Well, that first class was a disaster, so I went home that day and cut everything in alignment for the next class and it ran a lot better. To each there own I guess lol 
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Oh, no! I bet that was a fun lesson. Yeah, I always burnish and use transfer tape, I just cut mine in smaller sections, so it’s not so much at once. I would never be able to do it without the transfer tape. I was calling it a carrier sheet earlier lol. I meant transfer tape. 
Trying to cook dinner and type comments makes it kind of difficult to think.
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I love how you’ve touched on nearly everything I’m dealing with right now, lol.
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This is so me right now, haha.
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