Plákata!: (PLAH-kah-tah) v.
To make solid contact, usually resulting in a home run.
We’re all big Toronto Blue Jays fans, here. And Vladdy Guerrero is one of our favourite players. This year’s version of the Jay’s home-run jacket has Vladdy’s catch-phrase, Plákata!, embroidered on the front right of the jacket. Plakata! embodies the noise of the bat making contact with the ball. When it’s your team hitting, it’s one of the world’s best sounds.
Looking to add a fun surprise to this weekend’s birthday-slash-Father’s Day festivities for my spouse, I decided to make him his own Plákata tee! And since I’m bringing a picnic to a Jays game next week to catch up with a girlfriend, I made a tote as well! Aren’t they fab?
For both of these projects, I used my Cricut Joy Xtra in conjunction with Cricut Design Space. And I used this as my opportunity to test drive my new Cricut Easy Press 3*.
First up, the Plakata tee! First, I used a tee-shirt template from Cricut Design Space to spell out Plákata! in a fun font. [The font I used is for folks with Cricut Access accounts. But there are plenty of freebies to choose from or upload on your own!] I loaded the transparent blue sheet from a Cricut Joy Xtra Smart Iron-On Transfer Holographic Sampler 3 Pack onto the mat and into the Joy Xtra and cut her out in mirror. And, I sat outside in the garden and “weeded” the excess holographic matter from the transfer, as one does;) [If you have Cricut Design Space Access, I’ve made the project available for free, here: Plakata Tee.] As you can see from the fourth picture, below, the holographic text is actually a light blue!
Then, I got started with my new Easy Press 3*. I downloaded the Cricut Heat app for iphone to activate the press and to choose the right heat settings and pressing times for my 100% cotton tee. [The tee is a really great new 100% cotton Men’s style from Uniqlo.] Getting started was super easy. I simply entered the types of materials I was using into the app and, via blue-tooth, the phone pre-set the temperature and pressing times on the machine for me. The app also provided visual tutorials for the pressing method. Within a few minutes, the press was hot, and I had the whole “Plákata!” ironed on in a heartbeat. And here, I thought my little mini-press was golden!
The light blue holographic lettering picks up so many colours that it’s well-nigh impossible to catch its natural colour on camera! It’s actually kind of magical! I really don’t think my photos do it justice!
Next, the tote! I’ve really been wanting to try out Cricut’s ink transfer option for fabrics, and this was my first go. Since I was using a Cricut large tote, I simply opened the tote template in Cricut Design Space to begin my project. I used a new font and the “wave” function to create a bat-shaped “Plákata!” and I downloaded a free baseball image from a fellow user on Cricut Access. Then I trimmed and loaded a sheet of deep blue Galactic Stars Infusible Ink Transfer onto the mat and cut my image in mirror on the Cricut Joy Xtra. [If you have Cricut Design Space Access, I’ve made the project available for free, here: Plakata Tote.] Weeding the ink-transfer sheets was a bit different than the vinyl. I didn’t use any tools. I simply folded, gently, at one of the cuts and peeled the excess inked-paper away from the clear plastic.
Like an old pro, and after only one use, I used the Cricut Heat app to select the correct temperature and timing for the project on the Easy Press 3, and I followed the excellent step-by-step visual tutorial to finish the project in record time. The ink transfer sheets came with their own pieces of paper to protect the transfer paper from the iron’s surface, which was really convenient.
I really like the way the tote came out! I think next time I might even make the words and images even larger! I can’t wait to load this tote with a huge picnic to bring to the game with my friend next week!
*A while back, I used the new Cricut Joy Xtra to make some awesome tees, hoodies, and stickers to celebrate and promote the launch of Blaise’s book, Bar Delicious (Conundrum Press). The one thing that went on my wish list after that incredibly successful project was a larger press (I was using the delightful mini-press, at the time) in order to make the tees and hoodies more expediently. This Spring, the folks at Cricut Canada heard the call and kindly sent me an Easy Press 3 to test-drive. And I’m incredibly happy with it. It has certainly made these first two projects a breeze!! Thanks so much, Cricut!
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