What is Cricut BrightPad Used for?
Were you wondering what the Cricut BrightPad is used for? Today, I’m sharing how it can help you craft with your Cricut and a few other crafts it can be used for! When you’re done, check out my Cricut Maker 3 review too! This post was created in collaboration with Cricut and contains affiliate links.
Ever find a random vinyl dot from an i that you were missing in your toddler’s hair? Or maybe you’ve completely given up on glitter iron-on, no matter how awesome it is, because of weeding frustrations?
The Cricut BrightPad is a game changer and I’ll be sharing how by answering a few of your questions.
What is the Cricut BrightPad used for?
What exactly is it and what can it do?
Is it worth having? Is it only used for Cricut crafting?
I’ll also be sharing a super fun (and easy) project for you to try. I created these two wall hangings with my almost-two-year-old’s bedroom in mind!
Table of Contents:
- What exactly is the Cricut BrightPad?
- What is Cricut Bright Pad Used For?
- What else can a Cricut BrightPad make easier?
- What’s the Difference Between the BrightPad and BrightPad Go?
- Is Cricut BrightPad worth it?
- How to make wall art with Cricut Bright Pad
- What you need
- Project setup in design space
- Putting it together
The wall art was made using a Cricut Access design for a monochromatic rainbow. I treated it more as a simple abstract pattern.
It was made using shimmer vinyl for a subtle princess effect, without overdoing it. The overall look is modern and clean.
The solid color vinyl was placed on the back and the line art on the front. This adds subtle depth. You can use any simple image or line art with this tutorial. It’s also a fabulous way to showcase your favorite mandala animals!
Now, it’s time to answer all your BrightPad questions!
What exactly is the Cricut BrightPad?
Cricut makes a line of cutting machines that can be used by anyone, from novice to pro. But they also create loads of products to support cutting machine crafting, including the BrightPad.
The Cricut BrightPad is a lightpad created by Cricut to help make things easier when crafting.
This slim light box uses LED lights on a large, flat surface to back light projects. Placing a project on it causes all the details on it to come to life, helping to reduce eye strain for anything that requires detailed work.
It doesn’t take up much space in your craft room, and is really a convenient tool in your crafting arsenal, beyond Cricut crafting.
What is Cricut Bright Pad Used For?
The BrightPad was designed to make weeding Cricut projects easier.
Weeding refers to removing the “wrong” parts or outline of your vinyl on various projects. Some materials (such as glitter and shimmer textures) and colors (such as white or yellow) can be harder to weed because the cut marks are less visible.
The BrightPad is a fabulous tool that makes things so much easier by back lighting your project. As the light shines through your project, it shines brighter through the areas where the cuts are, outlining them.
Projects that are more complex – such as text-heavy projects like this canvas sign, mandala cuts, or very repetitive cuts like this rainbow – are very prone to mistakes.
The Cricut BrightPad makes everything super clear so that you can make fewer mistakes. Usually pieces get lost when they’re pulled off the backing accidentally because you didn’t notice them. With the BrightPad you’ll notice them…
What else can a Cricut BrightPad make easier?
Did I mention that the BrightPad goes much further than weeding?
First of all, let’s talk Cricut crafts! Infusible Ink is one of my favorite materials as it embeds (and basically dyes) the design into the fabric. Using markers rather than sheets gives you more options color-wise. But because your design always needs to be mirrored, it’s hard to freehand.
With the BrightPad, you can easily trace a design in mirror image.
I took some old lettering doodles with the word “create” in pretty script. I flipped it over and placed another paper on top. Now, I can trace the word Create in mirror image to transfer to a pencil case.
The Cricut BrightPad can also be used for:
- Tracing art for any purpose, beyond Infusible Ink.
- Paper Piercing – such as making lanterns
- Quilt blocks or sewing templates
- Building intricate models
- Jewelry making, such as beading fine projects
- Calligraphy – tracing templates, even directly onto cardstock
It’s fabulous for any complex, detailed art or craft!
What’s the Difference Between the BrightPad and BrightPad Go?
As you may have noticed, Cricut has two models of the BrightPad: the BrightPad and the BrightPad Go.
The main difference is that while the standard model needs to be plugged in for use, the BrightPad Go is rechargeable, so that you can take it to your living room couch and weed, trace, or bead while watching TV. Or toss it in a tote bag and work on your projects in the waiting room or carpool line…
A few more differences between the two models:
- Brightness options: the BrightPad has three while the BrightPad Go has 5
- Brightness level: the BrightPad goes to 3800 lux while the BrightPad Go goes up to 4200
- Thickness: the BrightPad Go is slightly thicker
- Hardness: the BrightPad surface has a 4H hardness and the Go has 6H, making the BrightPad Go’s surface harder and more resistant to scratches
The BrightPad you see featured in this blog post is the Go model, my preference because of its rechargeable battery and harder surface.
Is Cricut BrightPad worth it?
Using a BrightPad for weeding my projects has saved me from the frustration of both wasted material and time, making it a fabulous tool to have in my craft room.
Since I use it beyond Cricut crafting, it’s become as necessary as my glue gun! It’s an incredible tool for going over artwork to “clean it up” and tracing sketches. I love it for tracing hair bow templates. But most of all, it’s made a world of a difference in weeding more complex projects and materials like shimmer vinyl. It’s really expanded what I do with my Cricut.
How to make wall art with Cricut Bright Pad
Ready for the tutorial? This bright and colorful wall art was made using permanent Smart Vinyl in solid colors and shimmer texture. Solid colored vinyl is the same color on both sides, so placing it on the back of a glass frame insert makes for a pop of color in the background.
What you need
- Cricut Explore or Maker 3 with a fine point blade
- Smart Vinyl in bright solids
- Smart Vinyl Shimmer in silver
- Recommended: Cricut roll holder
- Cricut BrightPad or BrightPad Go
- Weeding tool
- Spray bottle with the following solution: 1 cup water, 1/2 oz alcohol, and a few drops of dish soap
- XL Scraper
- StrongGrip Transfer tape (comes with Smart Vinyl Shimmer)
- Scissors
- A picture frame with a glass insert – I used a black 8×10 frame
Note: if you have an older model machine, you can still make this! Just use a green StandardGrip mat to cut your materials – Smart or otherwise. Use a brayer to make sure it’s adhered well to the mat.
Project setup in design space
Grab my project here, or set it up yourself as follows:
1. Start a new project. Add a square shape to your canvas.
2. Make sure that the proportions are unlocked and make the rectangle the size of your frame’s glass. Change the color to be the same as your background vinyl.
3. Choose “images” and find one that you love!
4. Add it to your canvas. Make sure proportions are locked and resize to make sense for your background. Change the color to your material color.
Putting it together
1. Send your project to your Cricut to cut!
Smart Vinyl doesn’t need a mat, but I do recommend the roll holder to hold your material in place and trim it to size.
2. Cut out each rainbow roughly around the edge to make weeding easier. Place it on your BrightPad, set your desired brightness, and start weeding!
3. I found it easiest to start with the center and pull down every other strip. See how the light shines through and how clear the outline is?
4. Carefully remove the glass from a picture frame. Be careful as edges can be sharp.
5. Spray your solution on the back of the glass. Don’t spray too much! 2-3 sprays to cover the surface did the job for me.
6. Take your background color and pull back the first inch of backing. Line up the edge with the edge of your glass.
7. Pull back the backing the rest of the way. Your background should glide around somewhat easily due to the solution. Use a squeegie or XL Scraper to remove any air bubbles and to squeeze out the excess liquid.
Once enough liquid has evaporated (the alcohol in the solution expedites this) so that the backing doesn’t glide around easily anymore, you can flip it over and proceed to apply your rainbow.
8. Cut a piece of StrongGrip Transfer Tape a little larger than your design. Peel off the backing and use the scraper to apply it to your rainbow. Scrape well to adhere on the front and back.
9. Gently peel off the transfer tape. It should have picked up your design with relative ease. Line the bottom of the rainbow with the edge of the frame where you want it.
10. Use the scraper to apply it to the design, smoothing it out as you go along to avoid air bubbles.
11. When you’re happy with the placement, scrape really well, especially around the edges, to secure your design. Peel back the transfer tape. Make sure you’re peeling it back against the surface of the glass, and not lifting it up, to ensure your design sticks well.
12. Allow your backing to dry completely. Place the glass back into the frame, and replace the backing too.
Your picture frame art is complete! Got any additional questions or advice for what the Cricut BrightPad is used for? Comment below!
How to make wall art with Cricut BrightPad
(Sponsored) Learn how to make gorgeous modern wall art with the Cricut Maker 3 and the BrightPad. Weeding this design is easy, thanks to the BrightPad Go.
Materials
- Smart Vinyl in bright solids
- Smart Vinyl Shimmer in silver
- Spray bottle with the following solution: 1 cup water, 1/2 oz alcohol, and a few drops of dish soap
- A picture frame with a glass insert - I used a black 8x10 frame
Tools
Instructions
Project setup in design space
1. Start a new project. Add a square shape to your canvas.
2. Make sure that the proportions are unlocked and make the rectangle the size of your frame's glass. Change the color to be the same as your background vinyl.
3. Choose "images" and find one that you love!
4. Add it to your canvas. Make sure proportions are locked and resize to make sense for your background. Change the color to your material color.
Putting it together
1. Send your project to your Cricut to cut!
Smart Vinyl doesn't need a mat, but I do recommend the roll holder to hold your material in place and trim it to size.
2. Cut out each rainbow roughly around the edge to make weeding easier. Place it on your BrightPad, set your desired brightness, and start weeding!
3. I found it easiest to start with the center and pull down every other strip. See how the light shines through and how clear the outline is?
4. Carefully remove the glass from a picture frame. Be careful as edges can be sharp.
5. Spray your solution on the back of the glass. Don't spray too much! 2-3 sprays to cover the surface did the job for me.
6. Take your background color and pull back the first inch of backing. Line up the edge with the edge of your glass.
7. Pull back the backing the rest of the way. Your background should glide around somewhat easily due to the solution. Use a squeegie or XL Scraper to remove any air bubbles and to squeeze out the excess liquid.
Once enough liquid has evaporated (the alcohol in the solution expedites this) so that the backing doesn't glide around easily anymore, you can flip it over and proceed to apply your rainbow.
8. Cut a piece of StrongGrip Transfer Tape a little larger than your design. Peel off the backing and use the scraper to apply it to your rainbow. Scrape well to adhere on the front and back.
9. Gently peel off the transfer tape. It should have picked up your design with relative ease. Line the bottom of the rainbow with the edge of the frame where you want it.
10. Use the scraper to apply it to the design, smoothing it out as you go along to avoid air bubbles.
11. When you're happy with the placement, scrape really well, especially around the edges, to secure your design. Peel back the transfer tape. Make sure you're peeling it back against the surface of the glass, and not lifting it up, to ensure your design sticks well.
12. Allow your backing to dry completely. Place the glass back into the frame, and replace the backing too.
Notes
- You can also use your BrightPad to trace art, templates, Infusible Ink designs, and more!
Recommended Products
This post contains affiliate links and is sponsored by Cricut
