Today I’m taking a close look at the TeckWrap Craft Matte Adhesive Vinyl. TeckWrap Craft generously provided me with six different colors of their matte vinyl along with some tools in exchange for my honest opinion.
I was not paid for this review and project nor was I pressured to be nothing but positive by TeckWrap Craft. This post and video tutorial reflect my honest impressions of the items they sent.
Since the colors of matte vinyl provided were so pastel-y and pretty I decided to make some spring decals to decorate my Cricut Joy.
If you are not a Cricut user, however, I think this tutorial is still for you because although I did use Cricut Design Space to make the decals, I don’t spend too much time there. Instead, I show you how to layer and apply the vinyl decals as well as discuss the tools and vinyl itself. Please check it out below!
Click HERE for the SUPPLY LIST
Please check out the video tutorial below or scroll down for instructions with photos:
What Products Did TeckWrap Craft Provide Me?
As I mentioned above, TeckWrap Craft sent me six colors of their Matte Permanent Adhesive Vinyl:
- Baby Blue
- Liveable Green
- Sweet Pink
- Piggy Pink
- Salmon Pink
- Apricot
They also gave me some tools to try:
- Weeding Pen with fun glitter on it
- Tweezers
- Squeegee/Scraper
- Opal Tool Case
- Strong Tack Cutting Mat
I didn’t use the Baby Blue color for this project but you can see it at the beginning of the video tutorial. It’s lovely!
I also didn’t use the cutting mat for this specific project because I used my Cricut Joy to cut everything. But I did try cutting some vinyl using it in my Cricut Maker and it worked perfectly – no problem loading it into the machine or removing the vinyl from it (although Strong Tack was probably more tack than I really needed). They also carry Standard Tack and Light Tack versions that I think are worth checking out. I was impressed by the mat and it’s less expensive than Cricut brand mats.
Matte Adhesive Vinyl?
If you’re like me, you may have seen matte adhesive vinyl available from other companies in black and white but rarely any other color.
TeckWrap Craft has 21 colors of matte vinyl along with black and white. So right off, that’s pretty unique. I personally really like the look of matte vinyl so it’s nice to have a much wider choice in terms of colors for this kind of vinyl.
The vinyl comes wrapped in plastic on a roll with a protective layer covering the vinyl. It’s stuck right to the face of the vinyl and you might not even notice it except for the small label on the roll that tells you to remove it.
It’s pretty easy to remove and you should do so before cutting it. This layer protects the vinyl during shipping and when you store it. I think this is a nice feature!
Now let’s get to making the project…
Laying Out the Floral Decals in Cricut Design Space
For the flower decals, I used a file I downloaded from Creative Fabrica. It comes with nine flowers, but I only used four of them.
I made some modifications to the four flower designs I used so that I could cut them at a pretty small size for the Cricut Joy and to make them different from each other.
In the video tutorial above, I’ve not included the specifics of how to modify the file in Cricut Design Space but the changes included welding a circle and some ovals to some of the shapes to fill in some holes, creating an offset, resizing a leaf, slicing some shapes as well as resizing, recoloring and adding and subtracting leaves for the various flowers.
If you want specific instructions on exactly what I did in Cricut Design Space, please see the bonus video below:
Cricut Cut Setting for TeckWrap Craft Matte Adhesive Vinyl
To cut the Matte Adhesive Vinyl with my Cricut Joy, I used the Premium Vinyl setting and left the pressure on Default.
I used the same setting to cut the vinyl with my Cricut Maker and it worked perfectly in both machines. That leads me to believe the same setting will also work in a Cricut Explore Air machine.
Tips for Cutting TeckWrap Craft Matte Adhesive Vinyl
As I mentioned above, you should remove the protective layer from the Matte Adhesive Vinyl before you cut it with your machine. If you forget, it’s not that big a deal, but it does make removing it from the vinyl afterwards a bit more difficult and can mess up the transfer tape being able to stick to the vinyl.
I cut the vinyl into the smallest piece I needed to cut the elements from by color and pressed each piece on to my Standard Grip Cricut Joy Mat with the squeegee.
A bunch of my cuts were very small and the vinyl cut so well that some of it began to self-weed (pull away from the backing sheet) before I had even removed the vinyl from the mat. This was nice because it made weeding easier if I didn’t need to keep the small pieces.
But, I did lose a small green leaf when it popped right off the sheet without my even realizing it. So, keep an eye out for any small pieces that may get away from you before you weed the sheets – lol!
Weeding TeckWrap Craft Matte Adhesive Vinyl
Honestly, the matte vinyl cut so nicely, weeding it was really easy! To start, I used the weeding pen to grab a corner of the vinyl and just pulled most of the excess vinyl away from the cut pieces without any problems.
I used the weeding pen again to remove the larger inside pieces like the flower centers.
For the really small cuts, like the polka dots in some of the flowers and the holes in some of the flower centers, I found it was easier to use the tweezers to remove them. I could get a better grip on the small bits and just pull them right off the backing sheet.
Occasionally the small bits might self-weed (see previous step) and get stuck on the vinyl I needed to keep, so then I used the weeding pen or the tweezers to gently remove them from the vinyl.
Layering Some of the Vinyl Decals Together
Some of the vinyl elements needed to be layered together after they were weeded, like some of the flower centers onto the flowers.
I like to do the layering before I put the decal on the final surface because it’s easier to do first on a flat surface.
To layer them, I cut clear transfer tape down to the size I need to cover the pieces to be layered onto larger pieces.
Then, I peel back a small part of the backing sheet from the sticky side of the tape (about 1/4″ – 3/8″) and then carefully press only the exposed part on to one end of the vinyl to be layered.
I now burnish down the tape on to the vinyl with either my fingers or the squeegee. Then I push forward with the squeegee to push down the remaining tape onto the rest of the vinyl and remove the backing sheet from the tape.
With the transfer tape I use, the backing sheet just comes right off as I push. You can save it to re-use with the transfer tape again if you like.
Once the tape is covering all of the vinyl, I use the squeegee to burnish it down well onto all of the vinyl elements.
Then I cut the elements apart so I can layer them one at a time.
I now remove the backing sheet from one of the vinyl flower centers to expose the sticky back of the vinyl that is on the transfer tape.
Then I carefully position it over the center of the flower and press down to layer the two pieces of vinyl together. Then I burnish the center in place with the squeegee.
Carefully pull back the transfer tape to reveal the layered flower. If needed, use the squeegee to burnish down any parts that don’t want to stick down.
Repeat these steps to add the centers to all of the flowers. Then, add transfer tape to all of the vinyl elements, including the now two-layered flowers using the same method and cut the elements apart.
NOTE: You can also layer together the offsets with their flowers and centers at this step if desired. I didn’t do that for this tutorial, but have in the past, and it can be easier to do it now.
Put the Matte Vinyl Decals on Your Cricut Joy
I made a template in Cricut Design Space to determine how I wanted to layout the flowers on my Cricut Joy by measuring the sides of my Joy and then adding rounded rectangles to the Canvas on which to arrange the flowers. I took a screenshot of it and sent it to my phone so I could refer to it while I was putting the decals on my machine.
To place the first flower on the top of the Joy, I peeled off the backing sheet from the flower exposing the sticky side and then pressed it in place on to the machine. I eyeballed it first and then tried to bend the transfer tape as I placed it to get the center to stick down first.
Then I burnished the flower down using my fingers and the squeegee by pushing from the center of the flower outwards.
I carefully removed the transfer tape, re-squeegeeing any pieces that tried to lift.
Next I removed the backing sheet from the leaves that went around that flower, eyeballed their placement before pressing them down around the flower. Then I repeated the burnishing and tape removal steps. The leaves wanted to lift off a bit more than the flower so required some extra burnishing as I removed the transfer tape.
I then repeated this sequence for the remaining flowers and leaves.
I used a pillow case scrunched up under the bottom side of the Joy to keep it standing vertically on its side while I placed the decals.
Since I didn’t layer my offsets and flowers ahead of time, I needed to do it on the machine itself. It seemed like it might be tricky, but it was actually pretty easy.
First I burnished down the white offset layer and peeled off the transfer tape.
I eyeballed placing the flower inside the offset to get it as even as possible on all sides and then pressed it down center first, burnishing again from the center outwards. Then peeled off the transfer tape for this layer.
Next, the flower center was added and finally any leaves that needed to press right up against the offset.
The leaves were probably the toughest part (if not very tough is tough – lol). To get good placement, I trimmed off the transfer tape right along the edges of the leaves that needed to butt up against the offset layer.
I very carefully eyeballed the edges against the white offset and then pressed and burnished the leaves down. Finally removing the transfer tape.
I got lucky with my placements and even those that aren’t perfect, still look good because the flowers are just fun and casual!
Let’s Talk Quality of the Matte Adhesive Vinyl
Okay, here’s what I think of the TeckWrap Craft Matte Adhesive Vinyl: I love it!
It is really good quality – thin, beautiful colors, easy to cut, easy to weed, easy to work with!
Pricewise it’s less expensive than Cricut Premium Vinyl and have I mentioned the color choices? Lol!
I also really loved the tools!
The weeding pen, tweezers and squeegee are ‘essential tools’ as I have been saying for a while now. What makes these extra special is the fun glitter and rose gold on the weeding pen, the magenta into blue rainbow effect on the tweezers WITH a case and the slight give of the squeegee. These touches make the tools not just functional, but fun too and who doesn’t want that?
The storage case also has a fun finish and it stores the tools in a simple, thin and convenient pouch.
As I mentioned above, I was also very impressed with the Strong Tack Cutting Mat. It currently comes in a kit with a standard tack and light tack mat as well as the tweezers and squeegee so it’s a pretty good deal or can be purchased separately. They are less expensive than Cricut brand mats too.
Honestly, I don’t have anything bad to say about the vinyl and tools I received from TeckWrap Craft and you know I would, if I did. I would love to try their other products and will let you know when I do.
I hope you will give them a try too. The Supply List is linked below!
Questions or Comments?
If you have any questions, please leave me a comment below and I will get back to you soon. Want to just tell me how much you loved this tutorial? Please leave me a comment below – lol!
Suggestions?
I would also appreciate any ideas you may have for topics to cover related to the software for Cricut (Design Space), Silhouette (Studio) or Brother (Canvas Workspace) and any suggestions you may have on projects to create with the Cricut Maker, Cricut Joy, Silhouette Cameo 4 or the Brother Scan N Cut DX. Please leave any requests you have in the comments. I appreciate you taking the time to visit and read my blog. Thanks!
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