In this tutorial I want to show you how to make a rainbow effect with your designs in Cricut Design Space. This method will work for any design. It’s great for holiday projects like Christmas ornaments or reverse canvas designs.
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You will need some scrap vinyl and high quality transfer tape for this project. It is very important to use a good transfer tape so your design comes off all together and does not wrinkle or slip. I’ve linked the transfer tape I use. It is just simply the best I’ve found.
Start by creating your design in Cricut Design Space. For my example I used a flower from Cricut Access and typed the words “Grow Wild” under it. You can create any kind of design you want. You just want to make sure that your design is a single layer. Once your design is created go in and “weld” all of the parts together so you have one solid welded design.
Create your rainbow effect
Now you will decide how many different colors you want to stack for your rainbow effect. I had 3 colors and 4 strips (see pic below). My design was 3.5” tall so I made each color strip 1” and I centered the design in the middle. You will need to make the color strips perfectly straight so that your design fits together well when it’s all cut out. You can freehand this or you can run the vinyl through the Cricut to kind of “score” it and then cut along the score lines. This is how I typically do it. The video above has more detail on how to do this.
Once you’ve got your strips cut, arrange them in the order you want on your mat. Now it’s time to cut your design. Click “make it” in Design Space and place your design on the screen where you have your rainbow effect strips placed on the mat. When the Cricut is done cutting you will weed the vinyl directly from the cutting mat. DO NOT remove the design from the mat.
Weed your design
When you get the design fully weeded place the transfer tape on top. Again, leave your design on the mat. Do not remove it yet. Once your transfer tape is on your design you can start to slowly peel the mat off the vinyl. Turn the mat over and pull the mat off the vinyl one strip at a time.
Go slow and make sure your design is not wrinkling or shifting on your transfer tape. When you have your design fully removed from the mat you’re ready to peel off the paper backing and place it on your final project.
