Craft Vinyl

Craft vinyl is made from a soft PVC (poly vinyl chloride) film with an adhesive on one side to attach it to whatever you may want. It comes in blank pieces that are then cut with a cutter/plotter to achieve the desired finished shape.

In the past few years these cutter/plotters have been reduced in size to make the personal craft cutter. These cutters are much more affordable to the average crafter, and are available from many manufacturers like Provo Craft, Graphtec, Xyron, Pazzles, and Quickutz.

Expressions Vinyl sells a craft vinyl sheet product that is identical to that sold by Provo Craft for the highly popular Cricut machines; however this product is compatible with any craft cutter, such as the Craft ROBO and Silhouette, or any professional cutter/plotter. This vinyl is made by Oracal.  It is Oracal 631 Exhibition Cal.  It is about 3 mils thick with a water based, removable adhesive and is well suited for indoor and scrap booking applications with a matte finish.  While it does have what is considered a temporary adhesive it will still adhere to places, such as a wall in your home, for many years.  The qualities that make this vinyl considered to be temporary are what makes it not well suited for outdoor applications.  However it can be used in outdoor applications, it will just have a dramatically shortened life span.

We also carry an outdoor vinyl product that is also manufactured by Oracal, but not available from Provo Craft. This outdoor product is Oracal 651 Intermediate Cal.  This product has a gloss finish and a solvent based permanent adhesive.  The qualities of this vinyl make it well suited for outdoor craft projects.  While this product has what is called a permanent adhesive it does not mean that it cannot be removed.  If attached to paper it will probably destroy the paper if removed, but attached to something like glass it can be removed but will probably leave behind some residue.   Again this vinyl product is also compatible with any craft cutter or professional cutter/plotter and can also be used for indoor applications.

To finish your project you will also need a transfer tape. This product is what makes you able to take your cut vinyl and transfer it from the backing to where the cutting will be applied to a finished craft project all in one shot. The transfer tape will maintain all of the vinyl elements in relation to one another for a perfect project every time.

Craft vinyl can be used for many things such as decorating, scrap booking, or sign making.  To see examples of crafts you can make vinyl, visit our project ideas section.  You can also check out our How To Videos  section  to see how to use vinyl.  We have videos covering the basics of using vinyl all the way to seeing projects from start to finish.