Cutting machine | Silhouette Secrets

Quick gifts

Posted on July 19, 2017July 18, 2017 by silhouettesecretsplus

I love being able to whip up a quick gift to send to a friend.

I had a towel in my stash & it seemed to be whispering my name. So I went shopping in the Silhouette Design store to find a cut file I liked.

After a measurement error & my 2nd scrap of black HTV, I ended up with a nice, simple gift I could throw in my care package.

Yes, even seasoned Silhouette users make mistakes. And do you know, often times you learn more from making a mistake than not. At least in my experience, I remember things better the next time when I’ve made a mistake or had to research how to do something. Does that mean I won’t make the same mistake again? No! But I may laugh at myself more the next time!

How do you learn to use the machine? You play, you practice, you research, you create!

I love learning what new technique or new project I can do with my Silhouette Cameo.

Enjoy!

Customized nerf targets

Posted on January 12, 2017January 10, 2017 by silhouettesecretsplus

I just love being able to add a personalize touch to almost any item.
We saw this DIY nerf gun target on Facebook over the holidays and knew it needed to be created in our house….. but, I was asked to take it one step further.
I was told we needed “bad guy” faces for our targets…. well google “bad guy” clip art and not much comes up that would really work…..
So I asked my 5 year old son and he saw this Lego man face and wanted it….
Then, I saw the Joker face and had to try it out…..
It was a hit for a few moments and then a new Nerf war broke out and it’s much funner to shoot at a real person than a target…..

Now, back to the Nerf wars!!

Enjoy!

After Christmas crafting

Posted on January 4, 2017January 2, 2017 by silhouettesecretsplus

On Christmas morning I quickly realized that I needed Santa sacks, so no one could “peek” at what Santa brought before everyone else got out of bed.
While shopping in the Target Christmas clearance the day after Christmas, I happened on these burlap sacks.

I quickly sprang into action….

Grabbed 3 of them and headed home. There was some HTV that would be great on these.
I found some gold foil HTV in my sample stash and set to creating the names in the Studio.

Just as a reminder…. always mirror your image when using HTV or you will end up wasting a bit of vinyl.
Eventually, I will get a heat press, but for now, my iron works with my teflon sheet.

The kids all enjoyed modeling their new Santa sacks for next year.

Enjoy creating!

Do Something Creative Everyday!

New Year – New Mat!!!

Posted on January 1, 2017December 31, 2016 by silhouettesecretsplus

I was cutting a few designs out of vinyl and it just seemed to keep tearing…..
I powered through and cut a second time & then carefully coaxed it while weeding the design….

You can find that previous blog post with image HERE.

A few days later I sit down to cut a few more and think to myself, “Let’s try a new mat and see if it makes a difference.”

Oh my gosh! I don’t know why I always forget to try this…..
It’s probably because I feel that my old mat is still sticky, but it just must not be sticky enough.
A new mat, the vinyl doesn’t slip at all and I think that makes all the difference in clear cut lines….
This design below was so easy to weed and on 651, which I seem to have more issues with weeding.

New mat = problem solved!

I found this design in the Silhouette store and it said “Buy Me”…. well – click… and now I can just place it on my mat, resize it and cut. So simple!

I wish you all a very Happy New Year & wish you many blessings in 2017!!

Silhouette instruction

Posted on December 26, 2016December 24, 2016 by silhouettesecretsplus

Did you get a Cameo for Christmas or just because?

out-of-the-box-photo

Need help learning how to do something? I attended Terri Johnson Creates first graduating Instructor class and am now set up for online instruction via video conference calls. I use a program that is free to you called Zoom and it allows me to share exactly what is on my screen, so I can walk you through the software and you can follow along in your software.

I love the flexibility of the video conference call & still having the personal instruction that you can ask questions as you think of them.

Lessons are $25 per hour with a 1 hour minimum. An invoice will be emailed to you & must be paid prior to the lesson to guarantee your appointment time.

Please see my Instruction page HERE for specific details.

While you can operate your machine with the free basic software, I highly encourage you to upgrade your software to Designer Edition to have less frustration & be able to work with different file types a lot easier. If you only plan to use designs from the Silhouette store, then the basic software is perfect for you. However, if you want to use designs you pick up other places, such as .svg files, then the Designer Edition is for you.

You can search for sales and deals on the software upgrade in many places. I would recommend looking at Swingdesign.com and Amazon to see who has the best deal. Trust me that once you see what your machine is capable, you will feel that the Designer Edition is worth every penny.

There are lots of great sites to learn how to use your Silhouette machine & you will often see me post information from them. I use them too!
But, if you are looking for personal instruction feel free to get in touch with me!
Take a look at my page HERE for more details or send me an email at silhouettesecretsplus@gmail.com.

Hope you enjoy creating with your machine as much as I do!
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‘Twas the Night before Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2016 by silhouettesecretsplus

I’ve seen variations of this all over and I just had to try it.

This was a bit difficult to weed the vinyl but I was determined. I wanted this image on my charger plate. I ended up cutting it twice and then coaxing it along while weeding & applying it, but I love the end result.

I decided I needed to cut up the words a bit & applied in pieces. It seemed to lay on the charger & go on better with less bubbles.

And done….. another Christmas decoration off my to- do list.

I hope you enjoy your Christmas Eve!

Simple Santa Ornament

Posted on November 15, 2016November 8, 2016 by silhouettesecretsplus

Here is another simple ornament made using basic shapes within the Silhouette Studio program.
I created a long rectangle belt after measuring the circumference of my square ornament, which I then cut out of black 651 vinyl.
Then I made 2 squares and used the Subtract all feature to make the belt, which I cut out of silver 651 vinyl.

I then used transfer tape to place the images onto my ornament.

And added a few clear rhinestones with some E6000 glue and you have a simple Santa belt ornament.

Hope you are able to create something today!

Enjoy!

Planning with your Silhouette Cameo

Posted on November 1, 2016November 1, 2016 by silhouettesecretsplus

Did you know you can find all kinds of cute Planner things on Pinterest?
Of course you did, if you are like me, you have a few things pinned to your Planner board…. ummmmm maybe hundreds…. every time I get a motivated bug & happen to be on Pinterest, a few more jump on my board…..

You can check out what I mean just by taking a look at my personal Planner board on Pinterest HERE.

So much cute stuff, not enough hours in the day….

And that lead me to this Planner page by Planner Addiction & how could I resist it. And do you want to know the best part…. the cut file is all done for you!! All you have to do is download to your computer, open the file in the Silhouette Design Studio, print with your printer on sticker paper, add it to your Silhouette mat & hit cut….. it cuts out all those cute Planner stickers.

This file is provided free of charge by http://www.planneraddiction.com and is for Personal Use only. Please share the link above with friends, to go directly to her site to download.

While you are there, check out the other things she has available on her site : http://planneraddiction.com/coffee-kawaii/

Thank you http://www.planneraddiction.com for sharing your cute coffee planner stickers with us.

If you find a few spare moments in your day, you could find lots of Planner stickers online that you could print & make a sticker binder of, so they are at your finger tips when you do sit down to fill in your planner.

Have a great day!

Stencils with the Silhouette

Posted on October 17, 2016October 17, 2016 by silhouettesecretsplus

I knew you could do it… but I’d never done it…. then I opened my mouth & volunteered to make stencils for my son’s preschool class fundraiser…..
After my offer was confirmed, I started researching…. usually I would recommend doing it the other way around and volunteering for something that you already know for sure you can do….. But, that’s another story.
My first idea was to use my Cameo machine & cut stencils from chipboard…. we were applying them to flower pots and it was for preschool & younger children.
Then I started looking into it and thought there would be better materials to use….
Amazon Prime to my rescue… I ordered some Silhouette Stencil material and a box of laminating pouches.

After my supplies were delivered, I broke out my laminating machine I picked up many, many years ago…. Had to blow some dust off that box!
Once heated up, I ran the laminating sheets through the machine and it because a hard plastic “stencil” material. This was still flexible enough to apply to a round surface, like the pots we were using.
Then I got to work cutting lots & lots of designs from my Silhouette library and other things I traced or drew myself.

I had to make a demo pot to make sure the stencils would work…. There was some bleed through… but less paint is better!!

And I may have gone a bit crazy with the stencils I made… at least I thought I might have.
I was so worried the day of the event that these wouldn’t work & no one would want to use them…. but, I was wrong… everyone LOVED them!
It turned out wonderful and so many pots were painted with unique designs….

It was great seeing people take the stencils and make their own designs and have a keepsake to take home with them.

There are so many possibilities to create using your Silhouette Cameo and this machine amazes me at what materials it can cut… I am forever testing it out!

TJC Licensed Instructor

Posted on October 10, 2016October 10, 2016 by silhouettesecretsplus

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of attending Terri Johnson Creates first Licensed Instructor class. I was ecstatic when I saw her announce the opening of her first Licensing event and I had to sign up immediately.

Why?
Well, I’m a Silhouette fanatic and have been since I first started using the machine.
I started out using a Cricut machine and found it very limiting….
Why could I not change the image and adjust it how I wanted it to be?
I was very familiar with their Design program, but did not like how little I had control over.
Then I won a Silhouette Portrait in a digital scrapbooking challenge and that changed everything. The first time I used the machine I knew that I need the bigger Cameo.
Yep, I upgraded immediately. I fell in love with it.

Now, almost 4 years later I am a graduating member of the TJC Instructor program.
Several times I have thought back to years before that when a friend told me about this awesome machine that she just knew I would love and had so much potential.
Boy, do I wish I had listened to her sooner (you should have pushed harder Bobbi)!

Since the retreat, I have been working on a business plan & this new blog site.
It’s a work in progress and I plan to show all the projects that I work on right here.
I am an avid crafter at heart and love to try all kinds of projects to see if they will turn out.

I am so glad that I was able to attend this training and can’t wait to see what is to come.
Here is the 1st graduating class of the TJC Instructor Program

If you are interested in learning more about TJC Instructor Program you can visit Terri’s website for more information.
Terri Johnson Creates

Stay tuned for more projects, tips, training and personal instruction.
Details will be posted on this site as I get everything ironed out.