New Silhouette Machine? READ THIS :)

OK – I have the machine – what now???

I don’t profess to know everything the Silhouette machine can do – I have had some version going back 4 years and I have barely scratched the surface of what this great machine can do.  Lucky for us there are some WONDERFUL talents out there that have simply awesome Blogs and You-Tube Videos that can tell us everything you want to know…from basics to far more complicated projects.

WHAT DO I DO FIRST?

Well first thing you do is get your machine out of the box and get it hooked up.  Silhouette runs on software – the software has to be loaded to your computer – IT MUST BE A COMPUTER of some sort with an operating system – a PC with some sort of Windows OS or a Mac with a MAC OS – it will not work on a tablet or a cloud based system, like a chromebook.

If you received a disk with your machine chances are it is not the latest version of the software – you can load it up from the disk and once you have everything loaded the software may prompt you that there is an updated version available.  You can always download the software too directly from Silhouette http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/software/silhouette-studio/

Note there are a few different versions of Studio software – more in depth info can be found on the Silhouette site linked above

STUDIO – this is the basic version of the software and is free, there are currently two versions – the most current version is referred to as V3 – this version saves files as .studio3 files – there is also a legacy version that is referred to as V2 – this version saves files as .studio files.  You can open .studio files in ANY version of Studio, but .studio3 files can only be opened if you have V3 on our system.  All versions of Studio can also open .gsd and .dxf cut files, all are able to import picture files (.jpeg, .gif, .bmp,.tif, etc…) for tracing

DESIGNER EDITION (DE)– this is a “pumped up” version of Studio – there is a cost to buy it – depending on where you purchase it the cost is anywhere from $20-40.  This gives you a few more tools to play with, along with the ability to open .svg files

BUSINESS EDITION (BE) – this is an even greater “pumped up” version that has all the features of the basic and the DE along with even more tools, including the ability to run multiple machines from one program.

OK – software installed, machine ready to go – now what?

READ, READ, GOOGLE, READ, GOOGLE SOME MORE, READ

Silhouette Manual – yes it can get a bit confusing, but it is imperative you scan through it and get to know the basics through the manual.  It has a lot of good information about the basics – from typing in words to cut, to using the silhouette store, to explaining what all those icons are.

Blogs, Blogs, Blogs & You Tube – there are a multitude of blogs that are fairly specific to the functions of the silhouette machine in general.  While there are many out there I am going to highlight a few of the ones I turn to from time to time when I am trying to figure out how to do something new.

SILHOUETTE AMERICA –  - http://blog.silhouetteamerica.com/ yes Silhouette has their very own blog – did ya know that? – they have a variety of designers that post their own projects using files and materials you can purchase from Silhouette – they also have videos showing how to use the various kits and how to use the various tools in the software -https://www.youtube.com/user/SilhouetteAmericaInc

SILHOUETTE SCHOOL - http://www.silhouetteschoolblog.com/ - a very through blog with tons of tips, tricks and tutorials using a wide array of materials.  Melissa does a wonderful job explaining everything – first things first check out her post for newbies - http://www.silhouetteschoolblog.com/2014/12/silhouette-beginners-and-newbies-start.html

CLEVER SOMEDAY - https://cleversomeday.wordpress.com/ - Kay is a goddess IMO – she has a ton of great information on her blog, especially information pertaining to the technical kinds of things when it comes to Silhouette.  She has an tab on her site that is all about FONTS – something very important in the Silhouette world…love me some fonts – and for those that are in LOVE with Laura Worthington fonts (i.e. the delicious Samantha font) she has some great tips and tricks to get the glyphs working for you in the Studio software – She also has an EXCELLENT You Tube channel filled with all sorts of videos - https://www.youtube.com/user/CleverSomeday/videos - including the must watch Tracing without Tears series

UNDER A CHERRY TREE - http://underacherrytree.blogspot.com/ - lots of tips and tricks and tutorials – especially for print and cut

JOYS LIFE - http://joyslife.com/ has a variety of tutorials available - http://joyslife.com/silhouette-cameo-tutorials/ as well as some great videos - https://www.youtube.com/user/wwwJoysLife

THE PINNING MAMA -http://www.thepinningmama.com – tutorials – also has a great post that links to other great blogs – check it out  http://www.thepinningmama.com/2014/02/19/blogs-to-find-silhouette-cameo-project-ideas-silhouette-cameo-sale-discount-coupon-promo/

INFARRANTLY CREATIVE - http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/silhouette/ - ideas and tutorials

KENS KREATIONS - http://kreativeken.blogspot.com/ - mainly works with the Cricut Explore machine and software, but has some tutorials that can be used with the Silhouette machine – also has some videos utilizing the silhouette machine https://www.youtube.com/user/hesskr

PINK & LEMON - https://www.youtube.com/user/SewCrafty718/videos

GOOGLE WILL BE YOUR BEST FRIEND EVER…I swear…

There are a lot of different blogs and you tube videos out there that cover just about every topic, trick, tutorial out there…there are at least 39 ½ different ones just for those darn glitter ornaments alone.  If you want to know how to do something – just google – type in what you are looking for and viola (although I don’t recommend simply typing in “glitter balls” – not such a good idea) – I usually precede it with “Silhouette Cameo” XYZ.

OK I LIE…GOOGLE WON’T BE YOUR BEST FRIEND  - PINTEREST WILL…

If you don’t already have a Pinterest account I will wait while you go sign up…go on now – head straight to http://www.pinterest.com/ and sign up.  So once you are all signed up be prepared to lose yourself for a number of hours – if you have small kids, just scatter the cheerios on the floor now.  Pinterest is THE place to go – simply create a few boards – maybe a Silhouette Tutorial Board, Silhouette Idea Board, etc… and start pinning – once you put Silhouette Cameo in the search box it is like the skies open and the angels sing.  You will find a multitude of tips, tricks and tutorials and you can PIN them and refer back to them time after time after time…no more “oh where did I see that” or “gee I wish I remembered the web address for the tutorial to do XYZ” – it is all in ONE place…to get you started you can check out my Silhouette Tutorial Pinterest board – a few to get you started – but there are many, many more… http://www.pinterest.com/jenmouer/silhouette-tutorials/

Let the Countdown Begin...

So the other night I couldn’t sleep so I parked myself in front of the computer and started perusing my favorite crafting blogs…from which I clicked through to a bunch of other blogs…

BIG MISTAKE

Now I MUST have chalkboard paint – I saw so many cute things that were done using chalkboard paint…from masking a plastic charger so you can have a cute colorful chalkboard for your kitchen…to painting small wooden boards to be used as door hangers. I got this GREAT idea from seeing all the chalkboard items…but I must wait to actually do it :(

Anyway – I have been crafting up a storm…I am finally finished with the holiday craft fairs – I participated in 3 of them this year – I did OK – I hit the goal I set for myself – I was hoping to surpass it but I will take my goal…

I have a few orders of some items to finish up – hoping to complete that this holiday weekend – as for the first time in 5 years we are not traveling – I could stay in my PJ’s the ENTIRE weekend if I wanted to…

I did want to show you a special project I have been working on. I found the best little site on-line for vinyl designs – My Vinyl Designer that I mentioned the other week. They are currently having a great sale on all there designs – 25% off (use the code: holidays) and best yet – immediate download. They also provide a weekly freebie as well.

The site has been running a contest each week – with getting ready for the craft fairs I wasn’t able to set aside the time to participate – but when this past weeks came up I had an idea that went "Ba-Blam" in my brain…

So this past week was to take one of their Advent calendar designs and create something with it…
I took CA007, a metal baking sheet, red, green, yellow and white vinyl, a few fonts, fancy holiday ribbon, a wooden star and a magnet and came up with this….



I managed to snag the baking sheet at a local craft store for under $2 and had TC drill a hole in the top.

When I imported the Advent calendar into my Silhouette Studio software it was a breeze to use…I simply did the layout to get to the size and shape I wanted it to be based on my baking tray – I decided to use the back of the tray so it would sort of sit out a bit from my wall when hung. I was able to split the images so I could cut the numbered balls and wording in red and the top and bottom of the tree in green.

I went a quick step further and cut out the top of the tree in a scrap of light yellow and trimmed it so I had the star shape that I layered over the green.

I used a snowflake dingbat font to cut some snowflakes in white to scatter and made a fancy bow to cover the top lip of the baking tray and used the excess ribbon to form a loop for hanging.

Now the number holder – I found a small already painted yellow star at one of the big box craft stores – slapped a round magnet on the back (didn’t even need to pull out my glue gun – Craft glue dots are the best things ever) and VIOLA…it becomes my day tracker. Before and after X-mas it nicely resides at the top of the tree.


I think it turned out quite nifty if I do say so myself – and my girls LOVE it…I was thinking of bringing it to my workplace but I don’t think my girls will let me do that – they want to hang it in their room.

Now to complete my orders so I can craft for myself some more…

To brighten your Monday Blahs

So I have mentioned my fabulous, awesome Silhouette cutting machine before.

And after almost a year with it – I am still absolutely in love with it. They recently released a new software package to use with it – makes it 100x’s easier to use when creating my own quotes and manipulating images. I have made A LOT of shelf blocks with quotes on them for some upcoming craft fairs – those pictures will be coming at a later date.

Last week I was introduced to a new website – My Vinyl Designer - While I have access to the Silhouette store and a ton of images and phrases one can always have more…right???

What I love about My Vinyl Designer is you can buy images in a variety of formats – so if you have a Circuit or a Silhouette you can buy the file that is right for your machine. My favorite part is the fact that this site sells individual images as well as packages of designs. Also once you buy the image it is yours for immediate download + you can use it to create wonderful things to sell…that is right you have access to use the images and sell those items…something that is not available when I use Silhouette store images.

So I decided to try out a design and used TX and PWG as guinea Pigs…

I saw Alphabet 6 and loved it. So I bought it…(at 25% off too…use the code holidays) and what did I do with it…

Well first we went to the Big Box craft store and bought some 8x8 canvas and some Acrylic Craft paint…We used Apple Barrel Paints in the colors of Kiwi Green, Lagoon Blue and Hot Pink.



We painted them up – it took about 4 coats for a nice solid look – although I did like the wash through look of only 1 or 2 coats on the canvas as well…



Then I let the girls (sort of) pick their vinyl colors –

TW picked Dark Grey for her letter and white for her name – she also picked the font she wanted for her name (Fontdinersparkly)

PWG started to pick some weird colors of vinyl that really didn’t go and I was able to sway her to a Rose Red for the letter and a Chocolate Brown for her name and was able to sway her for the font (Merced) – because I loved the way the “N’ swooped.

I adhered the vinyl to the canvas – this can be a bit tricky since the canvas isn’t fully smooth – I have found if I apply pressure the underside of the canvas as I rub it works better – I still have some issue but if you go slow it should be fine.

We finished it off with 2 thin layers of Matte Modge Podge to seal the vinyl to the canvas…



Hope you like… I haven't yet decided what I am going to do with my Hot Pink painted canvas...but I envision using this alphabet A LOT...This would make a great new baby gift...or a wedding gift - put the Brides and Grooms name in middle...or use multiple canvas frames to spell out a name and use an adjective to describe the person in the middle.

Fabulous Friday...

So the kids are in school and I took the day off - after running around this mornign with dropping off Bagels for the Afterschool educators and hitting the Dr. office...a quick trip to Target and since they are predicting snow - a trip to the grocery store as well...

after all that it was time for me...

Well time for me to craft...

Yesterday the girls and I stopped into Old Navy looking for some PJ bottoms...didn't find ones that fit them right but we did find stockings...FOR $1 (instead of the $9.50 price tag) - I had been planning on making the girls new stockings this year but that was something that got pushed back...and back again...and back some more...


But for $1...heck can't beat that...

But of course how will we know whose is whose...enter my Silhouette and Rhinestone templates...and BAM




Then I since I had my machine out I decided my blank wall needed something

and came up with this - once again using my trusty white contact paper with a little of the faux stainless thrown in...I think I will be on the look out for large jingle bells when I do my After Holiday shopping - so for next year I hope to have actual jingle bells...

Super Sassy

So have I told ya'll how much I adore my new Silhouette machine?

I know, I know...

But seriously I love this thing - I have had the orginal Cricut for over 2 years and I have used the Silhouette more in the past 2 weeks then I have used the Cricut in the past 2 years.

One of the main reasons is I am able to have the machine set up right beside my computer - I get an urge to do something I just bring up the software - load the machine and cut...LOVE it...much better than hauling out my cricut - trying to find a cartridge with a font I like or an image I need - I have everything practically at my fingertips...

Add in the fact that I have a ton of shapes, words, sayings available to me to download at the push of a button with more added every single week- I signed up for a years worth of unlimited downloads at the Silhouette Online Store.

THEN, to make it even better they have come out with a new Rhinestone kit and of course I HAD to have it...it arrived last week...

In the store there are a ton of different templates - I perused them with TW and we found one that really "spoke" to TW...and then I was off...super easy to feed the template material into the machine...and then adhere on the backing board...getting the Rhinestones in the proper place took a little bit of time - BUT it was my first one and I figure the more I do the faster and easier it will become...

We used a plain black Old Navy shirt that was in her drawer and the final result...

Looks pretty good - IRL it is quite blingy...I have even already run it through a wash cycle and all those rhinestones are still stuck quite well - one of my fears was doing all this and then having them fall off once washed...but that was unfounded.

As I said the store adds new images every week - last week they added some wonderful designs by Loni Stevens. She designed words to fit on an adorable ornament box she also designed...well I loved all of them and immediately downloaded a bunch...

But...I didn't make ornaments (yet...) I took one of the designs and decided to add some Peace to my house this holiday season...It involved taking the orginal design and making it larger - I used my good old standby this holiday season - white contact paper - this is over the entry way into my family room...

of course now that I look at it I see my fancy swirls on each end aren't exactly perfect - one is higher than the other...oh well...such is life

It's the little things

I am by nature a naturally frugal person (well except when it comes to $85 face cream from Philosophy)


So in decorating my home for the holidays I tend to go pretty low key – no over the top decorations – just little things here and there and my style tends to be a more “comfy casual” then traditional…and our family is soooo a colored lights family…no offense to those who only bask in the glow of white lights…sure they are pretty…but colored lights are like sprinkles on a cake…sure the cake tastes good and is beautiful…but sprinkles make it fun and festive.

A few years ago I picked up a canister of brightly colored Christmas balls from Target in one of the after holiday sales. They were full of some pretty “non-tradtional” colors – purple, pink, lime green, turquoise – I loved them and had to have them…

But what to do with them…

The next year when I got out my garland to wrap around my banister I figured it needed a little punching up and out came the balls…

Some hot glue and some string to tie it to my banister and it looks pretty darn good – don’t you think…

I still had over half the bucket left and it sat with all the holiday stuff for the past few Holidays – I didn’t need anymore Garland…I toyed with the idea of making a very large wreath…but didn’t follow through…

This year I decided I need to display them – to give a pop of color somewhere - to coordinate with my banister…

So I loaded them up in a glass vase – a glass vase I managed to score for a whopping .99 cents. So I put them in and while they looked pretty it needed something else…

So away I went to my fabulous Silhouette machine and used some of that wonderful faux stainless steel contact paper and made the vase a bit more festive…

I love this – but I especially love the fact that after the holidays are over I can just peel the words away and have a nice blank slate….I am thinking it may need to be decorated for each holiday…lets see – a nice Valentines saying with it filled with cut out paper hearts…maybe a picture of the Easter bunny while filled with decorated eggs….

Now what would the holidays be without the trimming of the tree…

The first year TC and I were together – living in a small cheap apartment we bought this HUGE tree from Wallyworld – I cost us all of $16 – which to us was a HUGE sum of money as we struggled each month to pay the bills – but it was Christmas and we HAD to have a tree – we bought a box of colored lights and a box of glass plain colored bulbs…we decided right then and there we would start a tradition – every year we would buy each other an ornament and only those would go on the tree…now over the years we have had to modify what goes on the tree – as we have received ornaments as gifts – they go on the tree and of course having small children we have numerous ornament designed by them now hanging. But, the thing is each and every one of them has a special meaning to us – there is a story behind each one…when we hang the ones we have given each other over the years there is a story to go with each of them…when we hang the ones given lovingly give to us by others we think of them…when we hang the ones our children have made us I get teary over how fast they are growing from little girls into big girls.

This year TC got me this



Yes it is a piece of pumpkin pie…I have an obsession with Pumpkin Pie…I only really eat it one time a year at Thanksgiving…but it is my Moms Pumpkin Pie – piled high with homemade vanilla whipped cream – ohhh so yummy – in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving I talk somewhat obsessively about having pumpkin pie…good choice TC

This is what I got TC


It is a lady T-Rex…there is a running joke in my family – I being the shortest one – also have the shortest arms – so it isn’t as easy for me to reach certain things in high cabinets…or say reach across the table to collect all the Apples to Apples cards…One day it was blurted out I was built like a T-Rex with tiny arms…and that has been a running joke in my family – a few days before I bought the ornament I was trying to get something down and TC said to me “Here let me help you T-rex” – so when I saw the ornament I knew I had to give it to him…as a holiday reminder of me…

And at the top of our tree goes our star


Looks a little sad doesn’t it…but it contains the best story – one we told our girls this year…see back at that first Christmas we bought lights and bulbs and there were two ornaments but no topper…we just couldn’t afford to spend any more…so I took a piece of cardboard and some tin foil and fashioned us a star…That was 14 years ago and every year it sits proudly on top of our tree – it reminds my husband and I how far we have come together and how lucky we are to have a nice roof over our head, how blessed we are to have two happy healthy kids and the resources to surround the tree with gifts to each other.

So does your family have any holiday traditions??? I would love to hear some, cause you know it is NEVER to late to start a new tradition :)

On a Contact High...

So the other day I showed you how I used Contact paper and my new Silhouette to decorate a window at my workplace...

oh so much more...

So here is the orginal window with more snowflakes

then I had to decorate up the door to my section - BE is I think Brittanic Bold?? and Merry is Two Peas Arizona font - I was able to weld the words so the "erry" cut as one piece

and our display case...I used an Ornament shape downloaded from Silhouette and flipped one before cutting. The "Joy to the World" is also a download.

and finally what I absolutely adore - our Ornament window - complete with all my co-workers names...I found faux stainless steal contact paper (made by Duck I found it at Lowes) - {swoon} - I used a Silhouette plain ornament shape to cut the ornaments out of the faux stainless steel and then used some Deliha Red and Olive Oracle vinyl to cut out the names in different fonts...

I simply ran ribbon (Micheals $1 bin) down the window at various lengths and put the ornament on - I then created corresponding bows and used my beloved Craft glue Dots (if you do not own Craft glue dots in the red box...you must get some - these can make anything stick) to adhere them to the top of the ornaments - here is a closeup of my ornament...

I used the "Mele Kalikimaka" download from the Silhouette digital store - mainly to try to be PC...around here gosh forbid you say "Merry Christmas"... and our orginal idea of "Happy/Merry Whatever" might have gotten us in a bit of trouble...so we used a roundabout way to say "Merry Christmas"

The snowmen on the bottom is also a digital download - I placed four on one page and flipped every other one so the ends would match up (one is slightly higher then the other) as I was putting it along the bottom of the window...I also had a few trees cut out from an earlier project - so those got added as well...

I adore, adore, adore, adore my new Silhouette....

Oh, before I forget you are probably wondering what became of the all the things in the sneak peek I gave you yesterday...

Well that turned into this..

Isn't it lovely...I used a simple Styrofoam Cone shape - some T-pins and a few bags of candy...along the way I did a very bad thing and introduced my daughters to Lindor truffles...now they are clamoring for Lindor...

This was very quick and easy to put together - the girls put the pins through the top of each piece of candy and I pinned them on. The star on top - I simply cut some nesting star shapes from my Silhouette (did I happen to mention I adore my new toy??) - used a toothpick and a Craft Glue Dot (did I mention I adore these as well??) to put them back to back and then sunk the toothpick on top.

This makes a wonderful gift - in fact this one is going to a neighbor this weekend - she holds an open house before the annual parade for our town (lucky us the parade goes right through our neighborhood - prime seats only a block away) - I figure this would make a nice little hostess gift that everyone at the Open House can enjoy...This would be great to place on a neighbors doorstep - just ring the bell and run...a much better treat than flaming dog poo, dontcha' think?

and the angels sang...

When I got home yesterday there was a big package on my porch....

MY SILHOUETTE HAS ARRIVED....

I could not wait to open it up and begin playing...it was super simple to load up the software - plug it into my computer and begin playing...

I only had a bit of time to play with it last night - but play I did

Up first a good friend of mine repurposes items...takes an old chair and paints it all up bright and colorful...turns an old wooden table and chair set into a wonderful activity table for little kids...she does great wall murals, etc... Well a new store has opened in our town that specializes in selling repurposed items and my friend will be selling some of her items in the store. She had a small book made of murals she has done along with items she has sold in the past and asked me if I could help her put something on the front...of course I can...

Fonts: Susie's Hand & Ravie

Forgive my horrible camera work - and the glare of the flash - the book measures about 6x4 - I used pink Oracle vinyl. Looking at it now I think I would have tried to space the "Creations" a little bit futher apart - but not bad for the first thing I did...

Next up was something for my work...I thought of this idea a few weeks ago and I am VERY HAPPY this worked...

Starting off - while Vinyl is an awesome material to work with - there are some drawbacks - first it can be expensive, depending on where and what you buy - It isn't as if Vinyl is available everywhere - the Cricut Vinyl you can buy in the store is about $10 for a roll...you can find it much cheaper on-line - but by the time you pay for S&H - well...

Furthermore - while you can use vinyl it is not renewable - meaning once you take it off you can't reuse it...fine if you are creating a piece of artwork or putting something on your walls where it will be for a period of time - but for short term...not a moneywise way to go...

BUT...BUT...contact paper...YES - CONTACT PAPER - but the good stuff - the "REAL" Contact paper and not the cheesy $1 store knockoff...I managed to score a nice big roll of white contact paper from Walmart for under $6...

I know you are asking but what can you use Contact paper for...well let me show you...

This is the window leading into my section at work -

I need to cut more snowflakes out tonight - but you see the basics of it

Fonts: Happy Days & WWFlakes

...isn't it Fabulous and in Jan (or Feb) when we take it down - it all gets thrown away...and my cost (other than my valuable time) is less than $1 worth of white contact paper...

This is a great use fo contact paper for holidays - the drawback to contact paper is the fact that you are severly limited in colors and it is for indoor use - on a flat, smooth surface only...

My plan for my house is to spell out Happy Holidays for the windows in my bedroom that look out to the street...easy enough to do on the Silhouette...just have to remember to flip the letters before cutting them so that when I adhere them to the inside of my windows people can actually read the letters...