Tuesday, January 7, 2014

5 Silhouette Projects for Beginners

So I got a Silhouette Portrait - the little sister to the Silhouette Cameo - for Christmas.  (If you're not familiar -it's a paper cutting machine or a die cut machine use to make cards, stencils, labels and for scrapbook.) It's really not fair - my kids open up their new toys and immediately they start playing with them non-stop.  I guess when you're a mom it doesn't work that way.  Wah wah wah.  I'm dying to play with my new toy, but I'm squeezing it in during naps.  When does school start back up? I kid. I kid.

Really though I haven't had as much time as I would like to experiment with my new paper cutting machine.  That's really what you need to do since the the instruction manual is limited to the basics like 'how to load the blade.'  It's sort of like an Apple product.. just start googling and youtubing and you'll figure out some really cool stuff.

So over the last two weeks I've managed to squeeze out a few beginner projects on my new die cutting machine.  My first project was a card for my mom's birthday.  I basically just used the designs that come standard with the machine and some fun fonts and glued them to the card.  This should have taken me about 5 minutes...um, hello 2 hours! 
 
 

There's definitely a learning curve here....like see how small those letters are in 'mom?'  Well, I didn't realize that you could actually 'weld' them together so letters come out as one single word instead of individual letters.  Would have been much easier to glue on (plus at one point I lost the tiny M and was about to call it quits)...to weld letters move them together so they are touching slightly > highlight all letters at the same time > right click > select weld.  Once they are welded a single gray box will appear around all the letters. 

My second project was actually inspired by the first.  I used the negative image of the arrows from the birthday card as inspiration for another card.   I turned what would have been scraps into some fun Christmas trees.   The red banners were another free graphic from the Silhouette library.  They were actually one solid piece...but I wanted them separate so I highlighted the image > right clicked > ungroup to separate them.



My third go round was when I actually learned how to weld.  The idea was to make photo booth-type props for a kids/adults New Years Eve Party.  Honestly, I ran out of time...and so I made a few 2014's but never got around to making anything else  and since there are going to be more than 3 people there, I guess we can consider it a lesson in welding.




I have to admit, this next project is where I tried to get all fancy and stuff and honestly it was just too much, too soon.  I plan to share the full tutorial on this soon, but for now, just know that I made a full 8x11 size subway style Valentine's Day stencil using free images from the Silhouette library, various fonts (Silhouette will cut any font you have downloaded on your computer), and one purchased image (ungrouped).  I had it cut onto freezer paper so I could iron it onto a piece of fabric..in theory it worked, but the freezer paper stencil is not something I could use more than once because after the paint got on it, it ripped when I peeled it up.   I promised the finished product and more details on this awesome project are coming soon...and if I can figure out how, I'll share the cut file with you so you can use it too!


Finally, a monogrammed gift..which just might be my favorite beginner project.  (You had to know it was only a matter of time before I monogrammed something with this puppy.)  I cut this monogram out of cardstock and then used mod podge to apply it onto this jar.  It would definitely have been easier to use vinyl, but this was a gift for someone whose house I was going to about 3 hours later and I didn't  have time to run to the store to get vinyl.  By the way - can you believe that jar is an upcycled Yankee Candle holder?


Now that I've shared my first five beginner-level projects with you, I'd LOVE to see what you've made with your die cut machines.   Please link up as many as 5 projects to the link party idea share below.  I'll be sharing some of my favorites on 2IY's Facebook through the next week and then featuring a bunch on the blog in a big wrap up post! 

Thanks for stopping by 2IY! If you like what you see, we'd love for you to pin it!


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1 comment:

  1. The thing that you have made is so amazing and adorable. Thanks for sharing that. I am looking for Vuori discount code to make my shopping done on Vuori outlet. Please let me know if anyone has. Thanks!

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