Chevron Longhorn

This frame is my next item up for re-use.  The back support of this frame broke a few years ago...Since I like the front of this frame, I decided to keep it for later.  Well now it's time for a new use.

I started with some left over fabric I had laying around.

 

I then traced a chevron, Texas, and longhorn pattern on my Silhouette.  See this post for a how-to on tracing.  I then cut them out using contact paper.  Here is the settings I used to cut out the contact paper.  You can click here to see a tutorial on cutting Contact paper with the Silhouette.  After cutting, I put the Texas pattern down first in order to get a good seal.  I then put the chevron pattern on top.

Here's what it looks like after a coat of grey acrylic paint.

I then took the remainder of the Texas cutout and laid it down in place.  I had to put a longhorn in the shape.  It's just second nature!!

Now for the Burnt Orange!

And there we have it!   This was a quick

project and  it  required very few items.

Now there is one less thing in my junk closet!


Featured

Trace Function - Silhouette Tutorial

Here's a quick tutorial on how to use the trace function with the Silhouette Cameo.

First, copy or open an image into the studio.  Then open the "Trace" function 

and choose "Select Trace Area."

One you have selected your area, the studio chooses its default settings (see below).

You may need to tweak the settings so that the yellow area has clean lines. 

 I usually have to at least increase the "threshold."  

For this particular project I had to increase the threshold to 49% 

After you are satisfied with the lines, chose "Trace."

Here's the results.  

In order to make any changes, you will need to "Release Compound Path."

At this point I usually delete what sections that I do not want and add 

color for printing.

I wanted to print all of the letters and numbers in black.  

So I highlighted them and made each section a compound path.  I then filled them with black.

Don't forget to change the center areas to "No Cut."

And Viola!!

If you need to know how to print and cut after you have your
design good to go, click here for a tutorial.

Wedding Card - Silhouette Print & Cut Tutorial

We had a wedding reception to attend for one of Will's close friends.  I made this card to go with their gift.   My blade for the Silhouette was fairly dull at this point (I might have tried to cut something I shouldn't have for a previous project.) so it took a few tries to cut the "Mr & Mrs" out without snagging too bad.  However, the new blades have since come in from amazon and all is well now!

Here is a screen shot of my design in the Silhouette studio.  I actually made this card a couple months ago and it was one of the first times I tried making a design in the Silhouette Studio.  It took a little while to make but it was a great way to figure out several design functions of the studio!

Print & Cut Tutorial

Here is a tutorial on how to use the print and cut function with the Silhouette Cameo.  

I'll use the inside of this card as an example.  

I used the outline of the card as a guide on what size I wanted the inside boxes to be.  

I picked the font and text size that I preferred.

Using the "Fill Color" function, I added a black color fill for the print out of my text.

Highlight your text field and under the "Cut Style" section, choose "No Cut."  

This will prevent your text from being cut out when you run your paper through the Silhouette.

After you choose your paper size, open the "Registration Marks" section.  

Click the "Show Reg Marks" box and the registration marks will appear.  

Place your design so that it is not on top of the semi-blacked out/grid area.  

If you place your design over this area, the Cameo may not be able to find the 

registration marks.

After all that is said and done, print the design on the card stock.

Here's what it looks like after it has run through the printer.  

When using the registration marks, the cut settings do not show up when you click
 on the "Send to Silhouette" button.  Be sure and check that prior to cutting.

Next place the paper on the Cutting Mat

Choose to detect registration marks manually.

Position the blade over the black square mark on the silhouette (see below)
by using the arrows on the computer or the arrow buttons on the Cameo.

Now "Cut" away!

Smooth and perfect lines!  

I know I could use a manual cutter for these simple straight lines...But that wouldn't be as much fun!

You can see the "tools" on my Father's Day Card for another example of print and cut.  

I outlined those in black prior to cutting.

Graduation or Congratulations Card - Silhouette Cameo Tutorial

I needed a graduation card for a couple of people this year.  I ran across this card on Pinterest from Pattitudes Blog.  I just loved the format she used and I wanted to use this as my inspiration.


Graduation Card

This is the card I came up with.  

What I love most about this card, is the elegance that it carries!  

This card format can be used for graduations and weddings. 

I thought I would show you how I created the scalloped background for this card.
I wasn't able to find a design on the Silhouette shop that I was happy with.
So I sharpened my Silhouette Studio skills and made it work!

For the Tutorial:
I use multiple functions to create this background: duplicate, edit points, and weld.
 I tried to show a screenshot to illustrate these functions along the way.  

 

I wanted something with a couple of points on the bottom,
so I started with the 6-card_kit_elegant_C00394_20509 card design.

Edit Points
In order to have straight sides for the background image, I used the "Edit Points"
function on the top left to delete the unnecessary points.



By deleting the points I was able to create a straight line down the side.  Depending on the design selection you are using, you may have to use the "Make Flat" option under the "Selected Line" section to get the line to be straight instead of curve.



Once you are done editing the points, use the "Duplicate Function."

Weld

The welding function requires some sort of overlap in order to work.
I overlapped the two designs and used the top lines as my guide in making sure
they were in perfect alignment.  

It's always helpful to put part of your design directly on the grid lines so
that you know you have the two designs lined up perfectly.
You can zoom in and out too if you need to see it a
 little closer when checking your alignment.  

This is what my design looked like after the weld.
 I wanted my background to be five inches wide so I adjusted the image to that width.
In order to fix the height, I went back to the edit points function.

I just took the top two corners and drug them to the height that I wanted.

And here is the finished scalloped background design.

After you have the background made it's all downhill from here.  I used the scallop_border_LG_1236  design to create the ribbon border.  This border is only scalloped on one end so I used the weld function to create the double sided ribbon look.  There are designs that already look like my finished product on the Silhouette shop but I'm cheap and wanted to use something I already had.

I used a couple of different qoutes for the inside of the card.  I printed the inside quoutes from the Silhouette Studio and cut around it with the Silhouette using regestration marks.  I'll get a tutorial up soon on how to use that. 

I hope that this tutorial helps.  Once you are able to use these functions with the Silhouette Cameo studio, the sky is the limit.  I have been able to tweak just about any design to my liking and create some simple designs using these functions.