Silhouette Cameo Tutorials-- Hook Me Up

[Nonna2Dreja]

Can any of you that have a Silhouette Cameo hook me up with any beginner tutorials that are Christmas related? My dear Hubby bought me a Silhouette Cameo on Black Friday and it is being delivered today....I am so stinkin' excited! Thank you for your help!

[NeverendingJen]

What are you wanting to do specifically? That way we can help find the right tutorials for you! you will enjoy it.

Tip #1- as soon as you open your cutting mat, rub a fleece blanket on it. Then peel it off. then do it again 3x. It helps desticky your mat so you can peel things off easily without them ripping but keeps the mat sticky enough that your paper still adheres well.

[tanyiadeskins]

I vote for stalking Shawna on FB.... she just got one too!

[tanyiadeskins]

oh and if you are on Pinterest Silhouette has tons of stuff on there I believe, and I believe they have a blog with stuff and freebies once in awhile too.... *I think

[lorryfach]

It comes with an instructional video, to help with getting started. It's not Christmas specific but if you're using Christmas shapes, you'll get Christmas stuff.

[Nonna2Dreja]

Thank you all so very much for the tips & help....I guess I'm hoping to do an easy Christmas card or decoration....I saw a cute tic tac cover somewhere on the internet and would LOVE to try something like that....It doesn't look to difficult for me to start with....I will definitely stalk Shawna & will check out Pinterest....I'm excited & scared at the same time....LOL

[scrapapictur]

Kerri Bradford has a ton of great kits and toutorial classes to use with it. You will love it there !!

[glumirk]

Check out the online store for cutting files (but first see if your package came with a gift card). Lori Whitlock had a tic tac holder on there, and everything is 50% off through tomorrow.

[Nonna2Dreja]

Thank you so much for your help....I will be sure to check out both suggestions....Yes, Megan mine did come with a $25.00 gift card.

[k23m]

yay! So exciting!! I got one a couple months ago and love it.

I have lots of things pinned for it...and just got a bunch of stuff with the sale on now. I havent used it to its full potential yet though!

[Nonna2Dreja]

Melissa, I'm excited & scared at the same time....LOL I need to install it still but can't until I figure out where to put it since my computer desk is so small....I think I will have to stick with finding something super easy to start with and it may not end up being Christmas related after all....LOL

[Mari Koegelenberg]

Be sure to bookmark Silhouette's blog...every week they have a free new shape and their tutorials are very good and cover a wide range of materials and difficulties. Plus I know over Christmas they sometimes run a 12 days of Christmas event where they have free shapes each day!

[heathergw]

also... feel free to let us know any specific tutorials you'd like to see... we'd be happy to write up some tutorials for you guys... and totally agree with Mari... the Silhouette YouTube station is where I learned everything I know about using my Silhouette... and they're free

[Nonna2Dreja]

Thank you Mari & Heather for your replies of help....=) I did not know until I was stalking Silhouette's FB page that I could (and should) download their FREE software even before hooking mine up--that way I could try it out ahead of time to get a feel for it AND to be able to have access to their freebies....So, this is what I just did....Then I opened up a free 24 stick gum pack svg that I got from LD and found a youtube video teaching me how to use one of my digital scrap patterned papers....Anyhow, I need to get my hubby to put up a shelf for my Silhouette Cameo and to get ink for our printer this weekend, not to mention I need to pick up some card stock before I can even print & cut....LOL

Can I ask if any of you with a Silhouette buy your card stock, vinyl, etc. from anyone other than Silhouette? I'm actually hoping to find it more locally, nothing against Silhouette....=)

Heather, I would LOVE to see a tutorial on something easy--maybe even a book mark (as silly as that may sound)....Both of my Grandchildren read every night during the week for school and it would be great to start off with something easy, but useful for them....Thanks so much for your help!

[lorryfach]

I buy regular ol' cardstock at my local book and paper shop.

[heathergw]

I use Neenah Bright White Cardstock... can be found lots of places... I buy Amazon, but you can find it at places like Target or office supply stores... I find the Bright White gives me truer color

[Nonna2Dreja]

Thank you Lorry & Heather....I thought that I could use regular card stock but wanted to make sure....=) I love the Christmas pj's that Silhouette has on their blog/newsletter! Wonder how hard it would be for me to start off with that for my Grandchildren....I'm too cheap to pay the price for matching Christmas pjs's....LOL

[Nonna2Dreja]

What about iron on transfer or heat flocked transfer--is there a place to purchase this locally, does anyone know? AND can you use regular iron on paper with the Silhouette? Sorry for all of the questions....

[lorryfach]

You can cut whatever you want as long as you set the blade size and speed etc. correctly. There are several built-in settings for Silhouette brand papers and other brands shouldn't be too different, but if it's thinner or thicker you may have to make adjustments. When I lived in the States, there was iron-on paper pretty much everywhere... Target, Walmart, Office Max, etc. so I'm sure you can find it somewhere.

[Nonna2Dreja]

Lorry, THANK YOU so much for your reply....I just wanted to make sure that you could use regular iron on paper and didn't have to ONLY use what Silhouette sells....=)

[suladesign]

I've been thoroughly enjoying my silhouette since I got it this last summer. Have done tons of projects with it (and people begging me to cut stuff for them, too), and now I'm even doing my December Daily with it! I use it for print and cut more than anything (simple white card stock paper that I can get around here).

One tip for the print and cut:
I've never been able to perfectly align my printed designs with the cutting machine (done all the registration marks and stuff), and I haven't been able to figure out the alignment tutorials that are out there for the silhouette (they don't really explain things well enough for me to understand it, lol). But I've been printing and cutting every day recently for my DD project, and I found that things work far better without the registration marks. I usually add 3 little dots to my paper before I send it to the printer, which I then use to align the designs for my cutter. After printing, I usually have to move the entire page up 2 notches, and 1 toward the left using my keyboard's arrow keys (doing a quick test cut with 1 of the 3 little dots to see how much I need to adjust the position), and more often than not the designs align perfectly with the cut (though I still give them a little bleeding space just in case). Works perfectly for me, and I can save paper and ink by not having to go within the limits of the registration marks ...

Maybe I should do a little tutorial on my blog to show what exactly I mean (coz I'm not sure I was very clear at explaining it the quick way here). But at any rate, I'm happy for you that you get to enjoy the fun of having the silhouette! Yay!

[kim21673]

Fun!!!! I know you will enjoy it!

I do searches on Pinterest and You Tube for tutorials. I have taken some of Kerri Bradford's classes and loved them!!

I use regular bright white cardstock for most of my cuts, but I do have POW glitter paper, foil and other Silhouette brand specialty papers. I usually stock up at the Silhouette store when they have a sale. I have picked up a few things on Amazon and Hobby Lobby too (you can use a 40% off coupon there).

[Nonna2Dreja]

Sula & Kim, I truly appreciate your tips....=) Sula, it would be wonderful if you would do a tutorial....That would help me immensely! Thank you!

[lorryfach]

Originally Posted by suladesign

One tip for the print and cut:
I've never been able to perfectly align my printed designs with the cutting machine (done all the registration marks and stuff), and I haven't been able to figure out the alignment tutorials that are out there for the silhouette (they don't really explain things well enough for me to understand it, lol).

I've never had any problems using registration marks. Have you tried recalibrating?

[Arual]

There are several groups on facebook as well that are full of people that are willing to help ya learn your machine/software :-)