What Can You Do with a Silhouette?

Don't forget to enter the Silhouette Cameo Giveaway here. Why? Because it's an amazing crafting tool. While I don't have the Cameo (I wish!), I do have the Silhouette SD. And it's still pretty fun. Instead of the 12 inch format, the SD is 9 inches. So what exactly can a Silhouette cutting machine do?

Let me show you!!

See those words? I used the Silhouette SD to cut them out. SO EASY!! The hardest part of that project was getting my children to cooperate with paint on their hand, finger, and foot.

Here I used the Silhouette SD to cut out vinyl letters. I painted over the letters, covering the whole canvas. Once the canvas was dry, I pulled off the vinyl.

Here is my machine in action. I was working on a project for friend. See, she is adopting two precious children from Congo and wanted decals for their cars as well as to sell to raise money for their adoption. I was so glad I could help! Her husband designed the graphics, I uploaded the images in the Silhouette software, made sure it was the correct size, and hit cut. Here are the beautiful images. I LOVE how they turned out!!

You can also use the Silhouette to personalize items.

 We were going out of town and knew that I wanted buckets for the car that I could keep toys. I couldn't help myself and HAD to personalize them. This would also be a great idea for Easter Baskets, Birthday Baskets, or gifts of appreciation (i.e., teachers, dance instructors, clergy, administrative assistants, etc.).

 At the time, both my son and daughter were in diapers and they needed diapers, wipes, extra clothes, and a sippy cup for Sunday School. I know how crazy it can be at times with little ones, so I wanted to clearly mark their bags. That makes it SO much easier for the teachers and helpers when the time comes for a diaper change, or snack.

My friend asked if I could make her a stencil of the letter H. So I did! I used a thick cardstock so it wouldn't give as much if she painted over the stencil and hopefully reduce bleeding of the paint. She also wanted a leafless tree in vinyl.

 The heat transfer is amazing. Good stuff! I used it to tell my husband that we were expecting our third child. I made my daughter a Big Sister shirt, and my son a Big Brother shirt. He didn't get it at first and thought I had made a mistake. Nope. Not a mistake. Surprise!

One thing I love about the Silhouette, there are NO cartridges to buy. None. You purchase the graphics you want and need for your projects. They even have fonts you can choose from! And the graphics are reasonably priced. Most are $.99. There is a clearance section that changes each week that are $.50. They run specials all the time, and if you think you are going to be needing LOTS of graphics, you can purchase a subscription. AND, on the Silhouette Blog, they have a FREE download each WEEK!! It changes every Tuesday. How great is that?!? You can't beat free!

Have I convinced you that you NEED to enter this contest? Really. You do! Now GO!! Good luck!

If you win, what will your first project be? I'd love to hear your ideas!!