The Silhouette Cameo looks like a small home printer, however it cuts rather than prints. It operates like a plotter and can cut very intricate and accurate designs by combining movement left and right at the same time as it feeds the mat up and down. I've made a little video to show my Silhouette machine cutting the red lines in the first image below - a simple square and more elaborate ampersand. The blade can also be replaced by a pen, meaning the machine can also sketch as well as cut, I've included this also in the video. As you can hear, it makes a racket, Robbie describes the noise as a dot matrix mating with a modem!
 Ampersand with red cut lines. As shown in the Silhouette Studio software |  Ampersand cut using Silhouette Cameo. Words written using Silhouette Sketch pens |
So far I've used my Silhouette Cameo for quite an extensive list of projects.
Birthday invitations
One of my first projects was to make Hello Kitty birthday invitations for my friend Christine's daughter Eilidh. I was lucky to find this wonderful kit with papers and designs from Shery K Designs. Christine teases me for always 'taking things too far', so I decided to go full gusto and make the card an interactive, pop-up slider with a hidden message! This tutorial from Beate at Split Coast Stampers describes the mechanism. As I was making quite a few, I designed the invitation so that the Silhouette Cameo made all the cuts and creases, making assembly super fast :) I also used a neat feature called Print And Cut which first prints the design, then cuts accurately around the image. I couldn't believe how accurately it managed to cut out all the kitties especially around their whiskers!
Hello Kitty Birthday Invitations Using Print And Cut on Silhouette Cameo
Greetings Cards
I've made lots of birthday cards using the cameo, often using the designs available from the Silhouette Design Store. Each design is usually $0.99 (65p) but there are subscription packages which make them crazy cheap. I normally never opt for these types of deals, but have found it very good value and have renewed twice.
The design can be simple individual components, such as a the owl or cat below, or a complete project, such as the baby crib card or floral lace card.
The design can be simple individual components, such as a the owl or cat below, or a complete project, such as the baby crib card or floral lace card.
 Baby Crib Pop Up Card using Lori Whitlock Design #65324 |  Cards using Floral Lace from Jamie Koay #53212, Lori Whitlock #15851 and Jennifer Wambach #60280 on Craft Chatterbox blog |
Gift Boxes
I used to despair at the cost and postage of gift boxes for my jewellery. No more though, as the Silhouette Cameo can make them to the exact size I need.
Long Earring Box from Megan Hardy Designs #45890. Pillow box from Lori Whitlock #28398
Paper cuts
I'm a big fan of Rob Ryan's charming, intricate and whimsy paper cuts. Whilst I could never design something so beautiful, the Silhouette allows me to cut out pretty lattice designs, such as the Sew Fabulous picture that I made for my Granny Dilys' birthday.
Framed Paper Cut for my Granny's Birthday
Etching Sterling Silver
Silver can be etched by covering the areas that are to remain raised and exposing the parts of the design that will be corroded away by acid. There are various traditional approaches, including letraset rub-ons, tape and special paper called Press and Peel (PnP) printed with a laser printer. The same approach is actually taken by techies who are making their own copper circuit boards. In my pursuit of crafty knowledge, I've ended up finding out a lot about PCB prototyping!
I found an Instructables article in which they use vinyl cut out by a plotter to make very accurate etched circut board and I got excited. I then found this BlueberriBeads article where she uses the Silhouette Cameo for etching copper jewellery and was hopping up and down. Ian at the Precious Metals Workshop where I had a workbench kindly let me have a shot with the etching machines, first with copper then in silver using a simple small design that I cut out in vinyl. It worked BRILLIANTLY and there was quite the buzz around the workshop!
In the photos below, the top image shows the sheet of sterling silver just after it was removed from the etching tank. The white parts are still covered with the vinyl. The bottom images are finished pieces, oxidised to highlight the etching.
I found an Instructables article in which they use vinyl cut out by a plotter to make very accurate etched circut board and I got excited. I then found this BlueberriBeads article where she uses the Silhouette Cameo for etching copper jewellery and was hopping up and down. Ian at the Precious Metals Workshop where I had a workbench kindly let me have a shot with the etching machines, first with copper then in silver using a simple small design that I cut out in vinyl. It worked BRILLIANTLY and there was quite the buzz around the workshop!
In the photos below, the top image shows the sheet of sterling silver just after it was removed from the etching tank. The white parts are still covered with the vinyl. The bottom images are finished pieces, oxidised to highlight the etching.
Sterling Silver etched with vinyl resist cut using Silhouette Cameo
Sterling Silver Bunting studs and braclet etched design, in a box also made with the Silhouette Cameo
Etching Glass
In a similar way to etching silver, glass can be etched by applying a cream called Etchall. I etched a birdie design onto some Champagne glasses as a wedding gift to my friends Lorna and Martin. Here are the glasses that I made for my brother last Christmas. The AM design is his monogram and as he's a councillor for the Alliance party, I used the A from their logo. Apologies for the terrible photography, etched glass is a nightmare to capture!
Monogram etched glasses
T-Shirts and Hoodies
The Silhouette can also cut garment vinyl, or heat transfer vinyl (HTV) for use with t-shirts and hoodies. The vinyl has a protective top sheet and is attached to the t-shirt using an iron or hot press if you are a pro.
I've been making tons of baby outfits, kids t-shirts and hoodies for adults. Most recently, I did some for my pals doing Berlin Marathon and London Shine Night Walk. There is a huge array of finishes available - so far I've tried out regular matte, glitter, soft flock, glow in the dark, reflective, mirror metallic and iridescent!
I've been making tons of baby outfits, kids t-shirts and hoodies for adults. Most recently, I did some for my pals doing Berlin Marathon and London Shine Night Walk. There is a huge array of finishes available - so far I've tried out regular matte, glitter, soft flock, glow in the dark, reflective, mirror metallic and iridescent!
To Do list
There are so many other projects which I haven't attempted yet on the Cameo.
Sketching - the blade can be replaced with a pen to draw instead of cut. I've used this a few times for cards, but haven't really explored this feature.
Wall Decals - An upcoming project to make an underwater metropolis for my friend Veronica's kids now they've moved to France.
Fabric - The Silhouette can cut fabric (a separate blade is recommended). I've downloaded some patterns for teddy bears but haven't started this yet.
Stencils - I've been toying with using the Silhouette to create adhesive stencils for applying a painted pattern to furniture, watch this space...
Sketching - the blade can be replaced with a pen to draw instead of cut. I've used this a few times for cards, but haven't really explored this feature.
Wall Decals - An upcoming project to make an underwater metropolis for my friend Veronica's kids now they've moved to France.
Fabric - The Silhouette can cut fabric (a separate blade is recommended). I've downloaded some patterns for teddy bears but haven't started this yet.
Stencils - I've been toying with using the Silhouette to create adhesive stencils for applying a painted pattern to furniture, watch this space...
Vote for tutorials
I'm keen to know what projects you'd like to see a tutorial on - vote and let me know :)
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