Let Your Creative Monster Come Out To Play - Try Vinyl!

I must admit that I copied this idea.  And this picture is about 10 months old.  I had my Silhouette for several months at this point and it needed some "personality".  Also I had not cut vinyl before and was anxious to try.  I found this file on a facebook group and decided to use different colors for some pizzazz.  It isn't perfectly strait (vinyl was intimidating!) but I do love it.  It makes me smile and encourages me to "play".  

Vinyl was intimidating to me at first because there was time involved in "weeding" (removing the negative pieces) and lining it up was a little difficult and I felt like once it was stuck it was so much to move it!  What I learned: use a pencil and a ruler to make a few marks so you can line it up.  You can erase them after you have placed your vinyl.  Use the Silhouette to cut a test area.  This is an option and it cuts a small triangle in the top left corner or you can move it.  This helps when you are using different brands of vinyl so your blade depth is correct.  I tend to cut at a depth of 2.  Also even though you can cut without a mat, I prefer to cut with a mat.  It helps keep the vinyl running through the machine strait and allows me to use smaller pieces and I don't have to mess with moving the white roller foot.  I have learned that all vinyl is NOT equal.  I love my Silhouette machine, blades, and mats.  The software is great for my uses and while it took me a bit, I feel like I have a good working knowledge of the program.  That being said, Silhouette brand vinyl is terrible.  And I have learned that just to save a couple of bucks you will have more frustration in trying to use it because you got it for free or it was cheaper.  Go with a better quality brand like Oracle.  It will save you a lot of headaches and in the long run money because you won't have to throw it away or scrap a project.  

This was my first project that started me running with many more projects using vinyl.  I love to give homemade gifts and was pleased to make a bridal shower gift, wedding gift, baby gift, and some Valentine's gifts for my kids.  I continue to try more tricky patterns and will continue to experiment creating my own files.  Now - go let your creative monster out to play!