Don’t kid yourself – cutting vinyl sounds idyllic at the best of times, and it’s one of those things we all buy when we get a Silhouette machine. Vinyl is the one thing we all want to cut and the thing is it seems so simple – well according to some people. Well I have some news – it’s a nightmare and addictive all at the same time – when you finally get it right!

 

So here’s what I know about Silhouette CAMEO Vinyl in short:

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• Vinyl cuts a lot easier than paper – when you get it right
• Vinyl can cut right through the backing paper if you do not change your settings – Adjusting the cut setting to vinyl under the “material type” may not always be enough
• You will probably have to change the blade to a setting of “1” and you will have to change the depth that the blade cuts too – this needs to be tweaked and will differ with different colours of vinyl as I learned the hard way
• It is always best to do a test cut, than rather jump in head first and waste a lot of precious vinyl
• Cut the vinyl straight to have a straight edge for loading into your machine – even better get the vinyl roller tray for your machine!

About my project

I used this beautiful tree from the Silhouette shop to cut out of red vinyl. I adhered the vinyl to a wooden plaque that had quite a few bumps and imperfections on it so the vinyl is a bit wonky – but that’s OK. I prepped my board with a layer of green and black Milk paint and then added some clear wax on top to give it a rich smooth and silky finish. The wax really makes the milk paint pop.

I did not have transfer paper for the vinyl so I used the next best thing – clear sticky book cover plastic. Here’s how I use it to transfer my vinyl onto my board.
 

• Step 1

Cut the vinyl on the Silhouette. But first you need to take these steps
Change the rollers on your machine to the width of your vinyl – refer to the inside of your machine or your manual on how to move the rollers. Once the rollers have been set load your vinyl.
Remember to load the vinyl without a cutting matt. You need to choose “load media” on the LCD screen of your machine and not “load cutting matt” as you normally would
Cut your image – I used the reindeer for a second project in my Step x Step photos with silver vinyl


• Step 2

Once your image is done cutting, remove the outside pieces of vinyl – this is really easy using a paper piercer or the Silhouette hook tool. Carefully hook the vinyl that is not part of your design and remove it


• Step 3

You will now see your clear cut image still on the backing paper


• Step 4

Cut a piece of transfer paper or clear book cover to the size of your backing piece


• Step 5

Cover the vinyl cut image with the transfer media


• Step 6

Peel off the transfer media from the backing paper – the cut vinyl image will pull of the backing paper along with the transfer media. Place it onto the preferred surface like a wooden plaque. Smooth it out using your scraper or the palm of your hands, then carefully pull off the transfer media to leave the vinyl image behind


• Step 7

To finish off my plaque I added a layer of clear wax – this made the wood colour rich in colour and will also protect and seal the vinyl image ono my not so perfectly smooth wooden plaque

A really fun media to work with – but do yourself a favour and test the vinyl cutting first, set your blade to one and the depth that it will cut as well until it works perfectly. It will be worth the effort.

 

PS – I think I am in love with vinyl…

 

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Products Used

• Silhouette CAMEO® Electronic Cutting Tool
• S-VINYL-PMSVR-12-3T Silhouette CAMEO Premium 12×6 Silver Vinyl
• S-TOOL-01-3T Silhouette CAMEO Hook
• S-TOOL-02-3T Silhouette CAMEO Scraper
• Design ID #14866 – Merry Christmas Tree – Separates
• Imaginisce – AC 400413 Milk Paint Bottles – Red & Green
• Imaginisce – AC 400410 Milk Paint Bottles – Black & Brown

Post by The Wholesaler’s Designer Jowilna Nolte.

We are very proud to introduce you to our first designer, Jowilna Nolte. Jowilna is a true creative and she will be sharing some of her passion and creativity with you.

Read more about Jowilna here.