What will the Silhouette cut next?

I like to push my tools to the limits to see what they can do.

I put things through my Cuttlebug that the creator never anticipated: leaves, yarn, Fiskars texture plates, plastic canvas, basically anything with a texture. Well the Silhouette is no different. I cut a few things out of paper and then thought, "Let's test this bad boy and see what it can do."

I saw a great layout by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and wanted a stencil of large dots too. Because I was in a hurry I just looked at her pictures and skimmed the text. I didn't notice that the stencil she was using was  a *new* soon-to-be-released-at-CHA stencil from The Crafter's Workshop!

I tried to make one with my Silhouette and succeeded! But this is a cautionary tale.

I made a 3/4" circle, easy enough and then used the replicate tool's Column of Four a couple of times, then spaced things out a bit. Then with the entire column selected I used Row of Three a couple of times, and spaced the columns out.

I used the Plaid Simply Stencil material and it didn't cut through. I got out another sheet and tried it again but this time I clicked on double cut and VIOLA! I have a large circle stencil. Of course it's not 12 x 12 but it'll do.

Now on to the cautionary tale bit. The blade still cuts, but I don't think it cuts as well. It looks like it's tearing card stock instead of cutting it. I needed a pair of scissors and decided the best kind material for a pair of barber shears was tin foil. I was also hoping that the foil might sharpen the blade. I used my Xyron to put an even layer of adhesive on a piece of black card stock then adhered it to a piece of tin foil. The paper under the foil on the scissors isn't really cut through. I had to really work to get the circles out of the handle. I should have double cut this one as well.

Didn't work really so I guess I need to buy a new blade.


So if you really want to make a stencil, you can with the Silhouette. You can make a stencil of anything you can dream up. But be forewarned that you will be dulling the blade quite a bit.


For those who would like to see the full page here you go.

I like this page for several reasons.
1. It's finally done.
2. I got to use the Silhouette.
3. I got to use PINK on a boy's page. It's the hairdressers tape that I used on his bangs when I gave him that first cut. It's able to be repositioned and it's easy to write on.
4. It contains my son's actual hair.

So now on to the question of the day. Should I add the boy's age on the page or is the date enough?

Happy Crafting,

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