Silhouette Quickutz owners

Yippee! I am in 7th heaven!

I was ready to buy the cameo so that I could print on cardstock heavier than 200g and my good sense took over and I contacted Silhouette America telling them about my dilemma.  Although they told me that the Quickutz only cuts up to a certain weight, their suggestion and advice to me was worth its weight in uncut, flawless diamonds.

The Quickutz and Cameo blades are interchangeable! Off I went and bought the blade at a cost of R165.00, fitted it into my machine and there you go.  It cuts like a dream.  200g, 250g, 300g, no problem at all.

Cutting query

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone had tried to cut grunge paper on their Cameo? If so, please can you tell me what settings you used and if you have to double cut. Thanks Hayley

I am very proud of this little snowflake box and intend cutting quite a few to house Christmas gifts.

Silhouette Cuts

My Silhouette is finally functional again and although I am enjoying it, it cannot make a decent cut on board heavier than 180g.  I can just, just get away with the 200g but still have to give it a boost by using the scissors here and there.

My problem is of course various shaped cards on a cardstock heavy enough to make a decent greeting card.

Here I cut the baby bottle shape on a 180g board and then traced it onto a 300g board.  Not as neat and tidy as the silhouette cut but decent enough.

Christmas Card done with my amazing Cameo

This is a Diorama Christmas Card I cut out with my Cameo, including the little roof which I covered with branches. 

My little Cameo has been working overtime ..

One of the cards I made for my cardmaking class .... just loved it!

Hi Amanda,

Many thanks for setting up this blog. I'm sure we are all going to learn
lots about the Silhouette from each other.

Hugz


Marilyn

Another week gone

Welcome to the Cameo RSA Blog. Finally found some spare time to get it up and running. I just need to fiddle still with a  password for everyone and set up everyone as part of blog and then everyone can start posting to the blog themselves. If you are not comfortable using blogger and want to share a message with the  group or upload photos then I really don't mind doing it for you.

I hope that everyone is playing nicely with their Cameo.

You will notice that I have put a tab page at the top of this blog with Cutting file list. Do go and look there as I have added quite a few sites well worth visiting.

WHAT'S NEW
What have I learnt this week - the secret to opening a pdf file in Studio.

If you have lots of templates saved in PDF files you are going to love this nifty trick.

TUTORIAL - HOW TO OPEN PDF FILE IN SILHOUETTE STUDIO


First you will need to download a program called Bullzip PDF Printer for windows. You can get it here
http://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php

Once you have downloaded Bullzip and installed it on your computer you do the following steps

1. Open your PDF file in Adobe reader
2. Click on print to open the print dialog box and select Bullzip PDF Printer as your printer and choose print.
3. It will come up with a General tab of Bullzip PDF Printer and then all you need to do is
4. Choose the format you want to save your file in - PNG or JPEG - I would recommend PNG as the file stays the correct size
5. Choose file name and folder
6. Click save
7. Then go into Silhouette Studio and open all files and find it and choose open
8. Trace by clicking on the trace button in top right hand corner and you are a for away.


SALE TIME

If you are hankering after Halloween images from the Silhouette store, buy them now as they have been reduced in price to 75c each. Always nice to save a few pennies.

SVG CUTS

If you are a fan of 3D papercrafting this site is a definate must visit. www.svgcuts.com . They offer a big selection of files for purchase in various themes - for example one is Elmhurst Hollow.(see below) In this set you get all the cutting files you need to make a Coffin card, Full Moon card, 3D Haunted house,3D coffin box and a small 3d coffin box and then you also get some extra cut files as well. They offer very good video tutorials on the site for most of the sets. The files cut beautifully and are really pretty easy to put together even without looking at the video's as everything is scored for you so its easy to work out where to place glue etc. If you have difficulty you can always refer to the PDF instructions included or the video.

Do have a look at the Peony Cottage one - its so adorable and also the Summer Street Carnival - think that Ferris wheel will have to be my next big project - looks stunning.

Being a big fan of 3D work, this site really is a fabulous find.

Do remember as well that Svgcuts offers a freebie SVG file every week and also you will note that they have special offers all the time - if you buy something now for USD9.98 you get a free Christmas ornaments set - the set changes on a weekly basis.

CREATIONS BY AR

If you are a fan of 3D work, then check out www.creationsbyar.com. She offers some fabulous cut files. Most of the projects come with PDF file, SVG File and DXF file and she also has a few freebies.

I rather fancy making the party train

CUTTING MATS

Moz asked the question this week as to how to get her mat less sticky as she has just made her first cuts and found that the paper was sticking to the mat. This isn't unusual and does happen for about the first 10 cuts/sheets of paper. This  however won't last long - trust me soon you will have your paper flapping around the mat as it doesn't want to stick. Remember the tip I gave on the first newsletter about how to make your mat sticky again using chisel tipZig glue pen - well I did it and it worked perfectly. Mat is now even better than new in my opinion.

PAPERS

This can make a huge difference to how your cut turns out. Some papers I have found do just not like the Cameo. I have mainly been cutting 3d Projects and have found that the following papers are cutting well. I have made a little chart and keep it next to my machine with the paper name and a little swatch of the paper stuck on the sheet and then I put the blade depth and speed at which I cut.

Bazzil Basics  - Blade 5 Speed 2 - cuts beautifully but do ensure that it is proper Bazzil paper and not a look alike - real bazzil paper generally has a sticker on the back of the sheet.

Curious Metallics Paper 300g - Blade 8 Speed 2

American Traditional Designs textured cardstock - Blade 5 Speed 2 - do remember though that this paper has white core so you may need to go around the edges with an ink pad so that the white doesn't show.

Vellum - Blade 3 Speed 3

Opale Shimmer 250G - Blade 5 Speed 2



Have fun and enjoy creating.

Welcome to RSA Cameo

Following my email last week we have had 26 people sign up for this group, many of which bought their Cameo in this last month. I will be starting up a blog for the group next week after WCMD. Then we can have permanent list of good freebie cutting sites and hints and tips and also we will all be able to upload creations onto the blog that we have cut with our Cameo. I will also then in due course send out instructions on how to upload to blog and password of course.

To those of you that received their new toy in the last month - congratulations and that includes myself. I am sure you are going to love Electronic die cutting. I am now totally addicted. For those of you that have stuck it in the cupboard - dig it out - you are going to love it once you get the hang of it and see just what can be done.

NOTE RE STUDIO FILES BOUGHT FROM SILHOUETTE AMERICA

I have bought a few(LOL) files and have to say that they are excellent especially the 3D ones i.e. handbags, boxes, birdcages, houses etc as they come with all the scoring lines done for you so very easy to put together. I would have no hesitation in recommending their files - at 99c each they are a bargain and if you sign up for one of their subscriptions it works out even cheaper. Also for those with a Silhouette Cameo don't forgot to log on to the shop through the Silhouette Software each week to download the freebie Studio file.

SOME WEB SITES OFFERING FREE CUTTING FILES

Here are some good sites for freebies - I will add to this list on a weekly basis and will also place it on the blog so we can all refer back to it when needed.

http://shirleystemplates.blogspot.com - Lots of free GSD/Studio and some SVG  and a few free background papers

http://shirleysdesigns.webs.com/craftrobofreebies.htm - Same lady as above site but here she just has a few GSD files

http://www.fam-bjork.se/monicas-hobbysida/en_index.html - the most fabulous site which will keep you busy for ages - she has an amazing amount of cutting files in variety of formats including lots of Doilies, frames, spellbinder type shapes, 3D, cupcake wrappers etc etc. A must visit

http://www.svgcuts.com Lots of great SVG files for sale and also they have a freebie SVG file weekly

http://www.hayley-west.blogspot.co.uk/ - free studio files and tutorials

http://tarascraftstudio.com/ Oh my gosh - some absolutely gorgeous WPC files for the Pazzles machine.  Her stuff has shabby chic feel to it which I just love and especially love the Gypsy Caravan and her Vintage Carousel - worth getting a cuppa and just sitting and drooling. I have saved the WPC files and will definitely be looking out for tutorial next week on how to convert the WPC files so that I can cut them with my Cameo.

http://theladywolf.blogspot.com/ Lots of SVG freebie files to download

http://www.birdscards.com A fabulous site for free cutting files in AI, GSD, SVG, DXF, Studio and PDF. Lots of digital stamps and papers as well. This is one worth bookmarking as she comes out nearly every week with free files.

Please share your favourite sites with the group.


PROBLEM WITH CUTTING GSD FILES ON SILHOUETTE CAMEO

Some of you may suddenly be having problems with cutting GSD files since the Silhouette software upgrade a week ago. If you try and open a file it may say to you file is corrupt. We went through to Silhouette America and here is their reply received yesterday. (NOTE IT TOOK THEM 3 MINUTES TO RESPOND TO OUR EMAIL - PRETTY QUICK)

Thank you for your alerted concern. We are truly sorry for any issue. We have recently been made aware of concerns with opening GSD files in this latest version and are looking into it presently. Our plan is to release a new update to correct this problem as quickly as possible. We regret that we do not have any information as to when this may be, but should you wish to downgrade to the previous version in the meantime, you may uninstall the software (which will not affect any files in your library) and re-install from the following link:http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/support/programs/silhouette_studio_V2.5.8.exe

Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns in the meantime.

The Silhouette Support Team

www.silhouetteamerica.com

SALE

If you have your eye out for 3D cutting files - then why not take a look at MyScrapChick.com . They offer cutting files in a variety of formats including GSD, SVG etc and they are having a brilliant 75 percent off sale until tomorrow 4 October. Once you place item in your cart , when you go to check out the 75percent discount is automatically applied.  It is also worth signing up for their newsletter as you will get a freebie cut file every week.

THIS BIGGEST SALE OF THE YEAR WILL DEFINITELY END THURSDAY OCT. 4TH at 10PM

TIP OF THE WEEK - CUTTING MATS

Been cutting a lot and  has your mat lost it's stickiness (don't you hate it when the paper just flaps around on the mat)   Here are some tips to get the mat back into mint condition

1. Wash in soapy water and leave  it to dry overnight and you should see a marked improvement.

2. Take Zig 2 way glue pen (blue) - the fat one with the chisel tip works best - and all you do is coat your mat with the pen. Start at the top and work down in straight lines until whole surface is covered and then leave to dry for 20 to 30 minutes and it will be back to new.

3. Rotate your cutting mat so that you aren't always cutting in one corner.

Enjoy and go create something.