Today we will finish up our wedding gifts by etching coaster using our curio. But remember the files you get can be used to cut faux etch vinyl with your cameo, so you are not left out!
Let's gather up our supplies, open the files and get started.
Supplies:Items with * have a link to the Craft Chameleon products
I used the plastic coaster template which gives the ability to etch 2 coasters at a time with precision alignment. Also, your mat gets less sticky over time and the templates will help keep your acrylics from moving. Once the template is opened in the design program you will need to center it to the page. This video shows centering the template if you would like extra details.
Time to build your platform will use 2 layers marked 2 and the gridded layer marked 1.
Then you put your craft chameleon template down making sure the word Front is facing the correct way so that when you put your coasters down they are in the correct spot to etch.
I recommend leaving the backing on one side of the coasters to help them stick to your mat. Sometimes I use a little bit of double-sided tape to make sure the item I’m etching doesn’t move while etching. You don’t want it to move or it can mess up the etching process.
Since I wanted my coasters to correspond with the wine caddy butler and wine bottle stopper I once again opened up the wine caddy butler design provided by Craft Chameleon when I purchased the wine caddy butler from them.
I ungrouped the design and just took the center portion of the design and placed it in the center of the coaster etching template opening.
I thought it needed a little something more so I opened my text tool and picked a font that I thought looked good with the grapes. I went with Brush Script MI. I typed Cheers and angled it so it was diagonal through the middle of the coaster. Depending on the font you may want to thicken it and or make sure you weld the letters together.
After completing the design, flip it horizontally as the design is etched on the reserve side of the coaster. Be sure not to flip the template. Duplicate the design and paste it into the second coaster template slot.
Now it’s time to set up the etching portion of the file. Select your designs and open the embossing panel. Choose the deboss option, select the pattern you want to use. I picked the crosshatch embossing pattern this time. Adjust your spacing and angle. I leave the angle at the predetermined setting but I adjust the spacing to the most fill which is .004.
You’ll notice when you do these adjustments the design will change to a light blue color and show what the etching lines will look like.
The design should turn a darker blue color showing it is designated to etch. You select your material and make sure your action is set to 'etch' and the etching tip is the blue tool holder. Choosing to etch edge will not etch the whole design and just the edge.
Now for the fun part! Etching your coasters. Click the send button towards the bottom and the curio will etch both coasters! Once you complete these two you will need to repeat the steps again so that you have a complete set of four coasters.
Well, I hope you enjoyed making these wedding gifts as much I did. If you have more questions, join our Facebook Group where we have lots of curio users. This is the link and be sure to fill out the questionnaire. Tell Peggy, Faye sent you. ;)
Hello! Faye here back with the second part of our Wedding Gift Tutorials! Today we will make the Etched Wine Caddy and be using our Silhouette Curio. No Curio? Don't despair you can also use your regular vinyl cutting machine to make this item by using the same etched vinyl that was used to make our bottle stopper yesterday.
However, I love to etch so this is the method I used to etch the wine caddy. I recommend having the large tray that Silhouette has for their Curio. It can be done using the small tray and Peggy Flannigan will be doing a video to show everyone how that is achieved. But since I had the large tray I made my life easy!
Start the same way you would any project, gather up your supplies and open up the files.
Supplies:
Items with * have a link to the Craft Chameleon products
To start set your page to show the large curio cutting/etching mat tray instead of the standard cameo view.
Then open up the Wine Caddy cut/etch design file that Craft Chameleon includes with the purchase of the wine caddy butler acrylic blank. When the file opens it opens horizontally. In order to make it fit on the mat, rotate 90 degrees.
After it is rotated, place acrylic on your mat* and line up the design on your screen so they are in the identical spot on both the screen and mat. Leave the backing on the side that will be the bottom. If your mat is well loved you may need to secure your acrylic in place with double-sided tape. Craft Chameleon's tape is flat out awesome. My mat is new so I was good to go!
*Mat Set up is as follows: Use 2 of the layers marked 2 and the gridded layer marked 1 for a total of 5.
After the design is rotated and aligned with the acrylic on the mat, choose the design file and then open the emboss panel.
In that panel select deboss, select the pattern and select the spacing density you want. I chose the circular pattern and adjusted the spacing with the smallest setting of .004. The angle doesn't change with the circles so no need to worry that setting.
When you complete these settings your image will turn red or blue. Now up to the top right-hand corner to select send. Don't worry it actually takes us to the material/blade set up.
When etching you need to have an etching blade. I personally use the cb09 blade holder and etching blade from Craft Chameleon. I also use tool slot number 2 which shows up blue on the curio screen when etching. You’ll need to select your material.
Most crafters will have to add the acrylic material type so here is the Craft Chameleon YouTube video link walking you through step by step on how to do this and the etching process. Start around the 9:30-minute marker to get the settings for cutting acrylic. The video shows version 3 of the software.
I already have acrylic programmed into my curio so I didn’t have to set it up this time. Here are my settings in version 4.
You’ll notice that once you select etch all your lines turn from a light blue color to a dark blue color. At this time you’re ready to hit send and away goes your curio etching the acrylic wine caddy butler for you.
Now comes the fun part! You are ready to hit send at the bottom of the page and away goes your curio etching the acrylic wine caddy butler for you. Don't forget to breathe!
Etching time? I believe it took about half an hour. I didn’t do it but I believe the next time I would pause the etching part way through and clean my blade. I think there was a little bit of build up towards the end which caused some small scratches to the surface. Even if you don’t do this the scratches I noticed were next to impossible to see and you end up with a beautifully etched wine caddy.
The last installment of this weeks DIY Wedding Gift Tutorials will be tomorrow! See you there!
Oh wow! Our prolific Faye Mitchell is back.This time with 3 stunning DIY wedding gift tutorials that no one will believe you made! Enjoy the next 3 days of Faye's tutorials, I know we will.
Here's Faye showing how to use your cutting machine and vinyl to make the first gift:
Hi Everyone, I’m back with another guest blog posting. This time I’m making a spring wedding gift set using the amazing products you can purchase from Craft Chameleon.
Supplies:
Items with * have a link to the Craft Chameleon products
The first thing I did was get my supplies together to make the Acrylic Wine Bottle Stopper. When you purchase the stoppers Craft Chameleon includes some design options for the stoppers. I opened this design file so I can make sure my design will fit on to the stopper correctly.
I decided I wanted my bottle stopper, coaster and wine caddy to all match in their design. So I opened the Wine Butler Caddy design that Craft Chameleon includes when you buy the Wine Caddy.
I ungrouped the design and took one of the clumps of grapes, rotated and resized it until it fit within the circle which is part of the bottle stopper file. Once sized and all the settings checked, I sent it to my Silhouette Cameo to cut the etched look vinyl.
Once it’s cut and weeded you take your transfer tape and apply it to the wine stopper
Can you believe how fast & easy that was to make? Part 1 is finished and it looks amazing! I was surprised at how much it looked like it was really etched even though it was only faux etch vinyl. This vinyl is also an option for the acrylic pieces we are etching in the next tutorials.
Tomorrow, come back and follow along with Faye while she etches the Acrylic Wine Caddy Blank offered by Craft Chameleon.
Three Fast, Fun, Easy, Useful and Unique DIY Baby Gift Tutorials
Part 3 - This is the final day of the Best Baby Gift Set Tutorials.
Our intrepid guest blogger Faye Mitchell finishes out this week with the final tutorial for making the coordinating acrylic sign "shhhh...Baby is sleeping". So it's time to gather the supplies needed.
Supplies:
Items with * have a link to the Craft Chameleon products
The first step is to decide on the design. I knew I wanted my design to coordinate with my wipes container, so I used the same cute little tiger and added some jungle leaves plus a zebra-striped type heart along with the wording.
Serendipitously, I found some ribbon, in my craft stash, that matched the green of the leaves and it was seriously too cute! Perfect for sign hanging.
To design, I used a general measurement of the board, 11x9” and drew a rectangle in my design space. I knew my board had the corners missing so I stayed away from them when I created the design.
To make the leaves I took one jungle leaf design from the Silhouette store flipped it horizontally. and rotated it. Next, I duplicated it to create a total of 3 leaves. Each leaf I adjusted either with size and/or rotation. After lining them up by the stems, I welded them so they were one clump of leaves instead of 3 separate pieces. I just thought it looked better this way but it could have been left separated as well.
Next, I cut my designs up. While the vinyl was cutting I added the ribbon to the board. Note: I ordered the acrylic photo board with the 2 hole version so it came with the two holes pre-drilled in the top.
Once you get the vinyl all cut and weeded it’s time to apply it to the board. I cut the piece with the tigers and heart separate from the words so that I could layer the tan layer underneath the orange layer of the tigers. I started off putting the wording onto the board and then the leaves.
Now the board is completed!
It also brings us to the end of this tutorial trilogy. We can't thank Faye enough for sharing her creativity! I know we will be seeing more of her in future posts.
