So You Don't Have a Silhouette...

I was recently catching up on some blog reading and went on a big old blog reading binge.  One of the benefits of letting so many posts from my favorite bloggers pile up is that I am able to notice trends.  One big trend is that everyone in the scrapbooking world seems to be using a Silhouette Cameo to cut cool titles and embellishments. 

What is a Silhouette Cameo?  

It's an electronic die cutter that allows you to cut virtually any design you can imagine.  And that's awesome!

But what's a girl to do without a Silhouette?  

Well, grab her craft knife and get busy, that's what!  And here's one idea on how you can get busy with a craft knife too....

STEP ONE: Print an image you want to cut out, in reverse, on the back of a piece of paper. I'm using colored cardstock. (If you'd like to grab a free .pdf with this speech bubble and a few others I designed, you can do so here.)

STEP TWO: Starting on the inside of your design, start cutting with a craft knife (a sharp blade is a must) and a self-healing mat.

Remember to turn the paper (or the entire mat) and not the blade as you cut.

Notice how I cut the "M" in stages?  You don't need to get the letter out in a single perfect piece.  Make the cuts easy for yourself.

You should try to stay within the lines, but if you don't, it's no biggie.

STEP THREE: Cut out the the outside of the design.

And that's it!  It's as easy as 1-2-3!

I put my little speech bubble into my Project Life album:

I hope you'll give your craft knife a try.  Hand cutting is surprisingly easy to do and the results are lovely!  No big fancy machine needed!

Here are the supplies I used:

Small Self Healing Mat Retractable Craft Knife Artist Tape HP psc 2410 Printer Bazzill Cardstock Red

InLinkz.com

Thanks for stopping by!