Below are the written instructions to go with my video tutorial on filling shapes with cuttable patterns in Silhouette Studio.

Place your pattern on the mat in Silhouette Studio. 

Place the letter, number or shape (all will be called a “shape”) as the top layer over the pattern.

Change the colour of the shape to a light colour different from the pattern to make everything easier to see.

Select the shape only. Choose the Offset function. Choose Inner Offset.

Choose Corner or Round for the offset.

Choose the desired distance for the offset.

Select only the outer shape (the original shape).

Press CMD+X on a Mac or CTRL+X on a PC.

Select everything by clicking away in an empty area of the mat and then pressing CMD+A on a Mac or CTRL+A on a PC.

Open Modify panel and choose Crop.

Press CMD+F on a Mac or CTRL+F on a PC to move the patterned inset below the shape.

Select everything by clicking away in an empty area of the mat and then pressing CMD+A on a Mac or CTRL+A on a PC.

Right click and choose Make Compound Path.

You now have the cuttable pattern inside your shape with a border all around your shape.

The files used for the backgrounds are available here 

Here is the video that explains all of these steps in detail and in which I teach you how to create the very first image shown above:

I recently purchased a MAMBI Happy Planner at Michaels using a 50% off coupon bringing the price down to $17.95. The one I purchased is the Good Things are Going to Happen version and it is very artistic -- loooove it!

Here is a picture of the cover ...

To be completely honest, I already have an Erin Condren planner and love it too. I am using my Erin Codren Life Planner (ECLP) to manage my day job work activities (translation projects, customer contacts, meetings, etc.) and will use this one to plan my crafty activities (YouTube videos, growth strategy and more).

I looked for a divider page that I could use to quickly open my planner to a specific page, but couldn't find one. Needless to say, I designed one I could cut with my electronic die cutting machine. I have three brands so I needed to make sure I could cut the file with any of them, as usual. I designed my files using Illustrator, saved them in SVG format and then opened and saved them with Sure Cuts a Lot (SCAL) to make sure they could be opened and cut with my Cricut Explore. I also use SCAL when I want to cut with my GCC Puma or Silhouette Cameo. It took a couple of weeks of designing, testing and perfecting before I could make them available to others.

My Happy Planner files are now available in my Etsy shop, but they are also available for free to my Patreon supporters.

My video on putting the pocket pages together is below.

At this time, I have the tabbed divider page and a pocket page, but will soon design more for Happy Planner lovers.

If you are interested in more on planning, please check out my Pocket Pages and Planner Love group on Facebook.

Are you having a hard time weeding your vinyl designs? Are you having problems with your cuts snagging? Are your cuts sometimes still attached to the paper?

The solution to this is to use the Line Segment Overcut feature in Silhouette Studio v3. It will help you get cleaner cuts from vinyl, paper or any other material. Note that this feature works on designs with sharp corners. It does not work on curves and is not necessary on curves.

Below are some images that show what this feature does. You can click each image to zoom in and see the detail.

This video explains how you can change this setting in Silhouette Studio v3. Note that this feature is not available in Silhouette Studio v2.

In this video, I review three different types of clear transfer tape and opaque transfer paper by applying Cricut, Oracal 651 and Oracal 631 on a number of surfaces, including a glass block, clear plastic Christmas ornaments and a plastic charger.

The products used in this video include:

Cricut transfer tape
Clear Choice transfer tape
Contact clear matte shelf liner (also available in much larger rolls)
Silhouette transfer paper
Cricut transfer paper

Tim Holtz scissors (large)
Hard plastic squeegee

Glass block
Clear M&M style Christmas ornaments
Charger

Cricut vinyl (currently on sale)
Oracal 651 vinyl
Oracal 631 vinyl

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don't miss any upcoming videos.

The Hungry JPEG has launched their very first "Mini Mid Month Bundle". This particular bundle will consist of 8 fonts for $15. It will run for a full month and expire on November 14, 2015.

This bundle is quite a bit smaller than their usual packages, but these 8 fonts are not your ordinary, every day typefaces.

They are all specially "PUA encoded". What this means is that crafters, creators and designers can access the entire library of characters, swirls and swashes included with each font, without having to use special software like Photoshop, Illustrator or CorelDRAW.

All you will need to do is install your fonts and access them from your favourite cutting software.

To access additional characters, all you need to do is choose one of the methods described in my earlier blog post on accessing additional characters in the Samantha font.

Instructions for installing the fonts on a Mac or PC are provided at the end of this post.

You can access a guide to all of the characters in all the fonts here.

The following fonts are included in this first mid-month bundle.

Amigirl

Amigirl Script font is a beautiful, modern, calligraphy font with smooth lines, pointy-edged pull pens, a blend of classic and modern and an elegant touch. The download also includes a sans serif brush font. They can be used for various purposes.such as the title, signature, logo, correspondence, wedding invitations, letterhead, signage, labels, newsletters, posters, badges, etc.

Azurra Script

Azurra Script is a modern calligraphy font with smooth lines, drawn with a fountain pen, edged with a pointy blend of classic touches, modern and elegant. Can be used for various purposes.such as the title, signature, logo, correspondence, wedding invitations, letterhead, signage, labels, newsletters, posters, badges, etc. 

Bruselo

Bruselo script is a modern calligraphy font with stylish smooth hands, which enchant through the softness of fur brush, a blend of classic and modern touch and elegance. Can be used for various purposes.such as the title, signature, logo, correspondence, t-shirts, wedding invitations, letterhead, signage, labels, newsletters, posters, badges, etc.

Edelweis

Edelweis Script font is a modern calligraphy font with smooth lines, pointy-edged pull pens, a blend of classic and modern and an elegant touch. Can be used for various purposes.such as the title, signature, logo, correspondence, wedding invitations, letterhead, signage, labels, newsletters, posters, badges, etc.

Hefalo

Hefalo and Hefalo Brush are two different font character types. They were created using a brush with fine bristles that are very artistic. They blend classic and modern touches and elegance. Can be used for various purposes.such as the title, signature, logo, correspondence, t-shirts, wedding invitations, letterhead, signage, labels, newsletters, posters, badges, etc.

Mastura

Mastura Script font is a modern calligraphy flourish font with smooth lines, pointy-edged pull pens, a blend of classic and modern and an elegant touch. Can be used for various purposes.such as the title, signature, logo, correspondence, wedding invitations, letterhead, signage, labels, newsletters, posters, badges, etc.

Monkuta

Monkuta script is a handwritten script with a pointed pen, modern calligraphy with smooth lines, pointy-edged pull pen, a blend of classic and modern touch and elegance. Can be used for various purposes.such as the title, signature, logo, correspondence, wedding invitations, letterhead, signage, labels, newsletters, posters, badges, etc.

Nightly Poem

Nightly Poem is a font formed with a soft bristle brush, in a modern, classic and elegant style. Can be used for various purposes.such as titles, logos, correspondence, t-shirts, wedding invitations, letterhead, signage, labels, newsletters, posters, badges, etc.

 

To install any of these fonts on a Mac, after you save the zip file to your hard disk, double click to extract the individual files. Double-click the OTF file to start Font Book and then click Install Font.

Once it is installed, you will be able to use the font in any program that lets you choose fonts.

To install your fonts on a Windows computer, save the zip file to your hard disk, unzip the individual files and the double-click the font file (OTF or TTF) and then click Install.