Hi friends!  Welcome to the first Silhouette Challenge of 2015!  Just like last year, we’ve added a small layer to our challenges – a bonus challenge!  The bonus challenges are optional, but if you feel that there is a particular technique that many of the bloggers are using, you’re probably right!  This month’s challenge is organization (it just works so well for January!), and our bonus challenge is Vinyl.  I choose to tackle both to organize some of my craft drawers.  Plus, I had fun using some graphic icons as visual reminders!

Materials

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Vinyl (I used some Oracle 631 that I picked up from Expressions Vinyl)
Transfer Tape or contact paper
A weeding tool (optional, but will make your weeding much easier)
Your Silhouette machine
FREE cut file {personal use only} (or make your own!)

That’s it!  If you want to use my cut file, you can download it here {personal use only}.  Or, if you want to choose your own icons, just follow the steps below!

Step 1:  Find your icons

I wanted to go with something graphic on each door.  I figured since we use icons on our computers, that would be the perfect place to start.  Fortunately, one of the members of the Silhouette Challenge Facebook Group introduced me to The Noun Project a few months ago.  It was perfect.  The basic premise of the site is that you can search any noun, and it will come up with a list of icons.  You can sign up for an account to download the files for free (if you use the author attribution from a Creative Commons licence).  Here is a selection of the icons that I chose {you can see all of them later}.  You can download both a .png and a .svg file from the site.  I’m using the .png file here so I can play with the trace function.

Step 2: The easiest trace you’ve ever done

Really, it is.  Once you’ve picked out your icons and loaded them into your silhouette, it’s time to trace.

First, open up your tracing window by going to Object-Trace or choosing the  icon in the upper right menu.

Next, choose “Select Trace Area” and drag a box around the icon you want to trace.  You should see something like this:

Now you have a choice: do you want to keep it as is, or widen it a little bit?  Most of the time, keeping the trace settings as is will be just fine.  If you want to make your lines a little thicker, just in case, you can do that too.  All you need to do is un-check “High Pass Filter” and drag your threshold value up a bit.  Here are my settings and the new trace file.  It’s a really minor difference, but if you’re worried about thin lines, it will help a bit.

Finally, click “trace” in your settings box and you’re object is traced!  See!  Easiest trace ever.  I used the fill bucket (Object – Style – Fill Color)  to fill in the yarn and deleted the original image so that I would know how the cut lines would look.  For the file I’m sharing with you, I also left the attribution for the icons.  Don’t worry, they won’t cut.

Step 3:  Add your text and weeding box

Next up I needed to figure out the right size.  Based on my drawers, the size for my labels is 2 inches high and either 12 or 6 inches wide.  Using the “Draw a Rectangle” tool in the left hand tool bar , I drew a rectangle that was 2×6.  This was my weeding box.  As I determined the actual width of the label (very few of them needed the whole width), I made the rectangle smaller.  This rectangle helps to make the weeding process easier.

For the font, I used Wordmark.it  to look through my installed fonts and choose a font.  I ended up deciding on Architect’s Daughter, because I felt it had a nice handwritten feel to it, but it was still easily readable from afar.  Plus, Earl liked it best, and we rarely agree on design choices straight off, so it was a clear winner.  The font size I used was 36.  Here’s the finished knitting label.

Step 4:  Cut and Apply

Once you’ve created as many labels as you want, it’s time to cut your vinyl.  For tips and pictures of the cutting process, check out my Crack in the Universe post.

After you’ve cut your labels, you’ll need to weed them, or remove any unwanted parts.Depending on how thin your lines are, you could probably get away without using your weeding tool for the labels.

Next it’s time to transfer them to their final destination.  I prefer to use transfer tape rather than contact paper when transferring my designs, but it’s really a personal prefernce.  First cut out a peice of transfer paper that’s slightly larger than your design and lay it over your vinyl label.

Now pull of your transfer tape, taking the vinyl below with it.

Place the whole shebang on it’s final resting place….

Remove the transfer tape, and voile-a!  You’re done!

You’ll notice I lost the dots to my i’s in the process, but for now I’m happy with it.  I can always go back and be more careful with my weeding to keep those.

Oh, and here’s a picture of 4 of the drawers!

There are a total of 23 icons in the Free Download File {personal use only}.  Have fun making your own very visual drawer labels!

Want to Check Out More Silhouette Projects?

My Silhouette Challenge buddies and I are all sharing projects on our blogs today, so peruse the projects below for a wealth of Silhouette inspiration!

1. Please Excuse My Craftermath… // 2. Simply Kelly Designs // 3. Daily Dwelling // 4. Ginger Snap Crafts // 5. Our Southern Home // 6. Sowdering About // 7. The Moberg Family // 8. Decor Adventures // 9. Pineapples and Pinecones // 10. Patina Paradise // 11. The Thinking Closet // 12. It Happens in a Blink // 13. Adventures in All Things Food // 14. From Wine to Whine // 15. Practically Functional // 16. Dragonfly & Lily Pads // 17. unOriginal Mom // 18. One Dog Woof // 19. Creative Ramblings // 20. My Favorite Finds // 21. Create it. Go! // 22. A Prudent Life // 23. Where The Smiles Have Been // 24. Barb's Life // 25. Everyday Paper // 26. Pitter and Glink // 27. Peanut Life Adventures // 28. Feto Soap Blog // 29. Our Rosey Life // 30. Two Purple Couches // 31. My Paper Craze // 32. TitiCrafty // 33. Lil Mrs Tori

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