Monday, September 10, 2012

I'm So Far Behind... {using mirror image vinyl and silhouette cameo}


When I was a little kid, my mom had 2 signs in our kitchen. One said "Menu: 2 choices - take it or leave it" the other said "I'm so far behind I think I'm first".  I'm really starting to relate to that second sign. and thought it might be a nice addition to my "studio re-do". (yet another thing on my to-do list- repaint my sewing studio!)

Using the silhouette studio software I just started playing around with layout, fonts and sizes. I decided on 2 fonts- Arial Black and LD typeset (a font downloaded from Silhouette). Once I had the layout done I thought a cool herringbone/chevron background would look nice. I had this design already downloaded as one of silhouettes weekly freebies. (ALWAYS download the freebies! you never know when you might use them!)


I picked up a cardstock stack called "A Type of Art".  It has some great double sided papers like metallics and glitter. One of them looked like stainless steel, so I used that for the chevron.



After I cut the chevron out with the Cameo, I hit it with a touch of spay adhesive and gently placed it on a light aqua cardstock and trimmed around the edges.



For the phrase I used a magenta premium vinyl. My first attempt was a failure - I cut the vinyl and used transfer tape to place it on top of the chevron. The chevron layer was too "thick" and my letters looked all lumpy and were peeling up on the corners. So after I carefully peeled the vinyl off and managed to salvage the cardstock I decided to mirror the phrase- so I could ADHERE IT TO THE INSIDE GLASS! Yes - a simple solution!!!! That way it would be right side facing, easy to clean the glass AND the letters would not look "stuck on" as if I had just adhered them to the front side of the glass.


mirrored image so the vinyl sticky side is on the "right side" of the letters.


Once I had the vinyl cut (again) I used the following steps:


  1. Weed the vinyl
  2. Use a ruler to mark the horizontal and vertical center line for the vinyl and on the picture frame.
  3. Peel off backing (if you peel the backing FROM the vinyl it will curl less. If you peel the vinyl FROM the backing it will curl more and you run the risk of it sticking together.)
  4. Use my center line marks and carefully and SLOWLY place the vinyl on the glass and smooth. I rubbed over this a bunch of times to try and get out as many air bubbles as possible.
  5. Peel the transfer tape away from the glass.
  6. Inspect for air bubbles and smooth over any big ones. 
So now the vinyl is stuck to the inside of the frame glass. I can easily replace the background or even peel off the vinyl from the glass if I ever want to change the design. I dropped in the background and put the chipboard back on the frame. Now - I just need to find the right spot to hang it!




2 comments:

Shower Enclosures Brooklyn said...

You did an awesome job making a glass frame and portrait out of that, you showed that sign who's boss and who's in first now. Nice.

-Solomon Berkovitch

Chelsie said...

When putting the vinyl on the inside of the glass frame you will end up seeing the sticky side of the vinyl after it is completed correct?