How to Set Up Your Template on Your Cutting Mat for Silhouette Users

Hi Everyone!

The past 2 weeks I have shared 2 projects that I am using a chipboard template with a 3 inch circle cut out to help keep my acrylic discs in place while I’m foiling or engraving. This week I’m going to share my method for how I align my template when starting a new project or coming back to my project after I’ve unloaded my mat from my machine.

In Silhouette Studio I’ve got my project already designed and set up to cut/ sketch by line. I’ve placed my design toward the middle of my mat so it’s easier to place the template while the mat is in the machine and so my template will NOT go under the rollers on the edges of my machine.

On my actual mat I’m going to place a regular piece of printer paper approximately where my design should be.

I’m going to cut just the circle part of my design, so I select just the blue line, load my mat and send it to machine.

After the machine is done cutting, DO NOT UNLOAD the mat!! Carefully remove the excess paper from around the circle.

Now I’m going to take my template and place it over the circle so all of my edges are aligned.

I tape down the top edge of the template to my mat and carefully lift the template, hinging at the tape along the top edge.

I remove the paper circle from my mat and place the template down again. I place some more tape around the edges of the template to help keep it in place. Now my template is ready to load an acrylic disc!

Back in Silhouette Studio in the send screen, I uncheck the box for the blue circle. I select my yellow lines to sketch, foil, or etch and it’s ready for me to press send to my machine.

As long as I don’t unload my mat, I can place another acrylic disc in the template once my first one is done.

If you accidentally unload your mat, you can repeat the same process above to realign your template again.

Foiling with the Silhouette Portrait 3 and WRMK Bevel Quill

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Hi Everyone!

Last week I did some foiling with my Portrait 3 and the WRMK foil quill. This week I wanted to share another technique you can use to foil with your Silhouette Portrait 3 or Cameo.

I found the WRMK Bevel Quill a few weeks ago in the clearance section at my local JoAnn’s, and I’m a sucker for all the little attachments for Cricut and Silhouette machines. Another bonus, I can use this tip in either my Cricut Maker or my Portrait 3.

The bevel tip has a small ball point and is intended to deboss on the “bevel board" materials that are included with the tip , but I wanted to try it with the Spellbinders Glimmer Foil since the foil is also pressure sensitive.

WRMK Bevel Quill

The A adapter included in the kit is intended for the Silhouette machines, but it doesn’t fit the Portrait 3 or Cameo 4.

First, I tried it with the D adapter that also came in the kit, but it doesn’t fit very snugly in the Portrait 3 and pops up out of the tool holder every so slightly when the machine presses down on the tip and there’s no longer any pressure for the tip to apply the foil.

So I grabbed the D adapter from my foil quill set, it’s just a hair wider than the other D adapter. It makes such a big difference, and it stays nice and snug in the tool holder.

D adapter from Foil Quill set

Once again, I used my favorite black cardstock and the Standard grip mat with the regular copper and gold Spellbinder foils. I tried out a few different settings. I ended up getting pretty decent results with my Force between 20-25, Speed 2, and 2 passes.

Copper foil and gold foil on black cardstock

The results are pretty close to what I get with my Cricut Foil Transfer tool and my Maker. The foil doesn’t always stick in some places and it can be a little dusty when you remove the foil sheet after transferring. The WRMK Foil Quill is still my favorite tool for foiling, but this is definitely a good option if you don’t want to be bothered heating up the WRMK Foil Quill.