How to make signs with your Silhouette


Everyone has that simple little something that makes them happy. For me it’s cute little signs.  I love to make signs and place them all around my store, The Blue Building Antiques and Consignment .   As I’m going about my day, they make me smile.   I write down quotes from customers while they are shopping.  I transfer them onto signs and place them around the store .  Usually, if I’ve copied the saying it is because the person was very sweet, made me smile, or was just enjoyable. I guess they are kind of like little happy memories scattered around the store.

One of my favorite quotes was from an 88 year old man who wandered the store slowly with his cane. I asked him if he was enjoying the store. He said, “Yes but I’m afraid to stand still cause you might put a price tag on me!”

Another customer and I had a conversation about seeing something you love and not grabbing it.  A common phrase overheard from customers is “I love it, but where would I put it?”  Jeannie’s response was “What life are you waiting to live???  Buy it!”

I have about 50 still tucked away awaiting a slow day where I can concentrate on these cute little signs. One of these days…

My middle son, III, bought me a Silhouette for Christmas. I love it! The only bad thing is that I don’t get to use it regularly. So every time I pull it out for a project, it seems I am starting all over again. I am now trying to use it twice a week so I stay sharp and the learning curve diminishes.

This week’s projects are to make 10 signs. I used several techniques.

Paint over vinyl letters

  1. Apply a base coat to your sign. Allow paint to dry.
  2. Cut the vinyl letters and apply them to your sign.
  3. Burnish (rub the letters firmly onto the sign).
  4. Paint over the vinyl letters and the sign with a second complimentary or contrasting color.
  5. Allow paint to dry.
  6. Peel vinyl letters off to expose the first color underneath.

Some details:

I use contact paper to make a stencil for my signs.  I used Magnolia Sky font and created my design.  I cut the vinyl on my Silhouette and use transfer paper to place the saying onto the sign neatly.

Here is one sign using the painted letters technique:

 

Create a stencil

  1. Create a design on the silhouette.
  2. Cut the vinyl.
  3. Apply transfer paper.
  4. Weed out the letters leaving just the stencil.
  5. Place vinyl stencil onto the sign base.
  6. Burnish.
  7. Remove the transfer paper
  8. Burnish again to reduce chance of bleed through
  9. Use craft paint to fill in the stencil.  Use a dabbing motion with just a little paint on the brush

After paint has dried for about 10 minutes, remove stencil.

This sign was made with the stencil technique:

It was a little tedious weeding out the letters for both signs.  I will search for an easier font that will minimize the need to weed…haha!

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