Addressing Invitations with a Silhouette Cameo
So the newest, greatest little tool showed up at my house last week. It’s from the Sensory Emporium, an Etsy shop that sells items made with a Silhouette Cameo, as well as tools to use with it. It’s a pen holder! EEEEK! I was SO excited to get this I can’t even tell you! I am thinking of a million uses for this little fun tool. Think how pretty your Christmas card envelopes will look, add a cute touch to gift tags, even draw fun pictures or create art work for your home. I absolutely love it! For this month’s Silhouette Challenge, I decided to show you all how awesome this sweet pen holder can be.
We are throwing a Magical Fairy Party for our 4 year old in a few weeks. I ordered adorable invites from Shutterfly {of course}, and waited patiently for my pen holder to arrive. Since I can’t even draw a stick figure to save my life, I was hoping that my Silhouette could help me draw a Tinkerbell, and address the invitation envelopes. Score!
Using it is so simple. You take out your blade, and replace it with the pen holder. It’s made to fit Sharpie Ultra Fine Point, but many gel pens like the InkJoy pens will fit, too. Insert it into the Silhouette. Then, you add the pen and use the mini popsicle stick it comes with to push it down to the right place. If you’r using a Sharpie, you just push it in until it stops. With other pens, you need to place the mini popsicle stick between the end of the pen and your cutting mat to make sure it’s down all the way.
To set up my file for “writing”, I measured the envelopes and created a rectangle. Then, I typed the return and mailing address on them and positioned them correctly.
Then, you go to Cut Settings on your Silhouette Software. Instead of choosing “Blade”, choose “Sketch Pen”. Send to Silhouette, and it’s AWESOME!
This is by far one of the most useful items I have for my Silhouette. There are many online shops that sell the pen holders! I am so looking forward to addressing our Christmas card envelopes, making cute signs for the kids to hold up in First Day of School pictures, and maybe even some artwork!
Want to Check Out More Silhouette Projects?
My Silhouette Challenge buddies are all sharing projects today on their blogs, so peruse the links below for a blog-hopping good time.
Crafting with Glitter Just Got Easier by Create & Babble
Birthday Invitations Homer Simpson Style by Black & White Obsession
DIY Planner Dividers by The House on Hillbrook
3D Haunted Forest by Chicken Scratch NY
Pumpkins and Peacocks Fall Mantel by joy & gladness of heart
DIY Cheers Garland by Rain on a Tin Roof
Wedding Gift Wrapping by It Happens in a Blink
Glitter Monogrammed Pumpkin by unOriginal Mom
Halloween Family Rules by Tried & True
Faux Stitched Speech Bubbles by Get Silvered Craft
A Mario Bros. Backsplash by Please Excuse My Craftermath…
Halloween Spooky Eye Luminaries by A Tossed Salad Life
Halloween Party Treat Bags by The Thinking Closet
“Create” Wooden Pallet by Lil’ Mrs. Tori
Spooky Halloween Bats Garland by TitiCrafty
Decorated Pumpkins by Tanya’s Creative Space
Cute Wedding Card by Zanaree
Learn to Tie Your Shoes by From Wine to Whine
Fussy Cutting Making You Fussy? by My Paper Craze
Cut Fabric With Your Silhouette by Cutesy Crafts
Cookie Lee Jewelry’ Gift Bags with a Purpose: Sharing Thankfulness by An Elegant Touch
Halloween Banner by Sowdering About
Do you have a Silhouette machine?
Looking for Silhouette inspiration, support, trouble-shooting? Interested in joining us for our group posting event next month? Then, we’d love to have you join our Silhouette Challenge Facebook group. To join, simply fill out the new member request form, and Lauren from The Thinking Closet will get you squared away.
These are so cute!!! I think I may have to make my own return address stamp and sketch it on my envelopes until I can get the stamping kit to play with! 🙂
The first thing I said out loud was “no” because I was that shocked that you could use a sharpie. I love everything about sharpies. I love everything about my silhouette. You just collided my worlds and blew my mind.
Ha! Awesome!! I know, Silhouette and Sharpies coming together is amazing!
I don’t have the same one you have, but I love my pen holder too. I love how cardstock gets that engraved looked with gel pens. I even bought some 12 x 24 mats to allow me to address more envelopes at once.
How fun! Your invites are adorable! I love the little picture! She is too cute! The envelopes definitely add some wow! I love the little details!
Thank you! I’m always looking for ways to add the little details.
Wow…that sharpie “sketch” writing just takes the invites up a level. (Super cute invite, too!) I’m in love! And I just learned about the Sensory Emporium earlier tonight because the shop owner requested to join our group! So delighted to have such creative and inventive people in the Silhouette Challenge…like yourself!
Oh, how neat! I don’t have a Silhouette yet (sad day), but I’ll be purchasing one of these once I get one! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
How adorable!! I was thinking of using my cameo to address some formal invitations. Do you know if there is an easy way to fill the type? Right now I am using the cameo sketch pens but I’m wondering if using a thicker marker would help. Any thoughts?
Thanks! I’ll email you some suggestions.
I have a tutorial on filling line fonts on my blog if you need some resources.
Awesome. Feel free to share the link!
Here is the link to my tutorial on filling double line fonts. http://thesensoryemporium.blogspot.com/2013/07/how-to-fill-double-line-fonts.html hope that helps!
Hello! Just curious…is there anyway this could work on the cricut expressions 2? Thanks!
I bought a pen holder last year (I think they redesigned after I bought mine…grr…) but I have the hardest time getting it to work right. It often draws lines back to the origin point. What am I doing wrong? FWIW, I’m primarily trying to draw on fabric (with the same sharpie you’re using here). Not sure if that’s the problem, but I am setting it to fabric, not paper. If you have any tips, I’d love to hear them; I haven’t found any ideas in my pinterest searching yet! 🙂
Also, I’m using the free Silhouette software. I know the upgrade has more sketch options, and I have the upgrade that came with my package, but I’m afraid to install it because our PC is dying and we may go Mac. Not sure if I could reinstall it on our new computer if I switch operating systems. Do you know?
Thanks!!
I bought mine from at Etsy shop, not the SIL store….so I’m not sure familiar with the SIL version. Mine used to do that, but I just had to make sure my pen was in the right way. Maybe try setting it to paper? I just choose “Sketch Pen” in my settings and it works every time.
I have switched from a PC to Mac with the designer edition of the software no problem. Also, the silhouette customer service is super awesome so don’t hesitate to email them if any issues crop up. I had the line across the page issue as well with the sketch pens and some designs; customer service said to go into the main Silhouette menu (this is on a mac so I’m not sure if you are or what the steps are with a pc) -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Packet size: set it to 500 bytes. Hope that helps!
Thanks, Jenn! I appreciate those great tips!
This is not a cricut…… why are people saying put a sharpie in your cricut???? Does it even work with that machine?
Hi, Dottie! You are correct . It is not a Cricut, but a Silhouette Cameo. I have heard they function in much the same way, though Yes, I put a Sharpie in the pen holder as well. I know there are several models of Circuits, and I assume with the correct one, this would work.
I love doing my envelopes with my cricut! The writing is si neat and beautiful! Course it takes a little time to set it up compared to just writing them out,but if you end up sending to some of the same addresses you can save them on DS and just push the button!
I know! That is something I really love. I love using different fonts, and so much better than my own handwriting 🙂