Silhouette Mint Review and Tutorial

Hi there Everyone!!! Today I have a tutorial on how to use the Silhouette Mint.

What is a Silhouette Mint you ask?? Well it is the latest gadget to come out from Silhouette America.

Basically it is a stamp maker. What I like about this tho compared to all of the previous stamp makers out on the market is that its simple! Yup simple.

The ones like the Theresa Collins stamp maker revolve around using a UV lamp printing a bunch of stuff on various films and "curing"your stamp. Sure the final product was a clear stamp you can re use over and over, but man a PITA to do!!!

The mint machine works with a variety of different size stamp sets. from the tiny 15x15mm ones to a 30x90mm there are plenty of variations to pick from.

The machine comes with all you need to create your first 2 stamps, and then you will need more sets.

At first I really did think that this was an expensive tool to make stamps, but really in the scheme of things its not too bad.

I usually spend on average AUD$25 to get a 15 x 60mm self inking stamp made at somewhere like vistaprint., and once you have the actual stamp set all you need to do it re purchase the stamp sheet sets and interchange in the blocks. (I will show you this shortly.)

So lets check out how it all works.......

Heidi Swapp Minc Review

image source- http://heidiswapp.com

Hi there everyone!!

So a little while back I purchased a Heidi Swapp Minc Machine from Spotlight. They were on sale for $149 from $199 so I was pretty excited to get it if such a discount. Since then they have dropped in price and I have seen them for as little as $99.
But enough with prices, I want to share with you today how the Heidi Swapp Minc works, and show you a short tutorial on how to use it.

As I have been working with the Minc now for almost 6 months, I have learnt that it is super versatile. Ill be honest, I really thought you could grab any laminator and foil your project, and I did just that! I grabbed my cheapo ALDI laminator and tried to foil......with poor results. The image was splotchy and not all the foil adhered to the image. Considering I was using a Heidi Swapp brand of product I really thought it would work. That was mistake number 1. Thinking I could go all cheapo and use any old thing.
3 Laminators later, I still got a mixed result.Again all spotty and not perfect adhesion.

So I invested in a Heidi Swapp Minc Machine. To start with everything I foiled came out perfect. All the Heidi Swapp accessories and papers worked a treat! I loved it!

Heidi Swapp paper pad and adhesive alphabet light and hot pink foil

Then I tried to print my own images to foil, with mixed results. I decided to purchase a new laser printer. I brought the one that Heidi Swapp recommended, the HP mono P1102w laser printer.
Since I purchased that laser printer, everything I have created has foiled perfectly!
There are a lot of other factors that affect a perfect foil and I will do a post on that soon, but for the money, getting a good printer and the minc machine is totally worth it if you want perfect results!

So how do you use the machine? Today I will how you how to make a basic card with the Heidi Swapp Minc.

Firstly you will need the following-
Heidi Swapp Minc Machine
Heidi Swapp Foil- gold
Carrier folder(comes with the Minc machine)
Cardstock
Laser Printer.

1- On your white card stock, print the image or sentiment you would like to foil. If you have a laser printer use this, if you do not have access to a laser printer, that is OK, you can use a regular inkjet printer and take to your local copy shop. Copy shops use toner in their machines so just get a copy of your design then you can foil that.

2- Once you have printed your image cut the foil to fit over the card.

3- Place in the carrier folder and run through your Minc Machine. It is good to note that there are 5 settings on your machine. Each one is for different material you are foiling. With standard smooth cardstock and a laser printer I have found that setting 3 is perfect.

4- Once it has run through remove the card and foil carefully from the folder and slowly remove the foil.

5- You will see that your image/sentiment is foiled! It is that simple!!!! Fold your card and it is ready to go!

All in all the Heidi Swapp Minc is an amazing machine as long as you do read all instructions and use the correct product. The rrp$199 price tag here in australia is a lot of cash, but if you can find it for $99 on sale its more worth it!

Stay tuned as ill be sharing tips and tricks with the Minc soon.
Until next time.....