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.......
2- Check to see the size stamp you would like to make is selected. If it is not select the stamp. I am using a 15mm square stamp today. Next upload your image you would like to use. I have found that the mint software is very limited as far as design capabilities are concerned, so I have been designing my images in the Silhouette design studio software and then saving them and importing them into the mint software ready to go. Saying that, the mint studio had a tonne of great designs you can purchase that are all ready to go as well.
3- Take your image and adjust to fit the stamp area. Make sure all of your image is inside the white box, as this is the printable area.
4- Once you have the image how you want it, click onto the leaf icon at the top right of your design space (circled in red on the image below)
5- DO NOT put your stamp material in yet. You need to click onto the "Start Mint"button FIRST. then the Mint Machine will prompt you to insert the stamp sheet.
6- Below you can see the stamp sheet going through the machine. This process only takes about a minute. As the stamp sheet comes out the front you will see the design etched into the stamp material.
7- When the machine finally stops, pull out the stamp sheet from the front of the Mint machine.
8- Fold on the perforated edge.
9- Carefully lift out the stamp from the card backing and plastic seal.
10- Make sure all plastic is off the stamp. It will look like this below.
11- Take the stamp base and 2 part lid. the lid clips into the base to make the whole stamp.
I love this because if you are like me and short of space, you only need one wood base and you can just change the tops as you need to stamp!
12- Once fully put together, remove the cap to show the sticky area where the stamp will adhere too.
13- Remove the paper that covers the adhere part. Then place the stamp onto your stamp base.
14- With the Black Mint ink (or colour of your choice) squeeze a small amount onto the stamp. Focus on the lines that make your image.
15- Let the ink absorb into the stamp for approx 10 mins.
16- Once absorbed. you will need to " prime" your imaged a few times to remove any excess ink.
Your stamp is now ready!!!!!! Depending on how much ink you put on your stamp, you should get approx 50 images from the stamp before it needs re inking.
The great thing is with this stamp is that when it runs out of ink, you can grab a different colour and re ink with that!
This particular stamp I made here, I have stamped many times and it shows no sign of running out of ink yet!
Now what to do with the stamp?!?
Well for me I am going to use it on the back of envelopes next to my return address, but you can use it for many things!
I hope you have enjoyed this basic tutorial on how to use the Silhouette Mint machine. You can pick them up on Amazon for $75.
Until next time.....
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