How to use a glue pen with the Heidi swap Minc machine

When wanting to foil while using your silhouette machine and a Heidi Swapp toner pen is out always easy. I have found in the past that the toner pen is very problematic. It can run out quite quickly as it constantly needs to be primed to get ink through the tip.

So I tried to look for an alternative.  And after looking at what I had at home and one of my staples in my stash was a quickie glue pen. You can buy them from your local craft store or on Amazon .

I tried the glue pen in my silhouette 3 and it worked great.

Below is a quick tutorial on how to use it.

1- Open your software program. I am using silhouette studio software. Click on the text icon.

2- Select your design. Click OK.

3- Click on the fill icon.

4-Remove the fill color.

5- Go to the send screen. Change the action from blade to sketch tool.

6- Place the glue pen into the pen holder.

7- Send the design to the silhouette machine. The glue pen will start drawing your design.

8- You can see on the card that the design is drawn with the glue pen. Make sure the glue design dries before you prepare it to go through your minc machine.

9- Place your card in the transfer folder, then carefully place the foil on the top.

10- Turn your minc machine on and set to 2. Run through the machine.

11- Your design is foiled.

How to use reactive spray with the Heidi swap minc

Hi there everyone!!!

Today I will be sharing with you how to use the Heidi Swapp reactive spray.

I was a little hesitant regarding the spray at first as I really did not know what id use it for in terms of foiling.

After trialing the spray I found a few things about the spray. 

Firstly ALWAYS clean the spray nib after use. if you don't it blocks and you can't use it again. 

Next, when you spray, use a heat gun to dry it. If you let it air dry it can take hours depending how think its sprayed.

Lastly, I realized at a pinch you can use the spray as a "paint" and you can do some lovely handwriting with it. I will make a new post on this at a later date.

Ok so lets give it a go shall we?

1- The Heidi swap reactive mist is a product that can be used with the Heidi Swapp minc machine to create a spray effect. You can use any liquid glue to create this effect but the reactive mist works great.

2- Spray your mist onto your cardstock. Once you have finished, make sure you clean out the spray nozzle as the liquid can clog it.

3- Using a heat tool dry the reactive mist. You can also let it dry by it self. This can take up to 30 minutes.

4- Once dry, place the foil over the card and then put into your transfer folder.

5- Set the minc machine to 3 and once heated up run the transfer folder through the minc machine.

6- Let cool and remove the foil. The spray effect is now foiled.

How to create a basic pencil holder in Silhouette Alta.

Hi there everyone!

Today I'm sharing a little basic tutorial on how to make a simple pencil holder with the silhouette Alta and the silhouette software.

This technique will also help build other shapes and designs as "wall" sides and bases are a good startig block to designing most things. 

1- Open Silhouette Alta software. Click on the shape icon.

2- Select the cube shape.

3- Select the cube.

4- Adjust the size of the cube and the thickness to make a thin wall.

5- Select the wall and right click. Duplicate.

6- Duplicate 3 more times. Select one of the walls.

7- Move each wall to create a rectangle. Make sure each one is flush on the corners.

8- Duplicate one of the walls.

9- Rotate the wall so it is flat to create the base of the pencil holder. Line it up under the walls.

10- Click on the select all icon.

11- Right click and group the walls and base.

12- Select the text icon to personalize the pencil holder.

13- Type your text.

14- Select the text and select your font. I am selecting the font Garlic Butter from fontbundles.net

15- Move your text so it is attached to your pencil holder.

16- Click the select all icon then right click and group.

17- Click on the 3D print icon then adjust your print settings and click print.

How to make foiled sticker using the Heidi Swapp Minc and Silhouette studio.

Hi there everyone!

Today I am going to share with you how to create a foiled sticker using silhouette studio free software and the Heidi Swapp Minc machine. 

With this technique you can use other software like word or inkscape. the only difference for me with silhouette studio is I can create a print and cut so I can get my cutter to cut out the shape of the sticker. Alternatively you could use say some pre cut Avery stickers and use the free software that comes with those stickers. 

1- Open Silhouette Studio. Click on the open file icon.

2- Select your design. I am using Valentine cat couple SVG from design bundles.net

3- Select your design and resize.

4- Click on the shape icon. While holding the shift key, create a circle.

5- Centre the design inside the circle.

6- Group the design and circle together.

7- Click on page setup and add registration marks for print and cut.

8- Click on the replicate icon and replicate your design.

9- Continue to replicate to fill the page.

10- Click on the print icon. Set the print quality to high and then print.

11- The design is printed on the sticker paper.

12- Place the foil over the design. Make sure you do not cover the registration marks. They need to be black to be registered in the silhouette. Place baking paper over the card and foil then place into a transfer folder.

13- Turn the minc on and set to 3. I am using plain white matte sticker paper. if using clear sticker paper I would recommend a setting of 2.
Run through the minc machine.

14- Remove the foil from the sticker papers. The design are now foiled.

15- Place on the cutting mat. Go to the send screen and click on the line option for cutting.

16- Select the line color that only cuts the outside sticker lines. Make sure the media type is set. Then click on send.

17- You design will cut the stickers. You can use the stickers for many needs.