Silhouette Cameo Confession

I have a confession to make. Five months ago, my sweet husband took advantage of a Black Friday promotion and bought me the Silhouette Cameo I had been drooling over for almost two years. The confession is the number of times I've used it: none, zero, nada, zippo. 

Sigh.

As far as I know, there is nothing wrong with it other than it didn't come with a talking person who could show me how to use it. I'm a little overwhelmed. Since my brain injury, I have noticed that I have  a harder time learning new things. Where I used to be able to just read a manual and figure things out, now I need to be able to see each step or have someone walk me through it. I started cooking by following blogs that took photos of each step. I learned to sew because my friend Nicole walked me through my first couple projects. I have a bursting board on Pinterest of projects I would love to do with my Cameo. But I just can't figure out how to use it. Grrrr...

I'm hoping to get together with a new friend in the next couple of weeks for some Cameo tutoring. To gear up for our get-together, I put together a list of projects I really, really want to do. 

1. Vinyl lettering and labels

I love the labels we have in our freezer, but the foam stickers I used don't like the cold. They fall off if they're bumped. I would love to make vinyl labels to replace them. 

For that matter, I'd also like to update the labels in our frig, like how Project Simple Home has done. 

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Also, I used foam stickers to put a few friendly reminders around the house for my boys. They work pretty well, except for when my overly-tired son would rather pull off and rearrange stickers than use the toilet before naptime. I'd love to replace my stickers with vinyl. Glamorous, I know.

I have a bajillion other labeling and vinyl ideas.

2. Frosted/Etched Glass

Did you know you can make etched glass with a Silhouette? I'd love to customize our casserole dishes like The Real Coake Family has done. 

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I also love what Dans Le Townhouse did with her mirror. I have "Imago Deo" (image of God) on our full length mirror, written in puffy paint. Niels loves the sentiment, but not the execution. This would look a lot nicer!

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I also really like this idea from eighteen25.

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Heat Transfer Shirts and Onesies

I would love to be able to make my train and space shuttle-obsessed boy custom tees like this one made by Craftaholics Anonymous.

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And I'd love to make custom onesies like The Thinking Closet has done for all the sweet babies my friends are having. 

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Fabric Cutting

I am absolutely giddy about the idea of using the Cameo with my new love of sewing. How cute is this tooth fairy pillow?

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And I'd love to be able to cut out letters for monograms on quilts or to make cute projects like these days of the week dishags from Knitty Bitties.

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Other Projects

As part of my 2013 Pinterest Challenge, I want to make a growth chart ruler like this one from Adventures in Decorating and Design.  

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Click below to follow my ever-growing Silhouette inspiration board on Pinterest.

I'd love to hear from you. Do you have a super simple tutorial to get me started?

Linked to:
Crystal and Co.  * New Nostalgia * Real Coake * Sew Much Crafting * SNAP!