Craft Edge

Hi Everyone-
About five years ago, I saw the picture below of Molly Sims’ living room and fell in love with the painting. Since then, I’ve wanted one with my favorite song and am finally feeling gutsy - foolish? - enough to attempt it… but i need some advice.

I’ve found a few bloggers who’ve created similar projects by doing the layout on a computer, cutting the letters by hand, placing the stencils on a canvas and painting over the top. But they also talked about how hard the cutting was and one suggested purchasing a Cricut or Silhouette rather than attempting it by hand.

Since i’m a total newbie, i have some really basic and possibly lame questions:

• Can die-cut machines cut pages of solid text?
• Is it possible to rent time on die-cut machines at craft stores the way you can for computers at Kinkos?
• Do any machines or their software allow for skewing font slightly up/down (i love how the lines aren’t too perfect) or would i just print lines of text and have to skew them manually as i’m sticking the stencils to the canvas?
• With all that in mind, which machine would be best to buy? (Silhouette, Cricut, something else?)
• Or should i just see if i can find a printer who’s willing and able to cut it for me?

Thank you so much for your help! I know it may be ambitious for a total crafting newbie, but i just have to try.

Ambitious project but ALAS most desktop cutters you mentioned will only cut max 12x24" but if you are willing to cut only a couple of lines at a time and then put them together on you backing board it might work. A better idea and one that will help ensure that your time and money is well spent I'd go to a pro to have it done.

I found this one site that allows you to input and design your text font/color etc and they will do it for you in a much larger size. You can do internet search and find others I'm sure. I don't know if they will do you a stencil but you could ask.

http://www.wallwritten.com

I also found this company who makes Large Stencils
http://online.rapidresizer.com/make-name-patterns.php

I found this tutorial on doing this exact piece but she cut the letters by hand!!!

I'd be curious what you find out and if it works for your project.

I did a company motto on a wall in a training center and I had to do it all in sections because of the limited cutting of the Cricut. After about 5 hours and a lot eyeballing, I was able to complete the saying and the customer loved it.

caleo wrote:

• Can die-cut machines cut pages of solid text?
• Is it possible to rent time on die-cut machines at craft stores the way you can for computers at Kinkos?
• Do any machines or their software allow for skewing font slightly up/down (i love how the lines aren’t too perfect) or would i just print lines of text and have to skew them manually as i’m sticking the stencils to the canvas?
• With all that in mind, which machine would be best to buy? (Silhouette, Cricut, something else?)
• Or should i just see if i can find a printer who’s willing and able to cut it for me?

A few answers:
- Regarding renting die-cut machines: Do you have an Archiver's near you? They will cut things for you on certain cutters in-store for a fee, but you might have better luck going to a pro vinyl place.
- Regarding the skewing… I would find a font that already includes this quality, rather than trying to introduce some jitter at the design level (like in Illustrator). Breaking apart words and nudging letters individually is quite time-consuming.
- Regarding pros: I haven't looked around for pros/pricing much, but a company that specializes in wall decals like Blik (http://www.whatisblik.com/customize/) can do anything you want, for a fee ($350 and up, there).
- I have an eclips (cuts up to 12x24) and if I wanted to attempt something like this it would take quite a bit of planning and work: finding/buying the vinyl or stencil material, finding/buying the font, working on the design in Illustrator/eCAL/SCAL, doing the actual cutting, then doing the transfer/placement of vinyl or stenciling. It's doable, though, and sounds like a fun project. I'd recommend working on smaller things, first ;o)

My two cents: it's doable but it would require a lot time. From buying the materials to typing the words and then cutting them. However, this project is guarantee to keep you out of mischief for a while and then, every time you look at your wall, you will feel bursting with pride.

i know there is a cutter that does not require a mat. I would consider that as a way to reduce the cost.

Check your Private Messages.

I am willing to help out.