Tag Archives: crafts

Silhouette Mint – My thoughts about it

Good evening guys. On today’s post I want to talk a little about the Mint which was on my wish list. Why I decided to put it on my wish list? Well because I’m a crafter and what crafter wouldn’t like to be able to create their own stamp in the comfort of their own home. Hehe, well yea that was the main reason. I watched a few videos on youtube about it and I just had to have it. So I received it on christmas but didn’t really play with it until like a week or two after the holidays (busy playing with the kids toys :p)

  
So lets now move on to that day. I opened the box and loved how small and lightweight the machine was. I love that I could leave it right next to my computer and that it didn’t take up much space. As for instructions, pretty straightforward. Insert the disk, download, plug and turn on. The software includes a few free images but I decided to create my own only because I had two stamps included with my mint so I wanted to make the most out of them. If you have the silhouette software for portrait , the mint software is the same just slightly different options. I created my Happy mail v’s sweet ideas stamp and clicked send. Once you click send the software tells you when to insert and how into the mint. Once I slid the stamp in the machine it took seconds for it to print out (AMAZING!!!!) How cool!

 
Ok, now for the ink part. That is probably one of the downsides I have about the mint. The stamp is meant to hold ink so you can’t just use an ink pad(like how you would with clear or rubber-stamps) and stamp  away. You have to add ink directly to the top of the stamp and wait for it to soak in. Then after about 5 minutes you stamp on paper to get rid of the excess ink. After that your stamp is good to go for about 50 stamps.

 
Yea yea it sucks but hey YOU GET TO CREATE YOUR VERY OWN STAMP!!!!!! After that you add your stamp to the wooden block to make it easier for you to use. I found that you can stamp fine without the wood piece I also experimented with another brand of refillable ink (from work) and found that it worked like a charm. (That means you can save a few bucks and buy non silhouette black refillable ink) Why did I experiment with the ink? Well because I plan to send my cousin a stamp and had to find an ink I can send her so that she can use to refill the stamp after it runs out of ink.

 
 So overall thoughts? Love the Mint. Its fast and easy to use. It’s not perfect but then perfect would be too boring lol. The size and weight is ideal especially for my limited desk space. I hate that I can’t just stamp it on an ink pad but I can live with that. It just means I can take it with me and not have to worry about carrying an ink pad for it (just gotta make  sure to refill it :P) Almost forgot to talk about pricing of the stamps. So I’ve read that people feel the stamp is pricey but I don’t think people realize what it really cost to order a custom stamp, not to mention the wait time( ughhh hate waiting) shipping cost and the time you spend looking out the window waiting for the mailperson to bring your package.

If you’re debating on getting one I recommend you do your research and check out some youtube videos. The price of the Mint is reasonable and I’m sure you will get a good use out of it.Let me know if you got a Mint and what you think about it. Would also love to hear any tips. Well thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!

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The Squirrel and the Fox “Things with Wings” Challenge #54

Good Evening everyone! Bringing you another wonderful challenge from The Squirrel and the Fox. This weeks theme is “Things with wings” and our sponsor Hobby Book was generous enough to provide us with some wonderful digital images. I used LilMinx for my card. This is one of my fave themes because I just love fairy’s but for this theme you are definitely not limited to just fairies. Anything with wings is welcome. Please join us this week and share your creations. Don’t forget to check out the blog for some more amazing creations.

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Guest Post!

Hello my crafty crafters! I have a sneak peek of my special guest post tomorrow on Grisel’s Blog. I am honored that she has asked me to be part of her blog. She is a super talented and amazing person. Her cards are amazing and we would love for you to stop by and check it out. We will also be giving away some blog candy. Yay!!!!! Who doesn’t love some blog candy!!

ChicNCraftyHeart.blogspot.com

She also has an etsy shop with some awesome handmade cards. You can check out her store here

Hello from Florida!

Hi all! Just poppin in to say hi from Florida! My family and I visited Disney world yesterday and had an amazing time! Well just wanted to remind you all about our giveaway to celebrate our first challenge starting July 1st. We are giving away a $5 gift certificate to our shop. All you have to do to enter is to follow our challenge blog and leave us a comment here Thanks for stopping by!

Sale-a-bration going on now!

Hey guys! Sale-a-bration is going on right now at stampin up! For every $50 you spend you get an exclusive merchandise for free! Stampin Up has a array of excellent quality cardstock, ink and stamps. All their products coordinate with each other which is great! Just click on Stampin Up! to receive the demonstrator price. If you have any questions please feel free to email me.

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