When I first received my Silhouette (after saving up for a year), I was so intimidated by it that it sat in a box for a I'm not going to tell you because it's an embarrassing long time. I had saved for a year, researched my options, found the BEST deal, ordered a bundle, anxiously awaited the package, opened it excitedly, and then.....nothing. I know it sounds crazy (hey, I admit it was crazy), but I just wasn't sure I'd be able to use it. I kept thinking I needed to wait until I had some time to learn how to use it. Time. Time is what I needed.
Now is a good time to tell you a little about myself. I have been happily married to my wonderful husband, Mr. M., for 15 years. I have 4 amazing and loving children ages 13, 10, 8, and 5. I commute 45 minutes each way to work. I teach all day kindergarten with no assistant. I know you are now wondering how many students I have--I know because it is the question everyone asks when they find out I have no assistant. I had 21 students for this past school year! I LOVE teaching kindergarten but the first 4-6 weeks are rough. I also have various medical issues that make me very tired. I do not get restorative sleep so I wake up each morning feeling worse than when I went to bed. I have to drag myself (sometimes my husband has to drag me) out of bed and take my narcolepsy pill which is needed to keep me awake. I am not going to go into details today but at age 36 I am a 2x cancer survivor--Woot! Woot! PLEASE listen to your body and get your screenings on schedule.
Anywhoooo, back to my Silhouette story. So, I was waiting for the PERFECT time to try out my new toy. And I know this won't surprise any of you but, no time seemed like the perfect time. My to-do list is always so long and the Silhouette kept being pushed down my list of priorities. Then one day, the action item on the top of my to-do list seemed impossible to accomplish in the time allotted until I remembered that I had an amazing tool that could help me complete my task in no time at all--if only I knew how to use it. I found tutorials on the Silhouette website, installed the software, and discovered that the Silhouette is super easy to use and totally, amazingly, AWESOME!!! Here is my project:
Hey, wait a doggone minute...that is not my canvas. Oops. This is my inspiration photo. I bet my pictures are still on my camera! I have a love/hate relationship with the super large memory cards that rarely need dumping.
So, I needed a painting for our school's annual Fun Fair Art Silent Auction and we were studying butterflies. I tried and tried to cut out some cute little butterflies by hand but they were never cute enough for me. This auction is serious business folks. Each classroom creates an amazing work of art because we don't want our painting to be the one left over at the end we want to raise as many funds for our school as possible. Watching each little kindergartner get a turn to paint on our class canvas is like watching a suspenseful movie. One wrong stroke could lead to pitiful bids or worse, no bids. So, I had my Silhouette cut out the butterflies, let the children each paint 2 butterflies (no need to worry about mistakes since I had plenty), let them dry, and then had the children put them on the canvas. It really did turn out beautifully and brought in an amazing $200!
And the best part of all---I am no longer intimidated by my Silhouette!
Heidi
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Thanks for sharing!