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The absolute number one question I get from new Cutting for Business readers is about heat presses. I understand why – you’ve just spent a few hundred dollars on a new Silhouette Cameo or Cricut Explore, bought the supplies, and you are ready to get creating. You dig up some tutorials online and everyone mentions a heat press. You are off to Amazon to look at the cost of a shiny new new heat press – only to find out they cost hundreds of dollars. So, you send me an email asking – “Do I really (I mean, really) need a heat press in my Silhouette or Cricut business? Unfortunately, New Silhouette Cameo and Cricut

There’s a handful of tutorials on how to create product mockups on the Cutting for Business blog. Most of these tutorials are geared towards Silhouette Studio users. Since so many Cricut users have been asking me how to create product mockups in Design Space, here’s a quick tutorial.

How to Create Product Mockups in Cricut Design Space

1. Create your design in Cricut Design Space. 
2. Either take a photo of your blank item or purchase and download a product mockup. Then, click “Upload Images” on the left hand side. 
3. Choose your image and click the “Continue” button. 
4. No need to clean up the image, so just click the “Continue” button again. (Note: My image looks blurry because it is very large.)
5. Select “Save as a Print Then Cut image” and click “Save”. 
6. Select your image and click “Insert Images”. 
7. Right click your image and click “Move backward” to get it behind your design. 
8. Drag your the image and design around until it looks how you want it to. 
9. Now, you’ll save it by taking a screenshot. On Mac, click “Command”, “Shift”, and “4” at the same time, then drag the rectangle around your image to save it. On Windows, use the snipping tool. Here’s my finished mockup image: 

Wondering where to get mockup images? You can purchase on Etsy, Creative Market, or stock photo sites.

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In the In Their Words series on Cutting for Business, I invite readers to share how they got into a Silhouette or Cricut business or how they they’ve overcome challenges or obstacles. Today, I’m turning over the blog to Sara to share how her life journey isn’t what she planned – but how she is thriving today. I’m turning it over to Sara:

As the owner, designer, and trainer of CutFiles4U, I honestly can say that being where I am today was never a goal I had. It’s nothing I wanted.

My friends might describe me as passionate. I’ve always been that way. If I like something, I give it my all. With that drive starting at the early age of 4, I was a swimmer and a gymnast for two decades.

I grew up in the woods of Northeast Alabama with my Southern California parents and two younger siblings. We had well water, and cable didn’t run down our street, so we played outside in the woods and had to create our own fun. Needless to say, our youth was a bit different than most.

My jobs weren’t the everyday norm either. I worked as a gymnastics coach, water fitness and swim instructor, lifeguard and water front director at gyms, rec centers, and Girl Scout camps from my very early teens through college. Girl Scouts is the only place I ever crafted. I wasn’t particularly crafty but enjoyed making friendship bracelets and such. Dance, art, music, and most things creative and right-brained were never my strong suit. In fact, I often joked that the right side of my brain barely operated.

In college, I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up. I loved my computer and recreation classes and knew I loved sports and teaching. Eventually, I wanted to be a strong and independent woman in the work force. I had no plans to marry or have children, so after graduating from college with a computer science degree, I had to make a choice: pursue coaching gymnastics at the college level or use my computer science degree. After much anguish, I chose computer science and dove into technical writing.

I enjoyed my technical writing career for 12 years. Midway through that career, I met my future husband, formed an amazing life with him, and married three years later at the age of 33. Three years after that, we thought perhaps we’d try getting pregnant to have one child. Being diagnosed with some health conditions, I left the corporate life and got back in the water to ensure a healthy pregnancy while enjoying a change of pace. I started my own aquatics business, Splash Water Safety, and soon after started working at an indoor pool. I enjoyed a busy schedule packed with teaching swim lessons, water fitness, Kids Swim Club, and CPR while certifying lifeguards and water safety instructors. Busy is pretty much the way I’ve always done it.

Once pregnant later that year, at 6 weeks, we learned we were expecting two babies. Two babies – twins! I almost fell off the table. My doctor told me then that I would go on modified bed rest at 26 weeks with no more work for the rest of my pregnancy. I thought that was pretty drastic. The initial shock stayed with my husband for days and with me for weeks. I worried for months. How on earth would we manage? I left corporate America for a healthy pregnancy. We didn’t plan for this. 2 babies! 2 to feed, 2 to change, 2 to dress, 2 to sooth, 2 to hold, 2 to entertain and teach, 2 to referee, and of course, 2 to love. We connected with our local Mothers of Multiples group, which has been a true lifesaver for me. And we got busy educating ourselves on our new future.

In no time, I was saying goodbye to coworkers, clients, and my paycheck and thinking how smart my doctor was after all. The last trimester I was on strict bed rest and in real discomfort. A year and a half after leaving corporate and at the age of 37, we delivered our girl/boy twins respectively at 36 weeks 4 days weighing 7 lbs. 8 oz. for Victoria and 5 lbs. 15 oz. for Zachary. And thus our journey really began.

It was 2013 and I quickly realized I wasn’t going back to work for a while. Feeding, changing, and caring for the babies around the clock every three to four hours was my new full-time job. In the early months while I tandem breastfed, I was so tired that I didn’t know what time it was or what day it was. I just knew it was dark or it was light – no joke! I lived from one hour to the next. The log we kept was my only sanity. My husband took one night shift with the babies so I could sleep for more than 3 hours per day. That was heaven. After 3.5 long months, they started sleeping through the night and I could finally remember my name and carry on a simple adult conversation.

At 4 months, I returned to the water for a couple hours twice a week. My employer has childcare for members. So I took them to childcare at work and my husband would pick them up on his way home giving me 15 minutes of solitude on my drive home without any crying, double stroller, diaper bags, loading, or unloading.

At 7 months, I was working 5 days a week and quickly losing my mind. During this time, my aunt graciously gave me a Xyron Wishblade craft cutter she just wasn’t using. We couldn’t afford personalized clothing or gifts for our children, so I reverse engineered the software and figured out how to use the outdated Wishblade and was surprised at everything I could make. At the same time, I was trying to figure out how I could stay home with my still-very-needy twins as we approached their first birthday. It was at that point that I dropped my part-time aquatics job from 5 to 3 days per week and started cutting vinyl for our rambunctious and inquisitive twins, but nap time and bedtime were my only work windows. And honestly, I needed that time for sleep and quiet myself. So craft time remained limited.

Through lots of research, I decided it was time to invest in a Silhouette Cameo. Over the next year, I tinkered with it every now and then as I needed or wanted something made. It wasn’t long after that friends and family wanted customized things too. In 2015, Two Lucky Designs was born. I was finally bringing home a little extra cash while staying home and enjoying the new activity even though I was working late, early in the morning, or while my husband was watching the kids. It seemed like I was crafting every spare moment of the day when I wasn’t tending to the twins. It was exhausting but stimulating to use my brain for not only something creative but something grown-up, as well. I needed a break from kids between my own toddler twins and young swim students, and this seemed to be a great reprieve.

My love for design and customization grew, and I took note of how much time I spent prepping to cut, weed, and apply the designs. In January of 2016, I launched CutFiles4U so I could sell some of these designs with the prep work done including layering markers, material-saving weeding boxes and cutouts, some instructions when needed, and color coordinated fill and cut lines. At the same time as the launch of CutFiles4U, our twins gave up their nap when we converted their cribs to toddler beds. With them growing and changing, I found it possible to get 10 minutes here and maybe even 30 minutes there working on designs on my laptop wherever the kids were playing – living room, playroom, outside, or wherever. They finally didn’t need to touch me all the time but still needed to see me. I learned to snuggle and work some too, which was helpful and necessary.

Shortly after the launch of CutFiles4U, I found out about an upcoming Silhouette conference, invited my crafty aunt, and we decided to go. It was there that I realized I wasn’t a beginner to intermediate user but an advanced user with lots of knowledge to offer. My technical writing and computer science background coupled with my teaching abilities gave me the idea to write tutorials and start offering tips, tricks, and step-by-step instructions making the Silhouette experience more enjoyable, efficient, and precise for other crafters who may not have the same background, passion, or desire to figure it out.

CutFiles4U grew and expanded as this year progressed. It wasn’t long and Two Lucky Designs, CutFiles4U, and Splash Water Safety were keeping me very busy. CutFiles4U went from having just an Etsy shop to having a Facebook group and Twitter account, and then Pinterest followed by a blog, and then a Facebook page, an app, and most recently YouTube

Just last fall once outdoor swim lessons for Splash Water Safety were finished for the year, I added craft parties to the mix. I hosted my first Craft Adventure with friends at no cost to them. This was quite literally an event for me to have some fun girl time at our home. It was a first (in years) since the kids came along. Chris graciously took the kids out that evening for this special occasion. I cooked dinner. We hung out. Then, as kids came home, we evacuated to the craft room, made Christmas ornaments, and had a grand time.

Around the same time, I also hosted my first in-person training focused on Silhouette Studio. In the end, I had two attendees and was pleased with the outcome. I’ve had additional craft parties and already have both parties and trainings scheduled in 2017.

Looking ahead, 2017 is already shaping up to be a full year for CutFiles4U with more firsts and lots more of everything else from designs to training to parties.

I started writing this on Christmas Eve of 2016 and our twins were 3.5 years of age. With each passing year, I find more ways to squeeze in work, passion, family, and education for all of us. It’s always a balancing act and sometimes we fall off. It’s not the fall that defines us. It’s the climb back up with perseverance that shapes and molds the character, emotions, and well-being of each of us. Tears are a real part of life, but it’s the things that make us cry that make the climb worth it.

I had a clear path growing up. I didn’t want to get married or have children. I knew I’d go to college and work for the rest of my life. With age, I knew I wanted to be a corporate women – strong, independent, and smart. I wanted to be innovative and ground-breaking. While I still want many of these things, I never expected to veer off of course so much. Life experience is continuously changing our paths. We start out on a paved road and often times end up stomping through the jungle.

Embrace opportunity in front of you even if it’s not what you pictured. Marrying Chris, having the twins, and having my own businesses… All of these have been life-changing and I never saw any of them coming until they were right in front of me. Sometimes you can’t plan what you should be doing, but you can create opportunity or take advantage of the opportunity before eventually making it your plan.

“Create your own happiness. It’s the biggest and best DIY project for each of us.”

Sara Beth Gilbert
Owner/Designer/Trainer at CutFiles4U

Wow, I find Sara’s story so relatable. I never grew up saying, “I want to be a blogger” – instead, blogging found me. Did you always want to own your own craft based shop? Share in the comments: how did you get into your Silhouette or Cricut small business? Don’t forget to hop on over and show Sara some love at these links: Mobile App, Etsy Shop, Facebook Page and Group, Pinterest, Twitter, Blog, YouTube, or classes.

Read more from the In Their Words series on Cutting for Business here or share your story with me at christine@cuttingforbusiness.com.

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Good business owners constantly evaluate their business and tweak it to make higher profits, have better customer satisfaction, and expand to new markets. One way to get valuable feedback is to survey your customers. stopped here.

I got back from the All Things Silhouette Conference in Peachtree City, Georgia yesterday! This is the fourth conference I’ve taught at, and today I’m sharing pictures (lots of them!) from the event.

The Classes & Instructors

There were over 50 different classes that ranged from getting to know your Camo, Curio, or Mint to layering vinyl, cutting clay, advanced Silhouette Studio functions, using your Silhouette for business, and everything in between!

Classes were taught by the Silhouette team, popular bloggers, Silhouette Design Store designers, and crafting experts: Melissa Viscount of Silhouette School, Lori Whitlock of Lori Whitlock, Terri Johnson of Terri Johnson Creates, Becky Dykes from My Paper Craze, Kelly Wayment of Finding Time to Create, Mags Bonham of Really Unique Creations, Jason Geary from Expressions Vinyl, Kendall Ehat from Silhouette, Shelley Stokes from Cedar Canyon Textiles, Jamie Omahen from Craft Chameleon, Lisa Potts from The Rhinestone World, Joe Piazza of Siser North America, Spencer Livingston from Silhouette, Jesse Leue from Silhouette, Karen Kroupa owner at Seaver Brook Designs, Jared Barbosa from Heat Press Nation, Richard Blowedow from SewingMachine.com, and of course – yours truly!

The Fun Extras

If classes weren’t enough for you, there was a font contest, a tee shirt contest, a craft swap, door prizes, delicious food, and wall to wall craft supplies, machines, and product information in vendor hall!

See the Pictures

I hope to see you at one of the 2017 conferences. What classes would you like to see at a future conference? Let me know in the comments!

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It’s time for another In Their Words feature on Cutting for Business! Today, I’ve invited Amy from Adorably Amy Designs to share her small business story in her words. Amy’s Etsy shop has been open less than a year and she has over 12,000 sales! Here’s what Amy has to say:

Like so many other people, I used to have a nine-to-five job. I was good at office-type stuff, so that is what I did. But in my heart, I longed to do something more creative. For a long time, I channeled that creativity into making websites, scrapbooking, and I even ran a photography business on the side for awhile. Then, I had my son. My husband and I decided pretty quickly I would stay at home to raise Lucas, and I gladly left behind the office environment. Though my days were filled with diapers, tears, first smiles and steps, and a whole lot of love, I still yearned to let my creativity run free. Sadly, time just didn’t allow for the pursuits I had loved in the past.

Fast forward five years. Life with a rambunctious five year old was more challenging than ever. School, appointments, errands, family time. Everything was happening at once, and I struggled to keep up.

On a whim, I picked up a planner, because I needed to organize our life better, and the calendar on my phone was just not cutting it. I quickly became obsessed with all things planner related, but most especially stickers! I started out just buying stickers, because man, there were so many out there! Almost anything you could want to decorate and organize!

But after a while, I looked around and saw how much I was spending and thought, “why don’t you make these for yourself?” It could save money, and allow me the creative outlet I so desperately needed. An idea was born, and pretty soon I couldn’t get it out of my head. I picked up a Cameo and started designing and making stickers. After a month or so of using them myself, as well as sharing them with my friends, I had so many people asking me to offer my designs that I decided to give selling them a try. I didn’t rush right in, since I knew the planner sticker market was saturated, with a lot of people offering a lot of the same things. Since drawing is not my strong suit, I knew I’d need to rely on clipart for my designs, and a lot of sticker makers seemed to be getting clipart from the same places. I knew if I was going to set up a shop of my own, I needed to have something different, something not a lot of shops had.

After a lot of thought, and some trial and error, I opened shop, and in the eight months I’ve been in business, my shop has grown to over twelve thousand sales. In that time, I’ve followed a few simple steps that have enabled me to be successful and stand out in a crowded market, and I’m pleased to share them with you. I hope you’ll get some inspiration from them!

Step 1 – Find a unique product and market the heck out of it!

For me, that unique product was stickers for personal size planners. Most shops at that time were pretty much exclusively carrying stickers for Erin Condren or A5 planners. I had friends that had small personal planners and could never find nice products. From the beginning, I decided to carry all of my designs in both full size and personal size stickers (which I call “Teenies”). I advertised those Teenies anywhere and everywhere I could, and people bought them in droves. In my first six months Teenies were the bulk of my orders. They kept business flowing in while I heavily marketed my shop and drummed up interest in my other products. At this point, my business is split about 50/50 between full size and Teenies.

Step 2 – Network, Network, Network!

Networking with other shops really helped me when I first started out and still continues to. Connecting with other shops via swaps can be great advertising for them and for you. I love getting to try products from other shops, and it also gets my products out there! We each post pics on our Facebook and/or Instagram, so we can tap into each other’s customer bases. This especially works if you pick shops that have a slightly different style than your own, since you’re showing their customers something they haven’t seen before. Networking also lets me make friends in my seller community. Support from people who have been where you are is key to succeeding in a tough market.

Step 3 – Giveaways!

Giveaways go hand in hand with networking with other shops. I have joined a few groups on Facebook made especially for planner sticker sellers, and through these groups I join up with other shops to be part of loop giveaways on Instagram. You earn followers for your Instagram, thereby increasing your potential customer base. I have also done giveaways of my own when my shop hits milestones. Whether you go it alone or join up with a collective, letting people try your product for free is a great way to spread the word about your shop.

Step 4 – Excel in Customer Service

I never forget that without my customers, my shop is just a place filled with pretty pictures of pretty products. I strive to make sure every order is perfect every time, but in a crowded market, that’s not always enough. Going above and beyond can make a huge difference in whether or not the customer comes back, leaves a good review, or recommends you to their friends. I include little extras in orders, offer discount codes for repeat customers, jot notes on orders if time allows, and interact with my customers in any way I can via my Instagram and my Facebook group. The bottom line is that keeping a customer is easier than finding a new one. By always making it a priority to make my customers happy, I’ve gained a lot of loyal customers that shop with me over and over again. Without them, I’d be nothing!

Step 5 – Keep evolving!

The planner market is ever-changing. What’s popular today is different than what was popular a year or even even six months ago. This is the case for all markets, but it seems especially true in the planner market. People are always looking for something new and different. The only way to stay ahead of the game is to keep in touch with the trends in your market, to find out what is popular, and do it. If my customers can’t find something with me, they will shop elsewhere, so I make it a point to try to anticipate what they might want. For example, the “doodle” (or hand drawn) style is very popular in stickers right now. Since I can’t draw a lick, I search out clipart that is drawn in that style, and have even contracted an artist to “doodle” exclusively for my shop. But when the market changes, I’ll be ready for it, because I’m flexible enough to give my customers what they want.

It’s crazy to realize I haven’t even been open a year. While I don’t consider my shop to be huge (yet), I keep very busy and I love what I do. I get to make my own hours, work from home, wear pajamas whenever I want, and be around for my kiddo. Still, it’s not all fun and games. I work a lot more hours than I would at a normal job. I am always connected to my phone or computer, serving my customers, or thinking of ways to innovate and improve my products. But I wouldn’t change a minute of it. Owning my own Etsy shop is the dream job I never knew I wanted!

I hope you find motivation in Amy’s story. It takes a lot of guts to write your story from your heart to be shared with thousands of online readers. Stop by Amy’s Etsy shop, favorite a few products, shop, or connect on social media to say thanks for sharing:

• Adorably Amy Designs on Etsy
• Adorably Amy Designs on Instagram

Do you have a great story based around your Silhouette Cameo or Cricut based business? Share it with me at christine@cuttingforbusiness.com and you might see your story featured here.

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With the release of the Silhouette Cameo 3, I’ve had several readers asking questions about running two machines at once. As I’ve mentioned on the blog before, you’ll need Silhouette Studio Business Edition. I’ve previously written about Business Edition:

• What is Silhouette Studio Business Edition
• An Overview of the features in Silhouette Studio Business Edition
• Is Silhouette Studio Business Edition worth it?

Step by Step Tutorial on How to Cut on Multiple Cameos from the Same Computer

1. Plug in both machines and connect them to your computer.
2. Load both machines with material. For this tutorial, I’ve got red cardstock in an original Cameo and green cardstock in a Cameo 3.
3. In Silhouette Studio, choose the first design you want to cut and select the appropriate cut settings. 
4. Instead of clicking “Send to Silhouette”, you’ll use the icon on the toolbar: 
5. Now, you’ll be able to choose which machine you want to use. Choose which Cameo to send the design to and click “Start”. 
6. While the first machine is cutting, you can either cut the same design on a different machine or use an entirely different design. To start the second machine, you’ll repeat steps 3 to 5. That’s it! Here’s a quick photo of the cuts:

It’s like music to my ears:

FAQ

Q: Can I run an older model Silhouette Cameo with a Silhouette Cameo 3?
A: Yes, you can run any combination of Cameos: Original Cameo with Original Cameo, Cameo 2 with Original Cameo, Cameo 2 with Cameo 3, and so on.

Q: Do I have to cut the same design on both Cameos?
A: No, you can cut different designs on each Cameo or you can cut with one and sketch with another.

Q: How many machines can I run at the same time?
A: This is related to your computer’s ability. I’ve seen four and five Cameos at the same time, but I only have 3 machines.

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I truly believe that sharing a successful Silhouette Cameo or Cricut based business is a great way to motivate new, struggling, or hopeful small business owners. Today, I’m sharing Courtney’s story – in her words – of why she left a corporate job to pursue a small business with her Silhouette Cameo. I’m turning it over to Courtney:

Do you know that feeling of a singular dread?  That gut-wrenching knot in the pit of your stomach that prompts you to keep your eyes closed when your alarm is blaring or leave the engine turning so that you can enjoy the final moments of solitude before you face the day?  I quickly realized that this feeling was in direct relation to my office job.  It became so overwhelming that on a limb I decided to quit, take on some part time work at a stationery store, and start my own business.  That was three months ago.  Today I am hustling to put the pieces together, but I have long since abandoned that dread.

For as long as I can remember I wanted to go to college.  Each morning from kindergarten onward I strove for academic excellence so that my future options would in no way be diminished.  The Honor Roll in elementary school turned into middle school panic attacks about getting grades that would allow me to secure a coveted parking space as a lowly freshman, (true story), which turned into college-level high school classes.  The fruit of my labor materialized as an acceptance letter to my top choice university: UC San Diego.  The eighteen year quest had been achieved.  However much like lonely crusader I felt a strange confusion once I reached my promised land – I had spent so long looking to get to college that once I was there I literally had no idea what I was doing.

I spent my Freshman year of college playing hopscotch with majors.  I jumped from fine arts to literature before finally settling on a BFA in dance.  While dance has been a constant in my life and something that I am passionate about, I ultimately decided that I did not want to pursue it professionally.  Finding myself again floating between confusion and panic I grasped onto the next natural wrung in the ladder and decided to have a career because careers: it’s what you do after college. Having a goal restored order to my life and I worked on graduating early to incur as little debt as possible. 

Sometime during my Sophomore Year I had taken an interest in Hospitality and Event Planning.  With that notion in mind I took an entry level job at a hotel during a summer in San Diego and continued with a Front Desk Agent position in Malibu once I graduated.  My trajectory escalated quickly and with luck I was hired as an Event Manager at a restaurant for a year before taking my last post as an Event Manager at a world-renowned hotel in Beverly Hills.  Typically people work as interns and assistants before reaching a management position but while no one was looking I bypassed those steps, plopped down, and pretended I had a decade’s worth of experience.  In a moment of true incredulity, I realized that the ploy paid off.  My sales and customer relations, (key components of my job), were stellar.  I actually admitted to myself that I was good at my job.  It wasn’t all luck that had placed me in an esteemed position at a young age.

But as I have learned is quite typical in my personality, I soon realized that I was indeed NOT a career person.  Surprise!  Even once I came to terms with the fact that I was working as a method of survival and vanity instead of fulfillment, I reached down deeper and acknowledged that not only was I not looking to grow in a career but that I didn’t want to do what I was doing every day for the rest of my life.  Sure, I was making a good living, my resume was golden, I had benefits and health insurance, but I was committing 10+ hours each day to an office with no windows, incessant, bone-chilling air conditioning, and was not doing work that was really fulfilling. I was not inspired or challenged creatively, but I was secure. On top of the contentment, I relished having a position with definition.  When people inevitably asked what I did I felt proud in revealing my title, as if my job was a testimony to my years spent in “achievement.”  My response, though, in no way invoked who I actually perceive myself to be: a creative spirit, a political activist, a thinker, an entrepreneur, a dancer.

And that’s why I left my corporate position for the uncertain and never promising world of arts and crafts.

With a heavy glass of wine and support from my family and friends, I bulked up my savings account, quit my job, and created Cecile’s Paper Co., a custom greeting card and invitation company.  As a hobby I have always made handmade cards to give to friends and family.  When people suggested that I try selling my creations I always met their comments with reasons why my product would not be successful in the market.  Instead, I have started shifting my focus on how I can make my cards a source of profit so that I could do something I love while supporting myself.

Even just three months in it has been worth it for me to abandon my vanity and enjoy this time to live not with the goal of achieving a title, but instead with the intention of being creative and paving my own path.  Should my business not succeed I will be satisfied knowing that I gave it a chance instead of spending my days dreaming about what life could have been like beyond my work calendar.  I would be lying if I didn’t admit that there have been numerous times where my mouse has flitted over the “apply” button on a LinkedIn account.  The sudden lack of pay is unnerving and at times derailing.  Yet my thoughts always return to that office and it refocuses my vision on the future.  This future is one I intend to create, one filled with art, and one where I am in control of the thermostat.  

In making this decision I am also aware of the social and economic factors that enabled me to take such a large risk.  While I had set myself up financially to be able to take time away from a steady paycheck I realize that this is not a possibility for everyone at every stage in life.  However if you ever find yourself in a position where the only thing tethering you to your corporate title are societal expectations and norms, I recommend firsthand pursuing your passion.  For me, the start has been terrifying, but there is a lightness in my soul that keeps me afloat and encourages me forward.

I hope you find encouragement in Courtney’s post for whatever is going on in your small business right now. Do you have a great story based around your Silhouette Cameo or Cricut based business? Share it with me at christine@cuttingforbusiness.com and you might see your story featured here. You can find Courtney’s website online here.

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Good morning! I made it back from the All Things Silhouette Conference in Newport Beach! Like other All Things Silhouette Conferences, I enjoyed a weekend of speaking about crafting and business. I joined with these presenters:

• Lori Whitlock – Designer at Lori Whitlock
• Melissa Viscount – Silhouette School
• Terri Johnson – Terri Johnson Creates
• Lisa Potts – The Rhinestone World
• Mags Bonham – Polymer Clay Jewelry Artist
• Cindy Eckhoff – Formerly with Silhouette America
• Becky Dykes – My Paper Craze
• …and more!

Here’s the slideshow I made to show you more of the conference:

Ready to attend the next conference November 4 to 5th, 2016? Register here.

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I’m just back from the All Things Silhouette Conference (ATSC) and am recapping it today for anyone that is thinking about signing up for a future conference. The ATSC was held in Peachtree City, Georgia and was a weekend full of hands on classes, lectures, contests, giveaways, and more.

Speakers and Presenters

• Cindy Eckhoff – Former Silhouette America team member
• Lori Whitlock – Graphic designer at Lori Whitlock
• Kelly Wayment – Blogger at Finding Time to Create
• Becky Dykes – Blogger at My Paper Craze
• Lisa Potts – Marketing Manager at The Rhinestone World
• Karley Hall – Creative Director at Silhouette America
• Kathleen Servais – Sales Manager at Siser NA
• Kendall Ehat – Account Representative at Silhouette America
• Jason Geary – Marketer at Expressions Vinyl
• Traci Penrod – Blogger and Designer of Artsy Albums
• Jamie Omahen – Owner of Craft Chameleon
• Michael Wade – Manager at Chemica USA
• Richard Bloedow – Representative for SewingMachine.com
• ….and of course, me!

Classes Focused On

• Silhouette Studio Basics, Designer Edition, and Business Edition
• Silhouette Curio
• Rhinestones
• Mini Albums
• Heat Press Basics
• Sketch Pens
• Machine Embroidery
• Tracing Tips and Tricks
• Running a Business with your Silhouette
• Glass Etching
• …and many more!

Special Events

• Photo Booth Prop Contest
• Amelia Font Designing Contest
• DIY Shirt Contest
• Door Prizes

All Things Silhouette Conference Video Recap

[huge_it_video_player id=”3″]

If you are interested in attending the next conference, head to Terri Johnson Creates to locate the next conference in your area. See you there!