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Yesterday I introduced you to the Silhouette Alta, Silhouette’s newest machine launch and their first 3D printer. (Haven’t read the FAQ yet? See here.) Today, I’m sharing tips and tricks I’ve picked up in my first experiences with the Silhouette Alta.

(If you are a seasoned 3D printer user, feel free to skip this post entirely. These are simply my findings and things I’ve come across as a brand new 3D printer owner.)

12 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About the Silhouette Alta

• PLA filament has a shelf life of about a year. In more humid environments, the shelf life is reduced. As someone who likes to buy in bulk, I’ll have to rethink this.
• PLA filament is made from plants and is food safe.
• PLA filament absorbs water from the air and should be stored in an air tight container.
• PLA filament can be drilled, sanded, and/or painted.
• Acrylic paint, nail polish, and model making paints all work well on PLA. I picked up this set.
• 3D printing is a slooooooooow process. Detailed designs take hours to print.
• The platform base on the Silhouette Alta must be covered for the 3D print to stick to it. Painters tape works better than the included Alta tape. (Psst: Other users say glue sticks and hairspray work well, too. They both sound too messy for me though.)
• Investing in some 3D print removal tools will save your finger nails from having to pry designs off the base. I picked up this set.
• If you don’t have a 3D print removal tool laying around and your design is stuck, place the base in the freezer for a few minutes. When you take it out, it should pop off.
• You need a decent amount of free space on your computer (4GB of RAM) to run the Silhouette 3D software. I had to first delete a lot of junk files to even load the program. Silhouette 3D also seems to work best when all other programs are shut down.
• The Silhouette 3D software shuts down unexpectedly and often. If you are in the middle of printing something, don’t fret. Reopen the software and the 3D print should continue.
• There are multiple large communities of 3D printer users. Use Google to search them out and read, read, read. The more you can learn about 3D printing – the more of an asset your Silhouette Alta will be.

Enjoying Alta Week on the blog? Tomorrow I’ve got 25 ideas of things you can print with your Silhouette Alta.

Did you find the information helpful? Save it to Pinterest and help another crafter.

Remember that super important post about the GDPR that I urged everyone to read recently on Cutting for Business? If you didn’t read it yet, grab some coffee and head here. Today I’ve got great news: Etsy has made it easy to comply with GDPR regulations that take effect May 25, 2018.

How to Make Your Etsy Shop GDPR Compliant

1. Log into your Etsy shop and navigate to your ‘Shop Manager’. Then, scroll down the left hand menu until and click the pencil icon next to your Etsy shop. 
2. Scroll down until you reach the recently added section, Privacy Policy. 
3. Click the plus sign to add your privacy policy. You can include anything you’d like, but here is what Etsy says you must include, according to the GDPR guidelines (paraphrased by me):

• the personal information you collect;
• the legal bases you rely on to collect, use, and share personal information;
• the third parties with whom you share personal information (for example, Google Analytics);
• the length of time you keep the personal information;
• if you are transferring personal information outside of Europe, and how the transfer will be handled;
• your buyers’ rights regarding the use of their personal information; and
• how your buyers can contact you with privacy-related requests.

After writing your Privacy Policy for Etsy, be sure that you save it. Your new Privacy Policy will appear on your main shop page under Privacy Policy. Here’s a look at mine live on Etsy (scroll down to the ‘Policies’ section).

Etsy’s Example Privacy Policy

Etsy has an example of a good Privacy Policy at this link. You could copy and paste it as Etsy suggests, then alter it to fit your needs. For my Etsy shop, I copied and pasted and altered the sample Privacy Policy Etsy provided. Here is the text of my Privacy Policy on Etsy:

“This Privacy Policy describes how and when I collect, use, and share information when you purchase an item from me, contact me, or otherwise use my services through Etsy.com or its related sites and services.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of third parties that I do not own or control, including Etsy or any third party services you access through Etsy. You can reference the Etsy Privacy Policy to learn more about its privacy practices.

Information I Collect

To fulfill your order, you must provide me with certain information (which you authorized Etsy to provide to me), such as your name, email address, mailing address, payment information, and the details of the product that you’re ordering. You may also choose to provide me with additional personal information (for a custom order, for example), if you contact me directly.
Why I Need Your Information and How I Use It

I rely on a number of legal bases to collect, use, and share your information, including:
• as needed to provide my services, such as when I use your information to fulfill your order, to settle disputes, or to provide customer support;
• when you have provided your affirmative consent, which you may revoke at any time, such as by signing up for my mailing list;
• if necessary to comply with a legal obligation or court order or in connection with a legal claim, such as retaining information about your purchases if required by tax law; and
• as necessary for the purpose of my legitimate interests, if those legitimate interests are not overridden by your rights or interests, such as 1) Providing and improving my services. I use your information to provide the services you requested and in my legitimate interest to improve my services; and 2) Compliance with the Etsy Seller Policy and Terms of Use. I use your information as necessary to comply with my obligations under the Etsy Seller Policy and Terms of Use.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

Information about my customers is important to my business. I share your personal information for very limited reasons and in limited circumstances, as follows:
• Etsy. I share information with Etsy as necessary to provide you my services and comply with my obligations under both the Etsy Seller Policy and Etsy Terms of Use.
• Service providers. I engage certain trusted third parties to perform functions and provide services to my shop, such as delivery companies. I will share your personal information with these third parties, but only to the extent necessary to perform these services.
• Business transfers. If I sell or merge my business, I may disclose your information as part of that transaction, only to the extent permitted by law.
• Compliance with laws. I may collect, use, retain, and share your information if I have a good faith belief that it is reasonably necessary to: (a) respond to legal process or to government requests; (b) enforce my agreements, terms and policies; (c) prevent, investigate, and address fraud and other illegal activity, security, or technical issues; or (d) protect the rights, property, and safety of my customers, or others.

How Long I Store Your Information

I retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to provide you with my services and as described in my Privacy Policy. However, I may also be required to retain this information to comply with my legal and regulatory obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce my agreements. I generally keep your data for the following time period: 7 years.
Transfers of Personal Information Outside the EU

I may store and process your information through third-party hosting services in the US and other jurisdictions. As a result, I may transfer your personal information to a jurisdiction with different data protection and government surveillance laws than your jurisdiction. If I am deemed to transfer information about you outside of the EU, I rely on Privacy Shield as the legal basis for the transfer, as Google Cloud is Privacy Shield certified.

Your Rights

If you reside in certain territories, including the EU, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal information. While some of these rights apply generally, certain rights apply only in certain limited cases. I describe these rights below:
• Access. You may have the right to access and receive a copy of the personal information I hold about you by contacting me using the contact information below.
• Change, restrict, delete. You may also have rights to change, restrict my use of, or delete your personal information. Absent exceptional circumstances (like where I am required to store data for legal reasons) I will generally delete your personal information upon request.
• Object. You can object to (i) my processing of some of your information based on my legitimate interests and (ii) receiving marketing messages from me after providing your express consent to receive them. In such cases, I will delete your personal information unless I have compelling and legitimate grounds to continue using that information or if it is needed for legal reasons.
• Complain. If you reside in the EU and wish to raise a concern about my use of your information (and without prejudice to any other rights you may have), you have the right to do so with your local data protection authority.

How to Contact Me

For purposes of EU data protection law, I, Christine Schinagl, am the data controller of your personal information. If you have any questions or concerns, you may contact me at christine@cuttingforbusiness.com.”

Quick Things to Remember

• Filling in your Privacy Policy on Etsy makes your Etsy shop GDPR compliant, as long as all the GDPR required information is included in your Privacy Policy.
• You’ll still have to make your mailing list and stand alone website GDPR compliant, as well as your presence on other marketplaces.

Together, we will get through this. Remember, even if you are not located in the EU, the GDPR likely still applies to you. Again, be sure to read my previous post on it at this link.

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There’s one thing that is certain about small business: uniqueness and originality sell. Today, I wanted to share some ideas I have about running a mystery box subscription service using your Silhouette or Cricut. This is an idea I’ve had in my head for many months, and I’ve finally gotten around to putting it in action.

Before we get started, my storyline is cheesy. For that, I’m sorry. I am not a fiction writer, but I am an experienced escape room player and I’ve been to several mystery dinner theaters. Oh yeah, we’ve done several of the Mysterious Package Company experiences.

How to Create a Mystery Box Subscription Service Using Your Silhouette or Cricut

The way I see this working is that customers sign up one month in advance of receiving their first box so you’ll know how many “boxes” you’ll need to create.

Customers actually won’t receive a single box, they will receive five boxes/envelopes throughout the month, about one per week. Each shipment to customers will reveal a little bit more about the case. The fifth and last envelope will reveal the solution to the case.

Here is the sample case I put together and will mail to a friend of mine:

The Story: Characters, and Plot

The premise of the story is that a retired local detective has obtained permission to reopen some cold cases from decades ago and is asking for the public’s help in solving the cases. Since the current case took place near your address, you are being asked to help out.

Envelope 1

A letter from the detective introducing himself, explaining what he’s doing, and asking for your assistance and cooperation throughout the process. A photo of a male murder victim is enclosed.

Envelope 2

Evidence: Diary pages of the victim’s wife, detailing life in the time before her husband was found brutally murdered. A copy of a life insurance policy of the victim. List of belongings in the room when when detectives originall

(At this point, people will likely think that the victim was killed by his wife so that she could collect on his life insurance policy. Hello!? This is an unsolved case from decades ago! It’s not that simple!)

Envelope 3

Receipt from charity donation of entire life insurance settlement.