Putting the Silhouette to the Test

So I've been trying out a few things on my new Silhouette Portrait. I'm not 100% sure about the size of the cutting area. I'm a bit confused about how wide it can actually cut as the cutting mat can take an A4 sheet, but the rollers go down part of it and so far when I've used an A4 piece of card the rollers have caused it to stick to the mat and rip partially when I've removed it. They also kind of mark the paper as they squash it! Anyway, to overcome the sticking issue I've taped down the sides of the carrier sheet so the rollers aren't pressing down onto an adhesive bit, but if I don't use an A4 sheet then the rollers would be going on the adhesive, and I'm sure thats not meant to happen.

Anyhow!

My friends had a baby before Christmas, and I knew that I wanted to make a personalised gift for them.
I used my DSA software to create a design which I could cut on the Silhouette. Now designing for papercutting is quite simple in principle, if you want it to be a single piece after cutting then everything has to touch. If you were hand paper cutting (which is something I got a book on for my birthday and am keen to have a go at!) the margins for cutting can be quiet small (as small as you're confident to cut), but on a electronic cutter you have to consider what the blade is capable of and what you can peel from the carrier without ripping.

Bearing these things in mind I designed the image around her name, date of birth and weight, incorporated some stereotypical baby items (all of which I had to do by hand on the software) and then imported to the Silhouette software. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and hope my friend is too.

My next cutting project is going to be valentines related!