Paper jewelry is a very popular craft. Just look on Pinterest to see some of the beautiful hand made jewelry. I wanted to include some paper beads in my August altered art project for the Robin's Nest Design Team. Of course, that lead to an SVG cut file for making paper beads.

But the first step was to create the SVG cut file for the top hat. I took the basic measurements of a candle that was about the right size for a mini top hat. That give me the a starting circumference, about 11.8 inches, for the top of the hat.

The Offset Path command or effect feature in Illustrator is very versatile. When it comes to adding fold over tabs to SVG cutting files for electronic cutting machines, it’s a time saver.

After a decade, digital scrapbooking is still popular. I idea of paying for a designer paper or embellishment only once and yet reuse it multiple projects is the best selling point. But I have noticed some changes in the industry over the past few years.

One of the nicest features of the Silhouette cutting machine is the in-program Silhouette America online store, which you can use to download cutting files directly to the Silhouette Studio (and SSDE) software. Let’s go shopping.

The Silhouette Cameo is great for using SVG digital stamps. With the Print and Cut feature, you can send the SVG file to your printer to print the stamp on watercolor paper. Then use the Silhouette to cut the stamp.

how to use Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator to make an infographic - video course by Nigel French and lynda.com

This intermediate level, project based course at lynda.com is taught by Nigel French and teaches how to create an inforgraphic image that contains several design elements. French discusses his workflow using multiple master documents, one for each design element, linked to the infographic document.

A popular craft project is the tag, because of its small size. As a digital designer for the craft industry, you need a basic tag cut file to use as a starting point for many projects. You will want to draw the basic shapes for the tag and hole reinforcer, which can be used as a design element.

In this tutorial, we will use drawing tools in the Silhouette Cameo and Silhouette Studio Designer Edition software to draw the cut lines for a product hang tag. Die cut hang tags are not new. They have been used for decades to add a touch of quality to any type of product from clothing to wine.