Engraving acrylic with the Chomas Creations Scan N Cut engraving tip

Here's a project I did using the new Scan N Cut engraver by Chomas Creations.  The regular engraving tip available now is awesome for filling in lines like I'm showing on my bulldog engraving.  

When you have details like this you have to send the project as a draw file, not a cut file.  You will lose all the little lines that make up all the details.  I also set the machine to draw and used a pressure of 9 and speed of 5.  You can find the new Chomas Creations engraving tip here...  engraving tip

Always remember to either use double sided adhesive or painters tape to secure your piece.

I got these acrylic pieces and the LED light bases from Craft Chameleon.

Here is the finished project!

Like what you see? Leave a comment to let me know! Thanks Amy Chomas

New Brother Scan N Cut engraving tip

By request I've started carrying the original engraving tip for the Brother Scan N Cut machines.  It will work in the entire line of Scan N Cut machines.

I like the engraver better on acrylic when you are filling in areas of a design, as seen in the photo.  

I've had requests to engrave on leather which you would need this original engraving tip to do.  

So yes this is different then the precision tip.  It isn't as sharp and has other uses.  It will engrave as well, I just find the precision tip works better for finer details and the engraving tip works better to fill in designs. They both have a use :)  The Chomas Creations engraving tip for the Scan N Cut is available here now... new engraving tip

Here is a comparison of the 2 tips.

As you can see the precision tip on the right comes to a much finer, sharper point and the engraver on the left is still sharp but less of a point.  I do offer these for other die cut machines such as the Cricut and Silhouette and wanted to offer them to my Scan N Cut users as well.

Here is a design I filled in today with the new Scan N Cut engraving tip.  I've got it on an LED light base here with the red light.

Like what you see? Leave a comment to let me know! Thanks Amy Chomas

Warranty questions?

This is Amy from Chomas Creations!  Let me give you a back story before I get into the warranty questions some of you may have.

I got my first Cricut just a month after they came out almost 15 years ago.  At that time I got to cut paper with it and wanted to find more to do with it.  My first step was a mini gel pen holder.  Keep in mind I helped design this mini gel pen holder with the machines safety in mind.  I was addicted to my Cricut machine and would never do anything to harm it.  I worked with an engineer/machinist to come up with a safe way to do this.  I tested every product I have put out extensively before offering them to all of you.  

This all started almost 12 years ago.  I have yet to have anyone in those 12 years come to me and tell me that a Chomas Creations tool has harmed their machine.  These tools in no way modify the machine or any of the hardware or software it uses.  

I pride myself in making my tools out of quality materials right here in the USA.  I use small town machine shops and have close contact to the owners.  Quality control is very important to me!

With all that being said I have started researching more on the warranties for die cutting machines and whether a third party product can void a warranty.  The answer?  It isn't legal for a company to void a warranty due to a third party product.  Here is a blog post explaining this with a link to the law that protects owners that want to use third party products...  https://cuttingforbusiness.com/does-using-3rd-party-accessories-void-your-silhouette-or-cricut-warranty/

This is the same law that says you can use an Epson printer with an Apple computer, or use generic ink in a printer.  

Rest assured I stand behind my Chomas Creations tools and have for almost 12 years now.  I have many happy customers that come back for more tools when they get a new machine they love them so much!  Word of mouth is the best form of advertising and I appreciate each and every one of you that share your love for Chomas Creations tools and share your projects.

Like what you see? Leave a comment to let me know! Thanks Amy Chomas

Etching on acrylic with the Chomas Creations engraving tip in the Silhouette!!!

After the last post I did on my blog (look below :) ) I had to learn how to do the photo etching myself!  I did buy Kay's at Cleversomeday's ebook to get a better idea.  You can find it in Facebook group of Kay's for the Silhouette here... https://www.facebook.com/groups/silhphotoetch/

The group is filled with amazing people that are so helpful and a lot of awesome ideas as well!  You can do this with your Silhouette and Cricut machines with the Chomas Creations engraving tip :)

Chomas Creations store

Here is the picture I started with.

I used a program online called remove.bg to get rid of the background.

And then I used a sketch program on my iPhone to change the file to a sketch.  You don't need to do this step buy I wanted more contrast because of her light hair.

The rest you have to learn in the ebook! I just wanted to show my starting points.  Her tail was a bit cut off in the pic so I lined that up with the end of my engraved design.

Make sure when you add you acrylic piece to the mat  you use double sided adhesive or painters tape to hold your item in place. It is so important that it doesn't wiggle on the mat!

I did this with the Silhouette as I am waiting for my Explore to arrive and wanted to see how it would turn out. I was impatient and I wasn't let down at all!  I set the software to sketch, pen, and then put the pressure at 30 and the speed at 10.  

Here is my finished design!!!!  EEEEEEK!  

I did try to add a black piece of cardstock behind the acrylic piece here so you could see even more details Let me tell you how HARD it is to take a pic of acrylic LOL!  It is HARD!  You can see it so much better in real life and you can even see the detail in her eyes!

Like what you see? Leave a comment to let me know! Thanks Amy Chomas

Chomas Creations engraving tip in the Explore Air 2

Want to know something awesome all of you Cricut Explore owners out there?  YES you can ENGRAVE with an Explore!  I have been doing it for years with the Chomas Creations engraving tip!  I see it out there all the time that you can not, but I'm here to blow you away with what Nancy Puleo shared on the Facebook page Cricut Engraving with Cleversomeday.  And she was nice enough to let me share it with all of you!  You can find the engraving tip for the Explore here... Chomas Creations

Yes she did this with the Chomas Creations engraving tip and she did it in the Cricut Explore Air 2!  I'm guessing you are all as amazed as I am and now I'm finding more fun stuff to do with the Chomas Creations engraving tips!  This is on a piece of acrylic.  There is so much you can learn in the Facebook group Cricut Engraving with Cleversomeday so head on over as I'm still learning how to do it!  Kay of Cleversomeday offers an ebook for a very reasonable price to get you started as well as a very informative group.  There is also another group called Engraving Metals with the Cricut Maker (which of course you can use your Explore instead) that has a lot of good info and ideas as well.  Can you tell I'm giddy with excitement?  

Here is another project that Nancy engraved with the engraving tip in the Explore, she also mentioned that the photo doesn't do the project justice as it was a bit blurry.  But WOW!  Can you even imagine it in person?

Thanks so much Nancy for letting me post this on my blog as I'm sure my Explore users are going to be absolutely thrilled with these ideas!  And more!

Like what you see? Leave a comment to let me know! Thanks Amy Chomas

Christmas tags with the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder

I love making my own Christmas tags for a fun homemade feel when wrapping (or bagging hehe) my gifts.  I have used these tags in the past and you can find the file for them here... tags

I like to draw the design first which I used a Gelly Roll gel pen in the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder for the Cameo 4 to draw.  You can also do this with any other Silhouette machine with the Chomas Creations adjustable pen holder for the Silhouette.

In order to draw first I send my image over to draw & turn off all the lines I don't want to draw by highlighting them and choosing no sketch.  Notice because I am drawing I select sketch, and then pen.  Now the "cuts" I need to make will not draw as they have been turned off.  Notice what I am drawing is a brighter thicker lined red, and anything not being sent right now is a thin line.

Next I'm going to select everything and set that to no sketch.  

Now I'm going to select cut, and I'm using the auto blade.  Now the items I want to cut I highlight & click the cut option.  Now the only thing being sent once again is the cut lines as you will notice they are thicker lined red.

And look at that a whole sheet of Christmas tags! 

I added some ribbon and will use double sided adhesive to add these to any present or I can just tie them on the handles of any gift bag I may have!  I think they add a fun personal touch!

Like what you see? Leave a comment to let me know! Thanks Amy Chomas

Chomas Creations engraving tip on a plastic craft mirror

Just finishing switching to my Christmas decorations and needed a cute mirror to put up on one of my cabinets.  I used the Chomas Creations engraving tip on this plastic mirror I got at a local craft store.  

I did fill in the design that I got from Silhouette studio. You can see a tutorial for filling a design here.

I used a speed of 10 and a pressure of 30 with a multicut of 3.  I do like to use the engraving tip when I'm filling a design because it comes to a bit less of a sharp point then the precision tip and fills a design more.

Again I'm going to say how HARD it is to take a pic of a mirror!  LOL!

This will work in the entire line of Silhouette machines!  

You can find the engraver for the Cameo 4 here

You can find the engraver for the rest of the Chomas Creations machines here.

Like what you see? Leave a comment to let me know! Thanks Amy Chomas

Filling a design for engraving with the Chomas Creations engraving tip in Silhouette Studio

Filling a design is super easy with Silhouette Design Studio and I'm going to show you how.  This will work for Chomas Creations engraving tip as well as for use with the Chomas Creations pen and marker holders.  First choose the design you want to use and duplicate a copy.  I like to duplicate a copy (the grey looking one is my copy) so that I also have an outline of my design and not just the fill.  This file called give thanks is available in the Studio store.  Then go to line effects feature in Studio to fill the first image.  Notice I did change the spacing to put the lines closer together and changed the angle a bit.  

Next click on the transform feature and click on the diagonal arrow.  Choose scale by 300%.  This is going to help keep the lines close together for a better looking engrave.

Now go back to line effects and click on release effects.

Now go back to transform and click on 33%.  Notice it is back to the original size!  

Now you can line up your image along with the duplicate image and make them any size you want.  This will keep the lines close together for a great looking engrave!  

Here is my finished piece of acrylic, but this will work on engraving on metal blanks as well.  This is an LED base I got from Craft Chameleon.

You can find the Chomas Creations engraving tip for the Cameo 4 as well as some engraving blanks... here 

And you can find the Chomas Creations engraving tip for the rest of the Silhouette line as well as some engraving blanks... here

Chomas Creations precision tip etching a plastic mirror

Halloween decorating fun with the Chomas Creations precision tip in the Cameo 4. This can be done in all Silhouette machines as well! 

I used the Cameo 4 with the Chomas Creations precision tip to engrave on this plastic mirror from Joanns.

I set the software to sketch, pen and the speed at 10 pressure 30 with a multi cut of 2.

Here's where you can find the Chomas Creations tools for the Cameo 4... here

And you can find Chomas Creations tools from the rest of the Silhouette machines... here

I did post a video on the Chomas Creations YouTube channel with how I set up the sketch fill.

Like what you see? Leave a comment to let me know! Thanks Amy Chomas

Acrylic LED birthday decoration with Chomas Creations precision tip

Birthday party decoration I made for this weekend! I used the Chomas Creations precision tip on acrylic to etch the design with my Silhouette machine. I used a pressure of 30, speed of 10 and multi cut of 3. The designs are sketches from the Silhouette store.
The acrylic piece and stand are from 143 vinyl.

You can find the precision tip for the Silhouette here...  http://amychomas.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_2

And the precision tip for the Cameo 4 here....  http://amychomas.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_18

Like what you see? Leave a comment to let me know! Thanks Amy Chomas

Chomas Creations precision tip in the Brother Scan N Cut

Fun with the Chomas Creations precision tip in the Brother Scan N Cut machine. I always say if it fits under the rollers in the machine I'm going to give it a try! I found these key chains on etsy. I do know how to spell I swear, this is the name of my boat. :) I did attach the key chains to the mat with double sided adhesive so they wouldn't slip around while engraving. I also sent them through the machine a few times to get this look.

Here's a video with the Chomas Creations precision tip in action!

https://youtu.be/2A9JwEFTr6g

You can find the Chomas Creations tool in my store here... http://amychomas.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=16&products_id=56

Like what you see? Leave a comment to let me know! Thanks Amy Chomas

Grad party cards with Chomas Creations adjustable marker holder

I love the way these grad cards turned out with the Chomas Creations adjustable marker holder and a silver metallic Sharpie.  I just chose the grads class colors and drew this out.  By using the sketch feature to fill in the design in the software you get this look!  Make sure you slow your speed and lower your pressure all the way to 1.  Otherwise you may crush the tip of the Sharpie!  

I did these in the Cameo 4 found here... Cameo 4 marker holder

but you can use and of the Silhouette machines with a Chomas Creations adjustable marker holder found here.... Chomas Creations

Like what you see? Leave a comment to let me know! Thanks Amy Chomas

Aluminum dogs tags with the Chomas Creations engraving tip

What amazing me the most about the Chomas Creations engravers is how very small you can make details and fonts. I used the Chomas Creations engraving tip on these aluminum dog tags with a speed of 5 and a pressure of 33 and a multi cut of 5. If you use double sided adhesive the tags won't wiggle on the mat when you are engraving.

A template is key when you try to engrave on anything. I measure the area I'm going to engrave on and for these I made a rectangle the size of the area where the names went and then cut that rectangle out of a scrap of paper. After that I apply the tag in the area when I am going to do the engraving and it lines up perfect every time. You can find the Chomas Creations engraving tips in my store here www.amychomas.com

Like what you see? Leave a comment to let me know! Thanks Amy Chomas