the Silhouette Cameo Review 2 : The First Cut

For my first cut with the Silhouette Cameo, I chose to use an image that I had downloaded from the Silhouette Store. I don't have any special reasons for doing that other than I just  wanted to quickly cut something with the Cameo and didn't want to waste time selecting images.

The snowflake was brought to the virtual mat at about 4" wide. I reduced it by 50% which brought the size down to about 2" wide.

For this first cut, I used Michael's Recollection cardstock and set the blade at 3. Bear in mind that this is my first cut with the Cameo and that I still have a lot to learn about it. I decided to use this setting based on what I saw on the instructional video that came with the cutter.

I must admit that while I was super excited when I saw what had been cut, I was also a little apprehensive. The mats for the Silhouette SD tend to be overly sticky when they are brand new. I did not "pre-condition/un-sticky" the Cameo mat before loading it into the cutter. I just peeled off the backing paper, stuck my cardstock onto it and loaded the whole thing. I was afraid to remove the cutout in case it rips due to the stickiness of the new mat.

I was so surprised when the cardstock peeled off easily from the mat! I was amazed.

I could have easily removed the snowflake and weed off the negative but I wanted to leave the little circles on the mat to show you how they looked.

It turned out to be surprisingly easy to remove the cutout from the mat. I was so very impressed!

Check out the little circles left behind. The triangles in the center were also very cleanly cut out.

The negative layer look so good I may have to find a way to use that on a card (e.g. use transfer paper).

I couldn't stop gushing about the Cameo to Hubby. I love the 2" snowflake! As soon as he turned his attention back to the T.V., I hurried back and decided to cut an even smaller snowflake. What if I reduced the size further by another 50%? That will make the snowflake about an inch wide. Can the Cameo handle that?

I loaded the mat and waited with bated breath as the cutter started to do its thing. Even when it finished cutting, I was still doubtful that it had gotten the job done.

I gently peeled back the cardstock and....

OMG! It cut out the 1" snowflake! Circles and everything! I was floored!

The circle-negatives are mere specks! That's so insanely amazing.

So now you know why I must do the review for the Silhouette Cameo. :-)

I know that many of you prefer seeing the cutter in action so I made a video for you too. In it I will also show you the differences between the Silhouette SD and the Silhouette Cameo. You can view it here:

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Edit to add the other posts in this series:

Part 0: Coming Soon: the Silhouette Cameo Review
Part 1: the Unboxing
Part 2: the First Cut
Part 3: How to Cut with Make-the-Cut
(part 3a: How to install the Silhouette Cameo driver)

Part 4: How to Print-and-Cut with Silhouette Studio.

Extra: The smallest cut.