Sketching Inspiration for my little Dancer - September Silhouette Challenge

Another month, and another Silhouette challenge! For September the theme was Home Decor items. I really had my heart set on trying out the Silhouette Sketch pens and thought I would make my daughter an inspirational picture to go in her room. Yes, every month for this challenge I have been trying to use a new product or technique with my electronic cutter.

My daughter just turned 5-years old and her Mimi promised to take her to Ballet classes. This girl has been begging for dance lessons for the past 2 years. She was over the moon!

I wanted to keep this project simple and inexpensive because kids' tastes and interests change almost daily. Right now I want to encourage her to try her best at dance class - but the frame was inexpensive and I could swap out the card with another Silhouette design in just a few minutes.

I headed to the local craft store and grabbed an unfinished wood frame, chalkboard paint, card stock and the basic set of Silhouette Sketch Pens.

I created a simple design in the Silhouette program. Because I wanted to use multiple colored pens for this project, I put the designs on separate layers. 4 layers included the dancer in black, the word "dance" in dark pink, the other words and corner flourish in purple and the cut line to fit my frame in the last layer.

I selected sketch pens as my medium and then de-selected all the layers that I wasn't working with. I began with. The current layer showed up in dark red.

Using the sketch pens was really simple. They just fit right in where the blade goes. Push them all the way down and then secure them or the pen may work its way loose while sketching.

I had to create 3 sketches before the ink in my pens were flowing freely and I figured out how to tighten them down securely. Save yourself the headache and double check before you sketch.

The first layer I sketched was the dancer's outline in black. Don't remove the mat between colors, just change pens and select the current layer you want to sketch. Send back to the Silhouette and the machine will return to the same place.

The final step was to select my final layer for cutting out my design, putting the blade back into the machine and selecting card stock.

To finish off her art I spritzed it with a glitter scrapbooking mist. I also painted the frame with a chalkboard paint so I could doodle and leave a "Love Mom" on the bottom.

The best part about this project is, if she drops dance and takes up soccer tomorrow I can whip something up quick to show my support using the Silhouette and my sketch pens.

Want to Check Out More Silhouette Projects?

My Silhouette Challenge buddies and I are all sharing projects on our blogs today, so peruse the projects below for a wealth of Silhouette inspiration!
1. The Moberg Family // 2. Sandpaper and Glue // 3. American Honey // 4. Weekend Craft // 5. Grey Luster Girl // 6. From Wine to Whine // 7. Cutesy Crafts // 8. Practically Functional // 9. Home At Eight // 10. McCall Manor // 11. Dragonfly & Lily Pads // 12. Adventures in All Things Food // 13. Create it. Go! // 14. Please Excuse My Craftermath... // 15. The Outlandish Momma // 16. The Sensory Emporium // 17. My Paper Craze // 18. unOriginal Mom // 19. My Favorite Finds // 20. Architecture of a Mom // 21. Black and White Obsession //