This weekend will be one year since we cut the cable cord. Let me tell you, life go's on without it. When the decision was made, it was actually a very easy one. There was way too much money going out of our pockets for something that kept us in the house too often and didn't change whether or not we were a functioning person. To be quite honest, it felt really liberating. I was unusually excited the day that the cable was turned off.

Sorry Jim, we won't be needing you anymore!

When my husband called to cancel, the company almost lost their mind. They tried every trick in the book to keep us. Offering free superior channels, 6 months of lower payments, an extra DVR. The things they do to keep us are always going to end up costing us more money. We wanted to quit to stop paying out the ears for programming we didn't even watch! Now when I sit down to watch something, it is actually something I have been wanting to watch. If I am just bored I will scroll and scroll and eventually give up and do something else. When talking to others about our decision, I was surprised to find that we were not the only ones going this route either.

To keep us entertained we looked into what other options we had, which to our surprise there was a wealth of them. We have always had a Netflix streaming subscription, then we decided to go ahead and also use Hulu Plus. Added up they only cost $15 a month! A far cry from what we were paying on a monthly basis, and it was only going up from there. Now, we get to choose what we watch and when we watch it, nothing wasted on our ends. We also purchased a Roku box to get even more internet channel options, you can find the same one we have here. In our living room we use our Wii and in our room we use our Roku. As for local news we found an old school antenna at Target for only $25. When there is a storm in the area our connection never goes out anymore, which makes me feel safer living in tornado alley.

Here goes my first ever Silhouette Challenge! I am so excited to share with you something that I really love. This is a very simple project, but it can make all the difference in the appearance of the final package. I used my Cameo to write out the addresses on my envelopes for Caroline's announcements.

To do this project I used this nifty accessory, you can put your own pens or markers in it and use it to draw or write out designs. Although the pen sizes are very limited.


1. Insert the pen into the pen holder and then put it in place of your blade.



2. Next I opened the Silhouette software and made a 5x7 template since that is the size of the card going in the envelope, this way I still have room left on the envelope around the edges.

Address is blurred for privacy.

 3. I used the type tool to input the address, I used two different fonts here and several lines of text. Fill in the text, insides only, will the fill tool to black.


4. To "print" the envelope you can now go to your cut settings and select the pen option instead of blade. The program will automatically select the custom media and correct settings to use the pen. Now press "Cut" and watch it write it out for you!



I used a little thicker of a pen for this, I am planning on purchasing the Silhouette pen set. They fit the blade area perfect and have a finer tip. As well you can get fun colors and even metallic pens! They turned out pretty well and think they add a more personal touch to send the announcements off to grandparents and family members. I added washi tape to close the envelopes and an address label to finish it off.



 Though this is a simple project, it really was fun to use the Silhouette for something as simple as addressing a letter. I hope you enjoyed! Next month will be an even bigger project! I can't wait to share it. Please leave any questions or comments you may have below. -Alisha



Go check out some other ladies Silhouette Challenges from this month!
If you are a Silhouette user and would like to join us contact Lauren from The Thinking Closet Here.

• DIY Paper Star Lanterns by Me & My DIY
• A Jar of Gratefulness by We ♥ Cards
• Adding Easy Sketch Pen Detail to Silhouette Cuts by It Happens in a Blink
• Laundry Room Labels by Unoriginal Mom
• Kids Step Stool with Sass by Joy & Gladness of Heart
• Magnetic Perpetual Calendar by Everydaypaper
• Silhouette Fabric Ink {An Experiment} by Create & Babble
• Playhouse Signs: Who Will We Be Today? by Suburble
• How to Get a Second Wind Out of Your Gel Manicure by The Thinking Closet
• DIY Graduation Gift by Super Sweet Life
• Oval Coffee Table Reveal & More! by Give Me a Paintbrush
• Stamped Gift Boxes by Coley's Corner
• Monsters University T-Shirt by Tried & True
• Travel Accessories for Vacation Mementos & Business by An Elegant Touch
• A Silhouette Challenge Project by Mel Stampz