From Zero Experience to creating in 3 days with a Silhouette Cameo

I have wanted a Silhoutte Cameo for SOOOOOO long! But since I've been into sewing and spent money on that craft, I only threw the idea to my husband in case he felt like I was worthy enough come Christmas or my birthday (I was not). But luckily for me, with his new job, getting your name out there is important. He text me one day and said, "Hey, remember that machine you wanted to make t-shirts? Get it."

And OMG, I WAS OVER THE MOON!

I immediately started researching the cheapest, most value packed bundle around. I saw I could get one for about $187.99 I believe, but it didn't include as much. And then I saw that Amazon had bundles for $249.99 that included everything I needed. Now I had never researched all I needed. Didn't even watch YouTube videos, there was NO TIME! HE SAID YES!! So this starter bundle was perfect for me, as it included everything I needed to get started.

This thing could not have came soon enough, I was so excited! And nervous. But within 3 days (it is currently my 3rd day physically owning this thing) I have started using it! I've read about so many people who let their machine gather dust from sitting for months because they're too intimidated to use it. I've been determined to not let that be me. Now since my main goal was to make t-shirts, this is what I've done.

Before getting my machine:

-Look up Facebook groups and join the ones that related to my goals. This includes:
    • Silhoutte Cameo for Beginners
    • File sharing groups
    • Vinyl Seller groups
    • Inspiration groups
- Look up YouTube videos and subscribe to the ones I may need to reference too.
   (This is a little hard as a SUPER beginner because some of this stuff, you've never seen or heard of, so basically they're speaking to you in French half the time).

After getting my machine:

-I spent the first day setting it up and reading through the stuff that came with it, which for the starter bundle included Vinyl settings and directions, a beginners guide for Heat Transfer Vinyl and cards that included other extras.
- Watched YouTube videos and blogs about what others did when setting up their machine.

-The second day, I actually used the extras, which was a video tutorial about getting setup. Here, I got extra information about setting up Firmware that none of the other sources had mentioned. Included was a $100 credit to an online file store also, so I picked that out as well. I also wasted half a day trying to use SVG files, without realizing that you cannot with the included free Basic Silhouette program, so don't do that. I feel like no one tells you that. I had to do a search in a FB group to get that information.

-The third day, I was hyped. I've been watching FB inspiration for almost a week (I did not get 2 day shipping on this ). I wanted to do this, needed to do this! I had the correct files finally! (I was working with DXF).

With my beginners guide in hand, and my file downloaded from the online file store, I went through the steps, exactly as described! And voila! I made my 1st shirt and it's GLORIOUS!!

I set out and cut out a shirt for my husband while I was still on fire!

Each time, I made sure to have my instruction manual and check off everything as I went. I will eventually have it down as second nature but I will not waste supplies right now!

And there you go! Successfully creating vinyl shirts within 3 days of getting my machine!