DIY personalized gold-dipped die cut tutorial

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Hi, everyone! I have a tutorial for you today on how to make a personalized DIY gold-dipped-look die cut! I am making a 6x8 album of my 2014 beach vacation and I wanted to add something striking to one of the pocket pages. The layout of one of the pages from this pack has a vertical 2x8" strip with two 4x4 photo pockets. I wanted to fill the 2x8 pocket with a cool die cut! I used Silhouette chipboard to make it happen.

I picked up a package of this chipboard for use especially with my Silhouette. I did a little mini review of it in this haul post.

 I began by opening Silhouette Studio (I don't have the fancy designer edition!) and writing out my word "vacation" and choosing my font.

I chose to use a font that welded together so the insert would be one single piece. I didn't plan on backing it with any paper, so that made sense for me. But if you want to mount your individual letters on background paper, feel free to use a font that isn't welded! This process will still work.)

Then I chose my cut settings. Because that chipboard was made specifically for the Silhouette, there is a preset for it. I am still new to my Silhouette, so any help I can get along the way is much appreciated!

I mounted my chipboard on my cutting mat.

I set my blade length to 5.

I loaded the chipboard into the Silhouette and began cutting.

It peeled off beautifully and left me the majority of the chipboard sheet so I can still work with it! I also have the entire rest of the pack, so this is going to last for a long time!

Here it is, all cut out!

Once it was all cut out I wanted to make sure it fit inside my page protector pocket. Perfect fit! I love how you can see the finished design sizes on the Silhouette software! Foolproof!

Then it was time to begin painting. I chose acrylic paint in the color Glass Slipper that I received in a Studio Calico kit. I used a foam brush and worked on a paper towel to keep my area clean.

I did two coats of the paint to make sure it was completely covered. It was only a little bit messy!

While the paint was still a little tacky, I put a piece of copy paper over the top and then sprinkled fine gold glitter over the bottom. 

I pulled the paper away carefully so it wouldn't stick to my paint on the top half.

And I let it sit for a few minutes before carefully shaking off the excess glitter, making sure it didn't stick to my un-glittered half. While I used the paint as my glue, you could also paint and wait for it to dry and then add a layer of glue and add glitter to that. I didn't have the patience to wait!

Here is how it looks all glittered up! I waited for it to dry for several days (because I got busy!) and then went over it with some spray shellac I picked up from a home improvement store for about $3. The glitter is seriously stuck on there and won't shed (much) when I pop this into my pocket! After I let the shellac dry for a day, it was time to add it to my pocket! It fits perfectly and I can't wait to share with you the final page layout!

Thanks so much for reading! I hope this inspires you to make your own die cut- it is really awesome to be able to make your own custom embellishments to really express your creativity and tell your story!