Monday, February 4, 2013

The Sensory Emporium's Pen Holder Tutorial

Happy Monday everyone! I've had a few people request that I do a photo tutorial on how to use your The Sensory Emporium's Pen Holder. So here it is. I do not have a popsicle stick, which is one way you can check for the correct depth for your different pens, so I'm going to show you on the two pens I use the most often. First is the Sharpie Ultra Fine Point Markers. The pen holder was made for these. They will always be perfectly centered in the pen holder and they are at just the right height, so there is no adjusting necessary.
Just slide the marker all the way into the holder, tighten the metal screw and you're ready to put it into your machine. The second type of pen I use most often is Gelly Roll brand gel pens. These ones are a little trickier, but they still work great in the holder.
See the first line above the tip of the pen, inside the gel pen? The next picture will show you a little bit better, but you line the bottom of your holder up with that line. It takes a few tries to get it just right.
There, you should be able to see it a little bit better. Again, tighten the screw and then pop into your holder like this:
Be sure to lock the pen holder in by turning the blue knob all the way to the right, just like you do when you use your blade. Now, for your settings on your program. Use the Sketch Pen setting.
Just click the sketch pen setting and then hit cut. That's it! Easy as can be and then you can draw all kinds of awesome stuff with your Silhouette Cameo.
Now I've also been asked to demonstrate how off center it might be if you use any other pen other than the Sharpie Ultra Fine Point. The truth is, it won't be that off as you can see in the following image. I drew a 3 inch circle and a 2.5 inch circle to be cut and a 2.75 inch circle to be drawn and here are the results:
From left to right, top to bottom they are a Ball Point Pen, Gelly Roll Pen, BIC Marker and Sharpie Ultra Fine Point Marker. To purchase a pen holder from me, please visit my etsy shop. **Stay tuned for an awesome post featuring finished products using the pen holder.**

6 comments:

  1. I'd love to see more of your work. I am in a FB group with you. I loved the Mickey trace. I have a pen and marker holder now just looking for inspiration for using them. What files work best and all.

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    1. I plan to do a feature on project inspiration. I'm trying to get in touch with as many buyers of my pen holder as possible to feature their project on here and then I'll include links to the different etsy and facebook pages if people want. There is so much that sketches well. I honestly use my pen holder just about daily.

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  2. I just ordered my Cameo yesterday, and your pen holder today! Am looking forward to doing many projects with them! Is there anywhere for tips that you might suggest? Thanks~

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    1. I'm in the process of building my blog up to feature project inspiration and more tips. Also, I admin a paper crafting group on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/178196895676318/ and people post cards and other paper crafts in there. And of course, if you have any questions feel free to contact me any time.

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  3. I have seen other vendors that offer 2 separate pen holders, one for markers and one for pens. Your pen holder works for both pens? I am new to the cameo having just received it Friday and I haven't had the chance to get it out of the box and play with it yet :( Hopefully tomorrow will allow me time to play!

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    1. Yes! As you can see in the last picture, the thinner the pen/marker is, the more off center it may be. But, in most cases, this is very hard to tell. My holder does not hold the fat sharpies, but it does hold BIC Mark-its which are very similar. We also do custom orders to fit your specific instrument of choice. Please let me know if you have any questions...and get that machine out of it's box and enjoy :)

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