Addressing Envelopes with your Silhouette Cameo

Are your hands cramping from addressing all those Christmas cards?  Every year we send out 40 cards and I get so tired of writing out every single address.  My hands cramp, I get bored and lets face it, my hand writing isn't always the best; especially when I'm tired.  So this year, I'm letting my cameo do the work and it's easier than you might think. I'm going to show you how and let you in on a little secret!

So first you're going to want to design your envelopes in Silhouette Studio. I size my paper to the size of my envelope. My envelopes for my photo cards this year is about 4x8.  Then design your envelope with your return address and your loved one's address.

Now you can either type each address in individually or you can copy and paste from your computer. If you copy and paste, don't click on the text tool first. Just make sure nothing is selected and right click and paste. Font used is Daddy's Girl

So here is the secret.  I'm going to show you how to sketch these without unloading your mat!

Draw a 4x8 rectangle (or shape of your envelope) and arrange it around your addresses so it looks like what you want to sketch. Turn the cut line off on the rectangle.  Move it all down on your mat.  I have my design sitting on the 2 inch and 5 inch line.  You can see my virtual envelope in purple.  To see where to line it up, click on the page menu (highlighted above) and reveal cutting mat 100% (also highlighted).

Line your envelope up on your mat in the same spot as where it is in Studio.  Like this.  Please excuse my dirty mat, it gets used a lot and this is my paper mat.

I added some snow flakes, and moved my return address over a bit because I was afraid the pen would catch the edge of the envelope, but you get the idea.  Now, don't unload your mat.  Take this envelope off and put your new one on in the same spot.  Cut again with your next address!  How easy and quick is that!

Takes me about 20-30 seconds from start to finish. And, no hand cramps!  I may never write out an address again! 

Tip: Don't use super fancy fonts. I was told that the postal workers don't like that. So use a nice, easy to read font. For a list of fonts that appear to be single lines click here.

So I hope you enjoyed that little tutorial and can get through your Christmas cards in no time.  What's that? You don't have a pen holder yet? Click here to order one.