DIY Photo Mat with Printable Cotton Canvas

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Often when I’m shopping online or in a store I see something I love, but I can’t bring myself to buy it. The main reason being I know I can make some version of it and probably for a lot cheaper. This was the case with this photo mat — I found it while on vacation — and knew I wanted to make my own version (for cheap.)

With the help of my Silhouette and their Printable Cotton Canvas I was able to make this adorable DIY Photo mat to capture a precious moment in our vacation.

To make this photo mat I used this Alaska shape, and I changed it around a little bit to fit in my frame better. It was the shape I already had, but if I was buying one especially for this project I would go with this one.

 

Once I had the state how I wanted it, I offset it once to the outside and filled with grey. Then I was able to offset to the inside to make my cut line. I decided to go back and add a small black border to help my design stand out a little bit more. I offset it one more time and filled it with black, changing the width of the offset to make it smaller than my other offsets.

Picking a font was the hardest part, but I finally found one for my text. I didn’t want this part to cut, so all I did was create an offset for my small black outline.

To make things easier on myself I drew a 4 x 6 rectangle around my design to fit perfectly into my frame.

I added registration marks and printed my design. I was so please with how well the cotton canvas printed and looked after it was printed.

Before cutting make sure to go in and de-select what you don’t want cut. In my case, all I needed cut was the inside of the state and the 4 x 6 rectangle.

The machine does the work from here. I loaded it into my Silhouette Portrait, and it cut out my design beautifully.

 

Since I was using this as a photo mat, I decided to leave the backing on the printable canvas. I could have used the adhesive of the canvas to help position my picture perfectly in the frame, but I decided not to this time. I plan on changing the picture out every so often, so I just weeded out the pieces of the backing in the middle of the state and left the rest attached.

Because I cut the rectangle around my shape it was easy to just place my mat in the frame, and add a picture.

I love how this DIY photo mat turned out! My mind is spinning with more possibilities. I can see a mat with “friends” or “sisters” written on the side and maybe a flower cut out in the middle. The printable cotton canvas looked so good as a photo mat, I loved the texture it added. Silhouette also has other specialty media, Washi Sheets and Kraft Paper, that I think would also make an awesome photo mat.

Now is a great time to stock up on specialty media products for projects like this and so many more. May 21st -31st save 25% on all specialty media using the code LAUNDRY. I will be using this sale to finally get some of the reusable stencil vinyl that I have been eyeing for some time.

Interested in getting a Silhouette cutting machine? Check out these bundles! I love bundles like this, it is so much better to buy your machine when you are getting supplies with it. That way you can jump into creating right away. Don’t forget to use the code LAUNDRY to get these deals.

CAMEO Bundle

• Silhouette CAMEO
• 1 Printable Cotton Canvas
• 1 Vellum
• 1 Adhesive Washi Sheets
• 1 Printable Adhesive Kraft Paper
• 1 Stencil Material
• MSRP: $340.94
• Sale: $269.99

Portrait Bundle

• Silhouette Portrait
• 1 Printable Cotton Canvas
• 1 Vellum
• 1 Adhesive Washi Sheets
• 1 Printable Adhesive Kraft Paper
• 1 Stencil Material
• MSRP: $220.94
• Sale: $139.99

Have you used the specialty media? Which is your favorite and what did you create?