Silhouette Mint Tutorial: Step by Step

If you haven’t heard of the Silhouette Mint, then you’ve got to keep reading! It is a really cool mini machine that creates custom stamps. Perfect for scrapbooking, card making, small handmade business owners, and general crafters! Today I’m giving you a step by step Silhouette Mint tutorial, so you can see with your own eyes just how neat this machine works.

First off, isn’t this machine adorable?

Included in the box is a Silhouette Mint, Mint Studio Software Disc, 2 stamp kits, 4 bottles of ink (black, blue, red, yellow), an AC Adapter, a USB cable, and a free month subscription to the Silhouette Image Library.

Check out the full line of Silhouette Mint accessories HERE.

Within 5 minutes of unboxing the Mint I was up and running and creating my very first stamp. This is a very simple machine to use and I can already tell I’m going to become a stamp addict! So let’s get right to how easy the machine is to use. I made a quick video Silhouette Mint tutorial sharing how to create a simple stamp in Mint Studio, as well as how to print and ink the stamp once it is printed. If you want to skip the software tutorial and just see the machine in action skip to the 4:31 minute mark.

Silhouette Mint Tutorial:

My review of the Silhouette Mint?

As you can see, Mint Studio is fairly intuitive to use. There were a few glitches, like when I originally went to print the “Hello There” Stamp, the kerning (spacing of letters) of hello went out of whack in the preview. I simply cancelled the print, fixed the kerning and sent to print and it worked perfectly. So just keep that in mind as you send something to print to look over your preview screen before clicking “Start Mint.” The stamps print in a matter of seconds, which is quite amazing! Inking doesn’t take long and once the ink is absorbed, you can get right to stamping, though there is a 10 minute wait period, which I don’t find to be too inconvenient. If you look closely at the photo above with the “Happy mail for…” stamp, the dots that fly behind the paper plane can barely be seen, but they are there. I would probably increase the size of any really small elements. That was my first stamp and I wanted to test it out – so now I know that design elements should be about the size of a pinhead or bigger, which is still pretty fantastic, in my opinion! I love the fact that the stamps can be multiple ink colors and that when the ink runs dry, I can simply add more and continue to use my stamp. I’ve used my stamps several times, including stamping over and over to see the quality and I’ve been quite impressed. They are pretty clear and crisp. One other negative for me? The cost of additional stamp kits. The initial purchase only gets you two stamps. So just as you’re getting the feel for the software and the machine and you have tons of great ideas – bam, you can’t create anymore unless you make additional stamp kit purchases. And you’ll have to stay stocked with the special Mint ink if you plan on using your stamp for a long time, so that is an additional cost as well. But in the end, for me the pros outweigh the cons!

Looking for more stamp making ideas? Check out this how to make stamps from erasers tutorial!

About Kim Conner

Kim Conner, blogger at Inspiration Made Simple, is a graphic designer, crafter, and full-time, outside the home, working mom of three. Inspiration Made Simple is filled with fun craft ideas, tons of free printables, party ideas, and other inspiration. When Kim is not creating, you can usually find her reading or playing with her children.

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