Free Designs for Silhouette using Dingbat Fonts

I'm seriously jumping out of my seat to share this one with you - it's so freaking awesome you're gonna love it!!  Okay, so we all know by now that most of the designs in the Silhouette Online Store are .99.  We've already talked about how to stretch your dollar in the store by buying larger designs with tons of separate elements...well now I've discovered a way to get FREE design images.  Are you ready for this?

The answer is dingbat fonts.  "Dingbat fonts?" you ask... yes, they're the fonts that show up as little images instead of actual letters.  For example..press an 'A' and a snowflake shows up, hit 'B' and you get a snowman..you get my snowdrift.  (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Since Silhouette Studio lets you use any font installed on your computer, you basically have access to a whole bunch of free designs.    So now I know you're gonna raise your hand and ask where to get a dingbat font.  Well, my students, DaFont.com is the ultimate!  This website rules when it comes to free font downloads and it has dozens, if not hundreds, of image/icon fonts.

ANY font installed on your computer in your design that means dingbat fonts are gonna be your new BFF.  It's like a nearly endless supply of free Silhouette designs.
StarWars junkie?  Check out...Galaxy Far Far Away.  Disney fanatic? Don't miss Mickey M TFB.  Oh, you like Hello Kitty?  Mellow Fonts 1 is for you!  Every image in the below screen shot is actually a keystroke from a dingbat font.

So here's what you're gonna do....

• Go to DaFont.com and check out their selection of Dingbat fonts (or search for a font somewhere out on the great www or Pinterest or wherever).  
• Download the font onto your computer.  
• Open the file folder and install it into your font library. 
• Open Silhouette Studio. (If you open Silhouette Studio before you download the font you'll have to close and reopen for it to load.)
• Use the text tool to type in font images.  Be sure to use both capital and lower case letters since many times the lower case is the mirror image of the upper case. 

Now, while every image will import, not all of them will make good designs for the Silhouette to cut.  My suggestion is to look for images that aren't overly detailed.   For example, the Mickey Mouse head in the above image is a good one because it is not overly detailed, but detailed enough.  If I leave it as is and cut it this is what I will get...looks good to me!

I can use either part the positive or negative as the stencil depending on what I'm looking for.

It's even possible to take the original dingbat font images apart so they're even more cut-friendly.    In the next few days I'll show you how to deconstruct an image in Silhouette so you can you take the elements apart and cut the stencil exactly as you want it, plus I'll be sharing a really fun painted pillow cover project I did using a dingbat font.

Thanks for coming to class today at Silhouette School.  If you like what you see, I'd love for you to pin it!