Designing a 'MOMogram' in Silhouette Studio (Use Any Font!)

I'm always getting asked how to turn words into shapes in Silhouette Studio. I've shared a few different tutorials on Silhouette School on designing word art, but with Mother's Day around the corner Silhouette School contributor Becky Dykes is here with a fun design tutorial just for mom.   This fun play on the monogram is pretty popular right now with the Silhouette crafters - so get schooled on the technique and then jump on the 'MOMogam' bandwagon!

You'll be surprised that a lot of these designing "tools" you already use and you've seen here before on Silhouette School. Sometimes it's just knowing the right combination or getting a little memory jog.

Open up Silhouette Studio and start by drawing a circle using the Draw an Ellipse tool.  Don't forget, if you hold the SHIFT key you'll draw a perfectly dimensional circle.



Using the Text tool, type the word MOM (or other name such as NANA or MAMA, it can be whatever you want).  You can pick whatever font you'd like, but bold sans serif fonts work best.  I chose the IMPACT font, it seems to work well for these types of projects because it's nice and bold.

Now size MOM so that it stretches across the entire circle. You can either increase the font size or select the text and pull out one of the corner squares to increase the size. 

Next use the Align tools (in blue along the top tool bar below) to get your text perfectly centered. Select both the circle and the text and either click "CENTER" or hit ALIGN CENTER and ALIGN MIDDLE to make sure the text is centered on the circle.

Ungroup your letters by selecting the text > right click > ungroup.  Stretch each character individually from top to bottom of the circle. You want to try to imagine what the font will look like when the outside of the circle is missing.

If any letters look odd, you can do some individual point editing to only stretch some parts of a letter instead of the whole shape.

Once you have your letters just the way you want them, select all the shapes and open your Modify tool (in blue along the top tool bar below). With both the circle and all the letters selected, click Crop.

Group your MOM letters together (select letters > right click > group). 

Draw a new circle, using the Draw an Ellipse Tool, that is slightly larger than your Momogram. Don't forget to hold your SHIFT key while you draw.  This will be the 'path' for the outer text.

Start a new TEXT box and type out the names that you want to circle the Momogram. Double click the text you just typed out so you get the green box around it.  Grab the little icon on the bottom left corner of the green box and use it to drag your text onto your outside circle.  The next will snap to the 'path' aka the circle and will naturally curve around the circle.

Now you can continue typing out all of the names you want to go around the circle. I was able to keep the spacing even between the names by inserting the same number of spaces (spacebar) between each letter.  

TIP:  You can adjust the position of the text by using that little round icon and dragging it around the circle until your text starts where you want it.

When you have the spacing on your names how you like it you need to freeze it into the shape of the circle. Select the text > right click >  CONVERT TO PATH. 

Now you can delete the actual circle you drew and the words will stay in the circle shape.

I added the hearts for decoration and used the Fill Color tool to fill in the Momogram in red. 

If you want to see what we did with our MOMogram Design, jump on over to My Paper Craze and check it out!

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. By clicking on them and purchasing products through my links, I receive a small commission. That's what helps fund Silhouette School so I can keep buying new Silhouette-related products to show you how to get the most out of your machine!
Thanks for coming to class today at Silhouette School.  If you like what you see, I'd love for you to pin it!

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