Cricut Infusible Ink Markers with Silhouette CAMEO Tutorial

As soon I showed you guys how to use the Cricut Infusible Ink sheets with Silhouette CAMEO you were begging for a tutorial on how to use the Cricut Infusible Ink pens and markers.

So here it is - this is how you use what are essentially sublimation pens with Silhouette.
Like the Cricut Infusible Ink sheets, the designs created with the Cricut Infusible markers and pens need to be done in reverse so they are correctly oriented when flipped onto the surface.

For this beginner tutorial we'll use the Cricut pens and markers just like a sketch pen in the Silhouette machine.  Remember the pens and markers will not fill in the design on their own.  You can color them in yourself or you can add a sketch fill.  The other option is to use a single line sketch design - like you would with sketch pens or the foil quill. This will result in a hand drawn look.

For this example, I am going to use this Crafter Super Power design, which is part of So Fontsy's massive Bundle of Bundles, to draw out the outline of the design. Then I am going to hand color in the outline with the markers.

Start in Silhouette Studio by opening your design. Size the design to fit your Cricut Infusible Ink blank - remember any sublimation blank will work.

Right click the image and select Flip Horizontally to mirror the design.

You'll need the Silhouette pen holder adapter or the Amy Chomas marker adapter to use the Cricut Infusible Ink markers in the Silhouette CAMEO or Portrait.

If you're using the Amy Chomas Marker Adapter, keep the flat ridge of the Cricut Pen or Marker even with the bottom edge of the adapter.  That will put the pen at about the right distance off the page so it's not dragging.

Slide the pen into the adapter and then put the whole contraption into the tool carriage and lock it into place.

The instructions on the Cricut Infusible Markers and Pens say you need to draw on "Laser Copy Paper" but I drawing on regular old printer paper that I took out of my inkjet printer worked just fine for me.

Place the piece of paper on your Silhouette cutting mat and load it into the cutting machine.

From the Send panel change the Action to "Sketch" and pick Copy Paper as your material.

Send the design to sketch.

Remove the paper from the cutting mat. If you want to color it in with the markers do so now.

I don't like coloring - it takes too long - so I recruited my daughter to help me.

Remember, the other option is to add sketch fills to the design in Studio, but that would require a lot of switching of markers and pens in the Silhouette CAMEO if you wanted a multi-color design.

What would be even easier and faster - especially for someone like me who has a sublimation printer - is to just fill the design with colors in Silhouette Studio and print the whole design on my Sawgrass SG400 and then flip onto the blank and apply.  BUT I digress...

Heat up your heat press to 400 degrees.

Place your sublimation blank down and flip the paper onto it so the drawing side is face down. Make sure it's positioned exactly where you want it to appear on your Cricut Infusible blank.  I'm using these 100% polyester makeup bags I bought on Amazon.

Cover with a piece of butcher paper or a teflon sheet. Press for 60 seconds at 400 degrees.

When the time is up, remove the paper and the ink from the Cricut Infusible pens and markers has transferred to the substrate!

And if you want to see a side by side of the Infusible markers vs sublimation here you go!

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