The Bean Sprout Notes: How to Cut Thick Glitter Sequin Paper with Your Silhouette Cameo

One of the first projects I attempted with my Silhouette Cameo cutting machine was a monogramed piece of nursery art featuring that thick glittery paper you often find in the scrapbook aisle. I'm sure you've seen this type of paper before, it is super thick with glitter so substantial it looks like mini sequins. The only problem is, the Silhouette (and every other cutting machine) struggles to cut this type of paper. However, you can still use your Cameo to get perfectly cut designs with glitter sequin paper if you're willing to take a few extra steps. Let me show you what worked for me.

First you need to design your cut file. In my project it was a giant letter "E" for the first initial of baby's name.

Because the Cameo struggles to cut sequin paper, we won't be feeding it into the machine directly. Rather, we will cut our design onto a piece of regular scrapbook paper, which will serve as our stencil.

The next step is to remove the shape from the cut mat and tape to the back side of the glitter paper. The more tape, the better. IMPORTANT: Be sure to tape your image down in reverse!!

The final step is to carefully cut along the edges of your stencil. Regular scissors worked fine for me, but if your design is more intricate you may need to use a craft knife.