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DIY Glass Bead Magnets using Silhouette Studio

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The All Things Silhouette Conference has just wrapped up for the weekend. What a great conference it has been! One of the best parts about events like this is seeing how other people use their machines . Yesterday was “swap day” and it was so much fun to look at everyone’s entries.   As promised here is a complete tutorial of my project – glass bead magnets with designs created in Silhouette Studio.

glass bead magnets

These magnets were very easy to make but a learning opportunity nonetheless. I’ll save you a bit of time right off the bat and tell you what I found out through a bit of trial and error:

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What You’ll Need:

Part 1: Create your Designs

Files created in Silhouette Studio, V4, Designer Edition.

All graphics used with permission.

Almost any image (including a photograph) can be used to make these magnets. I chose to make four different designs highlighting just a few of the design features in Silhouette Studio.

To create cut files for magnet designs:

  • Open Silhouette Studio.
  • Choose File > New to open a new document. In the Page Setup Panel, set the width to 8.5” and the height to 11”. Turn on the registration marks.
  • Using the Ellipse Tool, draw a circle. (Hint: hold down the SHIFT key while you draw the ellipse and you will get a perfect circle.) Scale the circle to .75”. Replicate the circle for each design you plan to create.
  • Create your design(s). Keep in mind that the glass gems will magnify the design so you may want to create something that appears relatively small onscreen.
Design 1: Silhouette logo. This is a simple graphic that was downloaded from the internet.
  1. Select File>Merge. Navigate to where your graphic is located and click on it to open onto your design page.
  2. Resize the graphic as desired.
  3. Center your graphic within the circle by selecting both the circle and the graphic and choosing Object > Align > Align Center-Middle. (If the “Align Center-Middle” is grayed out, choose Align>Center and then Align>Middle.
  4. Group the image and the circle together.
Design 2: “All Things Silhouette Conference – June 10-11, 2017”. This is a Pattern Fill using a graphic downloaded from the internet that has been imported into the Patterns Library. For more info on using Pattern Fills in Silhouette Studio, check out this post.
  1. Select your circle.
  2. In the Fill Panel, select Fill Pattern. Select your pattern. (Yep, it’s really only two steps!)

Design 3: Breast Cancer Awareness Pink Ribbon.This is a combination of a Pattern Fill, a graphic downloaded from the internet, and the Offset tool.
  1. Duplicate the design created in Step B or fill a circle with any color or pattern of your choosing. In my example, I adjusted the pattern by using the “Pan Pattern” tool in such a way that only the background print was visible.
  2. Select File>Merge. Navigate to where your graphic is located and click on it to open onto your design page.
  3. Select your graphic. Open the Offset Panel and choose Offset with a distance of .03. Your corners can be either angled or rounded, as desired. You should now have two images – your original image and the offset image.
  4. Select the offset image and change the fill color and line color as desired (My example is filled with white and there is no line color.)
  5. Select both the original image and the offset and align them as in Step A3 above. Group the two images together.
  6. Center the combined image within the circle as in Step A3 above and then group together.
Design 4: Concentric Circles
  1. Select the circle. From the Fill Panel, choose your desired background color.
  2. Open the Offset Panel and choose Internal Offset with the following settings:
  3. Select the circle you just created and repeat Step 2 until desired design is achieved.
  4. Select all inner circles. Change the line weight to 1.000 pt and the line color to white. Make sure the circles are set to “No Cut”.
  5. Beginning with the outermost circle in the design (NOT the outer cut line), select the circle and from the Line Styles panel, choose the dashed line. Repeat for alternating circles. (It helps to zoom in closely on the set of circles.)
  6. Select the innermost circle and fill with white.
  7. Group the set of circles together.
  • Select all designs and resize them to .73 inches or .74 inches in order to better fit the magnets.
  • Replicate the designs and arrange on the page as desired, making sure that no part of your design lies within the crosshatched areas near the registration marks.

  • Print on sticker paper and cut on the Silhouette using the settings for “Sticker Paper, White”. (Remember: A Test Cut is ALWAYS recommended when using new materials.)

Part 2: Putting it All Together

  • Adhere one sticker to each magnet. (Hint: Cover a cookie sheet with wax paper and place the magnets on top. They will hold firm while you apply each sticker as well as when you apply the glue.)

glass bead magnets

  • Squeeze a small amount of E6000 on the top of each sticker. Wait a couple minutes to allow the adhesive to partially set. Press a glass gem onto the top of the magnet, spreading the E6000 into a thin, uniform layer.

glass bead magnets

  • Allow the adhesive to cure for 24 hours.

Here is my finished set all ready to share, with packaging designed and cut on the Silhouette of course!

glass bead magnets

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial and have learned a bit more about the Silhouette Studio design features. What do you think? Is this a project you would try? I always welcome your feedback! Post a comment below or come join my Facebook group and share your thoughts!

Until next time,

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5 Comments

    1. Thank you so much. I’m sorry you didn’t get a chance to see them. There were so many great entries in the swap it was almost impossible to see them all!

      1. These are beautiful! Where did you purchase the clear glass gems/who are they made by and the magnets? THANKS IN ADVANCE

        1. Hi Toni! The nearest craft store to where I live is over 50 miles away but I actually found everything I needed for these at my local Walmart. The glass gems were in the floral department. I did try some others from the dollar store first but they were the ones I mentioned being yellowish and flawed.

          Thanks for commenting!

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