Birthday Badge

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Start in Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is my drawing tool of choice. Start by creating a document the size of the card stock (in this case, 6 x 6).  I drew an outer circle as big as I wanted the final badge to be. An inner circle about an 1″ smaller creates the badge shape. They need to be centered top to bottom, left to right.

I then drew a quirky crown, and added a large initial letter. Size the letter so it takes up most of the inner circle. Convert the type to outlines (Type > Create Outlines) and then set all the artwork to be filled with none and outlined with a black stroke. Adjust crown and letter so it overlaps a little on the inner circle. I pulled a few of the path points in the bottom of the circle down so they would completely overlap.

To make the final cutlines, I selected the crown and held down the shift key and selected the letter, and then chose Combine from the Pathfinder Palette. I then selected that new welded object and held down the shift key and selected the inner circle, and chose Minus Front from the Pathfinder Palette.

I exported my file as a DXF, since the basic version of Silhouette Studio® doesn’t support SVG files, but it does work with DXF files.

Switch to Silhouette Studio

Since I’m going to cut this using my Silhouette Cameo 3, I need to setup the file in their Silhouette Studio software. I always set up my paper size and cutting mat first so I have them correct for when I send to cut. My paper is 6 x 6 and I’m using the standard 12 x 12 mat.

Then bring in the DXF file.

And send it to cut. This is a medium weight cardstick, but the design has a lot of corners, so I’ve turned Line Segment Overcut on.

Final Assembly

After the cutting was finished, I removed the extra paper using my spatula tool.

And glued on a pin backing. Make sure to glue the pin on high enough on the badge so it won’t flop over. I like to use a thick adhesive for this E6000 will glue just about anything together).

Let it dry, and then present it to your birthday girl/boy!