PitterAndGlink: Make a Neon Hand Lettered Tote Bag + Free Cut File

This post contains affiliate links and is sponsored by Expressions Vinyl. Hey, y'all! It's finally OFFICIALLY summer time. I LOVE summer! I'm sure a major factor in my love for summer is that I'm a teacher and get a long break from school, but I truly love the weather, fresh produce, summer adventures, and the bright colors that pop up in fashion and home decor. The brightest of all bright colors--neon colors--were the inspiration for today's post. I have teamed up with Expressions Vinyl to share an awesome neon HTV project with y'all, along with a free hand-lettered Silhouette cut file so that you can make your own. And as if that wasn't enough goodness for one post, you can enter to win a $50 gift card to Expressions Vinyl.

Y'all know that I just LOVE hand-lettering, and one of my favorite things to hand-letter is Bible verses. I recently hand lettered this verse from Psalms 139, and rather than just making it into a printable, I thought it would be the perfect hand-lettered design to turn into a cut file. When I received some brightly colored neon HTV from Expressions Vinyl, I couldn't pick just one color to use, so I decided to use them all! Yes, making a design from different colors of vinyl might seem intimidating, but it's really not that difficult. You can make your own in a few easy steps using a few supplies.

Supplies:

Tote Bag
Silhouette Cameo
Neon Easyweed Heat Transfer Vinyl Sheets: Pink, Raspberry, Green, Yellow, Orange
Iron

Step One

Download the FREE "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made" Multi-Colored Hand-Lettered Cut File here. (If you'd rather have a cut file in one color that you don't have to piece, you can find that here.) Once you've downloaded the file, open it using your Silhouette program.

Step Two

Since you're working with HTV, mirror the image. To do so, open the replicate tool window and click "Mirror Right." Once the design is mirrored, you can delete the original design. Ungroup the mirrored design to prepare for the next step.

Step Three

Cut the individual sections of the design from different colored HTV. When I'm cutting a small section of HTV or vinyl from an entire sheet of vinyl, I always put a box around my design so that I save vinyl.

Cut your vinyl using the Expressions Vinyl Machine Settings Chart, and always do a test cut to ensure your settings are correct. Also, make sure that you load heat transfer vinyl shiny side down.

Step Four

Weed your vinyl. This just means that you remove the excess vinyl from around your design. Then cut the pieces of the design from the full sheets of vinyl.

Step Five

The last step to creating your neon tote is to iron on the design color section by color section. Use the Expressions Vinyl Heat Transfer Settings Chart to help make sure you iron the HTV using the correct settings. For my iron, I used the cotton setting with no steam. I covered the design with a thin pillow case, and using firm pressure, I ironed each section of the design for 15 to 20 seconds. Once the design was secure enough for me to remove the clear carrier sheet, I did so. I then put the thin pillow case back over the design and ironed once more until the design was completely adhered to my project. ***Please note that different types of HTV require different temperatures, etc., and every iron is different.*** When ironing this design that has been essentially cut into sections, line up the design very carefully. You may even need to cut pieces of the different sections apart when lining a section up with the section above it.

Neon Color Blocked Hand Lettered Tote Bag

I seriously love the neon rainbow of colors on this tote! Of course, now I want a t-shirt with this design on it. Wouldn't the design be pretty made with glitter HTV?!

There are so many possibilities with all the vinyl options from Expressions Vinyl! And now--the part of the post I'm sure you've been waiting on--you can enter to win a $50 gift card to Expressions Vinyl!