Creating Customized Family Names Knock Out Style

I have a project that great for housewarming gifts, wedding gifts, shower gifts, etc that recipients are awed by and just love! So, let's get started. 

I'm using Silhouette Studio software for this project. It is one of the strongest but underpromoted designing software available. You can use the free basic version for this project, but you get more bang for your buck with the Designer version of the software. It's a one time fee for this version between $29 and $49...no monthly or yearly renewal. It's worth it's weight in gold. 

First thing I'm going to do, using BFC Garden Tomato font that I got from the Silhouette Design Store. I'm going to type out the family's last name, all in capitals, and size it accordingly. It is a little thinner than I like, so I'm going to offset it by 0.080 to fatten it up a little but still keep the characteristics of it. Then, I delete the original name. I add fill color to my fonts to make them easier to see and it helps me get a better picture of what my finished design is going to look like

            

                            

Next we have to pick a font for the different family member's names. Since I've used a sans serif font for the last name, I'll be picking a simple script font for each family member's name. I chose Autunn Vintage and got this font from CreativeFabrica. I typed the names together with a space between each and did it in lower case. I just like the way it looks against the capital letters of the last name. I add fill color to the font. 

              

I then place the font over the top of the last name and use the align tool to align the names centered, vertically and horizontally with the last name. Although it looks great. The names don't stand out and make them hard to see. So...this is where "knock out" technique comes into play. We are going to add space and take it away from the last name so that you can better see the family member names. 

                

You' are now going to put an offset around the family name. The offset I used was 0.075. I think it is just enough to give the names pop but not take away too much of the last name so you won't be able to read it. I've colored the offset in red and grouped the offset together. I then pulled the family names away from both the offset and the last name. 

                 

Now we select both the last name and the offset. We choose the subtract all tool (found in the modify panel). You won't initially be able to tell anything happened, until you pull away the offset. We don't need the offset anymore, so I'm just going to delete it. 

               

Now move your family names back over the last name. You'll see that it fits like a puzzle.

               

Now I'm going to add their establish date on the bottom. Now my design is ready to cut. 

               

And here's the reveal of my finished project. What do you think? 

        

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you found this tutorial helpful. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need additional information.
If you like this post, please share it with a crafty friend and please share it on Pinterest, so others can find it. If you are on Facebook, I would love for you to check out my page and join my crafting Facebook group! In the FB group I like to share freebies, tutorials, and help with troubleshooting, etc. The group's members are super nice and like-minded. We all really enjoy fellowship and crafting fun. Hope to see you there! 

Until the next time we meet. Happy Crafting!

Julie 💕 

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