# Does this design look okay?



## diana13t (Mar 11, 2009)

Hi all, I was given this design in a .pdf format and the boots part is driving me crazy. I don't know if it looks okay or not....those pesky stars on the boots. I've been staring at the thing for so long that I thought I'd get your expert feedback .

If you see something that I should change, please let me know.


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## jnpgram (Feb 8, 2009)

I think it looks great. Good Job !!!


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## diana13t (Mar 11, 2009)

thanks, i just couldn't tell if the top of the boots looked okay or the boots at all for that matter, lol.


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## baddjun1 (Aug 5, 2009)

You kidding? That is a great looking design!


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## DivineBling (Sep 14, 2010)

Diana, that design looks AMAZING! GREAT JOB! But I know exactly how you feel! You stare at a design for so long that pretty soon the circles start to run together and you lose all perspective after awhile! You seriously did a really great job and your customer is going to be thrilled!!!


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## diana13t (Mar 11, 2009)

lol, you're exactly right Stephanie, it just looked like a big blob after a while. Thanks for all the kind words. It's one thing to create you're own designs, which I've been doing for a little while but it's another thing when you're using someone's logo or design.

Well then I'll go ahead and send it off, thanks for making me feel better about it.


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## DivineBling (Sep 14, 2010)

Too funny! I'm the opposite! I get more logo design requests than anything so whenever I get the chance to just play and make something on my own it's kind of daunting! 
I started playing with a few new designs on my own last night though and was having so much fun! I even threw up a couple of them for free giveaways on my Facebook page this morning because I don't want to just sit on samples!


Sent from my iPhone using TShirtForums


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## diana13t (Mar 11, 2009)

Thanks Pony, most of mine are sports related but here's a few:

Please no one yell at me for the Batman one. I would NEVER sell it, I made it for my niece for Christmas. One, because she loves Batman and two, because I wanted to practice working with fill especially with rounded areas.


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## dapper (Jul 27, 2010)

I like them all, the earth day design is my favorite...


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## foot print (Jun 2, 2010)

WOW..!!! you got the skills to pay the bills...


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## TheDecalWorld (Jan 18, 2009)

Those look awesome Diana! Great work! Bet you have some happy customers.


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## leapoffaith (Nov 8, 2009)

The boots look perfect and your other designs are fabulous too!


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## BlingItOn (May 29, 2008)

The design looks great...if you want the stars to be more clear you could always add two sliver nailhead stars to that area and omit the rhinestones.


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## CyberSultan (Aug 25, 2008)

diana13t said:


> Hi all, I was given this design in a .pdf format and the boots part is driving me crazy. I don't know if it looks okay or not....those pesky stars on the boots. I've been staring at the thing for so long that I thought I'd get your expert feedback .
> 
> If you see something that I should change, please let me know.


I really like this design! Great job!!


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## heattransfers (Aug 5, 2009)

you are so good at making the artwork. Very nice!


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## sjidohair (Apr 9, 2008)

Very nice,,, 
Custom Rhinestone work, is much harder than sitting and creating your own designs,, 

When you get into a area that just does not seem to work,, walk away and come back with Fresh eyes,, and it will come to you.

Most everyone of us Rhinestoners are totally perfectionists,

You did great,, love to see everyone elses designs,, 
Sandy jo
MMM


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## Amandazon247 (Dec 2, 2010)

Looks awesome


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## allhamps (Mar 15, 2007)

I'm a little late to the thread, but I agree with BlingItOn. I would not try to do the stars in stones, but would place a single star shape on the boots where required. However, instead of using the metal studs, I would use a crystal shaped star instead, so that you don't break the overall "bling".

Even still, it's a great design


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## PlumCrazyGlitz (Jul 26, 2010)

Really nice design.. I agree, I would use the star shaped crystals.


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## Tribble (Jan 5, 2011)

Given the original, I think you did well with it. It's a tough one. I wouldn't have thought they were stars until you pointed it out, and I saw the original, but in context (in their Saloon), it'll be clear enough.


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## ccolors1 (Jan 16, 2011)

diana13t said:


> Hi all, I was given this design in a .pdf format and the boots part is driving me crazy. I don't know if it looks okay or not....those pesky stars on the boots. I've been staring at the thing for so long that I thought I'd get your expert feedback .
> 
> If you see something that I should change, please let me know.


That is beautiful!!...how long have you been stoning?


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## ejfuentz (Aug 12, 2009)

The boots look nice to me-great design!


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## diana13t (Mar 11, 2009)

Thanks everyone. That's a great idea to use the star shaped stones but I only have a 2 hopper cams machine and it does not do shapes. They are going to want 80 transfers starting out and I couldn't imagine having to hand set them myself. Maybe some day I'll be lucky enough to have the 6 hopper that can do shapes. If it was a smaller amount, maybe I'd do it.

Ccolors, I purchased my rhinestone software (DAS) and cutter in May of 2009 but didn't really start to use it until Sept of that year. I had no idea what I was doing and had to learn the rhinestone and Corel Draw software at the same time. I was also doing embroidery which at the time was my main business. I mostly did single line fonts and outlines of designs for a very long time, then in August of 2010 I decided to sell my embroidery machine and focus on the rhinestone side. I got in with my son's school and had one of the parent's who teaches at another school ask me to make some shirts. Well that led to her taking orders for me from all the teachers which was awesome. Then one of those teachers also taught at another school and so on and so on. So within 2-1/2 months I was in 5 different schools just by word of mouth from teachers. So at first I was still only showing them basic designs but then around mid September I had so much work and was making everything using the stencil material, I never got any sleep and had to do something. So I purchased the Cams 1v-2p, learned their software (which sucks) and watched some of DAS' more advanced rhinestone webinars and somehow it all started to come together. So I decided to start challenging myself and working more with fills by late November. So really from late Nov 2010 to now, I've really tried to offer designs with fills. I was VERY slow at first and still am to a degree. But I know my software better and ways to trick it or manipulate sections of designs to get more of the results I'm wanting automatically. 

Well that was probably way more than you wanted to know, but I just think forcing yourself to go for it really pays off. By the way, I always give the person taking orders for me a free shirt if they get 10 or more orders (or sometimes if they get less if they take orders multiple times for me). I also do not charge the teachers as much as I would normal retail no matter how many shirts are ordered.


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## JAF (Oct 12, 2008)

Very nice design Diana. Thanks for sharing them with us.


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## allhamps (Mar 15, 2007)

Diana, your story sounds so typical of of how I progressed. Still wish I could have gotten that cams, though for the speed. I agree it seems daunting to hand place about 300 stars, but when you look at the overall picture, and the time you have saved by having the machine produce the transfers, and the increase in your overall productivity, hand placing 300 stars is a breeze. I often do designs where I have to hand place some special shapes after the transfer comes off the machine. I try to keep the shapes to a minimum, and save that kind of thing for my "quiet down" work, where I just need an hour to sit and stop moving.

It still amazes me how rhinestones have seemed to explode, and how well the "word of mouth" method is working. Keep on stoning, and soon you will need that 6-hopper machine


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## yssemhair (Jan 22, 2009)

Excellent work!!!


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## sjidohair (Apr 9, 2008)

Diana, 
Can you give us any more info on the Cams 1v-2p machine?
Thanks


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## BML Builder (Jul 8, 2008)

Great work and great story. I agree, it is simply amazing how the bling business has exploded!!


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## diana13t (Mar 11, 2009)

sjidohair said:


> Diana,
> Can you give us any more info on the Cams 1v-2p machine?
> Thanks


I have the 1v-2p machine and I LOVE it. It has two hoppers which means you can only use two colors and/or size combinations. I have done 3 and 4 color/size designs but I won't go any higher than that...or I'll charge a lot more. When I use more than 2 size/color combinations, I use a cheap hand vac to vacuum out the stones from the hopper to change stones and finish out the design. You HAVE to complete the design before doing the next, so if you have a large run of a design with 3+ colors/size, it can slow you down a bit. 

Some people argue that doing it by templates is faster, but I work by myself and I can have designs running while I do other things. I just have to put new transfer tape down each time a design is done and add more stones when the hoppers get low. I also save money not having to buy the stone stencil material and I can cut the transfer tape to the exact size needed if I want. I can also run several designs at one time if they are using the same colors/size. Also, I don't have to cut stone stencil material to do a custom name or have to store all those templates. 

There are stones that get set upside down sometimes so I just have to use tweezers to flip them, but it doesn't happen all the time. You do have to buy different wheels for the different sized stones. I use ss6 and ss10 all the time so I purchased 2 of each and then I bought 1 ss16 wheel. But you can always buy more later if you find you need more sizes. You also have to buy an air compressor. Do NOT buy the one Mesa tries to sell you, it's junk and of course they've doubled the price of it. I found a great one at Lowe's with a larger tank and a LOT quieter for a lot less money. You'll have to add a timer device that pulls the condensation out of the air tank into a bucket. You'll also need to buy 1 or 2 filters to trap the condensation before it gets to the Camms machine. It has 3 on the back, but I bought a small and large filter that traps all the condensation before it gets to the machine. Condensation can ruin your machine so this is very important. Then you just have to keep the machine clean, and oil two spots once in a while and it's good to go. 

I have been very happy with the machine. The two downfalls (if you can call them that) is it only has the two hoppers and the largest the design can be is about 11-3/4" x 9-3/4". I have gotten around the size thing by sometimes slitting my design in half. But I've only had to do this a couple of times because most designs fit just fine on the platten.

Oh, also the GemMaster software sucks, but I create most designs in DAS and do a few little tricks to bring it into the GemMaster software so it can communicate with the machine.

Over all I love love love my machine and would some day love to own the larger one !!!

Please feel free to ask any other questions.


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## sjidohair (Apr 9, 2008)

Diana ,

Thanks I am pricing machines now,, and at the DAX minneaplis show was able to get some hands on with this machine,

And i was told the compressor would be 1000-2500, so thank you for that info.

Really checking these machines and the crystal press II

before i purchase.
thank you very much
Sandy jo


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## diana13t (Mar 11, 2009)

My air compressor was around $320 give or take and the two filters and the condensate release timer was about another $200 - $250. And it was all much better quality. 

The first compressor I had I purchased from Mesa and it died on me right away and was VERY loud. They were great and replaced it for free, but the replacement compressor didn't even work and we didn't realize it until after they left. So I told them to pick it up and refund my money...which they did!!! Tech support is always real nice, although I've only needed to use them twice since I bought my machine in September 2010 for minor issues.

I had first considered the Crystal Press but I'm very glad I went with the Cams. Although I don't know anything about the Crystal Press II. When I compared the two, the Cams machine was MUCH faster and it's a true work horse. I thought about the portability of the CP, but as slow as it was, it would take forever to do custom tees and it would be faster to just cut template material in most cases. 

If I ever start to do trade shows or on locations events, I think I might buy some sticky flock material and pre-cut different sized/font letters OR I might run off different sized letters/fonts with my Cams machine and just creat names from individual letters..... haven't decided on that one yet.


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## allhamps (Mar 15, 2007)

Great info Diana. Your info should be very helpful to those who are comparing the smaller cams and the CPII. I too was looking at the smaller cams and the Crystal Press II. I went with the CPII instead of the cams for the following reasons:

Price - at the time the cams was around $15k and the CPII was $6k
Compressor issues - I don't know a thing about compressors and the thought of having to "maintain" one and avoid condensation was a little bit beyond me at the time. My basement is very damp and it will be about another year before I get new space, so I didn't want to complicate things.
Space/Noise - again, I'm tucked in a VERY tight corner (used to be bathroom) of the basement, and with no place to put that compressor, I think my Husband would have put me out
Design Size - about 1/2 of all the designs I do are larger than the available working size on the cams.
The CPII has been fine for me, because like you, it's just me, and I needed a 2nd pair of hands to do transfers while I did something else. The cams does have better speed though and that I miss. The CPII, however, is still a better deal than cutting template material unless you have to. I too still design all my stuff in DAS and convert it to be sent to the CPII for cutting. I've never really taken the time to work through the software.

In any event, I am glad you got a machine to help you work. My goal is to go for the large CAMS. I'll figure out where to put it later, but I've been able to stash away a good sum so far towards getting one


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## diana13t (Mar 11, 2009)

That's awesome slick. Yes, you do need someplace to put the compressor but the maintenance really isn't that big of a deal. We are in the process of moving into a two story house and I'm going to put the compressor in the garage but my office will be upstairs. So I'm going to have my husband drill a hole through the 1st story ceiling and up into my office, lol. In our old house, I had it sitting in our kid's bathroom because it was close to my office. Luckily our kids are younger so I didn't have teenagers raggin on me about that. Plus I did get a really great price on the cams machine when I was looking and it was just a bit higher than the CP. I think either machine would be great especially if you are a one woman/man show. And both machines have their pros and cons. But I'm glad you have something to help you out as well. Good luck with saving for the Big Dog!!!! I have a long way to go before I can get it .


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