Etching With Silhouette Cameo + A Troubleshooting Tip

I finally got to have some fun with my Silhouette tonight!  I tried something new and made vinyl stencils to etch glass.  My mom gave me these ramekins that came with a frozen creme brulée from Costco (yes, it was delish).  I wanted to put a cute message on the bottoms, sort of a little surprise when you finish your treat. 

I picked up some etching cream a little while back, it's called Armour Etch (affiliate link) - it's the only one Hobby Lobby had. You just put a stencil on your etching surface and then put the cream on to etch the exposed parts.  I had to look up instructions which said to leave it on for only a few minutes, but people from a Silhouette Facebook group that I belong to said they leave it on for 30-minutes or overnight so that's what I did. 

I used my Silhouette Cameo to make vinyl stencils (affiliate link). I made a circle the size of the bottom of the ramekins. Then I placed the design in the circle and cut. Since I etched the bottom of the dishes, I had to flip/reverse/mirror the design so it would print backwards. When you stick the vinyl stencil on the bottom, it reads correctly from the inside.  

It wasn't as easy as it sounds. I had some trouble cutting some of the letters and I finally figured out that there were lots of intersecting lines in the font I was using (it's called Honey Script). So I had to Weld the letters together to get rid of the intersecting lines. 

But that didn't solve my problems. I played with some other settings before I finally just put in a new blade and - poof! - it cut perfectly. It shouldn't be so tricky to get a clean cut, so if you're in doubt, try a new blade.  Here's is before and after the new blade:

Then weed the lettering (the positive space).

Lift off the stencil with transfer tape (I reused the same piece for each stencil).

And apply it to your surface - mine is going on the bottom of the ramekin.

See how it reads correctly from the inside?

I applied the cream with a chop stick. It's supposed to be thick so I just dripped it on and pushed it around. I would check it after a bit and push it around some more because my surface was just slightly dipped in the center so the cream wanted to slide.  Easy peasy. 

For a few of the ramekins I left the cream on for a half an hour, some for a few hours, and the rest overnight.  It didn't really make a difference.  Then you just rinse and peel the stencil off.