Unnecessarily complicated first sticker

I'm not good at choosing a simple project to learn the basics. We were trying out a multi-colored design on the vinyl cutter. I could've done something within an hour but instead ended up almost squeezing the project inside working hours. Did a little bit overwork. Carpoolers didn't appreciate.

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I've had this idea in mind that I decided to try on this design. I wanted to make a sort of mandala but so that I could sculpt it in Inkscape. I made a simple line and then cloned and rotated it many times over to create a circular pattern, that I could then sculpt by changing the original line. This was fun! I'm going to use it again definitely. (IDEA! try making a circular living hinge)

Since I didn't know the best way to separate the different colors for the cutter, I thought I would upload the whole pattern to Gimp, paint bucket the pieces and then take that picture and use Trace Bitmap to separate the areas. Well I could do that but at this point I heard I could just cut the whole pattern from all the colors and then take out the pieces I don't need. This means taking out all other colors from all three vinyls and then trying to get them to align with transfer paper. So that's what I went with even though it was tedious work. I could've used the left out pieces to make two more identical stickers but I simply didn't have the patience or the time to do that. That would've meant placing every single piece into place by hand, one by one. So I only got one sticker out of this and that's quite enough for now.

Now using Gimp to paint the sections actually helped to see what colors work together. I didn't find a good way to do that in Inkscape. Also it helped to have the picture open while working with the individual pieces.

After a long and concentrated ordeal I got all the pieces aligned on the same transfer paper. When picking up a new color I noticed it helped to have a light (i.e. your cellphone flashlight) under the vinyls to see through the transfer paper better. Also patience was useful. I noticed quickly that having a reference square further from the actual design helps more than having a small septagon shape next to the design.

Lastly I laser cut a round piece of MDF to stick the design on. I'm quite happy with the result, but I don't feel like making another one just yet. Some people on the internets pointed out a small triangle being the wrong color. So I still may have to make another one that is perfect..