I am sooooo excited about this Letterpress stuff from SU! This was so easy. Let me show you what I did.First, I watched this video from Stampin' Up! on how to use their Letterpress plates with the Big Shot. (It's on YouTube, so it's not a super-secret Demo thing.) Then tonight, once all my craft ink arrived, I got to work.
SU sells blank (un-inked) craft pads, and they're fine if you want to ink a large plate all in the same color, but I wanted the equivalent of blank craft SPOTS (1" square mini ink pads). There's been some discussion on Splitcoast about buying them online, but they are felt, not foam. Felt is good for dye ink, but you need the foam for pigment ink.
Soooo, I remembered I had a sheet of this:
It's Cut-n-Dry from Inkssentials. I cut it into small pieces (about 1" square):
... then I applied some of my new Pacific Point Craft (pigment) ink to the center of it:
I tested it on the Northern Trim plate, and found I have a heavy hand and got it all over the plate in addition to the raised part. So the key is: use a light hand! Just dab it onto the raised design until it's all inked. Follow the sandwich directions that come with the plate and lookie:
My first try! Look how the pattern is debossed into the paper:
This is SU's watercolor paper, which is the closest thing we have to Letterpress paper. It is also supposed to work well with textured card stock.Since I used our pre-cut watercolor paper, I just planned to use it as a layer on my card. I cut some Pacific Point as the bottom layer, then stuck on the watercolor piece with dimensionals. Like I said, EASY:
I'm thinking packs of note cards for the holidays, hmmmm?Oh, did you notice? This is post 1000! Whoo-hoo! (The crowd goes wild!) What does this mean to you? It means I will have a giveaway! I WILL. That's as far as my planning has come. I will have a giveaway. And not just some cra ... er, stuff from the Captains Quarters. Nope, real paper pads and stamps and everything. I'd like to rig it so my faithful 3 (maybe 4) readers have the best chance of winning, and since I always use an unscientific, totally unfair selection process anyway, well, I'm just sayin'. :) Okay, I'd LIKE to rig it, but since I like to sleep at night, I'll do it the right way. I just don't want any hate mail, that's all.
So I'll get back with you on that once I have a clue.
Thanks for stopping by!
Beautifully letterpressed card! I'm IMpressed! Would you mind sharing the "sandwich" you used? I have some non-SU letterpress plates and haven't used them yet, 'cuz I'm a-skeered to break 'em...
ReplyDeleteAlso, even if you don't rig the giveaway so I win it, there will be no hate mail... Oops! I mean, even if you use "an unscientific, totally unfair selection process", there will be no hate mail...(from me, anyway!) Congrats on your milestone!
Hmmmm... SU Letterpress. That might actually be affordable. I avoided the other ones that came out because they were too pricey - plates, special ink, blah blah blah. But being able to use my Big Shot and ink I already have - booyah! I watched the video and I haven't seen the Holiday mini yet, but I hope it goes over well and they come out with more designs.
ReplyDeleteThis is fabulous and I too have some Cut -n-Dry I could use, just need to see if my SU friend is able to get these plates, she is getting stuff from the US now so all is looking good. The UK catty is sooooooooo tiny compared to yours :-(
ReplyDeleteCongrats on reaching your 1000 posts - whoop whoop!! and for keeping me sane, for most of the time, with them..lol!! I promise I'll act dumb to give the other 3 a fair chance, and save on your postage ;-D...
I should have known you would be the first of my friends to have a letter press! Beautiful job! And you know what? I have tons of cut n dry that has never been opened.
ReplyDeletecongrats on post 1000! and i can't wait to play with the letter press stuff :)....
ReplyDeleteSa-weeet. The letterpressed card is beautious. Have you ever tried swiping the ink on the inside of a CB folder (and if so, how does it compare to this)? Also, do you think using brayering craft ink refills onto the letterpress plate would work okay/better/worse than using the foam? I've drooled over the letterpress samples at the local hobby stores and was wondering how it would work with the Big Shot. Thanks for sharing. And congrats on post #1000!
ReplyDeleteLove the letterpress stuff - nicely done!
ReplyDeleteohh that is too cool. Lovely color too!
ReplyDeletePretty letter press card!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Leslie for sharing the spot alternative and your letterpress experience. In case you are still looking for foam spots here's a source I found online that's fairly cheap.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nedradenison.com/Gourd-Stamping-Craft-Supplies.htm
Hey!! That turned out super pretty, Leslie. Really like your idea of using it as a pack of notecards for the holidays, too. Just beautiful.
ReplyDelete