Here is my latest crafty project! Last week HSN had a great deal on the L Letterpress starter kit. I have been looking at getting this for awhile and finally took the plunge with the price, bundle, and free shipping. The kit came with the basic starter kit that they sell in the stores, but also included additional printing plates, inks, and papers.
I don't own the Epic Six but have a Big Shot (the old Ellsion version). I read on a number of blogs that the L Letterpress would work on the BigShot, and after a few trials and errors I think I got the hang of it.
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| BigShot with the Letterpress plate |
After reading a number of blogs, looking at the Lifestyle Crafts website, and watching the video on the HSN website I learned a few tips. When inking up the brayer on the acrylic plate you don't need to use much a ink at all. It literally felt like a drop, I didn't think it it would be enough, but a little goes a long way.
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| Ink on the acrylic block |
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| Ink on the actual printing press shape |
And here is my very first print.
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| Not too bad |
After a couple of reinking and prints I noticed that there was some smudging and noncrisps lines. I think what was happening is that there was ink getting on the extra adhesive that remains after applying the adhesive sheets to the back of the printing shape plates. You may notice it above. After I removed all the adhesive and only put some in the center of the die it seemed to work better.
Also while using the Big Shot I felt that the Letterpress plate alone did not leave much of an impression, so I added a chipboard shim, one seemed to be enough, and two seemed to be too much.
I made a total of 8 cards, four of each design. I will be giving these to a close friend for her birthday tomorrow night, an easy and nice gift I was able to pull together.
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| Really like the damask background |
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| The other four cards |
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| Wrapped with a ribbon |
Overall I really like the L Letterpress. I don't have all the kinks worked out, and I feel like there is a learning curve. I was a little frustrated in the beginning because it wasn't working as smoothly as I thought. But I tried to remember this is how I felt when I first started using the YuDu. And I have come to love that machine.
So if I would say if you have been on the fence, find a good deal and take the plunge.
Thanks for stopping by, and please leave a comment or become a follower if you like. Till next time....
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