In the nick of time for St. Patrick's Day, Rachel at Benign Objects has whipped up these festive printable labels. Stick them on bottles of ale or root beer, and you're golden.
Well, folks, I got back on the proverbial horse and tried the L Letterpress again (see yesterday's post here). And a happy customer service report: the company is going to send over a replacement set of the basic plates that came with the machine. Excellent.
Here are my results from today's test. These are all the prints I did; there aren't 50 messed-up ones I'm not showing you. Not bad, right? I avoided the plates that looked curved or warped, which had made it hard to get the roller into some of the low spots without getting too much ink on the higher spots. The plates I tried this time from the Damask set were all flat, which made inking them easier. And I'm pleased to report that the black and purple inks dried quickly.
The only little mishap was that after running the fleur-de-lis through the machine once, I noticed it developed a crack at the top. Maybe the blind monkeys meddled with it when my back was turned? The crack didn't seem to affect the second print, though.
The patterned print was my favorite—it came out flawless both times. Click any of the photos of prints to see them larger. I uploaded an extra-large version of this last photo so you can see the printing more clearly.
A lovely discount from Lifestyle Crafts
Here's good news for those of you interested in getting your own Epic Letterpress and Die Cut machine: from now until March 22nd, enter the promo code BLOGORANGE to get 20% off purchases at lifestylecrafts.com.
The folks at Lifestyle Crafts recently sent over a complimentary Epic Letterpress and Die Cut machine to try out and review. I received the Epic Combo Kit, plus a few different sets of plates, extra ink, paper, and cleaning cloths. I was eager to see what kind of results the letterpress would yield, since I go rather bonkers for deliciously textured designs pressed into thick paper. 
I opened up the packages, including the plastic printing plates that came with the combo set. "That looks like trouble," I thought when I saw how warped they were. It's been over ten years since I've applied ink to anything with a brayer—I did a bit of block printing in college—but it seemed like rolling ink onto a bent piece of plastic would be challenging.
I selected a couple plates and secured them to the hinged lid with the provided adhesive stickers. Then I positioned a small card on the bottom board and added the foam placement guides so I could print multiples. 
A test without ink seemed like a good idea, so I closed the lid and ran the thing through the machine. (I forgot to take a picture of that part, so pretend there's a business card and some plates under the clear lid in the photo above.)
Here's the result. Pretty nifty! Kind of wish I couldn't see the bottom edge of the plate under that "y," but I can deal. Let's get out the silver ink.
Rolled it out a bit in one direction, then the other, until it was nice and even on the brayer. Carefully applied the ink to the plates, and...
Ew, yucky. As I suspected, rolling ink onto plates that aren't quite flat is very tricky. I wiped the ink off and tried again. Rats. All the cards looked like they were made by a blind monkey. (Click any of the photos of prints in this post to view larger.)
Next I tried an all-over pattern on a bigger piece of paper stock that came with the machine. The print is much better because this plate was flat, but holy smokes. That paper must be much thicker than the smaller cards, because it used every bit of arm strength I had to crank it through. Granted, my arm muscles are virtually nonexistent, but I didn't expect it to be that hard. I had to crank in quarter turn increments while struggling to hold down the machine with the other hand, and I was constantly afraid I'd break off the handle. But all was well! The print looks good.
Let's try another one. This "thank you" plate was warped too, but I managed to get a seemingly even layer of ink on it. Lovely! But as I lowered the clear hinged cover, the plate fell off because the adhesive wasn't making contact in enough areas to keep it stuck to the lid. I reattached it and held it on with my fingernails while I closed the lid. 
The result was a pretty good print. 
After looking at the print more closely and cleaning off the plate, I see the "o" and "u" have little divots in the plastic, causing tiny flaws in the print.
If you're not a crazy perfectionist like me, this probably won't bother you. The photo at the top of this post shows the card I put together with a couple of the prints and some orange masking tape. It's respectable. But as for me, I think I'd rather leave the letterpressing to the pros since the struggle outweighed the fun. For another review and some excellent tips on getting the most out of the L Letterpress (including using better printing plates), see this post by Boxcar Press, a commercial letterpress shop.
P.S. A note about silver ink: 24 hours after making these prints, the ink wasn't completely dry and came off on my fingers. 48 hours later later it's improved, but I can still rub off silver ink from the patterned card. I suspect this is related to the particular pigments used in silver inks and paints. See this post about another non-drying silver paint experiment. I'm reasonably sure other non-metallic inks won't have this problem, however.
P.P.S. I gave it another go! See the results of my next letterpressing attempt here.
I've made up some free mailing labels featuring our friends the squirrels. (You might remember them from this ribbon.) To get the labels, click this link to the PDF file. It might take a second for the file to download, and it might look peculiar in your browser window, but don't be alarmed. Save it to your computer, then open those squirrels in Adobe Reader (free right here if you need it). Type in your addresses and print away.
The labels also use a bit of Hannes von Döhren's font, Reklame Script, which I mentioned on Wednesday. Apparently enough of you downloaded the free demo version that you caught the attention of Mr. von Döhren, who is now offering an excellent deal just for How About Orange readers.
From now through Sunday, April 10, enter the discount code HOWABOUTORANGE at checkout to get the entire Reklame Script family at 50% off—that's all four weights for $49.50 instead of $99. Nice!
Get the demo version of Hannes von Döhren's Reklame Script, a font resembling 1940s hand lettering, for zero dollars. What's demo about it, you ask? It doesn't have punctuation characters, unlike the full version. But if you'd like to try it out on headlines (or can cheat and make your own period or comma), it's fun to play with. Get it here at MyFonts.com, or purchase the regular version for just $30.
I just received samples of the retro flower jacquard ribbon I designed for J Caroline. It's like a little pile of spring on my table.
These are available by the yard at Fat Quarter Shop, or get 25-yard rolls at J Caroline Creative.
I had a couple little scraps left over from stiffened fabric projects, and after fiddling with them, I noticed they'd easily make tiny bows. Which I attached to paper clips because... I don't know why. These could work as bookmarks, on wedding invitations, Valentines, etc. Or attach the bows to hair clips for little girls or pencils for bridal shower games.
I used fabric scraps, stiffener, large paper clips, a scissors, an iron, twist ties (or wire), and a hot glue gun.
Apply stiffener to your scraps (learn more here) and iron them flat. Cut three pieces for each bow in roughly these sizes:
Bow: 4.5" x 0.75"
Tails: 3.5" x 0.75"
Center band: 1.5" x 0.25" 
Form the longest strip into a loop, overlapping the ends generously. Then pinch down at the center to form a bow shape. The nifty thing about the stiffened fabric is that the edges won't fray, and it will keep its shape as you bend it around. If you don't like the bow you made, iron the fabric flat and start over.
Pinch the "tail" strip in the center the same way. Yank it around some and show it who's boss.
Then attach the bow to the tails using a piece of wire. I cut the green paper edges off twist ties I'd once pilfered from the grocery store. Worked great. Twist the wire tightly to secure it and clip off the excess.
Use the tiny remaining strip of fabric to attach the bow to the paper clip. Trim it as needed and wrap it around the bow and clip, and securing it with a bit of hot glue.
Trim the tails to the length you like.
Impulse purchase alert! I have a bit of a coaster fetish—not because I care about my furniture, but because I adore functional items that somebody bothered to design well. So of course I couldn't resist these funny cork coasters shaped like toast. They even came in a plastic bag secured with a twist tie, just like a real loaf of bread. Available here at the MoMA store.
Here's a round up of DIY tutorials for handmade things, because looking at them is almost as satisfying as making them. If you can sew, that is. Non-crafty types might find "just looking" plenty satisfying, as attempting to reproduce them might cause hair loss and cursing. Been there. Done that.
Crocheted flowers by The Adventures of Bluegirlxo
Appliqued pillow at Fiskars
Retro apron at Sew4Home
Tea wallet by Handmade Therapy
Gathered potholder by Prudent Baby
Zipper brooches at Craft Stylish
The retro Fliqlo clock screensaver has been around for years. Time to install it on my computer, I thought, in hopes that maybe Don Draper would materialize along with it. No luck yet. To download it, click the Fliqlo floppy.
The folks behind Lovely Package have launched a spin-off called Lovely Stationery, a blog curating the best in business card, letterhead, and envelope design. Many projects feature delicious die cutting, embossing, foil stamping, and all sorts of expensive finishing no one can afford. Head over there and dream a little.
After washing all the dishes late last night and cleaning up the mess, all that's left of our Oscars shindig is a cupcake stand and plastic martini glasses to take apart and pack away.
That and a bunch of Black Swan dinner leftovers, including cupcakes, black olive tapenade and goat cheese, tortilla chips, black bean and white cheddar soup, chocolate mousse, and a pitcher of white chocolate martinis. Alex left on a business trip today, so what's a girl to do but drink the whole thing herself? I wonder what time is too early to start. 
This chair is wearing Alex's new do-it-yourself tuxedo t-shirt for our Oscars party. It's the reverse of last year, when I printed the tux graphic in black on our inkjet and ironed it onto a white t-shirt. This year I happened to have some white flocked iron-on material, so I cut the pieces with my Silhouette cutter and applied them to a black t-shirt. My white stuff was only 9" wide, so it still required cutting out the graphic in two separate pieces. But if you don't look too closely, you can't see the splice. Get the tuxedo template here.
I can't help it; I love the Oscars. Maybe because it's a good excuse to have a party, or maybe because I like looking at pretty dresses. If you're an awards show fashion buff, you might enjoy this Oscars dress quiz at the Sydney Morning Herald. Or take this quiz about Academy Awards fashion blunders at PopSugar.
While Googling for labels this morning, I came across these adorable little items at The Nimbus Factory. The set was originally posted for Valentine's Day, but several of them will work year round. Get the PDF downloads here and here.
Here's a less pointy variation of the magazine gift bow. I used the yellow pages this time.
Cut 1" wide strips from pages removed from a phone book. Stacking several sheets and slicing them lengthwise with a paper cutter or rotary cutter is quickest. If you are one of the three people who still use the yellow pages, make sure you don't remove any sections you might need someday, like Clowns or Paternity. (Yes, those are real.)
Cut 5 or 6 full-length strips, depending on how full you'd like the bow to be. Cut 4 strips that are 3" shorter. Save one of the leftover short ends to use in the center of the bow.
Form each strip into an "eight" shape, securing the ends in the center with tape. (The photo above shows five shorter loops, but I ended up using only four.) Make a loop with one of the 3" leftover ends.
Arrange the longer pieces evenly to form a circle and staple it in the center. Swinging open the stapler helps position it without squashing the loops.
Repeat with the shorter set of loops. Then layer the smaller piece on top of the larger piece and staple them together in the center. Attach the single loop to the center with a piece of double-stick tape.
Felt & Wire Shop is a curated online marketplace with papergoods from designers, printers, bookbinders, and artists. Find gift wrap, greeting cards, notebooks, art prints, and more! Among my favorites are Fox wrapping paper by INK+WIT, the quirky letterpressed Portraits print from Pistachio Press, and PaperPhine's useful paper twine.
Giveaway details
Felt & Wire Shop would like to give a $100 online shopping spree to one lucky How About Orange reader. To enter, leave a comment on this post mentioning one of the items you'd gladly toss into your cart. Be sure to include a link, email address, or other way of contacting you.
The giveaway closes Thursday, Feb. 24 at midnight CT. A winner will be randomly drawn, announced on Felt & Wire's Facebook page the next day, and notified.
Update: The giveaway is closed. Congratulations to Heather, commenter #803, winner of the shopping spree! Hey, that rhymes.
Small paper mushrooms have sprouted on my desk. Each is folded from a quarter sheet (a 75 mm square) of origami paper. I used a hole punch to cut out spots and attached them with a dot of glue. What am I going to do with these? No idea. But they're cute. Get folding instructions here at Origami Club.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
