I mentioned a couple days ago that my January Stamp Club theme was "love." The other project that we did last week used the Lots of Love Letterpress Plate.
Isn't it pretty?! I love the debossed background with the single "love" inked in Craft Ink. I saw this technique at Convention last year and it sold me on the Letterpress Plates!
I won't lie, the Letterpress Plate is a sometimes tricky tool to use. We were having some technical difficulties at Club (or more like it, instructor difficulties). You also need to use the right "sandwich" to achieve the best results. But you can get some super awesome projects with these plates!
If you follow some simple guidelines, I'm sure you will "love" this fun, new stamping tool! Be sure to read below to learn some very helpful tips for creating successful Letterpress projects. But first, let's talk about the card details.
Card Details: I used the Pink Pirouette Craft Refill Ink with a Sponge Dauber to ink one of the "love" words on the Lots of Love Letterpress Plate. I used Watercolor Paper, and a "sandwich" of the Crease Pad and a chipboard shim for the deepest impression (read more about this below).
The largest heart in the collage of hearts was created with the Filled With Love stamp set, stamped with Soft Suede on Very Vanilla, then punched with the Full Heart Punch. It is layered on a Rose Red card stock heart made with the Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit.
Smaller hearts were punched with the Heart-To-Heart Punch or Small Heart Punch. I used the Love Patterns DSP for the patterned paper hearts. The Itty Bitty Buttons heart is attached over one small heart with a Glue Dot. The Neutral Buttons are tied with Linen Thread and attached with a Glue Dot.
The sentiment is from Filled With Love, colored with Markers, and punched with the 3/4" Medium Oval Punch. I used the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Punch for a nice border.
The Watercolor Paper is layered on Rose Red card stock and the card base is in Soft Suede.
Now, let's discuss some helpful Letterpress Plate tips…
Which Paper Gives The Best Impression?
Papers that are the most fibrous and textured will provide the best debossed impression. Rough Watercolor Paper, which is what Stampin' Up! offers, is the best choice. Whisper White and Very Vanilla card stock has been "hot pressed" during manufacturing to make them smooth, and they are therefore not a good choice for this technique. For card stock, I would choose the Crumb Cake, Naturals Ivory, Naturals White, or Confetti Cream, because they have more rough fibers. Textured card stock also works very well.
Which "Sandwich" Gives The Best Impression?
The instructions that come with the Plate say to stack our Big Shot plates in this order: Multipurpose Plate opened to Tab 1, Letterpress Plate, Watercolor Paper, Standard Cutting Pad. After much experimenting, I've found that this only works well for the Watercolor Paper. If you add a chipboard shim (from the backing in the Designer Series Paper packs), then you'll get better impressions on the card stocks I suggested above.
For best results, I highly recommend using the Premium Crease Pad instead of the Cutting Pad. It's just a little bit more flexible, allowing the paper to crease that much more. If you add that chipboard shim, it works even better! The Crease Pad is sold separately, but it's great for getting deep score lines when die-cutting box templates, too.
TIP: Newer Cutting Pads and Crease Pads will give better results. The pressure is so great when your "sandwich" goes through the Big Shot, that you may find that your paper picks up lines from the cut marks on your pads.
Impression Comparisons
It may be difficult to see, but I wanted to show you what a mean about the differences between using different papers and different sandwiches. I was going to show the Whisper White card stock, but it worked so poorly, you wouldn't be able to see anything on it. Trust me—it doesn't work. Here are some examples (click to enlarge)
Let's start with the best: Watercolor Paper. Left is with regular Cutting Pad instructions, right is with Crease Pad plus a chipboard shim. The second is a much deeper impression—this paper works VERY well with either sandwich!
Textured card stock works second best, in my opinion. The left picture is with Cutting Pad only for a light impression; right is Crease Pad and shim for a nice, deep impression.
Crumb Cake card stock with Cutting Pad (left) and Crease Pad & shim (right). You'll get a light debossing with the Crease Pad, which looks nice.
This is Naturals Ivory card stock with the Crease Pad plus shim, and it works nicely, too. It was very similar to the Crumb Cake. I didn't bother with the Cutting Pad version by this time.
A couple of other examples I tried…inking another "love" word on Watercolor Paper, and using the Lots of Love Letterpress Plate with Textured card stock. Both are with the Crease Pad and shim.
Tips On Inking Your Letterpress Plate
These plates were made to mimic the old letterpress style of printing using thick block printing inks. The smooth surface of the plate will not accept Classic Inks—thicker Craft Inks will work best. To ink parts of your plate, like I did on this project, you can use the small Craft Stampin' Spots, or a Sponge Dauber dipped in some Craft Refill Ink.
TIP: You'll want to keep a baby wipe handy to clean up any ink that may have gotten on other parts of the plate during your ink application.
For inking your entire plate, it's best to use a Brayer for even application. Stampin' Up! no longer sells full-size Craft Pads, but you can make your own with the Uninked Craft Pad and a Craft Ink Refill color of your choice. Or, simply squirt out some Craft refill ink onto a flat non-porous surface (like a stamp case or Window Sheet) to create a palette.
Stampin' Up! Letterpress Plates Video Tutorial
I highly recommend watching the Letterpress Plates Video Tutorial by Shannon West at the Stampin' Up! YouTube Channel. She doesn't mention the Crease Pad, which I think is a must.
But, she does mention that when inking your paper you should always tape it in place so that it doesn't smear! This is very important, and my Club found out the hard way, because I didn't have them tape their Watercolor Paper down. Unfortunately, we got a lot of this:
As the paper runs through the Big Shot, it slips a bit, so if the paper is not taped into place, the impression happens a little bit after the inking—blurry image! I forgot about this part, and didn't figure it out until later. Instructor error that "ruined" many of the projects! I'm so sorry, Club Members! Eeeep! Lesson learned!
Other Too Cool Letterpress Samples
Well, I didn't want to leave on a bad "smearing" note, so here are a few awesome, and very successful, examples I found on Splitcoast Stampers:
Created by Susie Nelson using Brushed Gold Card Stock and the You're A Gem stamp set.
Created by Michele Rey using the Filled With Love stamp set and Dryer Sheet Technique. Cool!
Created by Linda Walsh with the Valentine Defined stamp set and new Rose Red Seam Binding.
Nikki Bond created this vintage anniversary card and I think this is my favorite! Isn't it beautiful! Love it!
See more examples at Splitcoast Stampers.
Until next time…
Angie
the detailed examples came out great
I love the Letterplate. I don’t own one yet but will. Your cards are beautful. Thanks for shariing.
Cathleen McSorley
I wasn’t sure exactly what Letterpress plates were so I watched Shannon’s tutorial. Really cool! And the cost for the plates is minimal. I thought they would cost more. I might have to try one out!