shortly after discovering letterpress and then being totally disappointed by the cost, i was able to find a place to do budget letterpress for the wedding invitations. i think they turned out very nice, but they are done on paper that isn't really meant for letterpress, so the impression doesn't really stand out. shortly after completing the invitations (by the way, i did layered invites -- 3 layers. which may not seem like a lot until you realize you have to actually stick them all together perfectly multiple times. more work than i initially thought), i found that there is a company that makes a home crafters version of a letterpress. so i immediately ordered it (
L Letterpress).
the reviews on the l letterpress aren't stellar, but this awesome place called Boxcar Press did a
nice review and included a number of tips that make a huge difference (like throw out the crap plates that come with it because they break, get a new brayer, etc.). i figured there was some piece of paper i could letterpress myself for my wedding.
i decided on making the menu cards for the reception, so i ordered a custom plate from Boxcar and within a few days, i had that plate in my hot little hands ready to go. so i got cards to print (i got the cards from Paper Source, which is also great. the cards themselves aren't really the greatest for letterpress because they aren't all that thick or fluffy so you don't see a huge impression), inked up my brayer and got to work...
and it was horrible! the ink bled no matter what i did and i ruined probably 15 cards. somewhat frustrated, i enlisted the help of the Interwebs to help me solve the problem. my primary issue was that i had used WAAAAAAAAAY too much ink. i missed the memo about using a very small amount and just assumed i need a crap ton. not true. you need very little ink. on the internet, people say the size of a pea. maybe an english pea - you know, the really tiny ones?
lesson 1: on ink - less really is more.
the other issue i had even with less is more ink was the brayer i bought from amazon. it is a speedball soft 6 inch brayer. i am no printing expert, but i cannot get this thing to ink correctly. even with very little ink, it doesn't hold it very well and ends up leaving a little pattern on whatever you're inking. which is so annoying. so i reverted to using the miniature brayer that comes with the kit. this one is very small, very low quality and harder than the speedball. that said, i was able to get much better results using it. it was very challenging to ink the plate because of it's size. today i went out and bought a similar hard brayer (only 4 inches since they didn't have 6 inches) and the results were soooooooo much better!
lesson 2: on brayers - i found the hard type work better. and definitely get a 6 inch brayer. jury is still out on the soft type, the one i got might just have been crap.
so after a bit of panic and trial and error, things are looking up. i have printed out all the menu cards. they all have little flaws - heavy ink in places, lighter in others - but they are handmade! and my first project.
for my next project (probably thank you cards or personal stationery), i am going to get some of the nice crane lettra paper. it's thick and made out of cotton (no trees!!) and works really well (apparently) for showing off the letterpress impression.
pictures to follow...
