Archive for 2009
DIY Letterpress, Pt. 1
Hey DIYers,
As the L Letterpress has captured our attention, Lindsay Weirich at The Frugal Crafter blog has come up with a way to make similar debossing/letterpress set-up using her Big Shot die cutting machine, some masonite board, and duct tape. Ummm, can you all say ‘super smart’?! Thought so.
Courtesy of Lindsay Weirich
This is a neat idea for those who already have a die cutting machine and aren’t looking to add another with the Lifestyle Crafts machine or starter kit.
From Lindsay: When I saw the home letterpress kit from Lifestyle Crafts I was intrigued but I wasnt about to spent $150 on a whim especially since I had a die cutter and zillions of rubber stamps already, they also have a starter kit that has the contraption that you use the printing plates with, ink and paper for $70 but that is still a lot of money in my book. So I took an old plexiglass cutting pad from my Big Shot, a piece of Masonite and some duck tape and made this:
Lindsay's How-To Shots of her DIY Letterpress
To see exactly how Lindsay did it, please hop on over to her blog post. Please do give her a hello and a thanks for sharing her talents with us!
{Closed} Win A Copy of Southern Weddings Magazine
Update: The winners, chosen by the random.com integer doohickie thingamabobber, are commenters:
#16: # Kari
#5: # xoxo, C
#30: # Lauren M
Emails are on the way, gals. Because I’ve used such words as winner and giveaway in the body of the email, your spam filters may flag the email as spam. Please check your spam filters if you don’t receive your email this afternoon.
The fab gals at Southern Weddings magazine are offering a giveaway of a free copy of their brand new issue to 3 lucky DIY Bride readers. Just look at this cover! I think it’s one of the very best I’ve seen in all my years in the wedding industry. (I hear the inside is just as yummy.) Beauty, thy name is Southern Weddings.
For a chance to win a copy, just leave a comment below and we’ll chose three random winners on Friday, November 18th.
{Comments are now closed: winners to be announced on Saturday, 11/21}
More on the L Letterpress
The L Letterpress is now shipping; I have not yet received mine. A girlfriend of mine found hers in store at one of the big box craft stores – and used a coupon. Rock on!
Here’s a video demonstration of the L Letterpress in action:
Stay tuned for my tutorial on making your own plates! I’ve made plates for custom embossing and polymer clay projects. I’m just waiting for my supplies to come in so I can shoot step-by-step instrux.
Planning A Luxury Wedding? Let Martha Help You.
Martha Stewart Weddings has put together its first online Luxury Wedding Expo. Couples from all over the nation (and globe, really) will be able to attend the event without leaving home! How fabulous is that?
The Details:
WHO: Renowned wedding industry experts and premier vendors including bridal atelier owner Mark Ingram, event designer Matthew Robbins, etiquette expert Talley Sue Hohlfeld, Martha Stewart Weddings Style Director Katie Hatch, makeup artist Mary Curran and advisors from Lela Rose, Jennifer Salzman, Anne Barge, Tacori, Macy’s Wedding & Gift Registry, Delta Vacations and more.
WHAT: FREE, instant access to bridal industry experts and five digital floors of gorgeous dresses, jewelry, honeymoon destinations, registries and wedding-worthy prizes with the click of a mouse.
WHEN: Saturday, November 14 and Sunday, November 15, 2009
11 A.M. to 4 P.M. EST
WHERE: www.luxuryweddingexpo.com
MORE: Chat live with bridal experts and vendors and learn how to create a theme, choose a color palette, pick the perfect location, find the right gown, personalize a reception, register right, stick to a budget, and craft handmade touches all from the comfort of home.
Listing Information:
Saturday, November 14 and Sunday, November 15, 2009 – Attend the first FREE national digital Luxury Wedding Expo presented by Martha Stewart Weddings to chat with renowned experts for creative ideas and tips, while browsing booths from vendors like Lela Rose and Anne Barge to find the perfect gown and bridesmaid dresses – all without leaving home. Visit www.luxuryweddingexpo.com.
Editorial Director Darcy Miller has also put together a fabulous package for a bride-to-be (or any girl for that matter) that she is auctioning off online to benefit Martha Stewart’s Center for Living. Check out the link to bid and see below for a full list of all the goodies that could be yours!
http://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/104919?preview=1
Package is worth well over $10,000 and includes:
- Consultation with Darcy Miller and a tour of the Weddings department at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
- Honeymoon at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Mexico or the Caribbean (airfare included!)
- De Beers diamond necklace
- Silk gown from J. Crew
- Vera Wang bridesmaid’s/cocktail dress of your choice
- Papo d’Anjo flower girl dress
- La Perla lingerie
- Chanel Beauty Essentials
- Cleaning and preservation for your gown from J Scheer & Co
- Personalized engraved invitations from Martha Stewart Stationery for Crane & Co
- Two VIP tickets to a taping of The Martha Stewart Show weddings special
- Darcy Miller’s Our Wedding Scrapbook
- A signed copy of Martha Stewart’s Wedding Cakes
- Martha Stewart’s The Wedding Planner
- A collection of Martha Stewart Weddings DVDs
{Disclaimer: Martha Stewart Omnimedia is an advertiser on DIYBride.com. No compensation was collected for posting this invitation to their event.}
L Letterpress Update
Tony, the webmaster from Lifestyle Crafts, updated us today on a few questions our readers had about the machine
Lisa asked what printing plates the machine comes with:
@Lisa – I’m looking at the Letterpress packaging right now, and seeing that the printing plates include 3 shapes: two of which are kind of flower-like, and the other is kind of a thin, border-type flourish.
It also contains 5 phrases: “Happy Birthday” in a cursive font, “Thank You” in a sans-serif font, “I Love You” in a slightly serif font, “for you” in a bolder cursive, and “Hello” in the same font as “Thank You”.
Tonya wanted to know if the machine would be available at her favorite big box stores:
@Tonya – I have heard all three of these names tossed around the office quite a bit in Letterpress-relevant discussions. I would imagine that eventually all 3 will be carrying the tool, as it is planned to be available in large chain stores, although I don’t know what the plans are for it when it first is released.
And, finally, Tony volunteered the scoop on the delivery status:
The tool was delayed somewhat by the overseas manufacturer, but is scheduled to arrive here VERY soon, so be looking for this as a potential Christmas gift. I know I am strongly considering it for my wife.
Product Review Update: Epson Artisan 800
Back in February, I reviewed the Epson Artisan 800 printer. At the time I gave it a positive review and, admittedly, it was a really good printer – for a few months.
While I once loved this printer, it is now so problematic that I can no longer give it a recommendation. Here’s why:
- After less than a year of use, it is now completely unusable due to an error message that keeps popping up on the display screen. (It says to turn off the unit and restart it. I do; the error pops up again. Lather, rinse, repeat.)
- Constant paper jams. The paper tray feeder is exceedingly sensitive and paper jams are commonplace.
- Printing on cardstock is hit or miss. I’ve found that when I’m printing multiple pages of cardstock that sometimes it’ll accept a few pages of CS and then reject the next page for no discernible reason. It’s the same cardstock – no tears, wrinkles, or other things that may cause problems.
- Smudges, smudges, smudges. I spend a lot of time (and wasted ink) cleaning the print heads to get clear text prints on regular printer paper. I find that full-color photo prints get lines, streaks, and smudges in most print runs no matter what photo paper I use (fwiw, I use Epson’s own photo paper as suggested by the mfgr. and have tried other brands to no avail.)
- See the comments on the original review for others’ experiences with this printer.
For what the retail price is on this unit I expect better quality, especially from Epson whose products I’ve been very pleased with in the past. This one simply disappoints after less than a year in use.
Product Review: JIGster
As I often mention in these pages I am a hopeless gadget queen. If it’s new, bright and shiny I gotta get my hands on it because I’m always on the hunt for cool tools that make the lives of us creative (and not-so-creative) types much easier.
The swell folks at Envelopments sent me their new tool called JIGster. A jig, for those of you not familiar with the term, is a guide to help with exact placement of objects. In the case of the JIGster it helps invitation designers (that’s you!) perfectly align layers of paper/cardstock for each and every invitation you create.
I adore this tool. Seriously, this is on my top 10 list of all-time favorite craft tools. I create several hundred (thousands? yeah, probably) of layered invites, programs, menus, and other papery goodness every year so I can say with some authority how much trying to get uniform alignment really sucks. The JIGster made a recent project a total no-brainer and cut down production time significantly. My crafting minutes are very limited these days so that in and of itself made the tool totally rock in my book.
The JIGster allows you to create standard border widths (the amount of area showing between the edges of the layers) of 1/8”, 1/4”, 3/8” , 1/2”, 3/4”, and 1”. The unit itself is pretty compact, about 12″ x 12″, making it easy to store in your craft space. It’s made of heavy plastic, is easy to use, and will last forever.
The price for this baby is $69.95. In my estimation it’s well-worth the price for the quality, ease of use, and functionality. Buy here.
Check out a video of the JIGster in action.
{Disclaimer: Per FTC guidelines, it is my duty to mention that Envelopments sent me this product for review without charge. No money was exchanged for this review and the content of the review reflects my personal and honest opinion about the merits of the product.}
Real Problems: Vendor (Dis)Honesty
Real Problems is a spin-off from our Real Etiquette feature where we discuss real-life problems couples are facing as they plan their weddings. This is our first post in the series.
Dear DIY Bride,
My fiance and I recently met with a baker that we saw at a bridal fair. Her booth was busy on the day we went but we got a small sample of her cake and picked up a brochure that had some beautiful designs done by her company. Fast forward to a last weekend. We met with the cake lady in person. She was friendly and said that she could do all of the things we wanted for our cake. She had some good ideas and was enthusiastic about working with us. Then she handed us a scrapbook of her work.
Most of the cakes were pretty basic. Nothing wrong with that but I wasn’t seeing anything like what we were asking for. What bothers me most is there were a few cakes I recognized from some websites and magazines. I think she just copied and printed on photo paper to make it look like they were real shots of her work. (The reason I recognized one of those cakes is that I tore out the exact page from a magazine for my inspiration board.) To my fiances horror, I called her on it. The cake lady claimed that the magazine copied it from her and that she’s using their shot because it’s better than the one she had. It kinda sounds plausible. What do you think?
Trust your Spidey (bridey?) senses here. If you have reservations about the authenticity of a vendor’s claims, it’s probably best to move on. My understanding of your situation is the cake designer is using photographs of cakes that are not hers and is trying to pass them off as her creations. Yeah, that’s a big red flag.
Also, her portfolio isn’t reflecting the kind of work that you’re wanting. Not all cake designers can do every kind of cake. If she’s promising things outside of her normal skill set, you may want to reconsider. Do you want to be her cake test dummy? Finding out on the day of your wedding that she’s no good at intricate lacework (or whatever it is you’re seeking) is not a good idea.
Still confused? Hop on Google, Yelp and WeddingWire and do a search for your cake lady. It’s pretty easy to find reviews and background info on vendors. If you can’t find any info on her — and if she’s claiming to have done a significant amount of cakes or has been in business for more than a year — please be suspicious and act accordingly. You can also ask for a small sample cake of your design. It’ll cost you some cash but at least you’ll know what you’re in for.
Recycled Crafts Week: Call For Submissions
Hey DIYers,
I’ll be dedicating an entire week to wedding crafts that are made with recycled materials. This is something near and dear to my heart because I’m a packrat thrifty recycler who adores rescuing and re-purposing items.
I – and the entire DIY community – would love it if you shared your recycled projects with us for the showcase. Just send us your project details + pictures using the form below by October 23rd. (You can send project anytime, by the way! We love showing off the work of our talented readers.)
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