Hey Crafty Peeps,

DIYer Ashley is in search of a Print Gocco machine.

As many of you know, Riso discontinued selling the Gocco in the US. Machines are hard to find and the accessories are now starting to become scarce.

Here’s part of my reply to Ashley:

Oddly enough eBay seems to be the most reliable source in the US for all models of Gocco. Some other places that carry machines that I know of:

Paper Source used to sell the larger unit online. I’ve recently seen them in store and they do have some supplies online. http://paper-source.com

http://www.printaddict.net/ has a few of the larger units.

http://lettersandprint.com/ might still have some left.

The Australian distributor has stuff for sale: http://www.nehoc.com.au/

Do you have any other sources with machines in stock?

I have a storage problem and I’m calling on you, my clever readers, for ideas.

I have about 2 dozen rolls of paper (wrapping paper, handmade papers, large sheets of paper) that I can’t figure out how to store. They were standing upright in a large vase in a corner of my last apartment. That’s just not going to work in the new space.

The underbed storage boxes aren’t going to work for me.  Wall-mounting might work but I can’t visualize doing that for 24+ rolls. Any other suggestions that’ll protect the papers and keep them accessible to me for crafting projects?

Hi DIYers,

A couple of reader questions have come in that I can’t fully answer and I thought it’d be best to turn this over to you, the ever-resourceful DIY Bride community.

• Mary is looking for custom embossers and custom stamps. I know Wilshire Graphic Press comes highly recommended for embossers. Any others you can suggest? For custom stamps I go to Impress but I know there are many others. Have you had a great experience with other custom stamp services? Let us know!

• ryansbaby is looking for fresh clover for her Irish-themed wedding. Besides her local nurseries or garden centers, do you know of any resources to order from?

Thanks so much!

August is stamping month at DIY Bride. I’ll be taking you through the basics to get you started and offer some tips and techniques for more advanced stampers.

Today, I’m sharing a list of surfaces and objects you can rubber stamp on. They’re not just for cardstock!

• Cardstock
• Chipboard/cardboard
• Label sheets
• Wood and veneer
• Metal
• Fabric (natural fibers work best)
• Polymer Clay
• Glass
• Mirrors
• Leather
• Walls
• Painted surfaces
• Tile (ceramic and stone)
• Concrete
• Ceramics
• Rocks (smooth ones)
• Leaves
• Ribbon
• Overhead transparencies
• Vellum
• Tissue paper
• Paper and cloth napkins
• Balloons
• Fondant and royal icing
• Shrink plastic
• Plastic and acrylic
• Photographs

While that’s not a complete list, I hope it give you an idea of how cool rubber stamps are. For me, rubber stamps are one of the most versatile craft tools because they allow you to apply your graphics to thousands of items in any placement you’d like.

DIY Tulle Circles

If you’re wrapping favors or gifts in circles of tulle, it may be cheaper to cut your own circles out of sheets of tulle. WedCraft.Com has a nice tutorial on how to snip flawless tulle rounds.
Read more…

This query came in from one of our readers. We’re delighted to have an easy solution for her!

Q: I”m hoping you can help! I’m using eyelets and brads to attach my invitation pieces together. The problem is that I need colors that match my invitations and I can’t find any. I tried painting one with acrylic paints and that didn”t work. The paint just fell off when I was attaching the pieces. Any ideas?

A: Kudos to you for being so crafty! The paint idea is still a good one. You may want to try a spray paint or an enamel paint. Some companies make an enamel medium (Plaid comes to mind) that you can mix with acrylics to make an enamel-like paint. This may adhere better to the metal eyelets and brads.My other suggestion is to use rubber stamping embossing powders. This is simple and works great! I’ve tried this with brads, but not eyelets, though I suppose it will work just as well. You’ll need embossing powder of your color choice, a heat gun, and a pair of long-nosed tweazers to hold the brad while you’re heating it.

Step 1: Open your jar of embossing powder.
Step 2: Clamp the stem of your brad/eyelet in your tweazers.
Step 3: Heat the top of your brad/eyelet under your embossing gun for 5 – 10 seconds.
Step 4: Dip the brad/eyelet into the embossing powder while it’s screamin’ hot. Pull out immediately.

Voila! The embossing powder should immediately melt on the brad. If not, give it a quick blast from your heat gun.

For eyelets, you may want to use a shallow container or just a piece of paper to put your embossing powder on. This will help keep the color just on the rim of the eyelet and not coat the whole thing.

Good Luck!
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From one of our readers:

Q: How do I glue vellum to my invitation without big puddles of glue showing through?

A: You have a few options for attaching vellum to cardstock.1. Spray photo mount adhesive (we love the 3M brand) – Spray a thin layer (you can use a piece of scrap paper to mask off the areas you don’t want to adhere) and simply press to your cardstock. Dries clear and very quickly. Small cans of adhesive around usually around $5.00.

2. Vellum tape – Relatively new to the market, vellum tape is a super-translucent tape that blends into most vellums. Scotch brand is widely available at craft stores and is usually around $5.00 for a roll.

3. The other option is to not use glue or tape at all. How about trying any of the multitudes of eyelets and brads that are so popular? Or, try punching two small holes in your project and weave a small ribbon through and tie a bow?

From one of my readers:

Q: I love the way vellum looks but haven’t had much success in making practice invitations with my printer.

A: Vellum is a sturdy, translucent paper with a wax-like coating that is typically used as overlays for invitations. It has a smooth, slick surface which can make it difficult to print or stamp upon. Inkjets have problems with vellum because the wet inks have a hard time adhering to the smooth surface of the paper. The same goes for rubberstamping inks. There aren”t enough rough fibers for the ink to grip and soak in to, so it smears.Don’t fret, though, there are vellums on the market specifically made for inkjet pritners. Epson and Stampin’ Up make good ones that are likely compatible with all injkets.

If you are unable to find inkjet compatible vellums or want to use a colored vellum, you may be able to do so with a little tweaking of your printer’s settings.

* Go into your printer set-up and adjust it to the transparency setting. This will put the least amount of ink onto the vellum.

* Go into page set-up in your word processing program and set the margin 1″ from the top of the page. This will allow the printer time to get a ÏholdÓ on the vellum and reduces smearing.

* Select “economy”, “draft” or “speed” print mode (depending on the specific machine). This will lay down the least amount of ink possible, making it harder for the ink to smear.
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Uses For Vellum

Vellum is such a fun material to work with because its uses are many and it’s easy to customize.

Some ideas to play with:

* Envelopes for seating cards

* Gift tags for favors

* Mini lamp shades for wine glass votive holders

* Votive candle wraps

* Rubber stamp and cut out shapes (i.e. butterflies) for use as decorations on and around the tables

* Cut strips of vellum, stamp with your name and wedding date and use for napkin rings or around favor boxes

* Make boxes or pouches for favors

* Use for wedding program overlays
Read more…

The do-it-yourself wedding is an attractive option to many. But is it really for you?

In 2003, we polled just over 100 recently married couples about their DIY experiences. Their responses yielded some excellent advice and wisdom for anyone contemplating a DIY wedding.

As with any decision, there are pros and cons to going the DIY route. Based on the comments from real brides, this handy little list offers some important things to consider before you commit to doing it yourself.Benefits of DIY:
• You control the design or concept
• You control the quality of product or service you create for yourself
• You control the pricing/budget
• Each project you make is uniquely yours
• You get to excerise your creative talentsNegatives of DIY:
• It’s not always cheaper than having someone else do it
• Creating your own projects can take a long time
• DIY may be intimidating if you’re not crafty or are in a creative funk
• There’s often a huge time commitment involved
• You’ll likely need reliable help to complete projects
• You may need to buy a bunch of expensive supplies just to get started
• It may be difficult to find inexpensive, quality, or unique supplies

Tidbits from our poll:
• 57% said they’d go DIY all over again
• 66% said they’d scale back their DIY projects if they did it again
• The average budget for DIY supplies was $800
• 84% said they went over budget
• The average amount of hours spent on DIY projects was 200+ (that’s over 25 8-hour days)
• 89% said they underestimated the time needed to complete their projects
• 45% said they didn’t have enough help
• 55% said they couldn’t find the right supplies
• The most popular projects were:
- invitations, rsvps, maps
- programs
- favors & gifts
- table cards/seating cards
- bouquets & flower arrangements
- centerpieces & decor

Read more…