DIY Bride L Letterpress Review

Posted by Khris in Crafter's Toolbox

Though I haven’t had much of a chance to really play with my newly acquired L Letterpress Kit, I wanted to give my first impressions since a lot of you have been asking about it.

Plate Quality Issues

First off, I can attest that there is a problem with breaking plates. The first plate I used snapped on the very first run. This pretty much made that plate as unusable. Not good.

Die Machine Compatibility

There have been mixed reports about whether the L Let can be used in other die cutting machines. Yes, it can. I report that it works in my Cuttlebug (Provo Craft) and others have reported it works great in the Big Shot (Sizzix). There’s absolutely no wiggle room, width-wise, in the Cuttlebug but it ran right through.

Inks

• The gold and silver inks are really pretty.
• Clean up of the plates, lid, and packing mats is really easy. I used baby wipes (having a 10 month old is paying off!) and the ink came up with minimal scrubbing. FWIW: Pampers Natural Aloe Unscented wipes were used. Please thank Zion for his contribution to this experiment.
• The inks are oil-based. Work in a well-ventilated area. The odor can be overpowering in confined spaces.

Ease of Use

The machine is very, very easy to use.

• The grid system on the lid and mat is tremendously helpful for accurate placement.
• If you’ve ever used a die cutting machine before, this will be super intuitive. If you haven’t, don’t worry! It’ll likely take newbies just a few minutes to get up and running.

Notes

• Definitely check out the L Letterpress tips over at Boxcar Press. As Harold mentions, get a better brayer (the roller that applies ink). I happened to have a soft roller from Speedball (around $13.00) and it’s much better than the one supplied by Lifestyle Crafts. A good roller will make a world of difference in ink application.
• Paper is also important. Regular cardstock won’t take an impression – or a very good one. Get proper uncoated cotton paper. See my list here of paper resources.
• An unexpected use of the L Letterpress kit: use it with unmounted acrylic or rubber stamps for perfect stamping placement each time. Stick the stamp to the lid and the paper on the base like you would for a letterpress run, ink your stamp, press the top plate onto the paper (manually or through the machine). Stamps won’t deboss but they will leave a perfectly placed image behind.

Die Cut Box Invitation

Posted by Khris in DIY Projects & Tutorials, Invitations, Programs, + Stationery

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m a sucker for great packaging. When the boxed invitation trend started emerging a few seasons ago, I was positively giddy at the possibilities that’d make their way to our little crafty hands. Just think of all the different ways a box could be decorated! So, knowing I had a little baby on the way (and a 2nd DIY Bride book to write), I ordered me up some boxes and began to experiment with ways to have fun with a boxed invite (and baby announcement) design.

What I came up with is this beauty of a project that combines my packaging obsession with my favorite crafting tool, the die cutting/embossing machine. It’s a boxed invitation with a window cut from the top with a great little die.

• White jewelry boxes, 7 3/8″ x 5  1/2″ x 1″, product #451175 from PaperMart.Com
• Paper cutter
• Spray adhesive
• Decorative paper, at least 8 1/2″ x 11″
• Cuttlebug or other die cutting machine
• Top Note die, product #113463 from Stampin’ Up!
• White and colored cardstock for invitation
• Double-sided tape
• Scissors
• Tape measure or ruler

1. Measure the outside dimensions of the jewelry box lid. (Or you can be like me and set your box lid, face down, on the back of a piece of decorative paper and make folds where you’ll need to trim the paper.)

2. Using your paper cutter, trim the paper down to fit the dimensions of your box lid.

3. Spray the back of the decorative paper with spay adhesive. I like 3M brand. (Don’t use re-positional adhesive.) Apply the paper to the box lid, being careful to line up the edges of the paper with the edges of the lid and smoothing out any wrinkles as you go along.

4. This is pretty as-is, isn’t it? Before you guys start asking: I don’t know who made this paper. It’s a few years old and part of the endless stash of scraps I’m trying to use up.

5. Next up: the die cutting machine. I have the Cuttlebug from ProvoCraft. Other manual die cutting machines like the BigShot by Sizzix will also work.

6. As luck would have it, the Top Note die is almost exactly as deep as the box lid and fits perfectly within the width. Place your die, cutting side down, in the center of the box lid.

7. Now, sandwich the die+lid between 2 of the die cutting machine’s plates. For the Cuttlebug, I used 2 “B” plates. Your machine may vary so do a little experimentation with plates or shims to get the best cut for your particular machine. It’s worth noting here that the box lid is a super tight fit with these plates and some come out a little smooshed on the edges. I can usually smooth them out with my fingers but some have looked damaged.

8. Run your die sandwich through the machine in either a forward or reverse motion, whichever you normally use for your die cuts. Do NOT go forward and then back thinking you’ll get a better cut. You’ll just end up dislodging your die and it’ll cut twice but not in the same spot.

9. Ooh, look! The window has been cut. Save that cut piece! It’ll be great for other projects like seating cards, favor tags, or …? You tell me.

10. For the interior of the box, the invitation, I cut a piece of solid-colored cardstock to the inside dimensions of the box. This is the mat around the invitation. I then created a template in MS Word for the invitation that was 1/4″ smaller (length and width) than the mat and printed the invite.

11. Using double-sided tape, I attached the invite to the mat. Beautiful.

12. Each jewelry box comes with a cotton batting liner. Don’t let that go to waste! I cut strips, about 1″ wide and 1″ long to use as padding in the 4 corners of the box. This props up the invitation. I stuck them down with double-sided tape.

13. Insert invite into box.

14. Place lid on box. Voila!

1. If you’re including maps, RSVP cards, envelopes, and other extras, they’re easily stored underneath the invitation. You may or may not need the cotton if you have bulky items in your invite set.
2. How to mail these? It’s best to put them in a bubble-mailer or inside another shipping box. You could wrap them in kraft paper and send them but you’ll get no protection, especially around that window area. I won’t kid you: these suckers will be expensive to mail. But look how cuuuuuute they are!
3. If you want to seal up the window on the lid, use overhead transparency film and apply sheets with double-sided tape on the inside of the lid. This is important if you’re sending candies or other small goodies that can escape.
4. Stampin’ Up!, if you’re not aware, is a direct sales company. They don’t sell directly to the public. Instead, they have representatives/demonstrators from whom you’ll need to buy this die from. My friendly neighborhood demo, Blythe (also my MIL), can be found here. If you want a demo of your very own, hit up the SU! website here.