Letterpress to Die Cut

My new favorite tool just keeps getting better! I recently invested in the Epic 6 Letterpress machine. Usually I am pretty frugal when it comes to craft purchases, but I had so much fun testing out this machine, I had to have one for myself. I have been happily printing thank you cards and other miscellaneous things the past few weeks and absolutely loving it. I finally decided to test out the cutting feature on this machine-yes, it die cuts too! The combo kit comes with a set of various sized circle dies, but I managed to get my hands on some samples of some upcoming holiday designs as well. To test these out, I decided I would make a collection of gift tags, because you can never have too many gift tags. :) It's easy to get started with the tools below:


Just place your dies cutting side up on the gray cutting platform, then place your sheet of paper front side facing down over the dies. Place the cutting mat over the top and crank it through the machine. It's that easy.



The result is a perfectly clean cut, even when using extra heavy weight cardstock. I used some beautifully printed cardstock (approximately 100# cover) from Envelopments to create the little pocket tag below.



Another great die that will be part of the upcoming holiday release are these snowflakes below (also cut from 100# cover). I absolutely love these!



There is also a wonderful set of nesting trees, a kit to make snowmen, and many other holiday inspired themes. The possibilities for cards, gift tags and all kinds of other decor are endless. Here's how my gift tags turned out:


Look for these dies along with new holiday letterpress plates to arrive next week!

Happy Crafting!

Amanda

Letterpress!

I'll be the first to say that the thought of trying out the new Letterpress Machine was a bit intimidating to me. But, I have always loved the way a letterpressed card looks...it has such a cool and unique look to it. Something about the beautiful yet simple ink colors that are nestled in the debossed image just gives it such a classy look. So, with mixed feelings, I tried my hand at the Letterpress Starter Combo Kit today (I have photos to prove it!). I will happily say that my first venture with the Letterpress machine was a success, which is great because look how cool all these letterpress projects are, and all created with this tool! Take a look:


Here are my simple steps to create your own letterpress card and - let me say - if I can do this, you can too.

Step 1: Gather the goods. Everything you need comes in the Starter Kit, so this step is easy! (I had an extra shape set that I was working with, but the Kit comes with some really cute shapes)

Step 2: Design! Line up the card on the Letterpress and place the the adhesive-backed shape dies on the clear lid, you can close it to see where your image will be placed on the card and move to a new position if needed.
Step 3: Ink! Place a tiny amount of ink on the glass mat and, using the brayer, ink the plate evenly. The Starter Kit came with this black ink, I can't wait to try it with more colors!
Step 4: Cover! Using the Brayer, cover the image with the ink, rolling it on to be sure that all the areas are covered. If you get ink around the image, simply wipe it off.
Step 5: Roll! Close the lid of the Letterpress and roll it through the Epic tool. This is when the image is debossed and the ink is placed on the card.
And voila...here is my beautiful letterpressed card, I can't wait to try out more color combos and designs, I have images of fun holiday cards swirling in my head right now!And a few more samples of cards that we created here while we were
playing with the Letterpress tool:
Hopefully my first letterpress experience has encouraged you to try it too. Do you have any fun letterpress ideas to share? I would love to hear them! --Lauren