We've been squealing quite a bit over the new Letterpress Paper--I wish my photo did this paper justice . . . 
Seriously, petting it thru the monitor is just not the same thing.
If you are a fan of Letterpress like Ellen and I, you will really enjoy working with it. I did a previous tutorial on faux Letterpress, which you can see HERE.
This is yet another method of achieving a similar effect! You know the saying, always more than one way to skin a cat?! *head bobbing up & down vigorously* Well, the same is true for faux Letterpress!
This method features a folder from the "Dainty" Lifestyle Embossing Folders Set-I just love the pattern on these two--*uber* modern!
I wanted to try a partial emboss, leaving an expanse of area unembossed so I could later stamp on it, so I opened up both/all the tabs on the Multi-purpose Platform of my Big Shot then put one of the clear plates atop. More on why, in a sec.
This is a quarter sheet of Letterpress Paper, with roughly two thirds of it inside the folder; I used the pattern to align the paper as closely as I could so everything would turn out straight. I placed the chipboard on top of the folder, then added the 2nd clear plate on top and ran it through the machine.
I opened up the tabs, and used a chipboard shim because on Tab 1, the pressure of the machine was so strong, it was also debossing the outer edge of the die, and I wanted to avoid that as much as possible on this partial deboss. I still ended up with a faint line but it doesn't detract from the finished project, so I consider that a success. LOL!
I also wanted to see what kind of results I might get if I used a brayer to apply pigment ink to the folder and then ran some smaller pieces. Any time I want to test, I try to use smallish pieces to avoid wasting too much while I figure out what I like, and what I don't, what worked well, and what . . . ended up hittin' the circular file. *chuckle*
So, why didn't I just tap the pad against the folder? Well, the pad of a pigment ink is spongy and has a lot of give; I might have ended up with ink down in the recessed details of the pattern, which I didn't want. So, brayering the ink allowed me to avoid that, and it also helped in getting as smooth and even an application of ink as possible.
I just loaded the brayer with ink directly from the pad, but at some point, I might try putting some pigment refill in a little puddle on an acrylic block to see if that works any better. It might make a difference; it might not. I won't know until I try it. :)
I then placed a small piece of Letterpress Paper into the folder and debossed it to see the results.
I also tried the same method with dye ink (Adirondack Pool, on the left; Adirondack pigments in the lower center and to the right).
My thoughts: I personally didn't care much for the dye ink; it dried in tiny splotches--perhaps if you really wanted that kind of textural effect, you would like it? I much preferred the pigment ink, however, because Letterpress Paper is quite absorbant, due to a high cotton content, it absorbed some of the color so it was somewhat diffused. This isn't a bad thing, just something to be aware of if you were instead hoping for deep opacity. As I said before, you might achieve that if you used a reinker puddle, instead of the ink pad itself.
I didn't have any pastel hued pigment inks on hand to try, but I suspect the results will look quite nice, so I'll have to get some and try it. The yellow pictured above is a mid-tone color, and I quite liked that. Watermelon was deeper, and more intense, but as you can see, the result on the paper is diffused. But, I still liked it!
I also tried a chalk ink. But, I didn't shoot it because I didn't like the results at all. I mean, AT ALL. LOL! I also discovered that it was very hard to clean the embossing folder afterwards; the chalk ink left a residue that took a long time to remove, even with warm soapy water and a tooth brush. I spend enough time at the sink doing dishes, I don't wanna be there all night cleaning off one embossing folder.
My advice? Stick with pigment ink or water-based dye inks (non-permanent, of course) for easy clean up.
I also tried die cutting an uninked debossed piece with a magnetic Movers & Shapers die, and it cut through beautifully without flattening the debossing! I haven't tried die cutting debossed pieces with a low-profile die yet, however. I probably give that a whirl some time, as well. Or, I'll die cut and then deboss.
On the left card, I simply matted one of the smaller inked pieces with Neenah Natural White and then 3D mounted it to a charcoal 4 bar card (paper from my stash) and then white embossed a quick greeting.
On the right card design, I was also pleasantly surprised to find I could use my paper trimmer to trim down any pieces without ruining or crushing the debossing, and mount them to a chartreuse 4 bar card (4 bar a.k.a. A 1 measures 3.5 x 5"). WOOT!!!
WOW!!! So easy, so sophisticated--you can bet I'll be doing more of this in the future as I positively LOVE the look!
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<Ellen
