I have been making monograms all day and I LOVE IT! This has been my very first time to use my Letterpress supplies. I admit to being very intimidated by this process for the past few months. So much so that I let my supplies just sit there on the floor collecting dust. But one of the advantages of being on the Studio Calico design team, is they occassionally send you a new product to "try out". Well, this month, I was lucky enough to get the new Lindsay Letters Monogram Alpha set:
But because using this set meant I needed to figure out HOW to do Letterpress, I was a bit hesitant to start a project with them. Well, today, I conquered my fear. AND realized my fear was completed unfounded. Letterpressing is about as basic as making a piece of toast. It is really easy. I ended up making a bunch of these monograms as I want to use them on everything. The biggest question I am asking myself after this adverture filled day is, "why did I wait so long to try this out?!?!?!??!". I'll show you what I'm talking about...
Let's start with my monogram collection:
So this is what I used to make these: a Letterpress bundle including the letterpress platform, a brayer, a plate for ink, ink guide strips, and some cleaning cloths. I started by using some of my ink colors from the Letterpress Ink Bundle. I put a small pea sized amount on the glass plate and then rolled it into a thin layer using the brayer. Ok, easy peasy so far... Then I placed a little piece of washi tape rolled up so it was double sided on the underside of the top of my platform and I attached a letter to it. Next I washi taped a piece of the thin letterpress paper to the top side of my bottom platform lined up so the image would print in the right place (by closing the lid to see where the placement would be). Next, I inked the letter with the brayer after placing my ink guides on each side of it. And then, I removed the ink guides, closed the lid, and ran it through my die-cut machine. This is NOT rocket science girls - it really was not as hard as I had expected!
Once I realized this was a fun and easy project, I got to work making lots of them. I did make a couple wrong when I first started and threw those out, but the majority turned out perfectly once I got the hang of how much ink to use and whether or not to use a shim when putting it through the die-cut machine. Some of these images used the extra shim, which gave the image more of an embossed look. But the ink isn't as smooth this way. So I preferred the ones where I didn't use a shim.
I wanted to make some basic monogram cards that could be used for either project life or to send as notes with gifts. The top one shows two letters used for my initials without the circle around them. I hand-doodled a border under them and around the edges. The next card is just a piece of 4x6 patterned paper from the Sugar-Rush kits with the monogram attached to the top corner. The last card shows a monogram with the circle design around it, but it is not die-cut out. I added a border around all of it with a fine-tip black marker and outlined the card with a marker that matched the ink.
Next, I added a couple of my monograms to cards for Valentine's Day.
To make this card, I used the Sugar-Rush card kit and the Taffy add-on card kit. I added one of my monograms that uses dark gray ink to the top. I used the matching die-cut that comes with the set to cut around the edges of the monogram. I just lined it up by placing the die right over the circular design and using washi tape to hold it in place before running it through my die-cut machine. I added a thin shim so it would cut through the thick letterpress paper.
I used both of the card kits again to make this card and then added another dark gray monogram to the top. I love that little deer that came with the card kit. And the gold hearts that are part of the new Essentials Collection are to DIE for! (and this collection just came into stock!).
There are so many things I have planned for these cute, yet sophisticated little monograms. And the set also comes with a cute little heart to die-cut that I didn't even use yet! If you want to purchase this monogram set, there are only a few left at Studio Calico, so grab it quick and take advantage of free shipping by adding it to your kit order before Friday, January 31st. And it may even bump you up to free shipping if you are a subscriber!
Thanks for visiting and have a great week friends! suzy
Oh I love this! ♥
Posted by: Wendi | January 29, 2014 at 06:52 PM