Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Nicole's Review of the L Letterpress

YOU ASKED .... and here it is :) 
A VIDEO REVIEW: 


Nicole's Video Review Here






The L Letterpress... 

My review, some user tips, and some photos!


Anyone who doesn't know... 
the L Letterpress is an accessory of Quickutz Epic Machine. 

Looks like this... 


Basically, the L Letterpress de-bosses and imprints an image simultaneously. 
Creating a professional letterpress effect for the home crafter. 


Well, when I saw this little baby I just had - to - have it! 
And after reading several positive reviews and using the excuse
"I'm doing my brothers wedding invites and this would be perfect" ... 
I jumped in the deep end and bought it. 

So here is my review. 

I would consider myself a seasoned crafter, having tried and succeeded  at most 
everything crafty, and out of the box this tool has a learning curve.
I mean to say, don't think that you can just ink up the brayer and have perfect letterpress
out of the gate... oh, no. 
BUT!!
Once you do get the hang of it, hopefully quicker than me with my tips, 
it is one of the more fun tools I have ever bought. 

Tip 1.
Use double sided sticky tape... it works way better than the provided adhesive. 

Tip 2. 
Odds are you don't need any more 'filler' paper to make a deep impression. So, 
I would steer clear. Unfortunately, some of the plates tend to crack and when 
you start to fill up the inside of it with extra filler paper.  
You'll know when they crack because it's loud. 

Tip 3.
When they say it doesn't take much ink... listen to them! No need to trace over 
the plate 3 and 4 times with the brayer. You'll be unhappy with the 
blurred results. Crisp letterpress is just ONE ink away. 

Tip 4. 
The 'ink' is more accurately described as 
oil based stickiness. So, the best way to clean without 
spending an arm and a leg on the L Letterpress cleaning clothes... is... 
you guessed it... Goo Gone. 
You can leave the 'ink' on everything for days and it comes
right off with a little Goo Gone. 
I have also read that baby wipes work. 
Maybe I'll try it the next time I go to the store and report back to you. 

Tip 5. 
Don't use the foam placing things they give you. Honestly, 
you don't need them. Like I mentioned I did my brothers wedding 
invites and I did two impressions on each invite, for a total of 200 impressions... 
and when each invite was place it never moved... not once. 

Tip 6.
I have yet to use the soft cotton paper that the machine came with. 
Right out of the box I used it on regular ol cardstock. 
It worked great... as you will see on my photos... 
I am sure that the soft cotton paper makes a better deeper impression...
but if I couldn't use it on regular cardstock I would have been 
regretting the purchase. But, like I said, it works really well.


Ok, without any further commentary here is the proof in the pudding...



Disclaimer: the brayer in the above photos is in gold ink but
the cards are in the black ink... I was working on another project while I was taking 
the photos... sorry about the confusion. 

When my brother gives the go ahead I will share his wedding invites. 
They were without any ink. The impression is really really nice. 
I am excited to share. 
Please ask me any questions! 
I really did learn a lot of this machine the hard way... so, maybe I can save you the same!

Cheers.
N


17 comments:

  1. wow, you have the most impressive results i have seen so far. The invites pictured are on regular cardstock? what weight? when i print on the soft cotton paper provided, the ink seems to bleed and go over the edge. have you tried the soft paper as of yet? Also, how much ink did you roll out on the plate to get the right amount on the brayer?

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  2. Hello!

    Wow, someone besides my husband reads my blog... :) First, thank you for asking a question and commenting on my blog... so nice to see someone crafty is getting something from my hard blogging work.

    Ok, so I used 60lb weight in the photo, but I have used on regular 110lb and it comes out with the same crisp result.

    So, where I think your going wrong is your inking. Put the smallest of dots, maybe like the size of a glue dot, of ink on your plate. Then begin to work this tiny dot out onto the WHOLE plate. Making the thinest layer of ink possible. Then when the ink can be spread out no further.... ink up the die once or maybe twice... look through the top to see if you've missed a spot and only ink the missing spot.

    Run it through the machine and enjoy your professional letterpress!

    Let me know if I can offer any other tips to help you make the most out of your purchase!

    Hope I helped!

    Cheers.
    Nicole

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  3. Thanks so much for your insight. I just had to have this machine and really need to "play" with it some more. Hopefully, I'll be as pleased as you are in the near future. Stay tuned!

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  4. this was very helpful, thank you so much for sharing! can't wait to get mine and start practicing...

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  5. Thanks, Nicole, for your helpful tips on using the L Letterpress! I bought the machine to letterpress my wedding invitations (I've never used a letterpress) and am trying to learn as much as possible before I begin. You mentioned that you did 2 impressions on each card. Did you use multiple colors? Did they overlap? I'm interested on how you registered the paper in the right place and if you used multiple colors, how that works as well. Can you put multiple colors on the same plate? Thanks for your help!

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  6. Jackie~

    Thank you for checking out my blog and for the nice complement. So, I want to answer all your questions, in detail! And to tell you a little secret... I have been planning to add a video tutorial to my blog for a while. You, and the others, have inspired me to make my very first video about how to use the L Letterpress.

    So stay tuned, this Sunday I will be posting all of your answers and some helpful tips in a video ... so you can see me in action!

    Stay Tuned!!!
    Nicole

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  7. I agree with the above comments! You're blog is so inspiring after reading some of the other reviews. I went into Archivers the other day and simply fell in love with the idea of this machine. However, after reading many many reviews online I was very discouraged and almost determined not to buy it. But after reading your post and seeing your positive results I might just go ahead and give it a try! A video would be splendid as well :)

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  8. Hi Nicole, Thanks for your great feedback. Do you have a video posted on helpful tips on how to use the L Letterpress?

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  9. Finally posted my video on how to use your letterpress machine to it's fullest capabilities .... enjoy!

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  10. hey your blog design is very nice, neat and fresh and with updated content, make people feel peace and I always enjoy browsing your site.

    - Norman

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  11. So glad I found your blog. I am working with a couple who are friends of mine. The groom wants to design the invitations and I was thinking having them buy the letterpress machine so that I could letterpress them. You have given me hope that I can get the results they want. yay!

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  12. Beautiful invitations! On a whim I bought this letterpress today and came home to research it. I found a lot of complaints about the fact that the design plates (don't know the technical term) crack and flatten after little use. Can you tell me your opinion after using it for a time? I'm wondering if I should even take it out of the box... Thank you!

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  13. Alyssa, I did a small video in response to your question.... you can check it out....

    Here:

    http://www.onesweetromance.com/2010/11/dscn2779avi.html

    Happy Crafting!

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  14. Great review! Awesome invites!

    I just recently purchased the L Letterpress kit and I am preparing to start production on some wedding invitations. I'm so glad that I found your blog - loved the tips that you shared!

    www.crafting247.blogspot.com

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  15. I seem to be getting the edges of the plate when I run things through the machine. Any tips?

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  16. Thanks so much for the Goo Gone tip! My cleaning clothes dried up and there isn't anywhere close to buy more. I am going to check out your video and see if I can cull any new tips for working with the L Letterpress. Thanks!

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  17. Hi! Did you have any more images of these invitations! What thickness paper did you use?
    Also one tip for the clean up, using vegetable oil removes the letterpress ink in a hot second!

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