[inspire me] jam jar

I love freezer jam and often forget how fast and easy it is to make. Last Christmas a friend of mine gave me several jars of raspberry freezer jam. The jars were all different shapes and sizes and set on a white square platter. She had spray painted the lids of all the jars so they would coordinate. Not only did they look nice on the platter, but they looked nice in my freezer. Not that it really matters how they look in my freezer, but it's the little things that make me happy.

A few days ago, strawberries were on sale so I made a batch of jam. I used a new set of jars with standard lids. I contemplated spray painting them because I don't love the printed image on the lid, but it was freezing/snowing outside and spray painting inside the house is never a good idea (trust me...I've tried it several times - you, your kids and especially your husband won't be happy.) Since spray painted lids were out of the question and I wanted the jars to look cute so I could give a few away, I decided to add a letterpressed insert on top of the lid. It was really easy, and I love how they turned out. I definitely think it makes the jam look more appetizing!

I letterpressed the image on L Letterpress paper using the red L Letterpress ink and die cut the image using the circle nesting die included in the combo kit.

Die-cutting Tip: When I'm die cutting an image I've already letterpressed, I like to reverse the way I traditionally place the die and paper on the Epic tool. It will leave a mark on your cutting platform which doesn't affect the functionality of the platform.  For some of you messing up the nice smooth appearance of your platform will be unacceptable, which I totally understand. If I didn't like how easy it is to position the die to ensure I'm cutting exactly where I want, I'd prefer an unmarred platform too. If it doesn't bother you, try it. Instead of the traditional placement method (platform, die with cutting side up, paper, then cutting mat), place the paper on the platform then position the die cutting side down on top of the paper. Place the cutting mat on top and roll through the Epic 6.

[inspire me] gift card

I think the line border from this letterpress printing plate set is perfect for so many things! Don't let the fall/Thanksgiving theme in the set scare you away. I use this set all the time.

Here's a quick project I created this weekend. My neighbor had a baby so I wanted to drop off a small welcome gift of burp cloths and anti-bacterial gel...can you really ever have enough of these two things with a baby?? 

The letterpressed gift card was a perfect finishing touch. I love how the lines of the printing plate can look like ribbon or twine wrapped around the paper.

color of the day: grass green

Did you know that you can mix L Letterpress Inks to make your own custom colors? The palette knife in the the L Accessory Tool Kit is perfect for this. Simply take 2 or more colors of ink and mix together. When mixing colors, here are some helpful tips to remember:

• Add darker colors to light colors. It takes a lot less dark ink added to light ink to make a new color than vice versa.
• Mix enough ink to complete your project to ensure the color stays consistent for all pieces.
• Write down the "recipe" for your custom color so you can recreate it in case you run out of ink or you want to make more for a future project.

The L line currently includes a dark green and bright green ink, but I was looking for a different green...something more like grass green. So, I mixed dark green and yellow together in different combinations to create three new shades.

Here's the recipe I used to create these three new shades of green:
          1 part dark green : 1 part yellow
          1 part dark green : 3 parts yellow
          1 part dark green : 7 parts yellow

[faq] cleaning cloths

A month before we released the L Letterpress, I had baby. A question we always get is do I really have to use the L Cleaning Cloths? Can't I just use diaper wipes?

Well, of course you don't have to use L Cleaning Cloths, but they work so well. When developing the products, I went through lots of diaper wipes and paper towels to try and clean up the ink we were testing. Let's just say I wasted a lot brayers and paper because it was easier to just throw everything away than deal with the mess and time of trying to clean everything up.

This made our search for a great ink cleaner even more important, and I'm really happy with how the cleaning cloths turned out. The other night I ran out of cleaning cloths so I had to resort back to the diaper wipe option. Not fun. I almost drove to our corporate warehouse in the middle of the night to get more.

L Cleaning Cloth (left) - Diaper Wipe (right)

What do you think about selling the cleaning solution in a bottle with a scrub brush for deep cleaning your printing plates?

[how to] ink

Once you learn the basic technique of using the L Letterpress ink, printing becomes a lot easier. It just takes a little practice and always remembering that less is more. 

L ink is formulated to create a thick, tacky consistency. This is essential for achieving great letterpressed prints. I find that spending a little extra time in the beginning to prep my ink base and brayer is totally worth it. 

To start, a little ink goes a long way! I typically squeeze a small pea size amount of ink onto the ink base and then use my brayer to roll it out into a smooth, fine square. You don't want any globs of ink or spots where the ink is heavier. 

Squeeze out a dab of ink no larger than the size of pea.

Start rolling the ink out in a square pattern.

Keep rolling until the ink is spread out in a large square on the ink base. I spend a good amount of time (maybe about a minute) really rolling the ink evenly and smoothly on the ink base and roller. 

You want a really fine, even layer of ink on both the base and roller. There should be no globs of ink. It should seem like the ink has been rolled directly into the base and has simply colored the top surface of the ink base.

I then like to do a "prep" ink run with my printing plate. I roll the brayer all over the printing plate using a little more pressure to ensure the plate is completely inked. I then print on a scrap piece of L Letterpress paper. 

The first time you ink your plate make sure it is inked completely. I typically use a little more pressure and roll over the plate several times with the brayer. After a test print, try to minimize the number of time you roll over the plate with your brayer. You want a thin even covering of ink. 

Then, I'm ready to start printing actual pieces. Again, a little ink goes a long way. You want to lightly roll the brayer over your printing plate in as few times as possible until the plate design is covered. Too much ink can result in globby, uncrisp printed designs.

[Inspire Me] Custom Wedding

The L Letterpress gives you the tools to easily create a one-of-a-kind, coordinated wedding.  Here we used designs from the Wedding Set 1 for the wedding invitation, save the date cards and thank you cards.  Make sure to check out our custom printing plate program to create unique designs and text. 

Supplies:
L Letterpress Tool
Wedding Printing Plate Set 1
L Letterpress Ink (hot pink, brown)
L Letterpress Paper (white)

[Inspire Me] Birthday Party

For this birthday party we decided to use the popular orange and pink color combo.  With the L Letterpress you can easily create all the components necessary to execute a stylish and simple party. 

Supplies:
L Letterpress Tool
L Letterpress Paper (white, A2 flat, mini flat)
Celebration Printing Plate Set 1
Celebration Printing Plate Set 2
L Letterpress Inks (light pink, orange, hot pink)

[Inspire Me] One Pattern, Two Cards

I had a brayer full of brown ink for another project, so I deiced to letterpress several brown backgrounds that I then quickly embellished.  I put them in my file box full of cards that I have ready to pull when I need something quick. 

Supplies:
L Letterpress and Epic Tools

L Letterpress Paper (A2, white)
Everyday Printing Plate Set 2(flower background)
Holiday Printing Plate Set 2 ("Thank You")
L Letterpress Ink (hot pink, brown)
Ribbon
Corner Rounder
QuicKutz Nesting Die

[Inspire Me] Blind Emboss

Here is a blind embossed "Thank You" card I made for a friend who helped me move into my new house a couple of weeks ago (remind me to never move again...I'm still exhausted).

Supplies:
L Letterpress Tool
L Letterpress Ink (teal blue)
Wedding Printing Plate Set 3 ("Thank You")
Flower (not in the L line right now *wink*)

Wall of Staches

What do you get when you give your goofy co-workers letterpressed mustaches on a stick and a Polaroid camera? Behold, The Great Wall of Staches. 

For a reason unknown to me we have a life size cut out of George W. Bush tucked away in the break room.  We decided he needed to join in the mustache festivities. The film undeveloped right over his mouth...creepy.

[Inspire Me] Chevron Pattern

I've been seeing chevron patterns everywhere, so we played around with the zigzag pattern from the Holiday Printing Plate Set 1 and several different ink colors to come up with these vibrant designs.  It's easier than it looks.  Scroll down for directions.

Supplies:
L Letterpress Tool
Ink Brayer
Cleaning Cloths
L Letterpress Paper
Holiday Printing Plate Set 1 (zigzag/chevron pattern)
L Letterpress Ink (bright green, orange, navy, teal blue & black, orange, silver)

How To:
Here is where the clear lid and grid on the L Letterpress come in handy.  First ink the whole chevron pattern in one color and letterpress that onto your piece of paper.  While this first layer is drying, clean off your printing plate (chevron pattern) and brayer with your cleaning cloths.  Select another color and ink the whole chevron pattern again.  This time, before you close the lid of your L Letterpress, look through the top of the clear plastic lid and using the grid (or just eyeballing) shift your paper slightly up or down so that the second color does not overlap the first color.  Repeat this process with up to 4 colors.

[Inspire Me] Yellow + Blue

I love the color combination of blue and yellow.  Here I've used these ink colors to create several different projects for a variety of occasions. To create the frame around the "Thinking of You" card, I used just half of the circle border from the Celebration Printing Plate Set 2 and repeated four times. 

Supplies:
L Letterpress Tool
L Letterpress Inks (Yellow, Teal Blue, Gray)
L Letterpress White Paper (A2 Flat, Mini Flat)
Everyday Printing Plate Set 5 ("just because")
Celebration Printing Plate Set 2 (circle border)
Celebration Printing Plate Set 1 (diamond border)
Everyday Printing Plate Set 2 ("thinking of you")

L Letterpress + Black Eiffel

Rachel over at Black Eiffel did a review of the L Letterpress AND she's giving away a combo kit.  

Click HERE to enter.

Thanks, Rachel!

Online Auction for Haiti

QuicKutz is holding an online auction all this week to help the Haiti earthquake victims. All proceeds will be donated to the Foyer de Sion Orphanage and to Holt International, two organizations looking out for the welfare of the Haitian youth.

Click here to help.