better press

VIDEO: Better Press Plates Used for More than Just Letterpress!

January 24, 2024

Hi friends! I am up on the Pinkfresh Studio YouTube channel using one of my new illustrations for Pinkfresh Studio’s Better Press Plate line: Beautiful Roses! I used the plate to create this card without inking it up at all. Watch below or check it out HERE on YouTube!

One of my favorite attributes of the Better Press system and plates is that they don’t just have to be used for the letter press technique. Not only do they imprint gloriously detailed images into your paper, but they also can be used for hot foiling and adding delicious texture to your letter press paper. In today’s video, I use my new Beautiful Roses Press Plate illustration from Pinkfresh Studio (PFS | SSS) to both deboss a floral background pattern and hot foil the detailed floral image onto some super smooth vellum. Let’s get started with the details!

To start, I hot foiled the Beautiful Roses Press Plate (PFS | SSS) onto some vellum from Simon Says Stamp using the Glimmer Hot Foil machine from Spellbinders (SB | SSS | PFS). I have had good luck using delicate images on this super smooth vellum, and the Blush foil from Spellbinders (PFS | SSS | SB) worked beautifully with the Beautiful Roses plate! After hot foiling, I die cut the image using the coordinating die (PFS | SSS).

Next, I used the Beautiful Roses Press Plate (PFS | SSS) without ink to create this textured, debossed pattern on the background of my Porcelain Better Press paper (SB | SSS). Using the grid guides on the magnetic plate and clear platen from the Better Press system (SB | SSS), I was able to arrange the Beautiful Roses Press Plate (PFS | SSS) around the edge of my A2 panel of Porcelain Better Press paper (SB | SSS), rotating it to make the pattern as cohesive and natural as possible. In the video, I also show how I took advantage of the magnetic attributes of the system to ensure perfect placement on my paper! Debossing the pattern into the paper creates a beautifully subtle texture, which I enhanced by blending Cherry Blossom, Begonia, and Mulberry Blush inks using blending brushes. The ink concentrates in the debossed lines, making the pattern pop a bit from the background. After I had finished blending, I splattered the entire panel with some rose gold glitter watercolors.

To ground my foiled vellum image, I die cut the smaller Mini Slimline Frame (PFS | SSS) using Rose Gold Glitter Cardstock (PFS | SSS). This pinky metallic gold glitter paper coordinates beautifully with the Blush foil! I popped up the frame with foam adhesive, offsetting it to the left and trimming off the excess. For the greeting, I hot foiled a few sentiments from the Favorite Things Sentiments Press Plates (PFS | SSS) set using more Blush foil, then hot foiled the leftover negative images with the Solid Hot Foil Plate (PFS | SSS). I die cut the greetings with the Coordinating Dies (PFS | SSS), then adhered the solid die cut to the transparent vellum, flipping it over to add foam adhesive behind the solid die cut so as to keep the vellum clean of unsightly adhesive. I added a melon twine bow and some Champagne Glitter Drops (PFS | SSS) for extra sparkle and texture!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I love experimenting with the Better Press plates and machine. It’s such fun to find new ways to get more uses out of your supplies, and it’s so surreal to see and use my own illustrations as a Press Plate! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day.

Foil and Better Press with New Flower Stems from Pressed Posies by Spellbinders!

January 18, 2024

Hi friends! I have a serene project to share with you today using some of the new goodies from the new Spellbinders Pressed Posies Collection. You probably know of my flower obsession by this point, and adding Better Press plates and the marvelous techniques they bring into the my repertoire has been such a joy! Spellbinders generously sent the Flower Stems Better Press Plates + Coordinating Dies (SB | SSS) for me to play with, and I am absolutely in love with these delicate, feminine floral images. Let’s get started with the details on my project!

One of my favorite properties of the Better Press plates is their versatility; you can use them for both letter press and foiling techniques. I’ve combined both of these techniques to create this delicate, super textured card today!

To start, I used the delicate, detailed images from the Flower Stems Better Press Plates + Coordinating Dies (SB | SSS) without ink to emboss a floral pattern around the edge of my Porcelain Better Press A2 Panels (SB | SSS). Using these plates on their own creates the loveliest, subtle texture, and the exceptional detail and fine lines on the Flower Stems Better Press Plates (SB | SSS) picks up beautifully on the super thick letterpress paper.

After I had pressed the floral pattern into the paper, I used Blending Brushes to blend Mist, Dew, Raindrop Pawsitively Saturated Ink from Simon Says Stamp around the edges of the cardstock starting with the lightest shade, gradually decreasing how close I went to the center of the card front with each subsequent color. The debossed pattern on the letterpress panel picks up the ink, making it more concentrated in those debossed lines and allowing the pattern to be more visible. For an extra touch of shimmer, I splattered the blended background with some handmade, sparkling glitter watercolors.

After I had created my background, I used Skybright Glimmer Hot Foil (SB | SSS) to hot foil a few of the images from Flower Stems Better Press Plates (SB | SSS) onto Hammermill white cardstock. I used the coordinating dies to cut them out, then used my OLO Markers (SB | SSS) in lovely coordinating shades of aqua to add some subtle color to the foiled images. Alcohol marker coloring on hot foiled images is such a fun way to get more mileage out of your hot foil and Better Press plates! I also used one of the OLO markers to add some deep teal to a length of faux silk ribbon, which I used to “tie” my bouquet of flowers and foliage.

After I popped up my colored bouquet with foam adhesive, I die cut the “hello” using one of the Vintage Florals dies (SB | SSS), cutting the detail layer from turquoise glitter paper and the shadow layer from vellum. I also used one of the Better Press sentiments from the Sealed Cord and Faux Seal Sentiments Press Plate + Coordinating Die (SB | SSS) set, pressing the greeting with Cosmic Sky Better Press ink (SB | SSS) onto Porcelain Better Press paper (SB | SSS). I tucked the greeting pieces amongst the hot foiled floral arrangement and adhered them with foam adhesive. The final touch was to add a few Aquamarine Gems for sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today! Have you jumped on the Better Press bandwagon? The plates are so versatile, and even if you don’t have a Better Press System (what are you waiting for?), you can still use the plates with your hot foil machine!

Just FYI: I was honored to be invited to be a guest designer over on the Spellbinders blog last week using the new From the Garden Collection designed by Wendy Vecchi. Here’s a sneak peek of one of my projects:

This project is just one of three projects in a coordinating card set. I hope you’ll stop by and take a look!! Click HERE to see the post.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

VIDEO: New Camellias Press Plate with Pinkfresh Studio Liquid Watercolors!

January 12, 2024

Hi friends! I have a new video over on the Pinkfresh Studio YouTube channel showing the new Liquid Watercolors which will be coming soon from Pinkfresh Studio, paired with the Camellias Press Plate (PFS | SSS) that I illustrated for the December 2023 release! In the video, I show how to achieve a semi-no line colored look with Better Press plates by “stamping off” once and using the residual ink to create a subtler lined image.

Watch video above or HERE on YouTube.

In case you can’t watch the video, I started my project by inking up my Camellias Press Plate (PFS | SSS) with Pinkfresh Studio Detail Black Ink (PFS | SSS) and running it through my Better Press machine (PFS | SSS | SB) with a panel of letterpress paper with the ink at full strength. Without cleaning my Press Plate, I placed an A2 sized sheet of Pinkfresh Studio’s new watercolor paper (to be released soon!) on the platen and ran it through a second time, this time impressing only a shadow of the ink onto the paper, similar to the lighter version one can achieve with the “stamping off” technique using photopolymer stamps. This lighter outline worked nicely with the softer palette in the new Pastel Liquid Watercolors (also coming soon!)

One tip that I did want to share: After some experimentation, I found that the new Liquid Watercolors worked most effectively when paired with the Pinkfresh Studio Detail Black Ink (PFS | SSS). While the Better Press inks from Spellbinders are waterproof and can be used for watercolor, I found that the liquid watercolors were drawn to the ink and were a bit unruly, causing feathering and other undesirable reactions. It’s wonderful that the Pinkfresh Studio Detail Black Ink (PFS | SSS) works so nicely with the Press Plates!

After I had created my letterpress image, I used Lilac, Slumber, and Sage liquid watercolors to watercolor the camellias and foliage. I was able to use only three colors due to how easy it is to create consistent custom colors by measuring the drops of your liquid watercolors! I created a lovely lavender-blue shade by mixing three drops of Lilac with one drop of Slumber, as well as a pretty teal by mixing three drops of Sage with one drop of Slumber. I think it would be such fun to experiment and create a whole “recipe book” filled with unique watercolor mixes!

Once I had finished watercoloring the image, I die cut it using the Camellias coordinating die (PFS | SSS) and turned my attention to the background. I used the Ornate Trellis Press Plate (PFS | SSS) as a “debossing folder” by running it through my Better Press machine (PFS | SSS | SB) without any ink on it! I simply placed the plate on the magnetic sheet of my machine, then added the A2 panel of Better Press Porcelain paper (PFS | SSS | SB) to the platen and ran it through my machine. The pattern was debossed on the paper, creating a lovely subtle texture for the background. To emphasize the texture a bit more, I blended Soft Lilac and Slumber inks around the edge, splattering the entire panel with some blue violet metallic watercolor.

After I had created my background, I popped up the finished watercolored camellia die cut with foam adhesive. I added a sentiment from the Favorite Things Sentiments Better Press Plates ( PFS | SSS), which I pressed with black ink and die cut with the Favorite Things Sentiments coordinating dies (PFS | SSS) and popped up with a double layer of foam tape for extra height. Finally, I added a smattering of Lilac Clear Drops (PFS | SSS) for some shine!

Well, that’s all for my project today! I am very excited about these new Liquid Watercolors from Pinkfresh Studio. They coordinate beautifully with the exceptional Pinkfresh Studio Dye Inks, so it will be such a pleasure to be able to match my watercolored images almost exactly to the inks! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Pinkfresh Studio December 2023 Press Plate Release!

December 11, 2023

Hi friends! We’re starting off the new week with a new release over at Pinkfresh Studio, and this release is extra exciting to me because I have not one, but TWO different illustrations being released today. And they’re not just in stamp form; both my Beautiful Roses and Camellias illustrations are available as Press Plates to be used with the Spellbinders Better Press system as well as the Glimmer Hot Foil System! I am unbelievably excited to have these two new illustrations in Press Plate form. I think that the Press Plates lend such an air of elegance and sophistication to your cardmaking, and I think it is absolutely ingenious that they can be used for both letterpress and hot foil alike.

If you haven’t invested in a Better Press Letter Press system from Spellbinders, you’re really missing out. Hot foiling stymied me at first, I will admit, and it took several ruined cardstock panels (and a helpful cheat sheet Post-It Note on my Platinum 6) before I got the hang of my hot foil machine; the the Better Press system, however, is truly so user-friendly. I was literally able to use the first panel that I created with the system, with no real learning curve at all. And now, your other favorite stamp companies are coming out with beautiful plates to use with the system! So much versatility and so many gorgeous designs. I am thrilled to have these two new illustrations!

For my project today, I used the helpful grid lines on the magnetic insert panel to arrange my Beautiful Roses Press Plate on the center of an A2 panel of watercolor paper using the black Better Press ink. I can’t wait to experiment with the different colors of ink with these detailed Press Plates. The elegance of these letterpress images are really going to kick up my cardmaking. I am envisioning a toile background in light blue ink! I can’t wait to play more!

After I had impressed the image the first time, I flipped my clear platen and thus my card front 180* and impressed the image again. Because of the grid on the magnetic panel, I was able to place my rose swag exactly where I wanted it so that I could impress the image twice and create this wide band of roses in the center of my card!

After I had pressed the image twice using black ink, I used the soon-to-be-available new Liquid Watercolors from Pinkfresh Studio to add lots of vivid magenta and jade green to my watercolor panel. Liquid watercolors are such a fun medium; they are super concentrated, and so are incredibly vibrant, and because you can measure precisely how many drops are being released from the bottle, you can exactly recreate custom color mixes! I can’t wait to play more with these watercolors.

After I had finished watercoloring my image, I used the new Favorite Things Sentiments Press Plates and Coordinating Dies to create this simple and elegant letter press sentiment strip. I trimmed the watercolored panel down at the top and bottom, then mounted it on a full size A2 panel of black cardstock. I added a strip of glitter cardstock in the center of my rose panel to cover up the “seam” between the two pressed images, then popped up the letter press sentiment using some foam adhesive. The final touch was to add a few Twilight Ombré Glitter Gems for some more sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my project today. Now for some fun giveaway information!

Pinkfresh Studio will be giving away the full release on the Pinkfresh blog & YouTube channel. They will be giving away a total of TEN $25 gift cards along the hop. As per usual with blog hops – the winners will be picked from the comments.
Winners will be posted on December 19, 2023 on our GIVEAWAY PAGE. Winners must check that page & claim their prize within 2 weeks.

Here’s the full hop list in case you get lost:

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