I printed the letterpress gift tags from the tutorial on several different types of paper to see how the results would vary, and I’m happy to say that I had pretty good results with each. Keep in mind that I’m still trying to perfect my ink rolling technique, so I did experience a bit of feathering/muddiness here and there, probably because I had put a bit too much ink on the plates. But even with user error (mine), I’m very pleased and would be comfortable using any of these papers in L Letterpress projects.
Here’s a look at the results:
Lifestyle Crafts White (330gsm) – the same paper that I used in the tutorial
Crane Lettra Fluorescent White (300gsm)
American Crafts Smoke (216gsm)
Note about the American Crafts paper : I wanted to try this particular paper because it’s a popular one for paper crafters and scrapbookers. This was the most lightweight of the papers I tested, so I used two shims (pieces of scrap cardstock, in this case) when I ran it through the embossing machine. You can see that there’s some muddiness in the “For You” text, and I can’t be sure whether this was because I should’ve only used one shim (less downward pressure) or because I had too much ink on the plates. I still think the result isn’t bad, but I’ll need to do further testing to confirm the cause of the muddiness.
Crane Lettra, Arturo Cover, and Legion Bamboo papers courtesy of Letterpresspaper.com
images by Kristen Magee
