Letterpress with stencils
MATERIALS
Variety of Dreamweaver Metal Stencils
Memories Mists Metallic Sprays
Memories Mists Ink Sprays
White or light colored cardstock
Thin scrap paper to place on the thick white plate to help keep this plate cleaner
Paper towels
Cardboard box to use as a "spray booth", at least 12 inches by 9 inches
Embossing Machines that work: Big Shot or Cuttlebug or Revolution
Thick white plate for the machine (referred to as an A plate for the Cuttlebug)
Two acrylic plates (referred to as B plates for the Cuttlebug)
Stamping Details thicker rubber embossing mat
PROCESS
1. Place the thick white plate onto the deck of the embossing machine (The Cuttlebug white plate is referred to as the "A" plate).
2. Place a thin piece of scrap paper onto the thick white plate of your embossing machine to protect it from excess ink.
Place a paper towel in the bottom of the cardboard box.
Position the stencil on top of the paper towel.
5. Shake up the bottle of spray and spritz the stencil two or three times. It doesn't need to be too wet, just well moistened.
6. Spritz on top of this spray just a couple of times with one of the metallic ink sprays.
7. Gently pick up the stencil by the sides and position it on the scrap paper that you prepared in step #2 with the inked side facing up.
8. Position the white or light colored cardstock face down onto the inked stencil.
9. Gently place the thick Stamping Details mat onto the back of the cardstock.
10. Now place the two acrylic plates onto the rubber mat and run this sandwich of plates, stencil, paper and rubber mat through the the machine. Remember to follow this stacking method carefully to protect the stencil from being rolled and consequently warped. (Using warped acrylic plates can warp your stencils, so try to have a set just for stencil embossing.)
TIPS
Try different color combinations. Also I don't clean my stencil off each time and this will give you some very interesting effects. Run a dark color through the machine first on just a scrap piece of paper (don't clean the stencil) and then try only metallic gold or metallic copper the next time around on your stencil. This will rim the stencil design with the darker color when you put the cardstock through. Be brave and adventuresome!