Make A Letterpress Card

I know I’ve been promising a new video for a while but it wasn’t until after the holiday rush was I able to finally get to it.

This particular tutorial was a little difficult to portray because of the little technical difficulties in taping– I kept shaking the table that the camera was sitting on. But hopefully it is clear enough for you to attempt at home.

I’m going to do a brief run through of the tutorial in photo format in addition to the video, for those of you needing a little more commentary.

Watch the Video

How to Make A Letterpress Card (Without a Letterpress!)

I love letterpress stationary and art but an actual letterpress is not something that’s in my budget right now. So I came up with this DIY way to get that letterpressed look for notes and cards. It’s definitely not a replacement for the real thing but a fun project nonetheless.

You’ll need:

A pencil
A hot glue gun
A piece of chipboard (for the base of the stamp)
Cardstock (for printing on)
An ink pad
A burnisher (I used a shell, but you can also use the bowl of a spoon or any other rounded surface.)

The first thing I did was draw a very simple pattern on the chipboard. Hot glue is difficult to control and the best prints are the ones that are done with a very simple design; something organic or abstract. A dot or circle pattern would also print nicely.

Next, using the hot glue gun, slowly outline your drawing. Try to make the glue come out as consistently as you can– this will make printing easier. I found it easiest to hold the gun in one hand and press the glue stick with the other instead of using the trigger. I am using a white opaque glue so that it’s easier for you to see. Sometimes opaque glues are available at craft stores. Pick some up if it helps you to create these. It’ll be worth the investment because you can use the finished glue drawings over and over again!

At this point, check the drawing to fill in the gaps where the glue stopped early or where it became too thin. Those areas need to be filled in or they won’t appear in the printed image. When you are through filling those parts in, clean up the drawing as best you can by pulling the strings left by the glue gun off.

After you’re all ready with the drawing, place the piece on top of the cardstock you will be printing on. Mark the edges lightly with a pencil so you know where to place it when it is full of ink. After you’re finished printing, just erase the marks.

Now it’s time to ink the drawing! I used Color Box. There are also several other brands of artist ink pads out there for you to try. After inking the drawing, place it upside down on top of the cardstock. (I forgot to take a photo for this step, sorry about that. Please refer to the video if you have any trouble.)

Turn the piece of paper over and start burnishing! Rub the paper with your burnisher as much as possible because this is what will create the nice letterpress look in your image. Make sure you’ve gotten every part of the raised drawing.

And now the big reveal..

You’re all done! Here’s a close up:

You can layer different color inks or create another drawing to layer on top of this one. Endless possibilities.

Have lots of fun with this one!

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