My First Card with the new Spellbinders BetterPress!!

I'm sure most of you have heard about the newest product from Spellbinders, right?  It's called the BetterPress Letterpress System and gives the look of traditional letter press!!

There are several good videos showing how to use the BetterPress system on Spellbinders' YouTube channel, so I won't spend time explaining the how of it.  But I can say this, it is very easy to use!  Also, so you know, I purchased the BetterPress Starter Bundle (that was available for preorder) myself and therefore, any opinion is exactly what I think.  The now available BetterPress Letterpress System also includes a black mini ink pad, a sampler pack of Cotton Card Panels, and a roll of Best Ever Craft Tape.

First I positioned the included BetterPress Press Plates onto the Chase with Magnetic Insert.  I followed the directions for inking the Press Plate with the specialty BetterPress black ink.  I used the included Best Ever Craft Tape to adhere the BetterPress Cotton Card Panel to the Platen.

Okay, I know all of that sounds like Greek, right?!!  LOL!  But once you watch a video, you will see that it is not too complicated after all!

I ran the system through my Platinum die cutting machine (click HERE for a list of compatible products) and WOW!  Photos just don't do it justice!  I colored the image with a few of my Zig watercolor markers.  I also added yellow and dark gray splatters to the layer.  Then I die cut it with an Essential Arches die and a black matting layer.

Here's a super closeup of an extra sentiment where you may be able to see the beauty of the BetterPress:

I also used the largest Essential Arches die to make a folded card base for the layers.  After I tied some gingham ribbon around it, I popped it up with foam tape.

So you know, I did try coloring another image with my Copic markers.  The colors blended fairly well on the Cotton Card panel, but not as good as the Neenah I usually use.  The green markers seemed okay, however, when I started coloring the flowers with a light yellow marker, there was a bit of smearing of the black ink.  That's when I stopped that!  Watercolors worked great on the Cotton Cards as do pencils.

I hope you've enjoyed my review of the new BetterPress Letterpress System.  I can honestly say that I'm very happy I gave into my impulse to purchase this new product!  Haha!  I can't wait to create more cards with it!  Thanks so much for stopping by today--you are so appreciated!

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Beautiful Autumn Birthday | Honey Bee Stamps

Happy Wednesday crafty friends!  Is it feeling like autumn where you're at?  Here in Texas, we are still in full-on, totally-hot summer mode!  I'm kinda over it--LOL!  My card today featuring Honey Bee Stamps gorgeous Autumn Splendor A2 Cover Plate die is helping me get the autumn feels!  I used my Zigs to watercolor this beauty and then made it into a shaker card--read on for the details!

After I die cut some Bristol Smooth card stock with the Autumn Splendor A2 Cover Plate, I used various Zigs to color the elements.  I've listed the Zig colors I used at the end of this post.  It was really fun and so relaxing (just what I need right now!) to color this and play around with various colors on the leaves.  I used the Zig Blender brush instead of a brush and water to blend the colors.  I like the Blender Brush on Bristol because you can work the blends a lot more without pilling, like I get sometimes with water.

I didn't want the shaker part to be so prominent and take away from the colored panel, so I used vellum for the shaker covering.  I adhered the vellum to the back of the panel, added foam tape around the edges, and then behind two of the leaves near the center.  To keep the sequins from sticking to the sides of the foam tape, I patted my anti-static pouch around the inside edges of the foam tape, then wiped away the excess with a clean microfiber cloth.

It doesn't show too much in the photos but I added some olive green card stock to my card base.  Next I sprinkled some autumn colored sequins on the card base and then adhered the panel to close up the shaker.  The sequins I used are no longer available, but I've linked some I think would be perfect in the product list below.

I added Nuvo Ruby Slipper Glitter Drops to each of the berries and set it aside to dry.

Next I die cut some gold glitter card stock and white card stock with the Autumn shadow and script dies from the Bitty Buzzwords: Seasons Honey Cuts set.  I die cut the script three more times with white card stock and adhered the layers together with Bee Creative glue.  Then I used a dark brown Copic to color the top layer and adhered it to the gold glitter shadow.  I used the same brown Copic to color a scrip of Neenah 80# card stock and then stamped the sentiments with Versamark clear ink.  The top sentiment is in the Bitty Buzzwords: Seasons stamp set and I found the "birthday" in the Bitty Buzzwords stamp set.  I sprinkled on some gold sparkle embossing powder and heat set it.  After I trimmed the sentiments I added thin foam strips to the back.  I added these thin foam squares to the back of the "autumn" sentiment and adhered them all to the card.

I totally love how this turned out!  I hope I've inspired you to try your own version of watercoloring using this gorgeous Autumn Splendor A2 cover plate!  Thank you so much for stopping by!

Zig markers:

Dark Brown, Mid Brown, Brown, Beige, Olive Green, Light Green, Deep Green, Geranium, Orange, Bright Yellow, Yellow Green, Blender

Watercolor Daisy Wreath Thank You Card | Art Impressions

Happy Monday my friends!  I'm back with the promised card using another image from the beautiful Art Impressions Exclusive Daisies set  available only at Scrapbook.com.  This time I used the daisy wreath image from the set.

I stamped the wreath in Versa Fine Onyx Black ink onto watercolor paper.  I used my long neglected Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers to watercolor it.  The colors are listed below.  I stamped the sentiment from the set in the same black ink.  Then I die cut it with a Circle Double Stitched die.

For the card layers, I began with a top-folding A2 card base.  I trimmed some blue gingham paper to 5-½" x 3-7/8" and adhered it to the card base.  Then I cut a strip of white card stock to 5-½" x 2" and used a stitched edger die (sorry, I didn't know until checking after I made the card, it is sadly retired) to add the stitching to the edges.  I think you could easily use a black pen and add stitching to the white strip for a very pretty effect.  I added foam tape to the back of the circle and added it to the card front.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing another idea using this awesome set!  You will probably see another card sometime in the future as there are many more sentiments and images I've yet to use!  Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous, crafty week!

Zig Clean Color markers:

Light Green, Dull Blue, Bright Yellow,

Yellow, Fog Gray

Supplies:

Art Impressions & Scrapbook.com Exclusive Daisies set

Art Impressions Circle Double Stitched dies