BetterPress!!

I had been holding out investing in the BetterPress system from Spellbinders, but it is included in the current Spring Cleaning Sale ending tonight at midnight, and that tipped me over!  So today I'm sharing my first attempt using this system.

supplies: pebble cotton cardstock, floral Press plate, black BetterPress ink, all included in BetterPress Letterpress system,  sentiment from Sentiments of Wonder, Zig markers, pale green cardstock as a mat

Yes, I had that "Ohhhhhh" moment when the pressed image was revealed, just like everyone else has!  I chose the pebble (pale grey) cotton cardstock included in the kit, and was so pleasantly surprised with my results!  No smudges and  a lovely crisp indention of the image, even that teensy sentiment!  And it couldn't be any simpler to achieve!!  

As I'm not good at coloring, I decided to use my Zig markers to just follow along the details of the design and add a bit of color.  They are water-based, which is what is recommended with the system.

For those of you who may wonder as I did, will this system work with our own cardstock and favorite inks?  So after I made my first printing above, I used my usual Hammermill white cardstock, Premium Color Copy Color, 100#, first with the included black ink, and then with my own VersaMark Onyx Black ink, which is my go-to black ink.  Both gave a perfect print, but there was no impression made on either attempt. In essence, the plate acted like a stamp.  That's just my experience so far, and you can make your own decision on whether you will want to use the plates   I think the amazing details that the plates can make are a plus, and don't forget that you can also use them with glimmer foil in your hot foil machine with just as crisp an image (see my results with that HERE).

Hope this will be of some help to you if you're also considering the BetterPress system.