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Design and Print Your Own Wrapping Paper

The following Project uses a versatile and simple to use PRINT GOCCO accessory – the Hand Stamper. The Hand Stamper makes a great addition to your PRINT GOCCO equipment as it is a relatively low cost item that enables you to use all of your imaged masters exactly like a big rubber stamp!


Everyone loves receiving gifts and they are made even more special when wrapped in paper that has been decorated by you. Attractive and unusual wrapping paper is easy and economical to make - vary the patterns and colours to suit your requirement. Your beautiful paper will have many other uses besides wrapping gifts. Cover boxes of different shapes and sizes [shoeboxes and smaller] with your paper and you have made charming packages for gifts or lovely storage containers for all your knick knacks and treasures. You can also cover ordinary and inexpensive books, albums, folders and notepads with your printed paper and transform them into a unique gift for a friend or family member.

For your wrapping paper, select from the wide range available from your newsagent or stationery supplier, large department stores or specialty paper shop. You can also use inexpensive butcher’s paper or brown wrapping paper to great advantage. Choose a fairly simple design and experiment with different combinations of colours. Remember, the best GOCCO ink colours to use for printing onto dark paper are the metallic and pearl colours – they are quite striking.

Materials

Preparation

Read instructions thoroughly before commencing. If you are planning to decorate paper that has been rolled up, it is best to cut it into manageable lengths [about the size of butcher’s paper], place it flat on your table or workbench, and weigh the corners [with books, cans, etc.] during printing. This will stop the paper rolling or curling whilst it is drying. Decide on the design you would like to print [hand drawn, photocopied, computer laser print or use one of the designs we have included]. Perform artwork clean-up preparation if necessary. Use your PRINT GOCCO to "flash" your design onto a B6 Master – leaving the original artwork on the B6 Master. Choose your ink colours

Method

Peel back the transparent film on the B6 Master and apply the inks of your choice. Don’t forget to use Ink Blocking if you are using different colours and don’t want them to spread. Replace the transparent film of the B6 Master and fix the end securely with cellophane tape. Place your flashed and inked-up B6 Master on your table/workbench, inked side down on scrap paper and place the Stamper onto the Master – the sticky back will hold it in place. Peel your artwork away from the B6 Master, make a test print on scrap paper to check detail and begin printing. Remember, if the paper you are printing onto has a rough surface, DON’T press harder, but keep the Stamper Unit on the paper for a second or two longer. You can use whatever method to space pattern that you like – random stamping works well for some patterns whilst more geometric designs might look better with a "side by side" printing. Don’t be afraid to experiment and don’t worry about small imperfections – this is expected in hand-printed paper. Let paper dry and either store flat between heavy cardboard or "hang" several sheets together on an inexpensive clip coat hanger [similar to a skirt hanger].

Suitable For

Apart from using your paper to wrap gifts and cover items, it can be folded into sheets or rolled and tied with a piece of decorative ribbon or twine. It would be suitable for:


Other Uses for your ‘flashed’ B6 Print Master

The imaged B6 master you have made to create your wrapping paper can be kept and used for a variety of other items. Here are some examples


Make a special gift
Cover a book with hand printed paper

An ordinary and inexpensive store-bought notebook, address book or diary can be transformed into a lovely, personalised gift by covering it with your individually designed and hand-printed paper. Choose a paper with a beautiful texture or appealing background colour and print it with the design and colours of your choice [keep in mind the best ink colours to use with dark coloured paper]. You can print these special sheets of paper for your books and then print the same design onto, say, brown paper to keep and use later as gift wrap.

Materials

Preparation

For this project it is best to use a glue stick – because these are solid, it is easier to control the amount of glue used and they are not at all messy. If you do decide to use a pot or plastic squeeze container of glue, make sure you don’t use too much, as it can leak through the paper and cause your pattern to run. If your hand-printed paper is thin, it is best to cover your book first with plain, white paper [cheap butcher’s or copy paper, depending on the size of your book]. This will stop the original cover of your book – which may have a brand name printed on it – from showing through.

Method

Cut a piece of white paper that is big enough to cover the whole book. Glue over the original cover. Keep the book closed whilst you are doing this, to ensure the glued paper does not tear when the book is closed. [NOTE: This step is not necessary if using a book with a plain cover or if covering with thicker, hand-printed paper]. Cut a piece of your hand-printed paper to a size larger than the book you are covering – leaving enough room for folding over. Centre your book on top of the paper. At the spine of the book, cut paper at an angle or, if necessary, cut out a vee shape to enable the paper to fit the cover snugly. Glue your hand-printed paper onto the white paper [or directly onto the cover if not using white paper]. Neatly fold the edges over and glue them firmly in the inside of the book cover. Take your sheets of plain paper and cut these a little smaller than the inside cover of your book. Carefully glue onto the inside covers – this will hide any mistakes you have made in folding and will also give the book a "finished" look.

Using this method, you could cover a variety of different books at the same time – notebooks, address books, diaries, indexed books [which are greatly appreciated for those of use who like to collect recipes]. They can be given separately or as a set to someone special – add a matching pen to make a really lovely gift.


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