Thursday, January 28, 2010

Our Save-the-Dates and Yudu Screenprinter Review

I have been so excited to share our save the dates, but I was waiting until all of them had been sent first! It is details like these that I love about party planning.


We're going for a "modern vintage" feel for our wedding, mixing vintage details with modern design. Now, I totally think that Save the Dates are unnecessary for a budget wedding such as ours, but I just love paper goods and I couldn't help myself! I'm hoping that these little gems get our guests excited about celebrating with us!


I wanted to print on both the paper and the hankie, that way if our guests found some clever way to use the hankie (oh trust me, my aunt made us a stuffed bunny out of one...), they still had the paper to hang on the fridge!


You know what the best part is for a bargain-hunter-diy girl like myself? These babies cost us a total of 65 cents a pop! We're trying to save on postage by handing them out in person to those who live close.

Yudu Review:
There are good things and bad things about this machine. The good... It is all self contained, which is super convenient and makes it so easy to print anywhere with a large flat surface (dining room, kitchen, garage, etc). My two favorite features include the light-tight dryer, which you stick your screen in after applying emulsion or washing or whatever, and the tacky printing surface. The tacky surface makes registration so great. I chose to purchase this machine because, since I've graduated, I no longer have access to a printmaking studio. I feel like at this point, it is meeting my screenprinting needs.

The bad... If you are not an experienced screen printer, this machine might seem amazing upon first glance. However, without experience, you may have a really hard time getting it to do what you want. I had to make many modifications to my machine in order to make myself not regret this purchase. If you are an experienced screen printer, this machine might seem a little chincy at first, but with some tweaks, it works pretty well. The screen isn't the best, and it's definitely not made for more than like 5 wash outs. Also the Yudu ink, which they say to only use (of course) is completely overpriced and really dry. I tried it and got really terrible prints, very spotty. After that, I didn't even bother with it, I just went ahead and used Speedball. Also, the emulsion remover works really well and really fast, but bleach works just as well. The emulsion sheets are very convenient, but they don't work as well as good old liquid emulsion. Plus they are super pricey. The squeegee is just terrible. Do yourself a favor and go buy a good squeegee at an art supply store.

I guess it might seem like I have more bad things to say... but I really had a lot of fun using the Yudu machine. If you're thinking of buying one, my advice to you is to make sure you do your research on how to modify it.

23 comments:

  1. these are really beautiful, Allie!
    Congrats on your engagement.

    best--

    amanda buck (printmaking class those years ago)

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  2. You're projects turned out great! Thanks for sharing : )

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  3. Absolutely gorgeous!! These would fit out wedding theme perfectly. Where did you get the hankies??

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  4. Beautiful!! Did you use the 110 or the 220 screen for these? I have both types of screens and they hold up really well for me, but I'm really gentle with them when cleaning them.

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  5. Thank you so much for sharing this! Can i ask where you bought the handkerchiefs. All I can find is basic white ones.

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  6. Yes, where did you find the hankies, especially at less than 65 cents each? These turned out so very lovely.

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  7. thanks for your comments ladies! i collected the hankies from different online wholesale dealers. initially, i wanted to use vintage hankies, but that proved to be a bit too expensive, plus they would be used and... well yeah. so glad you all have enjoyed them!

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  8. thanks for the yudu tips! really helpful! How did it go with printing small type details? i'd heard it wasn't very good at that.

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  9. Any chance you could share where you got the hankies? I've scoured the interwebs and can't find anything that looks as nice as the ones you found, and certainly not for .65 apiece!

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  10. is it possible to use the yudu as a small printing business tool?

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  11. Yes, Please share where you purchased handkerchiefs from. Thank you!

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  12. Agreed! What different sites did you find the hankies on?

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  13. Hi borrowedturquoise
    You stated the following on this page:

    "I had to make many modifications to my machine in order to make myself not regret this purchase." "but with some tweaks, it works pretty well."
    Can you share with us all what tweeks you did to your machine and any modifications we all should do?

    "The emulsion sheets are very convenient, but they don't work as well as good old liquid emulsion. If you're thinking of buying one, my advice to you is to make sure you do your research on how to modify it."
    Where do I get the coupons everyone talks about? Where is the best place to buy one?

    Where do we get the Liquid Emulsion that you use? Any other infomation would help me and everyone else. I was thinking about purchasing the YuDo so I could make T-Shirts and Ball Caps for our Church Mission as a fundraiser that we could sell promoting our church mission and make T-Shirts and Ball Caps for others businesses and other customers.
    All proceeds would go to our Mission helping people in need.
    pastorwilliambarhorst@yahoo.com is my email. anyone feel free to contact me with suggestions.
    Thank You
    The Rev

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  14. Hi!

    I LOVE this idea, have been looking for hankies like that for a very long time.. may i ask where you got yours? I`m form Norway and haven`t got the chance to go abroad at the time, but if it`s in any way possible to buy these on line, it would make our wedding perfect!

    my email is miriamlivden@gmail.com

    thank you :)

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  15. Congratulations. These are very beautiful and so memorable as opposed to a simple magnet to post on the fridge. I'm sure your wedding was just as unique and beautiful as these cards. Hope it was a wonderful day.

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  16. Where did you find the hankies ?

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  17. I would love to know where you got the hankies!!!

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  18. where did you find the craft paper cards? I've been searching for them everywhere for our invitations and can't seem to find them easily. The nearest store is an hour away :/

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  19. Hello... I just stumbled across your blog on my search for vintage handkerchiefs for a project I am working on and wanted to see if you could forward on some info on where you sourced yours. They are exactly what I am looking for.
    My email is jandyhund@gmail.com

    Best--
    Jenn

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  20. Good idea, Good taste, Good Work

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  21. Agreed, beautifully done save the dates! I too would love to know where you found cheap handkerchiefs. My email is beatluver@yahoo.com

    Thanks!
    Amanda

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  22. Hi
    I Noticed a few requests for hankies
    I started selling vintage look hankies on Etsy
    just in time for this Save the Date craze
    Check it out-
    www.etsy.com/shop/AVintageLook

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