[andi*pandi]

Do you have a matte cutting board? it doesn't get damaged by a hot glue gun so probably fine with a light iron... or put a towel between:
https://sciplus.com/graduated-cuttin...-3-4-x-11-3-4/

(they come in a variety of sizes this was the first I found)

[subego]

I do! It’s in fact peeking out from behind my last two dud photos.

My next attempt is going to put a few dish towels down. I balked at reader’s ironing board board idea because it had some give, but I think it might be necessary. My last two attempts with the chipboard backing turned out worse.

With some give, I can grind the point of the iron into the leaf.

[subego]

Attempts three through five. Last one was with the dish towels. Number two from the last page (made on the cardboard surface) is still the best.

I think my iron is too hot. The places where it didn’t stick is where the foil had heat wrinkles.

[subego]

Lower temp, and I made sure to put pressure from the edge of the iron in all directions.

Best so far.

[andi*pandi]

they make gold paper, make a frame from that? how closely is anyone going to see that it's layers?
(btw I like the decay on this one which looks aged)

[reader50]

Must you use a separate iron-on part? Try a laser printer with paper that's semi-gloss or matte.

Recall, toner is plastic powder, which is melted onto the paper. The toner comes out glossy. So a printed gold border will have more gloss than the paper. It might not be as glossy as the iron-on, but it would be physically perfect. And the shininess might be good enough. If you want the text matt, use two printers. Inkjet for the text, then a laser to add the border.

[subego]

I guess if I’m being honest, I went the iron-on route because that was how we got spot color on a mock-up… three decades ago. Admittedly, when it works, it looks pretty good.

This is a compromise though. The whole thing should be glossy, and I think photo paper through an inkjet would be best for that. It would also let me use a kinda cloudy off-white for the background, like paint, and use a dark pigment color for the text and swooshes, also like paint. That would make the text and swooshes a little fuzzy, but that might not matter.

To combine them both, cut gold paper on an inkjet photo print seems the way to go. In that regard, this whole process has chipped away at my resolve not to buy a Cricut.

I’m not 100% sure how to proceed. I think I’ve got a sign-off on my last attempt if I want to take this exit.

As an aside, I still have some room for improvement on this. If I’ve deduced correctly, the reason it’s best on the bottom and right is because I’m right handed, and coming at it from the bottom. It should work better if I flip it halfway through. The overall problem is being caused by the piece of paper I’m using to mask the text and swooshes. If I’m ironing around the mask, it’s fine. If I try to iron over the mask, the foil slopes off the mask and isn’t making contact at the edge of border.

[subego]

Anybody have Gonnella bread, or is that too local.

Next mission is a ‘70s baguette bag from them. Can’t find any images on the internet. Seems like I’m going to have to Frankenstein a bunch of existing stuff into an approximation of my very hazy memory.

[reader50]

Email the company PR contact, ask for a pic of the old bags? They should be happy for the free product placement.

[subego]

Excellent idea!

[andi*pandi]

Originally Posted by subego 

To combine them both, cut gold paper on an inkjet photo print seems the way to go. In that regard, this whole process has chipped away at my resolve not to buy a Cricut.

^ sounds good!
you shouldnt need a cricut to cut a square... that said, having a cricut I'm sure you will find tons of uses!

[subego]

Decided to splurge on the Cricut. I know I could cut the gold myself, but the Cricut would do a better job on the inside, and like you said, I’ll come up with other uses for it, and, and…






I WANT TO PLAY WITH IT, OKAY?

[andi*pandi]

You are going to make custom stickers for the band, right? Like all those kids put on their expensive water bottles?

[subego]

It just hit me this thing is a merch factory.

[ghporter]

The initial cost of a Cricut is kind of daunting, but once you start creating, I’m told you find yourself using it for a lot of things you never expected. Merch is a great example.

Someday I plan to get one. I started looking for ways to make stencils for marking containers, and my search led to Cricut. I think there are a few places here in town where one could “rent” an old fashioned (huge, slow) stencil punch*, but I’d no doubt “need” more stencils later, and so on. But a base model Cricut would be able to cut all the stencils I’d ever need, and “pay for itself” quickly.

Then I thought about other things. A “really clever” car rear glass sticker, for example. Or for hard-side luggage, too. I thought about all the things I could use one for, and ran into “large menu overload” (where there are too many choices “on the menu” and it’s hard to eve start choosing). But band/movie merch is a “single menu entry” that has multiple options…

*The Supply unit always had two or three standard sizes of punches on hand, and I would be the one with the patience (and interest) to make stencils for the shop. Of course I “had to practice a little” before doing the shop stencils, so I’d get stuff made for me while verifying the machine worked. The task was slow (you rotate the top of the machine to line up the letter/symbol you need, then pull the handle to punch the stencil material.

Here’s what a 1” stencil machine looks like, in case the idea of a small printer-sized device seemed “too much” for you:

Picture is from Grainger, and the list price for this enormous, heavy thing is $2185.44.

[subego]

Label maker too small?

The stencil maker reminds me a bit of the OG label makers, where you’d squeeze it to emboss the tape.

[subego]

Originally Posted by reader50 

Email the company PR contact, ask for a pic of the old bags? They should be happy for the free product placement.

We did this BTW. It looks like they’re going to send us a photo… FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY.






😈

[reader50]

Might I point out that given an actual pic, you can feed it into google and get alternate pics of the same product. Perhaps ones without lifestyle advice.

[subego]

It’s possible that doesn’t exist. For the most part, I could find no examples of their 20th century packaging whatsoever.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by subego 

Label maker too small?

The stencil maker reminds me a bit of the OG label makers, where you’d squeeze it to emboss the tape.

It works a lot like that, except it punches instead of embosses. And you get ONE font in ONE size per machine.

My label maker maxes out at 12mm, so yes, my label maker is too small, but labels aren't as long-lasting as a stenciled marking, whatever size you're doing.

[subego]

As an aside, P-Touches maxes out at 36mm.

[ghporter]

My model (a PT-1950) actually will take up to 18mm tape. I misspoke when I said it “maxes out” at 12. But still, even an 18mm label isn’t as visible as a 1” stenciled marking.

I use the label maker for a lot of things - cables, containers, etc., but I need both the size and the permanence of stenciling on large cases.

[subego]

FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY



Almost the exact design of a Gonnella bag circa 1986. I added G-Chef, who is from earlier in their history.

Took forever because I turned all the individual elements into objects for easier editing.

Next step is to find the right paper. Vellum and butcher paper are the two I’ve thought of so far.

[andi*pandi]

would butcher paper be too dark? bread bags are usually white but I dont know this brand...

[Thorzdad]

White butcher paper definitely exists. The meat counter at my local big-box grocery uses it.

[subego]

Isn’t the brown stuff “kraft paper”?

[reader50]

Perhaps normal paper would do. It depends on how close the camera gets. You could substitute semi-gloss paper for wax paper, giving the right sheen from a distance. While avoiding jamming/corruption concerns for your printer.

On the other hand, TV studios had problems when they upgraded from SD to HD cameras. Viewers could see how cheap the sets were, and could read the scribbled notes anchors had written on the desk tops. I seem to recall there were also instances where glimpses revealed anchors wearing unsuitable attire (PJs) below the waist, as only the suit and tie were normally visible. HD cameras made small glimpses visible as anchors leaned, and reflections on the set offered alternate viewing angles.

[subego]

One of our local sportscasters had a Marv Albert style, weekly “Sports Shorts” segment. He would end it by standing up and revealing he had no pants on.

[andi*pandi]

kraft paper is dark brown; our meat counter used to use tan paper... but I do recall even older times when it was white though...

regardless, bread bags are white; if you are printing a 4/c image on them especially they should be white. That 4/c bread printed on any brown paper will look weird.

can you print on regular prnter paper and fold your bag? then use pinking shears or craft scissors to get that zigzag edge?

[subego]

White is definitely the plan, and plain paper is definitely an option if the other two go bust.

I was hoping to find a rolling zigzag cutter. One designed for paper.

To my surprise, using the search terms “rolling”, “paper”, and “zigzag” did not take me to what I was looking for.

[andi*pandi]

try "rotary" cutter.

but seriously scissors like this will do it:

[subego]

I was thinking rotary because for true authenticity, the top edge of the bag on the front is concave for easy separation.

I also want to try the Cricut wavy blade, but the paper is too wide.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by subego 

To my surprise, using the search terms “rolling”, “paper”, and “zigzag” did not take me to what I was looking for.

Not to my surprise….

Anyway, the better keyword is “rotary”. With it, you get this. I’m a Fiskars fan, but there are a lot of good options.

If you don’t have one already, get a “self healing cutting mat”, too. Especially with non-straight cutting, these make the difference between crappy, inconsistent cuts and clean, neat cuts. I found that out by using scrap tag board over scrap corrugated cardboard; anywhere that’s already backed a cut will present an uneven surface and thus impact the way the cutter works.

[andi*pandi]

using sharp objects meant for fabric on paper makes martha stewart cry.

with the scissors above, you can curve as you cut.

he has confirmed he has the right cutting mat.

[ghporter]

I’m OK with Martha crying, as long as it’s because someone used the same cutter for both paper and fabric. That’s a cardinal sin! The Fiskars rotary cutter is a crafting tool, and it’s meant for paper (and tissue, and foil, etc.)

It takes some practice, but rotary cutters can cut curves pretty nicely. But andi I’m with you about pinking-style scissors and cutting curves. It’s much more intuitive - we get some training in cutting curves in the crafts stuff we get in grade school, so this is just an extension.

I need to get the correct cutting mat, because of the experience I mentioned above. I haven’t done much craft stuff for a while, but even if you’re just cutting tag board, a scored up, rough cutting surface makes things a lot less precise.

[subego]

Playing around with an AI photo filter, and I randomly picked a photo of the Gonnella bag. Thought it was hilarious what it did to the chef logo.

[Laminar]

Chef-san?

[subego]

Back to these…



Run through two printers. The rotini and the swooshes are inkjet, so the leaf won’t stick to it. The border is laser. Otherwise, not much different than what I posted upthread. The swooshes are rotated a bit, I also gave the text and swooshes a hint of blue.

Now to see if my crazy mounting idea works. My plan is to stick a layer of clear vinyl on top and then use that to adhere to the inside of the jar. Like a window sticker.


Edit: the other one just got cleared. Lighting isn’t as good.

[reader50]

I assume the black speckling is inkjet smudges? You did the laser pass first, followed by the inkjet?

Might try reversing the order. Inkjet first, then laser for the border.

[subego]

Ink first, then laser.

The problem seems to center around the heat making the foil buckle. The valleys stick, but the peaks don’t. I’m assuming it would work better if I used a laminator instead of an iron.

[andi*pandi]

The reason to put it *inside* the jar is to hide the edges of the label? Or? Otherwise that seems like a PITA waiting to happen...

Have you considered a clear sticker?

How many of these are you doing?

At this point I'd consider the wear and tear an *intentional* design aesthetic for that "old-timey" feel. Sell it.

[subego]

It’s a combo of hiding the edges and giving it some gloss. I’m resigned to the idea it might not work and I’ll have to come up with something else.

I did think of clear stickers, but I figured the heat from the foil transfer would warp it.

Agreed about the old-timey. That’s exactly how rotted leaf looks

[reader50]

Have you tried laser-printing the gold border? If not glossy enough, you could mask it and brush something clear on top. Gotta eliminate the ironing step somehow.

[andi*pandi]

He's going for real gold look. [Creating a fake gold in photoshop etc is not going to look the same (shimmers and highlights). Once I spent a long time once trying to create gold for a finicky business. I sampled a photo of jupiter and used all the tools PS3 had at the time. While it looked cool, it was not the same as gold metallic ink, which no one wanted to pay for. ]

My "real gold paper" frame idea may be a little chonky, but no more than attaching to vinyl would be...

Have you tried real spray paint?

[subego]

Right on with the leaf. The funky angles I have for the last two photos were so I could get it to reflect a white surface.

I actually like it being a little off, so these results should be considered good. The big problem was I had to keep re-teaching myself how to do it so it was only a little off instead of way off. It would usually take 6-12 attempts.

Spray paint is an excellent idea I hadn’t thought of. I do have a pack of metallic Sharpies I thankfully never had to pull the trigger on.

[reader50]

Originally Posted by subego 

I do have a pack of metallic Sharpies I thankfully never had to pull the trigger on.

Remind me not to live nearby. Unusual way to deal with your frustrations.

[subego]

Draw!

[subego]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi 

How many of these are you doing?

I missed this question! Just the two.

[reader50]

Nail paint. It's meant to be glossy, and is available in every imaginable color. Including many shades of gold. Optional sparkles.

[Laminar]

Originally Posted by reader50 

Remind me not to live nearby. Unusual way to deal with your frustrations.

Just Chicago things.