Product Review: Shiny DIY Printing Kit

Shiny DIY Printing Kit

Whenever I finish a daily hand sketch, I date and number it. I thought it would be fun to use some kind of date stamp for this ritual, so I started looking around for one. Yoseka Stationery, a delightful New York City shop, showed something on Instagram that was exactly what I was looking for: the Shiny DIY Stamp Printing Kit.

I chose the larger kit, which includes character sets in two sizes. Also in the kit are seven platens in various shapes to set the type, a handle, tweezers and ink pad. A smaller kit is also available with one character set.

 

Kit contents. The round and oval platens will be fun for other projects sometime.

In addition to all the letters of the alphabet (upper and lower cases), numbers and symbols for several languages, the kit includes useful shortcuts like .com, P.O. Box, http:, etc. The character sets are clearly intended for printing things like impromptu business cards, tags or notes that might include contact info.

 

Two sizes of characters.

Tweezers can be used to grasp and place the tiny letters.

Useful shortcuts included.

The box is designed to organize and hold all the pieces neatly. Diagrams in the tray compartments show you where things should go so that everything fits perfectly. (I must say, however, that unless every piece is put back in its place exactly so, the lid will not close.)

Diagrams show where all the pieces go!

Setting lines of type with those tiny letters is easier than I thought it would be. Although I don’t have to use the included tweezers to pick up the letters and place them in the platens, they are handy for removing letters or pushing them into place.

I used a single-line platen to make a stamp for the hashtag I’ve been using (#washyourhandthendrawit) and a two-line platen for the number and date. 

Be sure to test each stamp before stamping on your finished work and fix any typos (lowercase b’s and d’s are easy to confuse when they’re backwards).

The handle makes it easier to ink and stamp, but the first time I stamped on my hand sketch, I forgot to attach the handle. I found that the platen is easy enough to ink and stamp without the handle.

 

Platen can be used with or without detachable handle.

I love this kit! It’s compact and easy to use. The hardest part about it will be remembering to change the date before I stamp.