Weddingbee

My first Gocco tutorial

After our wedding, I was exhausted and didn’t want to do with anything related to paper or DIYing. I think you could call it post-wedding burnout or papercrafting intoxication; it was pretty bad that I threw away most of my paper supplies to relieve the stress. I was fine for a few days… then after a few weeks I started developing withdrawal symptoms where I wanted to create something. My hands were restless, trembling, and I felt the sweat pouring… And that’s when I bought a freakin’ Gocco machine on Etsy. I gotta thank the weddingbees Mrs. Bee, Mrs. Lemon and Miss Penguin for making me fall for this obsession.

I did a lot of research about the Gocco before trying it out myself. The Gocco machine does include a how-to video, but it’s in Japanese and I had no clue what was going on. I searched on the internet for other tutorials and I discovered that the most informative video is on Paper Source, where they go step-by-step on how to print using the Gocco machine. I recommend watching both the Japanese and the Paper Source videos because they provide different sources of information. The Paper Source video is a basic tutorial and the Japanese version is more advanced - they go over adding multiple colors and utilizing the blocking material:

I also searched on Youtube and came across this really cool video about using the Gocco:

Even a child can learn how to Gocco.

I was convinced after watching these videos that the Gocco wasn’t too difficult to use. I started to create some holiday cards for my first project for the holidays this year. With inspiration from the Youtube videos, I created a mini video about my first experience using the Gocco (see above).

Here are the results of my first print:

The results look pretty good. I was able to use two different ink colors (gold and silver) on one print and the colors didn’t spread thanks to the ink blocker material.

So what are the cons about using a Gocco? The supplies are expensive. For each print you need to expose it using two yellow light bulbs along with a print screen. You also need to buy gocco inks which are sometimes difficult to find in the shades you are looking for. My favorite website to buy inks was Paper Source, but the supplies always run out. Other sites where you can buy ink include Ebay and Etsy, and I think there are some art stores online that sell inks.

I hope these videos are helpful, just another bee spreading more Gocco love!

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