Gocco Love

 Hello folks that may actually be reading this.  Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, but I've been super busy with class.  Sunday was Chris and my engagement anniversary, but we didn't really celebrate.  Him being in Charleston and me being in Athens...

 

Do any of you know what a Gocco is?  It's this machine that was made in Japan that you can make your own screenprints.  It can cost anywhere from $200-$500 on Ebay.  I really want one.  At one point, about 1/3 of all Japanese households had a Gocco machine, but then I guess the market was saturated and they stopped selling it.  I just feel like I could really get my money's worth out of it for this wedding and beyond.  I worry, though, that because Gocco is not being made anymore, I won't be able to buy replacement products later.  I want to make so many aspects of my wedding and this could really help me personalize things without paying a fortune to have it professional done.  Of course, I don't really need any of these things; I just want them.  This one bride who's blog I follow has a Gocco and look at all the BAMF things she made:

Save the Dates

 Bar Napkins

She also Gocco'ed the return addresses on her envelopes.  The beauty of the Gocco is that I can print white on dark paper (think white on navy paper) and on things that can't be run through my printer.  I mean, obviously I don't really need custom coasters and napkins, but it's these details that make a wedding personalized and seem more expensive than they actually are.  If I did it myself, I could make sure that it matched (and wasn't that crappy looking stuff from Oriental Trading) and could use the graphic all over.

My other option is this product and the supposedly new and improved version.  It's the same type of do-it-yourself silk screening, but I think it's probably more limited.  It is a lot less expensive, and I could (I think) make much larger screens.  However, unlike the Gocco, it'll be difficult to line everything up so that it prints in the same spot each time because there's no "machine," just the screens.  It looks like it does a really nice job, though:

I have to do some really hard thinking about what (and how much) I want to print.  I think I have to invest in one, either way.  Maybe I'll try out the $40 kit and if it's total crap, see if I can hunt down a Gocco.  So many ideas, so little time.