There are many different possibilities with this fun theme, do a technique that is hard to figure out by just looking at the finished project, make a layout or an art journal page about something mysterious, solve something, etc. I made an art journal page as well as a Christmas card, without really having planned what I was going to do.
You probably already know that I like to play around with different techniques and try to solve how to achieve various effects. When I first saw gelli prints, I thought it was a bit of a mystery how the pattters are achieved, but it is really so simple (and fun!). I love to use my own photos in projects and wanted to figure out a way of including my photos in gelli printing. The solution was simple and I'll share some step photos below. I used
Tim Holtz stencils and
embossing folders to make patterns into the paint. The print in my art journal was actually just to use up paint that was on the plate, after I had run out of paper, and ended up being the one I liked the best.
I started out looking through some photos and picked one of my son jumping on a trampoline. The photo wasn't sharp, but that didn't matter for what I had in mind. I printed it on paper, cut it out and painted it on both sides with about three layers of
multi-medium, to make it stronger and more durable. You could also print on acetate, which I think I will do the next time I do this technique.
I used my
6 x 6 gelli plate, because I knew I wanted to make pretty small prints. Place the photo on the plate.
Add a few drops of
Distress Paint (two blue colours) on the plate and roll out with a
brayer. Distress Paint is thin and if you find that it beads up, wash the plate with soap and water and do a few test runs, then it should work fine. If there is still some beading, just see it as extra texture.
To create patterns, I pressed dry embossed papers and stencils into the paint. You can use the actual embossing folder too, but I like the effect you get by first embossing cardstock and then using that. To see more examples, check out
this tutorial of mine for how to use your dies and embossing folders in gelli printing. I forgot to take a photo of this step, or I had too much paint on my hands to want to pick up my camera. Remove the mask and press your paper onto the plate. I used Neenah cardstock cut into 6 x 6 squares.
Pull off the paper and then print a second paper without adding more paint, this is called the ghost print (see the bottom right print above). You can also start with a layer of paint and then do a second layer with a darker colour, adding your silhouette mask. On the two prints to the right, I first printed a layer of Antique Linen and Pumice Stone on the paper, making impressions with dry embossed papers and stencils. Then I placed the mask on the plate and rolled on darker paints (Salty Ocean, Evergreen Bough), pressed additional embossed papers and stencils into the paint, removed the mask and made a second print. The two prints to the right are ghost prints, printed on white paper, making the silhouette white. The stars were made with Tim Holtz
Star stencil.
Here you can see the patterns made into Antique Linen and Pumice Stone paint, using Dot Matrix and Swirls - first embossed on cardstock.
If you place the mask on the other side of the plate, the silhouette will of course be printed on the other side of the paper.
I made a lot of prints, some with and some without the silhouette. The photo to the bottom left is the ghost print of the one above it, using the
Rays embossing folder (again embossed on cardstock first),
Gridlock and
Swirls. For the top brown print, I made my own stamp using the
Word Play die and fun foam - again check out my
gelli print tutorial for this technique. For the two brown prints, I first did a layer of Antique Linen and Pumice Stone and then one with Walnut Stain and Salty Ocean.
For the top ones, I used Tim Holtz
Rays and
Cargo stencils, and the
Dot Matrix embossing folder. For the bottom once, I used Dot Matrix, Swirls and more, in combination with Barn Door and Salty Ocean paint. These two didn't come out that nice, but I will use them for something else.
Another two prints. I used Evergreen Bough and Broken China on the one to the left, together with a
snowflake and
postcard embossing folder. On the one to the right, I forgot to remove the mask before printing, which also gave quite a cool effect on the silhouette. Rays, Gridlock, Dot Matrix and Swirls used for patterns.
When I cut Neenah cardstock into 6 x 6 squares, I am left with strips of paper. I use these to pick up leftover paint from the plate, usually being the third time I pull a print from the plate. Sometimes these strips are my favourites, I particularly like the edges created by the paint which remains on the very edge of the gel plate. I reach for these a lot when doing projects, you can see them in
this layout for example.
I like to use white cardstock when I emboss papers to use to make patterns into the gelli plate. The reasons is that these end up looking pretty cool too and can be used as a background on another project. I just love the random paint on these.
I ran out of precut paper, just after I had applied new paint to the plate. Instead of cutting up new papers, I pressed my
small Dylusions art journal into the paint. It just so happened that this ended up being one of my favourite prints. At first, I had planned to only make cards, but now I decided to turn this into an art journaling page. I made a second print on the right hand page, using the fun foam jump stamp. The bottom of the pages were coloured with ghost prints, and for the top I pressed 'adventure', from the
Travel Signs embossing folder into the paint and made a print just at the top. The blue rings were made by tapping the lid of the paint dabber on the plate before printing.
I held the mask over the silhouette and sponged
Potting Soil ink around it to make the silhouette stand out more. The stars were sponged with the same ink through Tim Holtz Star stencil. The blue rings were stamped with Broken China paint and I also added some stamping with Jet Black ink and rub-ons.
Potting Soil ink was sponged through the
Dot Fade stencil and the birds were stamped with Jet Black ink (you know I love that stamp). Last of all, I applied
Wendy Vecchi's White Embossing Paste through the Stars and the Bubble stencils with a palette knife.
I wanted to do something on the theme of jumping, even though you can't completely see on the silhouette that he is jumping. This quote is real nice and I stamped it with
alphabet stamps. I also added some more personal journaling at the bottom of the right-hand page - and a date, I date everything I make.
Here you can see more of the stamping, and the embossing paste dots. I was real happy with how this turned out and it was not at all planned, which is one of the exciting mysteries of the creative process.
I was having fun and I wasn't done yet. I turned one of the blue prints into a Christmas card. On this print, I used Tim's Star and Bubble stencil for the print, as well as Swirls and Dot Matrix embossed papers. The paints were Evergreen Bough and Broken China. You can see this print on one of the examples above, it is a ghost print.
The blue stars were stamped with French Ultramarine Archival Ink. I love the look of the distressed printed stars in the background. Finally, I applied white embossing paste through the
Bubbles and Stars stencils and sprinkled with
Rock Candy glitter (check out
this tutorial of mine for making snow with embossing paste and Rock Candy).
The sentiment was stamped with French Ultramarine. All the layers of dots: printed, sponged and paste, look really nice together. I finished the card with
silver tinsel and
ribbon roses.
I hope you will join us in the challenge this week! As every week, one lucky participant wins a $50 gift voucher from
Simon Says Stamp and can do some shopping.
Thank you for looking at this long post!
Happy Crafting!!
Anna-Karin
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