Gel printing with newsprint

We had a major (for us anyway) snowstorm...I guesstimated 14 inches here, that was done by standing in the snow and then coming back inside to measure how tall my UGH boots are, where the snow came over my boots and how much I probably compressed the snow...very scientific process. Would have been easier had I bought out my ruler with me but this seemed to be ...more me... since I don't measure anything anyway...lol

And what's the best thing to do on a snowy day? Make art of course!

 I am playing today with

 Carolyn Dube's Use Something that would be thrown away January challenge.

For a mixed media artist and anyone that practices recycling means it's not hard to find something to use. I chose newsprint because 1. it's a recyclable item and 2. I've never used it with my Gel plate. 

I also made a stamp to use ( I love making Gel plate stamps and stencils, don't you?

This one I created by drawing a flower on some corrugated cardboard and then carved away some of the areas with my exacto knife. I also lifted up that first layer in some areas to show the corrugation pattern and used my Silent Setter to punch some holes through the middle of the flower.

I figured I should get 2 entries since I also used Cardboard which would have been thrown away....what do you think Carolyn? lol

I knew going into this project that the newspaper was very thin and might stick but was happily surprised that it didn't tear on me. I did pull it off slowly and gently so keep that in mind if you decide to try it. Personally, I loved how it looked with the text peeping through the painted layer.

Awesome, right? Here is a close up of the square print that I made.

I took this sheet and used it to cover the back to my journal, you can see the front of my journal here in this post. I think the black go well together.

One tip, let the paper dry thoroughly before using your exacto knife to cut around the eyelet so your paper doesn't tear.

And my favorite view of my journal...lol 

I love you more than...

Simon says ...Make your own background

I say...yesssssssss

I love my Gelli plate!

I think collaging in my art journal has now crossed over into my card making!! I took 2 different stickers and put them together for this funky little Halloweenie image! Not sure how I would feel if I found him walking around in my pumpkin patch, but I love him on my card!

 My favorite part of this Gelli print is really along the edge

Remembering 9-11-01

This is my journal page after I had gently ripped off some netting that I had glued down with my Helmar Collage Paste. After removing the netting I was left with some very textured surface which I then covered over with the left over paint from my brayer. I always keep my journal open to pages that I had messed up when I am playing with my gelli plate, so no paint gets wasted!

Sometimes from mistakes, you get cool textures. Both pages pretty much had the same overall effect of leftover collage paste, glitter and netting imprint. I REALLY liked it and never would have been able to achieve this effect if I had wanted to....even if I had tried really hard! lol

So these pages were left open while I made my Gelli prints, rolling the left over paint that was on the brayer onto the pages. After I made my prints, I was then left with this mess on my Gelli plate:

One of the easiest ways to clean off a dried Gelli plate is by removing the paint with packing tape. Lay it across your plate, rub it, and pull it off to reveal an almost perfectly clean plate.

Of course, then you have all these lovely translucent strips of tape to play with so I did what any creative person would do....used them! I adhered them onto the journal with my Helmars Decoupage Paste and I really liked how they looked. They are the same colors but more intense looking when over laid across the painted pages of the journal book. You can see where I marked them to be cut so I would have an even border around them leaving the texture visible.

I used my Helmar Decoupage and Craft Paste to adhere the strips of painted packing tape to the page. Once that was done I used Sharpie marker to sketch out a skyline and the Statue of Liberty onto the packing tape for my layout design.

Over on the Helmar blog today I made stencils for Gelli printing by using the Foam Glue. I hope you hop over there and check it out, so much better than using a hot glue gun!

Autism awareness

The Autism Awareness Ribbon — The puzzle pattern reflects the mystery and complexity of the autism spectrum. The different colors and shapes represent the diversity of the people and families living with the condition. The brightness of the ribbon signals hope — hope that through increased awareness of autism, and through early intervention and appropriate treatments, people with autism will lead fuller, more complete lives.

Both of my background papers came from gelli prints using the new line of Deco Arts Media Fluid acrylics. 

They are a lot of fun to use in your gelli printing and this sign shows why. After putting my colors down on my plate, I lightly brayered them in one direction only. 

The first several pulls will give you a very bright and vivid background, After it dried I used a white pen to trace around some puzzle pieces to create the background.

 ( On a nationwide level, the Puzzle Piece symbol reflects the mystery and complexity of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Also, since every puzzle piece is different in some way, a puzzle piece accurately represents the diversity of the individuals affected. )

But it's the last pull that gets me, you know when you have dried bits of paint left over? Just squirt a healthy layer of water onto your gelli plate and press your paper down to get a dreamy soft swirl of color. Your paper will most likely curl after soaking in all that water, but just let it dry and then press it under some heavy books and it will flatten back out again.

Lettering completed with a Sakura Gelly Roll pen, wood butterfly from the Frosted Designs Moments in Time Kit.

Collage:

 Introduced by the Cubists, the technique of creating a work of art by adhering flat articles such as paper, fabrics, string or other materials to a flat surface such as a canvas whereby a three-dimensional result is achieved.

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This is the gelli plate print that I thought I was working on, it's funny how it turned out to be only one of the ones I was actually working on at the time. I just didn't know it. I do plan on coming back to this one....but I got side tracked.....SQUIRREL!!

So, as I was working on the above print, I used my journal to press my handmade stamp onto after each pull to clean it off. I had already messed this page up with some inks sprays ( playing with the new TH Spritz Marker, LOVE it btw ) so this page became a "play page"...you know what I mean! lol

My hand made stamp was created by using puffy paint on a piece of cardboard to create the raised areas. The size of the stamp is 8 x 12", so it's HUGE! It was inspired by Carolyn Dube a while back and it has become a favorite of mine to play with. 

So I thought I was finished and began the cleaning up process of taking packing tape to remove the dried up paint off of my gelli plate.

I'm about ½ way done here, as you can see it does a pretty good job of removing the paint. Just press the tape down and rub it firmly with your fingers to burnish it onto the plate and then peel up. I learned that little tidbit from the Gelli Arts blog.

before tape

I wasn't very happy with the initial result I was getting on my art journal page, but always knew I could gesso over it or "whatever" later on...

So as I was peeling off the tape, which had a good amount of paint on it, the thought occurred to me to lay it back down over the journal page piece. Just to see how I liked it. I have to admit I fell in love with and it was not something I had set out to do. Funny how that happens, but now I was off on a totally new project.

after tape

The painted packing tape gave it some color but it's still not very defined and it's very slick and shiny which represents a whole new set of challenges...what to do next?

Sooooo....the day before I was discussing Sharpie Oil Based markers vrs their water based markers with Tamiko and she popped up a video which made me go...duh, me! It says that they aren't very good on chalky surfaces but work great on non porous materials....like packing tape perhaps? Let's give it a try!

Loving the Oil Based Sharpie on the packing tape and used my regular Sharpie to draw in some black areas. I wanted to keep defining her so I took out my PITT pens to see what the results would be. I didn't worry about them beading up, because that effect made it look just like the gelli print...actually loved and created some shading...but I wanted to make sure it stuck to the tape so I sprayed the page with Helmars Crystal KOTE Varnish and crossed my fingers....and yay it worked! Here is the close up of the lips and under the chin where I did some shading.

Finished it off with a quote and had a heck of time finding a black marker ( Sharpie is dry, need another!! lol ) but in the end I used a Montana Marker and the Sharpie Oil Based marker in white. Stick a fork in me, I'm DONE!

Entering my art journal page in:

Simon Says Monday Challenge - Transparent

Crepehanger: noun

killjoy; someone who takes a pessimistic view of things

pronunciation

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wow...I am so far behind!! This was actually made for the Tim Holtz 2013 Tag for October and I just now am getting it posted!! YIKES! At this rate, I'll be celebrating Christmas on Valentines Day! lol

I enjoyed using my white pen and playing around with the lettering inside the tree branches, and I just love my drippy moon!

Nothing says fun like ink splatters!

Higgens - india ink

Deco Arts - Paper Effects, Branching Out tree stencil

Cricut Craft Room - free cut of the week

Ranger - stickles. distress stains, grunge paper

Gelli print background

Montana marker

entering this in:

Simon Monday Challenge - Got ink?

Jo's Scrap Shack - #25 Things with wings

Deco Art Blogger - Halloween wall hanging

My first Deco Arts Blogger post!!

I wanted to create a Halloween wall hanging using a Gelli print background and I wanted to experiment with some different paints to see how they worked together.

Deco Art Paints:
Americana Neons - Thermal Green
Dazzling Metallics - Royal Ruby
Americana Frost Gloss Enamels - Black
Paper Effects -Black Pearl
Bright Accents - Gloss Acrylic, black

The metallic and neon paint did exceptionally well together. The metallic subdued the neon a little bit but still leaving enough of it to pop out without being obtrusive to the overall design. The frost glass paint applied well but was a little harder to clean off the gelli plate, but still highly doable.

I fell in love with the Paper Effects Writer with it's dual tip. The fine tip was excellent for writing words and for fine detailing. I did make sure to clean the tip well before storing it.

I used the Paper Effects 2 ways along the border. I doodled a fine line and squiggly marks using the tip, and went back and added larger drops using just the bottle's tip. I also love my little spider, I set him up on the Helmar's Liquid Scrap Dot Adhesive for some dimension and used glossy accents over his body. The stem of the broom was painted with the Neon Green and Deco Arts Bright Accents in black.

This great little wood accent from Prima was balanced on top of the broom using Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots. This is a favorite use of this specialty glue, fixing odd pieces in hard to hold areas. I love, love, LOVE this stuff!

I used the neon green on the broom by brushing it lightly on top.

I think one of the favorite parts about the gelli print background was using my kitchen utensils ( better used here than in the kitchen! Can you tell I don't cook much any more?) It's small plastic thingy ( technical term ) with sharp edges that I raked through the paint in a wavy pattern. It gave me a defined writing line to follow which I appreciated since I always have a problem keeping my lines straight!

Products used and enjoyed:

Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive, Liquid Scrap Dots, Craft & Hobby PVA Glue
Prima - Anna Marie Wood Embellishment
Gelli Plate 12x 14
May Arts - black twine, ribbon
Jillibean - green twine
Cricut - Happy Haunting, p. 54

entering my 6X12" wall hanging in:

Carolyn Dube - October’s Colorful Gelli Print Party

 ( a place to link up those gelli prints!! )
Die Cuttin Diva's - #134 Fall Colors
Craftin Desert Divas - Anything with a Sentiment #16 Linky Party
Craftin Boutique - Anything Halloween Challenge #9 
2 Creative Chicks - Spooktacular Linky Party

Ambrosial: adjective

extremely pleasing to the senses, especially of taste or smell
pronunciation
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Little Scrap Pieces - #33 Seeing Red 

Last night I was at a 40th Anniversary party for a friend of mine, and this is the card that I made for them. It was hard to create an anniversary card using the color red, but rubies (red) represent the 40th year so even though it was a struggle I had to do it.

I used one of my gelli prints for the heart, I liked the contrasting colors and the weathered wood feel it has to it. I hand stitched around the edges.

I made some bacon deviled eggs and a pineapple/ham cheese ball to take to the party. :) It might not have been ambrosial to the senses, but it tasted pretty darn good, guess what I'll be having for lunch today? lol



Frosted Designs Monday Inspiration - Embossing

Hi everyone, it's time for some Monday inspiration for the new Frosted Designs challenge!

 Our sponsor for this challenge is

  Molossi  

You can see what they have in store here,

They will be offering a 30.00 chipboard and bling pack to one lucky winner!!

I think wet embossing was one of my first techniques that I tried when I was first learning to scrapbook that both thrilled me and scared me, lol I can still remember my first failures at it, but unlike some things I use to do ages ago, ( like decorative scissors...ahem..) this is one that I still love to do. I still have my original heat gun too!

 I used 2 different styles of embossing, the first one is dry embossing where I ran a piece of my gelli print paper through my big shot with a leaf texture plate and then cut the leaves out by hand. The second type of embossing was wet, I stamped the sentiment and drew my faux stitching lines with an embossing pen and then heat set it with powder.

entering this in:

Creative Inspiration - Inspired by Anything Goes

Stampin' UP! - embossing buddy

Close to my Heart - embossing powder

Ink it Up! - white pigment ink

Zig - emboss writer

Sheena - embossing folder

Big Shot

Gelli Plate

American Crafts - flower

brad - misc.
Best Occasions - Textured stack

Blatherskite: noun

voluble nonsensical or inconsequential talk or writing; blather

pronunciation

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PaperSmooches - July 29- August 4th ANYTHING GOES challenge

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Creative Inspirations - Inspired by Anything Goes

 

 

Well, roasting smore's would make ME happy!

 I did a small amount of masking so that the smore's branch would appear to be in his mouth and a little bit of paper piecing to give the marshmallows some dimension.

Gelli print background

Paper Smooches - Happy Camper stamp set

Viva Decor - pearl pen ( branch )

Tulip - puffy Paint - ( leaves )

Helmar - Liquid Scrapdot ( marshmallow layer )

Faber Castell - PITT pen

Sheena - sentiment stamp

Ranger - Distress Ink