Gelli Prints Using a Foam Plate

A lot of people in one of my gelatin printing groups seemed to be having fun using foam plates with their gelli prints, so I thought I'd give it a try too. :)

Instead of carving a stencil into the bottom, I took a wooden bamboo skewer and used the blunt end to sketch random patterns on to the plate bottom...

I squeezed open media acrylic (a bit too much to start) and rolled it onto my 8"x10" gelli plate, then pressed the foam plate bottom down into the paint, and lifted some of the paint off to leave a design. The middle print was actually the first one I pulled, then the left one, then the right...

I used the plate as a stamp on some of these prints. I know the design is kind of busy, but I like it. This was fun! I'm going to try some more when I have time!

Happy Creating! Don't be afraid to experiment! :)

More Gelli Plate Stamping!

More stamping fun using the mini gelli plate! I used acrylic paints, manipulated with my fingers and, in a couple of cases, I used a round brush handle lightly to write or draw on the plate, and printed on old music book pages, printmaking papers, and card stock, because that's what was within reach.

Stamping away!  I see all sorts of images and possibilities in these! Exciting stuff!

Close up of a cat with an extra long tail. My finger is actually too big to draw with, especially this small...

Can you see the little group of people on the bottom right of this one just waiting to be  pulled out?

More dresses and cats...You can kind of see the progression of the dark to light stamping before I had to add more paint...

I love smooshing the paint around with my finger! Far right is the first print, middle one with a cat image drawn in, was the middle print, and the left one is almost a ghost image. They each of their own special charm...

Close up of  a dress on music stamp...

Close up of the cat...I may, or may not, add embellishing...

These are very addictive and fun, but it's a good thing to be addicted to! It feeds my soul and helps keep me sane! :)

Gelli Plate Stamp Prints

This is the first time I've tried the mini gelli plate as a stamp. I like it!

I had a bought stamp that was exactly the same size as my 3"x 5" gelli plate, so I laid the gelli plate on the back of the stamp. It clung to it just great. I used acrylic paints squeezed onto the plate and spread around with my fingers, which I love to do. I was careful not to get the paint on the rubber side of the bought stamp. Didn't want to ruin one of my favorite stamps!

Yep! The gelli plate is actually on the stamp back before I added paint! 

Once the paint was on, I turned the stamp over and applied it to an old music book, left over from my piano student days, and stamped away. I got the paint too thick and the book was not totally flat on my first two tries, hence the bottom two on the left. I like them though. One looks like a cat and the other looks like cranes to me. The other prints are actually what was painted on the plate to stamp, a dress. On a couple of the last ones I added a touch more paint and spread some paint around before stamping, which changed them a bit. The one on the far left bottom is a ghost print. No two alike!

Close up of one at the top of the left page, one of the last prints...

Close up of one on the right page, I love the vibrant colors! It's the only one that came out with a hat!

Close up of the cranes, too much paint...

Close up of the cat, or dog, too much paint...Took these a while to dry!

The other fun part is that now I can leave some as they are, cut them up for collage, or add more details to finish them and use them on cards or other projects.

I think I will definitely be doing more stamping with my mini gelli!

Stencils/Masks-Made and Found!

I thought it would be fun to share some of the masks/stencils that I use for gelli printing with you. I have several bought ones, but I actually prefer the ones I make or find.

The stars were made with a punch, the leaf was tracked into the house, the bird and the tent were cut out of acetate, the rings were made with a circle punch, hot glue was used on the two figures beside the tent, and a stiff gold ribbon, which makes great little square dots...

The horse was cut from a photo printed onto photo paper that I didn't use for the project it was meant for, I used a punch for the blue ball and also the bottom with round holes, the woman was cut from acetate, the arched shape and the large bird were cut from cardstock, as was the little egg shape and the diamond shape, the little bird stencil was cut from an envelope stamp, and the leaf/eye shape was cut from a gelli print background...

The rectangle with the three arches was cut from cardstock, the black is a torn paper, the circles were made with a punch, as was the green paper with the round hole in it, the bird is the stencil made from cutting the mask out and is not attached to the heart, which is a paper doily found at the Dollar Tree. I also use the ribbon for various effects.

You can look through some of the previous posts to see how I used these to make backgrounds with the paint on the gelli plate.

These are so much fun to make/find and use, and I have a ton of ideas for more. What I need to do now is use all those backgrounds that I have already made!

Brown Kraft Paper Gellies

Experimented a few days ago with brown kraft paper. bought at the Dollar Tree. book pages, mixed media paper, acrylic inks, open media acrylics, home made stencils, etc...

The Kraft paper tended to wrinkle if the paint was very thick or if too much ink was used...

I worked on this background some with a black Pitt brush pen, stablio pencil, and some iridescent paint. I love it! I think it's mysterious looking. Notice the eye in the moon. It's one of my favorites from this batch...

Another fave painted with my fingers! I love it just as it is, but I may decide to add something else...

And I love this book page with the copper metallic and pale gold iridescent acrylics running down it! Way prettier in reality!

I'm still not back in my routine of creating every day yet, but I'm getting there. I have a couple of canvases started for gifts that I need to get done, and a couple of days ago I printed some blank greeting cards, but I don't have pictures yet.

In case you haven't noticed, I, along with many other people, have become addicted to Gelli printing. It's hard to find a stopping place! Like Facebook! :)

Folding Screen Book + A Couple of Gellies

Well, hubby, mama, and I are feeling better and getting over our flu bug, but his ribs are still really sore from where he passed out and fell. I haven't felt like or had time for much creative stuff for a month now, as much as I thought about it and wanted to.

I did a little gelli plate printing a couple of weeks ago. Very little though!

I used the 8x10" plate, acrylic open media, fingers, a bought alphabet stencil, and a couple of my handmade original stencils/masks on white cardstock (because it was handy) to pull the above print and its ghost...

This handmade folding book has been shared before with blank pages, but I covered some thin cardboard with decorative paper with silk thread inclusions for the covers and the pages are mixed media paper...

While I had the large plate out, I used the same supplies. appliled with a brayer,  to print backgrounds on the pages. Here it is standing like a folding screen...

The first pages are very dark and vibrant, but...

even though I kept refreshing the paint, the print kept getting lighter. At first, I thought I would darken the last pages to match the first ones, but as I looked at when I was making pictures of it, I saw a different concept than what I originally had in mind.

Now, I see a progression of dark, vibrant, and lively pages, gradually fading into almost a ghostly ending, much like the stages of life. Can't wait to work on them!

I love it when what I'm working on takes over and surprises me! Don't you? :)

Thank you for visiting, and I hope that life is treating you well! Keep that creative spark lit! It's good for your soul!