ACP:2 Pink + G

Lots of lovely options for the letter G but I decided that G is for Gelli print!!...

I really enjoy playing with the Gelli® plate - I recently demo'd it on the PaperArtsy stand at AllyPally - there I used medium sized plates but for this ACP:2 blog post I went large - A4 size - and because my colour for the month is pale pink I picked a few pale Fresco colours and the Gold - Pale pink and Gold is such a lovely combination....

I had a lot of fun with these - this time I haven't created a stand-alone project but several background pages that I can imagine being cut up and used in journals or on cards....

I blended gold through to pink and took a print and a ghost/clean-up print... sometimes the ghost prints have a more interesting texture..

 

...and then I had a lightbulb moment... could I create a woodgrain effect on a Gelli® plate using one of my old interior decorating tools??.....

yes I could!! LOVE these prints!  A pink base layer with gold textured top layer

Here is the main print (centre) and 2 other ghost/clean up prints
(I'm also thinking how great this would be with a pale teal base layer and gold top layer)

Several pulled prints later I decided to create a multi-coloured background - several colours placed randomly onto the plate surface and then blended together with a brayer....

I placed several stencils and masks on to the surface - trying not to overlay each other too much but not leaving any blank spaces either..

and these pages of prettiness are the result... the left hand page is the first print, the second was created after I carefully removed the stencils and pulled a print off the remaining paint on the plate - both are lovely... imho

That is G for the ACP:2 project dealt with - short and sweet - I can't tell you how long its taken me to write this blog post (well you can see how long - its 9 days overdue!... I kept starting and stopping, & starting again... and stopping... and starting - and oh well.. you get the idea!)

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While we're on the subject of Gelli® prints.....

Here are the samples from AllyPally where I demo'd the Gelli® plate with PaperArtsy's Fresco Finish paints...

A last minute change of plan on the day meant I needed some different equipment and Clarity Stamp had the PERFECT solution! (THANK YOU!)  They have these BIG acrylic plates which are designed to fit the different sizes of Gelli plates...perfect!! (and of course are great for using with oversize stamps!)

These really were a godsend!  When I'm using smaller Gelli® plates I often take the plate to the page rather than the other way around (especially when creating a tiled effect) and so I need something to put the plate on to keep it stable/rigid and these are ideal!   I recommend them and you can find the HERE on the Clarity Stamp website... 

Lots of samples using stencils, bubble wrap.. creating positive and negative prints - so many effects you can create with a Gelli plate but I kept it to one or two layers for these demos...

...and when you're creating prints you need to clean your plate and roller - I do this in a couple of junk journals I've created - great way of creating messy backgrounds...

In preparation for the show I played around with the new small Gelli® plates which come in sets of 3 shapes - hexagon, rectangle, square, circle, oval and triangle.... (my favourite being the hexagon - obviously!!)....

I created a little book with all sorts of different printing options... just a little prompt book really.. a fun thing to create while getting used to using the small plate size.. and useful too - I'm going to keep mine with my gelli plates...

Here are a few of the pages.. I used to paint colours for this book so I could concentrate on the prints and not be distracted by colour.

  

I'd really recommend making a little book like this filled with samples and notes - do's and don'ts - its not perfect but its very useful, & handy to refer back to and maybe inspire yourself.

If you have a Gelli® plate (which after talking to people at AllyPally, lots of you do but its still in its packet) play with it, make prints - don't stress - its just paint on paper!  If you don't like a print then paint over it (print over it), cut it up, use the bits you do like... A Gelli® plate a fun useful tool.... HAVE FUN! :o)

and to illustrate the above point.... these 3 pieces started off as 1 A4 gelli print that I wasn't sure what to do with so I cut it in half (top panel)... and on one half I gelli printed Bougainvillea circles, along with bubble wrap prints (a bubblewrap print fixes everything! lol) and a flower stencil print (Gold).... it was now looking slightly ...erm.. well ...vibrant (she says diplomatically while thinking 'gaudy') .. but: onwards and upwards...))... I cut it half again to create 2 A6 panels... and finally trimmed and stamped the panel (bottom right) to create a card.....

The card might not be perfect (& its the brightest thing I've created in quite a while!)... but I wanted to show how you can use what you have and change it into something else - you can still see the original green/blue print but now its just a layer.. not the focus...

That's all for now - I'm off to sew all the Gelli prints I've made into a book... or make them into card backgrounds.... 

so many prints.. so little time!!

x

(Gelli® used with permission. Owned by Gelli Arts® LLC)