Experiments in Gel Printing

At the Craft & Hobby Association’s Mega Craft Show this year, I met Laurie Karian, who has her own line of gel printing plates at www.gelpress.com.

I’m a relatively new convert to the joys of gel printing but now that I’ve gotten started, I can’t stop!

I was lucky enough to get a 3×5 inch gel plate to play with, and I went a little crazy:

Look at all pretty pieces! (Did I mention how addictive this is?)

I played around with a variety of acrylic paints, including Americana® multi-surface Satin™ by DecoArt® and Dina Wakely heavy body acrylic paint from Ranger. To create the patterns, I also used a variety of objects, including stamps, bubble wrap and corrugated cardboard.

I really loved using Plaid’s Fabric Creations™ block printing stamps, which look like old-school wooden block print stamps from India, as well as some foam stamps from Art Foamies (which worked really well with the paints).

The small plate was perfect for creating smaller 4-bar cards, which measure about 3 1/2 x 4 7/8 inches when folded). Some I kept clean and simple, some I indulged with stamps, etc. Here is a sampling:

The bird and birdcage are from a Prickley Pear stamp/die set. The birdcage was die cut twice, then stacked and gold embossed. The bird has a coat of clear Wink of Stella. The sentiment, black embossed on vellum, is from Hero Arts’ Everyday Sentiments CL497 and attached with a Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher.

For this piece, the foam stamp was stamped into the wet paint, removing some of the paint; the green leaves were stamped after the print dried, using StazOn ink. The Dew Drops are from Robin’s Nest and were attached using Ranger’s Glossy Accents.

Here I cut poppies and a sentiment (both from Elizabeth Craft Designs) and added some Ranger Glossy Accents dots. So easy! (The pattern was made using good ol’ bubble wrap.)

One note I have neglected to mention for a while … I have been using ScraPerfect’s Best Glue Ever for a lot of my gluing, especially of tiny pieces. I’m loving this adhesive!

Stay tuned for more of my gel addiction!

 

Fabulous Finds Friday — Elizabeth Craft’s Soft Finish Paper

Paper artists are a tactile bunch and Elizabeth Craft Designs has given us something worthwhile to touch in — the new Soft Finish Cardstock. I mentioned this product on my blog here, but finally had a chance to play with it. And it is, indeed, lovely!

The paper, which comes in two weights, is almost velvety to touch with just a dash of texture. It’s not as heavy as most watercolor papers, but I found it held up nicely to various coloring techniques, including watery applications.

For example….

  

Here are four pieces of the card stock that I abused with Distress Inks, sprays, water, etc. (The trio on the left is the lighter 85 lb. weight, the blue/green piece is 100 lb.)

For the first pink piece on the left I smooshed Distress inks (Victorian Velvet, Seedless Preserves and Tumbled Glass) on my craft sheet, spritzed with water, then pushed my card through the inks. (I used the textured side of the card stock.) I heated it, then filled in some blanks with more color. The second pink piece was created with the left over pools of ink.

Here’s one finished card:

The dies are from Elizabeth Craft, the sequins from Lawn Fawn. The purple card stock is a discontinued Paper Source line.

The bright yellow/green piece below was created using Distress sprays (Marmalade, Broken China and a spritz of metallic Bronze). I was impressed at how well the paper held up. And here’s the card:

The Tim Holtz crazy bird was stamped and black embossed on the smooth side of the card stock, then colored in with Faber-Castell PITT Big markers scribbled on a craft sheet and applied with a water brush. The bird was fussy cut and mounted with a piece of fun foam (adhered with ScraPerfect’s The Best Glue Ever). The circle (Hero Arts) was stamped in grey and Hello! (Tim Holtz Bird Crazy) in black. I also added a few clear dots of Liquid Glass from Close to My Heart for a bit more subtle dimension:

By the way, the Soft Finish paper also cuts like a dream:

I used some of the leftover pieces for these great kimonos (Elizabeth Craft Designs).

I’ll have another card made with the same papers in the next post — a Halloween card.

Thanks for tuning in!

Fabulous Finds: Elizabeth Craft Designs & Technique Tuesday

A bit of industry news:

Elizabeth Craft Designs is amping up the creativity with a new designer and 14 — yes 14 — new YouTube videos by company founder Els van de Burgt.

Artist and illustrator Bianca Petroschi is the team’s fourth licensed designer, with some lovely realistic birds and animals. The first collection from the Petroschi Designs by Bianca line has both cling-mounted deep etched red rubber stamps and also some clear sets.

Check out her cute hedgehog card, for instance, or scroll through her blog.

The company also has introduced a new Soft Finish Cardstock. I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet, but according to the company, the cardstock is “velvety to the touch, with just a tad of surface texture. Available as 8.5″ x 11″ sheets in two heavy and substantial weights, the Soft Finish Card Stock is sturdy, porous, and used easily with inks, paints, markers, spray mists etc. It absorbs color and holds its shape without tearing.”

Sounds like a great surface for mixed media, card making, die cutting and embossing. I’ll be eager to test it.

Technique Tuesday also has a new designer — the talented Cath Edvalson. Cath was early in the card making scene with her first business, Cards by Cath, selling handmade cards. But most of us know her best as the former editor at Paper Crafts Magazine and the Moxie Fab World blog (one of my early blog addictions! How I miss that sassy blog!) I miss Moxie Fab, so I’m delighted Cath is back, both designing for Technique Tuesday and with a new blog, Hip & Hooray.

In her first stamp and die release, Cath found inspiration in lace, stained glass and good old fashioned New England folk art.

Here’s a link to a video showing this month’s release, including Cath’s first stamps and dies. Glad to have you back, Cath!

I’ve also been playing with one of Technique Tuesday’s beautiful Greenhouse Society designs — the pretty camellia. You’ll see how crazy I got when I post some cards — LOTS of cards! — this week. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek:

Thanks for stopping by … and stay tuned!