gelli printing-another art journal page

when i was playing for the DLP challenge, i can hardly only do one page- so while i was playing in my bigger art journal- i was also printing off the second image from the gelli plate and stencils onto one of my smaller art journal i keep.

i loved the colors of this "leftovers" page and really like the stamping  i did on this page to finish it off.

do you have big plans this weekend? starting with today we will be running until sunday with track, college registration, and PROM..... i am going to get my shoes laced up!!

happy thursday!

#DLP {gelli plate printing}

this year especially with a senior graduating soon....life has been very busy and hectic; but, i am sneaking time and stealing moments in my studio space as this spring allows.

the last DLP challenge was to use the gelli plate while exploring paint and inks; and who can put that tool down?! i love mine and use it all the time for almost any project from tags and my art journal, to cards and as a paint palette.

here are a couple more pics my pages...

layered goodness of paint and stencils,spray inks, stabilo pencil and collage papers to finish off this journal pages.

and did you hear?.....Rae Missigman has stencils?!.....take a look here and get yours!

holiday warm up- tag style

here is one holiday tag i made with one of stencils from BlueTwig Studio.

i will walk you through my process for creating your own tags.

1. grab a tag....i had to make my tags, as apparently i did not actually have any premade tags. i used file folder and a template to make my tags.
2. use acrylic paint and the gelli plate to get paint down onto each tag as your background color. i did use my small 6x6 gelli plate with these tags.
3. stamp a little with an opposing color- i used a homemade stamp to make the light blue strips on the tags. i also sprayed lightly with a silver spray ink.
4. brayer some more color....i put a small amount of pistashio green onto my gelli plate and rolled the paint out with my brayer and then, rolled the brayer onto the tags in areas to add additional color. below is a sample of how the tag will look prior to the stenciling. 

    5.  use the Tim Holtz Christmas (THS030) stencil with holiday words. i used a cosmetic sponge          and white acrylic paint to pounce on the white paint.

    6.  hi-lite one word with a stabilo pencil. spritz with water to blend a bit. be careful with the   water, it is easy to use too much.

here are some other samples that i made using the stencils from BlueTwig Studio and this same process. 

the other supplies i used in the tags below are: 

• Tim Holtz Holiday Knit (THS028) stencil 
• Tim Holtz idea-ology Gumdrops that attached with Gorilla Glue

getcha in the holiday creative mood?....

stamping up a storm {foam stamps}

this weekend was busy, but, on sunday i did sneak down to the studio to play and do some catch up with the printmakingunleashed 31 day challenge....i must buy this book- this has been the most amount of good creative fun i have had in a while with such wonderful prompts to get you started....

(focus...)...okay- so the newest challenge was to make and use foam stamps. i looked around my studio and found my stack of play foam sheets and a small amount even had sticky backs! i set to work making up a pile of foam stamps. check out my pile...

with my new foam stamps i combined with my gelli plate to create backgrounds and several very cool pages in my art journal. i used my brayer to apply paint to my foam stamps; sometimes covering the whole stamp, and other times rolling just once and leaving empty space on my stamp. i didn't even mind if the edge of my stamp touched the page as you can see below.

are you playing?....let me know and i can stop over! happy monday.....

progressive printing in black n white

the challenge the other day was to print with white paper and black paint, ink, or whatever was handy....mine happened to be black gesso.

i laid down a fairly thick layer of black paint on my gelli plate and then, grabbed items that happened to be close to add additional details into the print.

here is my first print off of the plate. the paint was thick and i could not really get the paint and print to really pull the details.

my second print, is by far my favorite print. i pulled the items off of the gelli plate leaving a ghost image of the details in the paint.....the edges on this print are a bit softer and the paint is lighter and not as thick.

now when i pull this print there was still paint and an image on my plate, so i decided to print one more time (hate to waste any paint)....

 i still like this one- the softness and the looseness. i had sprayed water onto the gelli plate to keep it wet and allow me to print one more time, as it was becoming fairly dry.

gelli plate flower ghost print

happy wednesday.....

#printmakingunleashed days....

i have been playing, or printing along with the print making unleashed 31 day challenge.

the hot glue stencils were fun once i figured out what i was supposed to put the glue on....i first tried wax paper- do NOT do this....it stuck and i was picking wax paper off of my new stencils.

i asked what to put the glue on and parchment paper is the answer. MUCH better! your hot glue stencils will almost pop off and be ready to use.

you can also write words on your parchment paper and then, trace over with the hot glue...so be brave. i used my gelli plate to add some additional texture to the top.

i have to say that this print below if my favorite one thus far....it was a multiple print off of gelli plate with several colors and a ghost image that is the blue circle and the top layer of white was a print off my gelli plate with burlap and a stencil. the bottom layers were bright and almost overwhelming and the white really tames this down. love the texture....

 the next challenge was carved stamps.....you know how i hate those....wrong! love carving stamps!! so i went to town the night before and carved up several new stamps to use.

you can also see my cardboard stencils in the background. i tried stamping with those and that did not work the best; but i did discover that they are fun to spray around and at angles with inks.

i had a page in my art journal that had several layers of colors and prints- so i added another couple of layers and one of my new stamps to finish this page. you can see my homemade stamp on the edge there.

if you are not playing along you are missing some great fun and a great book! ordering my book.....

#printmakingunleashed

have you seen Traci Baustica  #printmakingunleashed 31 day challenge? playing along?.....

i decided to give this a try- always love her work and this just sounded so fun.

the first day you were supposed to print with found objects. i collected a nice little eclectic pile of stuff only to discover the stuff i collected maybe was not the best pile for actually printing.....felt a little like an epic failure- but, a fun one at that. here is day one: my cool little pile...

i did use my gelli plate for the initial printing using the little wooden pieces in the left hand corner, the red string and the gauze with the first print and working from there.

i was not sure how to play.....and not totally sold on what i made....but, what the heck?! i did get to play for a bit outside of my apparent comfort zone- so it is all good.

day 2 brought a bit more confidence in my work; however, again i was not sure what i was doing....the only i did know- i again, was having a good time. i had found this super cool leaf with a very long stem and knew i wanted to use that for day 2's challenge.

again, i started with my small gelli plate starting with golden cobalt teal and using a homemade circle stencil to feature my leaf. the next layer was the green gold and my leaf. my top layer was the leaf itself and to print that- i brayered on the fluorescent magenta onto the actual leaf itself and then laid it on my art journal page. i then used a sheet of paper and my brayer to print onto the paper.

i cannot wait for today's challenge. i have wanted to try this challenge of making a hot glue stencil, and just have not made time yet...but, today is the day. so stop back to see how this next challenge goes.

oh- and if you are playing along- let me know so i can see what others are making!! happy thursday!

tag.....you are it!

i managed to sneak in some much needed studio time yesterday before the prom activities started. i had signed up to participate in a tag swap and needed to get my tags done.

i love saving the tags from clothing to use for this type of project. the kids clothes usually have the best tags, but, i have gotten some good ones from mine as well. i have a little stash of clothing tags that i dug through to find some base tags to use yesterday.

i loved the shape of this one with the cut corners.

this long skinny tag was perfect for my next tag....i used my gelli plate to produce the black and white back ground. i used washi tape and stamped tissue paper to create the background for this tag and then, used a scrap piece of paper with the hot pink flash as my pop of color that this black and white tag needed. and, finished it off with the perfect book words- "a new kind of tag."

i have to say though....this last tag i have been saving for some special inspiration because of the words on the back of this tag. i selectively painted out a few of the words to leave the sentiment that i was looking for: "translation: special techniques to apply inks, dyes, and details that means differences. it's all intentional, make everything original.

i made the background and then, added the heart. i stitched up the edges and added a little dash of black fabric. just a note because this was regular book paper i added another scrap of paper to the back where the fabric was to add support for the stitching- otherwise, with the repeated stitching it would have easily ripped through leaving my fabric unattached to my paper.

21 secrets {roben-marie} inspiration

listened to 21 secrets spreecast on wednesday- our teacher was Roben-Marie. i was so excited- i knew it would be good! and she did not fail....she showed many products that she has available for mixed media like her own line of "washi" tape and her ArtPops, which is a line of postcards; and shared some of her favorite products she likes to use in her art work.

i have to say i have tried many pencils along this journey, and my top two favorite pencils are:

1. stabilo 
2. sketch n wash pencil

i found some time last night to play for a bit and use this fabulous inspiration to create something in my own art journal. here is a peek at mine....

Roben's theme was a note back to her 21 year old self- what would you have shared with yourself? i am going to add my thoughts to my pages, but, here are my pages prejournaling. 

i did gesso my pages to start with as this journal was not really made for painting so that the paper would hold up a little better. the top red/ pink is a print off of my gelli plate. i did use spray ink to add the blue in the middle and the bottom layer of green and then followed up with acrylic paints, some stamping, my stabilo pencil, and alcohol ink.

love the colors and the happy mess i created to tell 21 year old self some very important messages.....

29 faces 2014 challenge: days 21, 22, & 23

i was about fit to be tied after not being able to go down to my studio for a few days....so when i got there, there was a sigh of relief. i love walking in and seeing my stuff just sitting there waiting for me to go to work. this was the view of my work table.

i was a few days behind on my 29 faces, but, quickly went to work and created my faces. this was from a model post. i used gesso on a portion of the page to see how my new stabilo pencil would work on gesso. my left eye was on gesso and the right is not- which do you like better? i think i like the left one....but, cannot quite decide.

for this face, i used my gelli plate to print the background first layering a few colors with stencils. then, used my stabilo pencil, and black and white india ink.

on my day 23 i had used a number stencil on the gelli plate and simply printed off the stencil onto my paper. i loved the perspective of her in the picture. i may have to try her one more time. the pic was taken looking up so her chin was very pronounced. i used my stabilo pencil, black and white india ink on her.

29 faces challenge 2014: day 15 & 16

 i am still playing along- and i have to admit....i am proud that i have stuck with this. this challenge is difficult for me because, i would say that i do not "draw" well and that faces are hard for me. but, as long as i am playing my way- which is a little off the beaten course....life is good.

on saturday i played with my gelli plate- cutting out shapes and printing, rolling off my brayer, cutting some more shapes, and more printing.....seriously love my gelli plate. i used this art journal to print in to prepare pages for the next few days.

my drawing below, i used a water blendable charcoal, white ink and a sharpie over my gelli printed back ground.