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Welcome! This is the place where I share my artsy and crafty projects. I am an evolving artist these days ... finding myself enjoying less of the cards and mini albums that I have made for years, and turning to art journaling and more artistic endeavors. I have always enjoyed some craft or other, and some of my earliest memories of my mother helping me make paper dolls and other crafts. I am now in my 60's and finding myself more passionately enjoying creating beautiful things and learning new skills and techniques and products.

While you are here I hope you will find inspiration and ideas for making your own projects, however any images or projects you find here are my personal property and should not be used for your own monetary gain, or for contests or challenges. Thank You!
Showing posts with label Gelli Plate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gelli Plate. Show all posts

4/22/2013

Technicolor World ... Art Journal Page

One night last week I was looking at video tutorials about using the Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate and someone had used old magazine pages for making prints.  And of course I had to try it!

So last Thursday when I was at my LSS I gave it a whirl, and oh, how I loved the end result!  Even though the acrylic paints are deep colors, somehow, when you put them on the gelli plate and pull prints, they are almost clear in that you can see objects from the paper below.  And it is very cool!  The page that I used as the base for this art journal page has probably three prints, but still you can see elements from the page.  Here, take a look for yourself ...





The quote is 'She wanted to LIVE in a technicolor world!', which I believe was fitting!  The house is kind of plain, but with the roof and windows reflecting the colors of the surrounding sky.  Do you see the text, and the bench and bowl that are part of the magazine page?  I'll show you that in closer detail later on, but first, let's talk about some of the elements and details on the page ...




As the background is a gelli plate print made on a thin magazine page, I first adhered it to 110# card stock using Mod Podge.  The white edge of the paper stood out so brightly that I took coordinating colors of paint and thinned them with water to make a wash, and alternated the colors in a 'frame' around the edges of the page.  I love how you can still see the 4 stars and 'fresh picks' on the printed magazine page.




The house is just a piece of ecru card stock that I cut freehand, then inked with a piece of 'holey' dry wall tape to get the dots.  The roof and windows are actually (and this is so cool!) cut from the back page of the magazine where I had been cleaning off my brayer!  It had a real 'raibow' effect that came through well.  I used scraps of card stock for the awnings over the window and the door, and a tiny piece of purple cut from an ad in the magazine for the purple chimney.  The tree is a leaf stamp that I made by cutting the design with my Cricut and then tracing around it onto some fun foam and cutting it out.  I did extend the 'stem' to add more of a trunk for the tree.  The paper for the tree is cut from another gelli plate print.




For the 'LIVE' words I created a stamp using fun foam for the word, but didn't like the print I got with paint, so I added the glitter and outlined the words and liked it more.  Do you see all of the circles in the background?  For one of the prints I used a stencil that I made using my Cricut by just cutting rows of circles and ovals.  Because it looked kind of like a lot of moons, I highlighted the larger circles under the quote by using gold metallic, white metallic and other colors of paint to give them a luminous look that ... sadly ... doesn't show in this photo!




I promised I would show you elements from the magazine page and if you look closely here you can see text, and then up in the top right hand corner you can see the leg of a bench that goes straight across the top of the photo.  I tried to use the colors from the bench cover in the page.

It is always amazing to me how you never know how a gelli print is going to come out!  You may plan it one way, picture it in your mind, but I guarantee it will come out looking just the way it wants to!  I hope you have enjoyed your visit today, and will come back soon!  Blessings,


4/13/2013

Happy Fourth Blog-iversary To Unscripted Sketches


This truly is a special day!  My friends over at Unscripted Sketches are celebrating their fourth anniversary blog-iversary!  Unscripted Sketches was my very first Design Team assignment, and I loved my time there and made some great friends that I still keep in touch with via Facebook.  So I am so excited to join their birthday sketch challenge with a mixed media art journal page I made just for them ... here is their sketch ...


SK175 US206


And here is my project ...





As my background I used a print I made a  while back using my Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate and inexpensive acrylic paints.  The patterned papers are all from Simple Stories and the ribbon is from American Crafts.



The # 4 is from Bazzill Basics, but it was red so I painted it with turquoise acrylic paint.  The button is from Buttons Galore.




I want to wish Unscripted Sketches a very happy blog-iversary and all the best for their continued success!  Love you folks!!!

Blessings,











4/12/2013

Sunshine In Her Heart ... Mixed Media Art Journal Page

Hello there folks!  I am back here again with ... yes, once again ... an art journal page that I created using my Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate for the base.  This one is bright and shiny and so pretty and feminine!  Here is a picture so you can see for yourself ...



I love this piece, full of citrus-y orange, green, yellow and pops of turquoise, and a cute, frilly dress form and a bright and shining - glowing even - sun  The dress form was was cut from the Forever Young cartridge on my Cricut Expression, and this is the second printing on the gelli plate, so I got the texture from the texured cardstock and the strong outline.  I added patterned paper cut into narrow strips (@ 1 1/2") then misted with water and crumpled up and pleated for a skirt.  Mod Podge added in a couple of layers made the skirt firm so it will hold it's shape.




The sun was made using a round plastic canvas needlepoint shape that I bought at Hobby Lobby.  You simply use modeling paste (Liquitex) to fill the holes in the mesh, remove the plastic and it will leave the texture.  Then I painted it with Sunshine Yellow, Tangerine, and some Titanium Gold acrylic paint, and coated it with Mod Podge for a final coating.  I really love how it turned out!




The quote is "She Started With Sunshine In Her Heart" and that is a reminder to me that my days are better if I start my day with sunshine in my heart!  Before I get out of bed each day, I try to turn my thoughts in a positive direction ... and yes, I have bad days - WE ALL DO!  I mean, we are human and people and things around us can turn us to face the darkness in a second, but if we keep looking back to the sun ... whatever that is for us, be it faith, family, friends, creativity ... WHATEVER!, we can change our direction and make our day better.

So, this piece is for you today ... remember to face toward the sun and fill your heart with sunshine, and make your day better than it might be in other circumstances.  Have a great weekend, and Blessings,

Products:
  • Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate
  • Paints - Anita's All Purpose Acrylic Craft Paint
  • Modeling Paste - Liquitex
  • Patterned Paper - My Minds Eye
  • Ribbon - ordered from eBay 
  • Card Stock - Georgia Pacific 110 pound (Walmart)
  • Marker - Micron

4/09/2013

Home Is Where Your Heart Sings ... Art Journal Page

I know, I've said it before, but I am really loving playing with my new Gelli Arts Gelli Plate and making backgrounds for art journal pages.  Before I got the gelli plate I could not make an art journal page background for the life of me!  But now that I am printing designs on paper, it is so easy! 

Anyway, today I wanted to share with you my favorite art journal page thus far ... and I really do love it!  I hope you will too!  Here goes ...




So, what do  you think?  It was 'inspired' by one I found on Pinterest, and I think it was by Christy Tomlinson, but I've seen so many art journal pages lately that I couldn't begin to tell you for sure!  My favorite part of the page are the blue flowers on the birdhouse pole.  They are circles (imperfect circles) that I cut from one of my gelli plate prints, then cut into a spiral.  I adhered them to the page using Mod Podge, then curled up the spirals to give them some dimension.  Here's a close up view for you ...



Another favorite part are some elements I made by cutting out bits from a painted over paper doily that I had been using for making gelli plate prints.  One is at the top of the birdhouse ... I wanted it to look as if it was a star glowing to show the birds the way home ...




I painted it over and over with different colors from yellow to pink to red to gold, and feel like I got the 'glow' I was looking for.  And the other bits I made from the doily are the flowers at the bottom of the fence ...



The flowers were actually around the center of the doily, so I painted them pink (with my fingers) and glued them to the page with Mod Podge.  They were still wet when I took this picture, and look much better once they dried.



I got hubby to make a picture of me ... in my apron ... with this latest page.  He thought I was crazy, but after almost 29 years together, he should KNOW that already!  :)

So that's my most recent art journal page ... thanks so much for stopping by today, and I'm sure I will be back with another page (or something) to share very soon.  Blessings,










Products:
  • Base Card Stock - Georgia Pacific 110 pound (Walmart)
  • Paints - Anita's All Purpose Acrylic Craft Paints
  • Patterned Paper - For the fence and the base and roof - Bo Bunny Prairie Chic
  • Patterned Paper - (All Others) My Minds Eye
  • Mod Podge Glossy
  • Gelli Arts Gelli Plate
  • Sharpie Micro Fine Marker - Black

4/07/2013

Art Journaling Play Date with Mary Ann!

Yep, it's official ... I'm obsessed!  Maybe even addicted!  I really do LOVE printing my own papers using my Gelli Arts Gelli Plate, and then using the papers for art journal pages!

This past Thursday I went to my friend Mary Ann's and spent most of the day getting messy with paint and inks and making pretty papers.  We had so much fun, and I am so grateful for her hospitality ... especially for letting me play in her great 'craft cave' in her basement.  It was a great day!  Here is a picture of Mary Ann getting her hands messy ...


And here she is really intently working with her gelli plate ...







She made a really pretty art journal page and some cool printed papers as we played, and she took me out to lunch at a local restaurant for an 'early birthday' present.  She's a sweetie, and I am thankful we met through our LSS, Altered Angel and have had the opportunity to get to know her and call her friend.

Here is the page that I finished that day ... I had actually started it here at home ...



It's not one of my favorites, but it came out okay.  Can you see the 'shadow' of the girl just to the right of the text girl?  I liked that so much that my journaling says 'And one day she just knew she could no longer stand in the shadows of her life'. 

My favorite part of this page is on the left hand side, about 1/2 way down the page.  Can you see the texture?  My friend Karen, who I also met through Altered Angel, told me I had to try using modeling paste on pages, so I finally broke down and bought a jar of it and ... oh, she was so right!  You can do all kinds of fun stuff with it, but what I did on this page was lay a paper doily onto the page and spread the modeling paste over it, then pulled up the doily.  It left some great texture ... here's a close up look ...



The paste dries and hardens and really leaves some great texture. 

So yes, I am addicted! 

Thanks for visiting today, and Blessings ...









4/03/2013

Gotta Love Those Curves!!!

Yes, it's me, and I am back again with my art journal page # 2 ... made using my Gelli Arts Gelli Plate!  I am so in love with this new (to me) artful obsession!

This art journal page celebrates one part of my body that I love!  Let me clarify one thing ... I love me, the person I am, because I am loved ... I was created by a loving God, in His image, and He loves me beyond measure, so because I know I am loved THAT MUCH, I love me.  But I also love the person I have become, all my foibles and failures and everything, because I don't really always make the best choices, but I try to learn from both good and bad decisions I have made.

But ... I don't love most of my 'body'.  But I do love my curves!  By all rights I should probably be very overweight ... it's just in my genes ... but I'm not, and I don't really try to keep the weight off.  Now that doesn't mean I couldn't stand to lose a few pounds, because I could ... definitely!  But, I am content with my shape ... I have curves, real, honest to goodness curves and I love them.

So here is my tribute to my curves ...





Now, one thing you can't see in this image is that the 'light, foggy stuff' is actually a metallic gold and it looks great in person.  You'll be able to see it better in another pic down below.  For the dress form shape, I cut it from the 'Forever Young' cartridge using my Cricut Expression, and used it as a mask.




 The patterned papers are all from My Mind's Eye, and the ribbon is from Fancy Pants Designs.




I think you can get a sense of the metallic paint on this picture.  I really hate that you can't see it that well, because it is really pretty!

So, there you have it ... my 2nd art journal page using my Gelli Arts plate ... Blessings,









Products:

  • Paints are all Anita's All Purpose Acrylic Craft Paint
  • Patterned Papers are all My Mind's Eye
  • Ribbon - Fancy Pants Designs
  • White Card Stock - Georgia Pacific 110# (WalMart)
  • Brown Ink - Stampabilities (Hobby Lobby)
  • Gelli Arts Gelli Plate
  • Cricut Expression and 'Forever Young' Cartridge
  • Micron Pen .05 Black

4/02/2013

Changes ... and the Gelli Plate Craze!

Hi There!  I know I haven't been posting much lately, and I want to apologize!  I have been going through some changes ... life and creatively speaking, and have been taking care of those things so I could start over fresh!

I have ended Design Team terms with two great groups because it was time, and because I needed to change some things.  My creativity was feeling stale and I knew I needed to get rid of expectations and boundaries and move back into creating because I love it ... pure and simple!  So now I am free of those expectations and boundaries, and ready to move on!

One of the things that is really boosting my creativity right now is playing with my new toy ... the Gelli Plate.  Have you heard of them?  It's this really crazy freaky gelatin 'mat' that feels like Jello jigglers.  Very wobbly and soft and a bit oily.  You add your paints and use stencils, masks, and just about anything you can think of, and make your own prints and create your own patterned papers.

So far mine are not looking like very much, but I did get one of my papers turned into something pretty ... a really nice art journal page.  Take a look at it here ...



So tell me, and I mean really leave a comment and tell me what you think about my creation!  And I specifically want to hear your suggestions for the 'girl' ... should I outline her witha  black Micron pen, or should I leave her as is?




But I would also love to have you tell me in comments if you have tried the Gelli Plate, or art journaling in general, and what tips, tricks and techniques work or do not work for you.  Let's get a conversation going and help each other get the creative mojo flowing together!  I can't wait to hear from you!

Blessings,









Products:
  • Gelli Arts Gelatin Printing Plate
  • Ranger 'Inkssentials' Brayer
  • Micron 0.5 Black Pen
  • Paints - Anita's All Purpose Acrylic Craft Paint
  • Leaf Stamp - hand made using fun foam
  • 'Girl' mask - cut from card stock using Cricut Expression and 'Forever Young' cartridge
  • White Card Stock - Georgia Pacific 110# All Purpose (WalMart)