gelli time...

Hello my wonderful friends!

 Are you ready for a little enabling fun?

I want to talk about one of my favorite tools to use with paint...

(commonly referred to as a "Gelli plate")

So what exactly is it? 

I was over at my parents' house the other day, and I was talking to my mom about some project I had been working on that used the Gelli plate (she knew what it was and was following the conversation just fine...). My dad overheard, and got this really funny look on his face. He looked at me and said "What exactly do you DO with a jelly plate? Isn't it kind of messy?"

I couldn't help but laugh! 

The truth is it is messy, but not in the peanut-butter-and-jelly way he was envisioning! 

What it really is, is piece of  rubberized-ish gelatin that stores at room temperature that is used to make mono-prints. Think of when you make Jello Jigglers-- how the jello is really firm... this is even firmer, but is still somewhat squishy. It is absolutely amazing and addicting!

So, what do you do with it?

Well, that is one of the wonderful things about this. It is a TOOL. 

You can make SO MANY different styles of art using this, and I can only scratch the surface in one post. But I can give you the general idea to get you started. From there, it is a journey of experimentation and learning. (and if you google it, or search pinterest, you can find lots of great inspiration and tutorials!)

I generally work with acrylics, but you can use watercolors, or even oils! 

Simply put some paint on and brayer it around.

You can add some texture with all sorts of things.. they make special rubber combs, but I like using found things like bubble wrap, plastic mesh, cheesecloth, or stamps (hey, they're 'found' overtaking my studio!).

You can also use stencils!

Once you have your design, lay a piece of paper over it and rub it with your hand to transfer the paint.

This is called a "pull"

Notice there is still paint left on the plate... you can clean that off if you want, but, I leave it on and just add more paint over it. 

You can get interesting effects if you mist some water onto the paint... or some spray ink 

*the instructions do say that they don't recommend using dye inks because they may stain your plate, but that the stains will not effect the printing performance... I figure it is similar to my clear stamps being stained. I really don't mind, so I do it. But to be fair, I did warn you.*

Here's that pull... 

Ok.. want to add some dazzle? Creative Inspirations Paint work beautifully on the Gelli!  Here I have put on some cream acrylic paint and Denium CI paint.

Here's the pull... Isn't it pretty!

Hard to see in this picture, but the shimmer transfers BEAUTIFULLY!

Here's a fun tip: If you use an embossing folder to emboss some card stock, then use that to create texture on your Gelli plate, you get some amazingly fun embossed pieces to work with later. Here you can see the shimmer from another print I made using CI paints. (If you are into mixed media... those piece of bubble wrap I showed earlier are pretty darn cool looking too, after they are covered in multiple layers of pretty paint!)

After you have made your prints, you can use them for what ever you want... art journal pages, cards, scrapbook pages, die cuts... what ever!

Want to expand your horizons even more? You don't have to stick to paper... You can print on fabric, canvas, ribbon, tape, directly INTO your art journal... there is just SO much you can do! And each pull is unique!

There are some people who have developed serious artistic skills that aren't near as random and they actually make pictures instead of just random backgrounds... It really is a versatile TOOL!  One that the beginners can love as much as the artist who has been honing their skills for years.

So, where do you get one?

Good question! They can be kinda hard to find! 

One of the ladies on the CI design team, Tina, owns a store -Frog Dog Studio- where you can get a kit with a Gelli Plate and a few things to get you started... Click HERE to check it out.

You can also find them HERE at dickblick.com in a variety of sizes.

Enjoy!

~Kassi