Geometric Gelli Print Card

Hi All!!

Just a quick post tonight.  Our day was spent in HORRIBLY HOT, HUMID weather (with included a downpour) while watching the Oldest Kiddo play flag football.  While I only watched from the sidelines, I am drained!! LOL! How these kids can play 2-3 games in this type of weather is beyond me!!

I realized while looking through the cards I have yet to post (YES!! Believe it or not, I'm actually behind in my postings!! You might want to look out your window to see if pigs are flying!) I realized that all the cards that I have shared lately have been birthday cards.  While one can never have too many birthday cards on hand, I find it a bit sad that my creativity of late has been dictated by need versus free flow creativity.

It is what it is.

Another quick card needed for yet another teen boy.  Pulled out my Possibility File (experiments that might have potential)  and found a few similar Gelli plate prints that I die cut into various square sizes.  A few snips, fussing over the placement and Wah-La!! Card was done.

Can I just say that the money I spent on the two sentiment dies from Cottage Cutz was just about the best investment I have made in a long time?!!! I am going to wear these dies out!!

Sorry for the lack of chatting, I need to get the cattle prod out for two Kiddos (and The Toad) who are busy talking about the games today instead of focusing on homework that needs to be done NOW. 

'Till next time................

Gelli Prints and Metal Roses

I had a very creative weekend as it seemed everyone and my mother in law celebrated birthdays!!

Okay.  That is a slight exaggeration, but I cranked out 3 cards in one weekend.  And if you have visited this blog much in the past, you know that makes up more creativity than I usually manage in a month!!

I, of course, will only share one card today!! I am going to take advantage of having a "stash" of work to share over the next week or so!! hehe

While I was on the creative endeavor to make my father in law a birthday card a couple of weeks ago, (the card that actually came to be can be seen here ) I actually started out with the idea for a Gelli Print on the sticky side of a self laminating sheet.

Allow me to digress.  Making Gelli Prints on packing tape or the sticky side of a self laminating sheet is probably one of my most favorite Gelli Print techniques.  While I love the "unknown" outcomes with the more traditional methods of making monoprints with the Gelli Plate, I really, really REALLY like the process of planning out what what direction my print will take.

I might have a little issue with control.  Or just letting my art F....L...O....W....

ANYHOOS!!  I made this wonderful turquoise and copper print a couple of weeks ago and for the life of me, could NOT figure out how "finish" the card without taking away from the print.

Sometimes, walking away is the best way to complete a creative project.

So, I started with the background.......

Gelli print made with some turquoise and brown acrylic paint (stash) brayered over the TCW's Mini Gears stencil. Copper Pearl Ex was then applied on the "clear" area of the print. 

And rediscovered my love of working with metal.......

Roses were die cut from Ten Second Studios Dark Chocolate Metal with Spellbinders/Donna Salazar's Rose Creation dies.  The leaves are from Spellbinder's Foliage and the flourish is an old Sizzix die.   

Finished with  a little extra wire and bling ! Who needs a sentiment?! Not this card!!

I will admit that this card ended up being more than what I had envisioned.  But I thoroughly enjoyed working with the metal sheets again and have vowed to pull out that medium more often in the future!!

'Till next time..............

Gelli Circles

Yesterday I was needing to make a card for a 13 y/o boy's birthday.  I had a very CAS (clean and simple) idea floating in my head and was certain that making the card would be quick and easy.

Don't you just hate when reality decides that you need to be brought back down to earth?!

First, I discovered that I didn't have the correct sized sentiment stamp for the visual impact that I was wanting to achieve.  Then I wasted  spent an absurd amount of time going through my stash of junk supplies trying to find something else that might make the original idea still a possibility. 

The good news: I "found" lots of supplies that I had forgotten I had and look forward to pulling them out and playing with them!

The bad news:  I own NO SUPPLIES to make teenage boy cards. 

Okay.  That was a lie.  But, keep in mind that I was on a time deadline to get the card done in just a short amount of time so that the Youngest Kiddo could give it to his friend after school let out. And Fridays are always half days.  Time was a tickin' !!!

I had just come to the conclusion that I had forgotten how to make cards, specifically cards for young teenage boys, when inspiration hit while thumbing through my file of "possibilities" (the file that I keep of technique prints that didn't make the cut for some project, but I liked enough to file for another day). 

Ahhhh!! I so love it when an idea comes together!!

I pulled out a bright "fall" colored Gelli Print and actually garnered up the nerve to cut it into circles using a variety of sizes of Spellbinders Classic Circles.

Then it was a matter of arranging, rearranging and just commit already! 

I debated on the sentiment for quite a while.  I REALLY  liked the card front without it and thought about just stamping the sentiment inside. But, somewhere I got this ridiculous notion that a card HAS to have a sentiment on the outside.  

I need to get over that.

Luckily, the different height of the circle layer on the base layer only caused a little blip with the stamping of the sentiment.  It rather annoys me, but I highly doubt that the birthday boy will even notice it!!

Geometric shapes with the slight patterns of a Gelli Print.  PERFECT combination for those cards needed for teen boys!! 

'Till next time.............. 

Using Up My Gelli Print Scraps

Hey People!!  Amazing how quickly time flies! I can't believe it has been three weeks since I last posted. I don't know why that surprises me.  One would think that by now I'd realize that posting on a somewhat regular basis is sooo not going to happen!! LOL!  

Oldest Kiddo was invited to spend this long weekend at a friend's house to celebrate said friend's 16th birthday.  Originally, I had an idea that actually came to me while trying to fall asleep one night, but, as the creative karma would have it, I happened to see a scrap of the Gelli Print that I made for the eP Birthday Bash.  

So the dreamland idea went out the window (in favor of just getting the card done) and a somewhat quick card was made from the Gelli Print scrap.

Look familiar?!!  Yeah, I really didn't venture much from the journal cover made in the last post.  But, what can I say?!! I REALLY liked the look and it seemed perfect for a 16 y/o boy!!

Did I mention a "somewhat" quick card? 

The scrap piece of Gelli print did not have any of the black paint accents on it.  Since I had pulled the print using a self adhesive laminating sheet, which, is a slick surface, I had to do a bit of experimenting to see what medium would best "stick" to the slick surface.  I know I could have stamped with Stazon ink, but I confess, I was sooo afraid that I would mess up the stamping and ruin my one little scrap piece!! 

Mediums tried:  A very THICK layer of Wendy Vecchi's black embossing paste.  I was hoping to use a stencil I had for the numbers and it is made of a very thick plastic (more for hand lettering, not actual stenciling).  Then a THIN layer of the black embossing paste.

Then I tried Claudine Hellmuth's black paint.

And a basic sharpie.

The paint won.

I felt that the embossing paste was too easy to scrap off.  While I could scrap off the paint with my fingernail, it took a bit more work. And the sharpie just rubbed right off (which didn't really make sense, but maybe I didn't let it dry enough).

So, using the same TCW stencils as I did on the journal cover, I added some accents with black paint.  I could not find a die cut of numbers that fit the style of this card.  I tried to cut out my own layered numbers from paper, but I did not like the uneven lines I got with fussy cutting.  Finally, I dug through my stash of stuff and found some grunge paper elements. I painted the numbers with Claudine's black paint, smooshed them in a Versa Mark pad and embossed with fine black embossing powder.

That's it for me today!! I actually have another little "scrap" project in the works, so hopefully, I'll be back sooner than later!! And of course, there is still the dreamland idea!! 

'Till next time............have a fabulous and creative week!!

It's a PARRRRTYYYYY!!!

WhootHoo!!  Welcome to eclectic Paperie's Belated Birthday Bash!  Today we're celebrating the (belated) one year anniversary of the store's new ownership! It's been an amazing year, full of inspiring projects, wonderful classes, and many, many new products!!  eclectic Paperie wouldn't be where it is today without the ongoing support of our customers and as a BIG thank you, you'll have an opportunity to lots of great prizes!  You have until midnight, tomorrow(9/20), to comment for your chance to win the following prizes!!!

 A full set of Tim's NEW Distress Paints
6x6 Paper Pad Bundle
Dylusions Stencil Bundle
A set of NEW Wendy Vecchi Archival Inks
Crafter's Workshop Stencil Bundle

 To be entered into the prize drawing, please be sure to comment on the eclectic Paperie blog and on each of the eTeam blogs.  Check out all of the thumbnail links below to view the rest of the eTeam projects!  Enjoy the hop!

I was very excited to be asked by Kim to help eP celebrate it's first year under new ownership!  When Kim started this new journey of ownership, her goals included  offering lots of new products, ideas and inspiration. I have personally been inspired by the current eTeam members and have enjoyed watching them explore new ideas and mediums in their own creative journeys.  It was with that thought in mind that I decided to try a new technique (for me!) in using the Gelli Plate with clear adhesive (in my case, the sticky side to self laminating sheets).

First things first; getting out all the possible supplies that I thought I might use to make my mono prints.  *Note: originally I had thought I would use Distress Paints for this technique.  It just wasn't the look I was going for. While not pictured, I ended up using Claudine Hellmuth's wonderful paints instead.

Supplies:  6x6 Gelli Printing Plate (HIGHLY recommend the 8x10 one.  That will be on my next shopping spree!!), various stencils, masks cut from dies, embossed papers, Paints (see above note) brayer, non-stick craft sheet

Next; lay out masks in various spots on the Gelli Plate.  You will note that this layout is not the actually one I used for my final project.  It took several prints before I came up with the look I wanted!

The next steps are lacking photographic representation.  It would seem that somebody (ahem!) got caught up in the making of prints that she forgot to take pictures of the steps!  OOOPS!! Basically, I placed my masks on the Gelli Plate. Using the brayer, I applied a combination of Claudine's Dab of Yellow and Dash of Red paints onto the Plate and over the masks.  Carefully removing the masks, I then added some stenciling (TCW's Susana'a Arrows and Mini Ledger) and free hand elements, using the end of a paint brush, an old hair pick and a marker cap.  Remember, for this particular technique, what you see on the plate is what you will transfer to your clear adhesive. You also want to keep some areas free of paint.

HELPFUL TIP:  it is important to let the paint dry between layers to avoid making a muddy paint mess!

AFTER THE PAINT HAS DRIED *VERY IMPORTANT*, apply your clear adhesive to the plate.  I used the sticky side of self laminating sheets for my project.  You could also use clear packing tape. Burnish the adhesive onto the plate using a scraper or a bone folder.  Then, carefully, remove the adhesive from the plate.  If you find an spot of paint that didn't stick to the adhesive, roll back the tape and use your fingers or scraper to burnish that spot again, so that the paint sticks.  

After you have removed your tape from the plate, you have several options for the clear areas.  You could apply some printed tissue paper, dictionary pages, fine glitter, foils, or as I did, some Pearl Ex powder. I chose to use some bronze. I sprinkled the powders on the sticky side and used a "glitter" brush to evenly spread the Pearl Ex evenly onto the surface.  

WAH-LAH!! You now have a wonderful piece with shine and texture to add to a project!  

Originally I thought I would use my piece to make a birthday card (as this is a birthday celebration!) but instead, I went a different path.  I dug out a 6x6 chipboard cover (from my stash) and randomly applied a fairly dry brush layer of Claudine's Charcoal Black  paint.  

Using an adhesive spray I adhered my focal image to the center.  Pulled out some old idea-ology Alpha Parts and added them to the image.

Final project is still to be determined.  I am debating on using this as a cover to a small 6x6 mixed media journal (in which case I will decided on whether to use my Bind It All, Jump Rings or some other binding mechanism to put it all together) OR I will leave this as a little art piece for my desk.  

I wish I could have captured the lovely shiny sheen this has!  The Pearl Ex adds a wonderful metallic glimmer and the shiny surface of the laminating sheet give this another depth that catches the eye!!

Congratulations Kim for your first birthday at eP's helm!!  Here is wishing you many, many more creative years!

Hello???  Hello???? Is anyone still out there?!!

It's been a loooong time since I last posted!! I had to just walk away from it all.

Walk away from the mess created from moving from my craft room to a corner of my bedroom.

Walk away from the overwhelming task of downsizing.

Walk away from trying to figure where to put everything.

Walk away from blogging and looking at blogs.

And then  literally, I started walking and exercising again.  Which takes up quite a bit of my "free" time.

The mess is still present.  I'm ready to start dealing with it again.  I need to deal with the clutter so my messy creative self has room to throw paint, pull out papers and make a whole new pile!! LOL!!

Yep.  I'm ready to get back to my creative journey.

That journey starts today.

I am very excited (and a bit nervous!) to be joining once again with the E-Team as a Guest DT blogger for the month of April!!

Head on over to the eP blog  to get more details on how I used these products-----

to make THIS!!!

She's BAAACCCCKKKK!!!! lol!!

'Till next time.................make a mess!! Explore some creativity!!