More Gelli, Gingerbread and some Candy Canes Too

May your Christmas be full of Sweet Surprises is the inside sentiment for my card today using some more of my Gelli Prints I created earlier in the week.

The Gelli Print Background done on Watercolor Paper used a mix of 12 x 12 stencils from the Crafters Workshop, Triangle Plaid, Honeycomb and Switchback with acrylic paint colors, yellow ochre, deep red and green.

I have then added a mix of stamping in black including some words and a gingerbread man and some chipboard candy canes which I die cut some time ago and had on hand ready to paint and color.

Once more this week I am linking up with the '12 Days of Christmas' Party over at Unruly PaperArts.

Gelli Print Pillow Boxes for Gifts or Treats this Christmas!

If you caught my post yesterday you would have seen that I was playing with my Gelli Plate and a Christmas Themed foam stamp recently to create an assortment of prints (on watercolor paper) to use for my Christmas Projects.

There are so many great ways to use your Gelli Prints and today I have taken a couple of the prints using snowflakes to create some pillow boxes.  A few years back I brought a book called Gift Box Studio which was full of different types of boxes, ready to just press out, fold and put to use.  I used one of these boxes from the book as a template to draw and cut out my pillow boxes.

These are quite a generous size box (measuring approx 15 x 7.5cm) so they are perfect to house a small gift for a loved one this Christmas or to decorate the dinner table filled with some treats for each guest.

To finish I have simply tied some seam binding in a complimentary color around them in a bow which can also be used to hold a coordinating tag on the box.

HANDY TIP
If you don't have lots of different color trims it is easy enough to color some plain white seam binding or ribbon with your Distress Inks or Stains or your Spray Inks to coordinate with your projects.

A close up of the foam snowflake stamp and one of the prints used today.

Supplies Used:

• Water Color Paper
• Gelli Plate
• Acrylic Ink
• Foam Stamp
• Seam Binding
• Pillow Box Template
• PVA Glue or Double Sided Tape
• Small Tag

I am Partying once more today at Unruly PaperArts for their '12 Days of Christmas' Link Up Party!

A Gelli Plate, a Gingerbread Man and Wine! A perfect Christmas Combo.

Hi Everyone!  Happy December and Happy 1st Day of Summer for those of you in the Southern Half of the World.  We've already had our fair share of summer heat with the middle of November producing record temperatures including a couple of 40 plus days here.

It's cooled off a little now so I have actually felt like doing some creating and last week with us expecting to have Miss H for her monthly respite I brought a inexpensive Make Your Own Christmas Wrap Set from K-Mart which I have to say is the perfect crafting activity to do with the kids.  For $6 it included brown paper, paint and a foam stamp cube with lots of fun Christmas Motifs and it is actually this stamp I have used for my project today.

I decided I needed some new Christmas Backgrounds so I grabbed out my Gelli Plate, and some Acrylic Paints and had a play using the foam stamp from the DIY Christmas Wrap Set to imprint into the paint.  I stamped any excess off onto a spare piece of cardstock.  Secondary prints using a different color were done over the top of any remaining paint from my first print which gave interesting mixed color effects and it was one of my secondary prints I ended up using for my project.

I often will mix more than one color onto the Gelli Plate to print.

I stamped off any excess paint onto a spare piece of cardstock.

One of my secondary snowflake prints.

A secondary print using yellow picks up the negative space left from my stamped
Gingerbread Man and the excess Green and Red Paint.

I have used one of my Gingerbread Man Prints to create a Wine Tag.  I have added a small piece of Christmas Tape across the bottom, stamped Merry Christmas a couple of times onto the background and cut out one of my Stamped Gingerbread Man to add some dimension and a little more contrast.

Don't forget you can create your own foam stamps by cutting out your own shapes, and/or using punches and die cuts with the cheap foam sheets you can buy in the $ Stores Kids Craft Sections. Simpy cut your shapes and mount onto some heavy cardboard you have recycled from a box etc. 

Supplies Used:

Water Color Paper

Acrylic Paint - Red, Green, Yellow, Blue and Turquoise

Gelli Plate

Christmas Themed Foam Stamp

Christmas Sentiment Stamp

Black Versafine Ink

Christmas Themed Washi Tape

I am linking this project up with the Unruly PaperArts '12 Days of Christmas' Party.

Day 1 - Five Days of Flashbacks

Hi Everyone!  I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas day with family and friends sharing lots of joy and laughter.

I certainly had a lovely day with the family which ended with a few hours in the pool.  And thought I would share my favorite shot of the day which gives you an idea of the relaxed way we celebrate Christmas here in the heat of Summer which is our family tradition.  Green and Red took centre stage.

This is a picture of my Mum and Dad about to start on the their prawn cocktail entree.  With warm days a cold lunch outdoors is the only way to celebrate Christmas.  Luckily the flies were visiting their relatives elsewhere.

Anyhow to round out the year, I thought I would over the next five days leading to New Years Eve share some flashbacks that made up my year of crafting.

Ending 2012 and kickstarting my crafting for 2013 I played along with the Art-athon over at ATC's for All and hopefully will get a chance to play along again this year.

I set my three words and goals for 2013.  I started the year well, but it all went a bit astray as the year draws to a close.

The start of February saw me join the Design Team for a New Challenge Site - Cards in Envy.  Here is a look at the first card I made for their very first sketch.

I was having lots of fun playing with my New Gelli Plate and Splash Inks in February too.  I also got on a roll with my participation of Life Book 2013.

In among all that play we celebrated my hubby's birthday and got away for a few days at the beach.

Well that's a wrap of January and February, thanks for stopping by and I do hope you will join me again tomorrow for another day of flashbacks as I revisit March, April and May.

Cards in Envy Background Challenge

Hi Everyone, it's time for another challenge at Cards In Envy.  This fortnight we want to see you create your own backgrounds.

Earlier today I shared a card I made for my mum and dad's wedding anniversary which was done with my Gelli Plate and the Damask Stencil by Donna Downey.  I have used it again for my card for this Background Challenge but this time rather than applying paint over the stencil, I used it to lift paint off the plate which gives a totally different look.

There are so many wonderful ways to create your own backgrounds and my fellow Design Team Members projects this week share just a few, but as always are sure to inspire you to try something new.  So be sure to pop over and check them out!  We'd also love it if you played along too!

Gelli Prints and Fun Foam Fun!

Hi Everyone!  My post today is what I have done for my Altered Pages DT post this week.

After recently attending a Stamp Carving Class at my LSS, Time to Create, I was reminded and reintroduced to the versatility of Fun Foam, which you can buy at your local $ (dollar) Store in an assortment of shapes and sizes.  At this class we carved our own stamp designs.

These two shell like ones were some of my designs from that day.  Anyway whilst carving these stamps I was thinking how great it would be to use them with my Gelli Plate.

  

The first of the above prints I have added some yellow (Gelato) to highlight the design, whilst the second was  a ghost layer of the first print layered over another print.

So this week I decided to break out the fun foam and play some more.

I used my Sizzix Border Strip Die to cut some shapes, some of which I then etched a pattern into.

By pressing these shapes into a layer of paint applied to the plate, it removes the paint revealing the design.

You can do this and then apply a different color over the top to give this type of result.

You can lay the shapes over the plate in any way you choose.  Using different colors for the second layer can give different looks - for instance this one has the pattern more subdued.

The best part about using the Gelli Plate is that there is always an element of surprise with the end result.

And I so love the results achieved layering the ghost prints (second/third generation prints) one on top of the other.  To achieve fabulous textured backgrounds with great depth.

And to finish my post today - here is another way to use up your prints which you are going to have plenty of since playing with this plate is highly addictive.

I have layered cut squares of this print like a patchwork and used some fun foam die cut shapes to embellish.

If you'd like to try this technique, you can purchase your own Gelli Plate and Acrylic Paint to get you started at Altered Pages.

A Little Bit of this and a Little Bit of That!

Hi Everyone!  I haven't had much time for crafting this past week, with extra children in the house for respite for most of it.  I lost one child who we had for a week on Thursday only to gain another on Friday and she will be with us until Monday.  It's been another interesting learning curve for us, as this is our first time doing respite with other kids, and seeing the dynamics change when A isn't the only child in the house.

The time I did find to escape into my craft room, mostly late at night went mostly to design team projects which you will see in the coming week.

But here's a quick glimpse of what I have been up too on a personal and just for fun level.

Firstly I tried out some more new stamps (Dylusions) and some stencils (Prima & TCW) which I purchased  from Time to Create in my journal, playing with a mix of my Faber Castell Gelatos and Big Brush Pens.

I played some more with my Gelli Plate, using some florist mesh and my fingers,

 along with my favorite colors using Splash Inks.  I used the second print as the background for a Birthday Card for A's sister who turned 16 this week.

I created a Card with an Autumn Feel, to welcome in the new season from one of my 

Gelli Prints from a few weeks back

And last night and this morning I found a few moments to create a couple of ATC's for yet another ATART over at ATC's for All which are all using various backgrounds and vintage Easter Collage Images from Altered Pages.

This last ATC says it all.  Tonight I have been making some small Easter Gift Cards for A and E to go with their eggs for tomorrow morning.  They are both expecting lots of chocolate to come their way....... I have had it on good authority however, (A himself informed both Rod and I) that he is too old for an Easter Egg Hunt and too lazy.......this comment was totally out of the blue and we couldn't help but laugh at his honesty.  

Wishing all my crafty friends and fabulous followers and readers a Wonderful Easter.

More Gelli Plate Fun!

Hi Everyone!  As promised I am back with some more Gelli Plate Fun today, and a little bit of a insight into how versatile they are.

Whether your project is big or small the Gelli Plate can cater for them all. You can Paint, Stamp, Stencil and Draw your way to fabulously fun and totally random backgrounds and prints.

You can press stamps into the paint to remove the paint and leave the image. Or press the painted stamp onto the plate to create additional layers.

Layering a second print/color over your first stamped layer adds color to define the stamped image, you can add further color with stencils which work similar to stamps by removing paint to give you outlines, or painting over them to add blocks of color in the patterned design to your plate. These prints are great for journal page backgrounds.

Some stamps may even surprise you in just what look they will give you. Take the above print for instance the white lines were created from the flower stamp below which has four stems with flowers on them in the top left corner from my Unity Stamp Co July 2011 Kit of the Month.

The outline imprint certainly doesn't look like a flower here does it?

You can also draw into the paint for more abstract designs. I have drawn lines and circles with the end of a paint brush. (The above image shows further layers on top of my first print).

You can also add further textures by pressing embossing folders, everyday household items or even certain papers onto the plate.

These two prints are the second generation prints of my drawing attempts on black and white gloss cardstock. The texture of the water color paper I took my first print with has transferred onto the plate, and hence onto the second generation prints.

You can create great backgrounds for cards and other projects this way.

And if like me you are on a mission to use up your scraps then don't throw away your off cuts, as you can create great accents.

Like these flowers which I have stamped and fussy cut for this ATC from one of my Gelli Prints using Splash Inks a few weeks back. I have added these as an accent to my Alcohol Ink Background and finished by highlighting with some doodling in white.


Everything you need from a Gelli Plate, Stencils, Stamps and Paints are available from Altered Pages.

That about sums up what I have been up to these past couple of days in my craft room apart from making some ATC's for swaps etc, so I hope it has been helpful in sharing some of the many ways you can play with your Gelli Plate and have some fun.