Gel Printed Pods
Posted: March 25, 2024 Filed under: artsy stems, framed fern, gel press, Lavinia, online class, Penny Black, Tim Holtz | Tags: gel press, gel printing, Lavinia, online class, Penny Black creative dies, Tim Holtz 3 Comments
It’s been a while since I gel printed but that there is no lack of gel prints to show you. I currently have boxes of prints and and a stash of cards made from prints.
These two cards were made from the same stencil print, one of the examples from my Gel Print Journey online class (which is on sale along with all my online classes until March 29; just use the code LEAPYEAR40 at checkout)
If you are a fan of Lavinia stencils like I am you probably recognise the ‘Pods’ stencil used for this print. I printed on a 6″x 6″ gel plate giving me a print big enough for two cards. It’s hard to see in the photo but some of the paint was metallic so the print has some shimmer and shine on it.
I looked through my botanical dies and gold cardstock in order to fine co-ordinating elements for the cards. On the card above I used the ‘framed fern’ die from Penny Black and on the card below the die featured is from Tim Holtz artsy stems die set.
I hear my gel plate calling to me so hopefully I will soon dedicate a few days to happy printing. If you are looking for a beginner gel printing class or a refresher please check out Gel Print Journey. This post includes affiliate links from Ecstasy Crafts, Foiled Fox and Scrap’n’Stamp . If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Fuchsia Favourites
Posted: March 22, 2024 Filed under: captivating, Dies, gift card pocket, online class, Penny Black | Tags: online class, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps 9 Comments
As I wait for spring I thought I would post a couple of cards I made a few years ago when filming my Floral Faves online course. I used the beautiful ‘Captivating‘ stamp from Penny Black to teach a no-line watercolour technique. All my online courses are discounted by 40% for a one more week.
Edited to add: use the code LEAPYEAR40 if the discount doesn’t appear automatically.
I used watercolour paints to colour the two cards featured today but I have also used waterbased inks smooshed onto a glass mat as they also work well for the technique. I added the tiny little tag from the PB ‘gift card pocket die set‘. It’s a set that I never use to make gift card pockets but often reach for one of the tag or label dies included.
I had fuchsias looking pretty in the planters at my front door last year. They were the opposite colouring of the ones above with pale pinky purple petals hanging down and creamy white petals at the top.
It might be time to pull out this stamp again and try it with the new pastel pencils. For more inspiration with this stamp click here and here. Today’s post features affiliate links to The Foiled Fox.
Happy Birthday, Happy Camper
Posted: January 31, 2024 Filed under: ...is coming, campers, Penny Black, trio of trees | Tags: Penny Black creative dies 3 Comments
Today’s card has already travelled to a girl who just turned 8! It’s not my usual style but it was definitely fun choosing the colours and cardstock to put this one together. The die sets are both from Penny Black and although they weren’t released at the same time, they are the same scale which made this cute little scene possible. One set is called ‘Campers‘ and the other ‘…is coming‘
The blue card base and the pink, yellow and orange cardstock was all from my stash so I couldn’t say what the colours are but the cool lined silver is from Tonic Studios. The trees are also a PB set called ‘Trio of trees‘ and I cut them from an alcohol ink gel print.
I tore a post-it note edge to mask some clouds as I blended broken china ink over the base. I’ve used the little truck/van a couple of times before; you can see those cards here and here. Today’s post features affiliate links to the following companies. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. The Foiled Fox & Scrap’n’Stamp.
Collage Skates
Posted: December 13, 2023 Filed under: Dies, gel press, let's skate, Penny Black | Tags: gel press, gel printing, Penny Black creative dies, Taylored Expressions 1 Comment
This was one of last year’s Christmas cards made during my collage Christmas card class. All the strips of colour are from gel prints. If you look closely you can see some grungy texture and pattern. None of the prints were amazing by themselves but when combined I quite liked the mix and pattern.
I used the Penny Black die set ‘let’s skate’ to cut two skates from the collage panel then popped them up on an embossed panel and added a Taylored Expressions sentiment from her ‘simple strips’ Christmas stamp.
I made many collage cards last year because I have so many gel prints to collage and many dies that worked for cutting. There were trees, bells, stars, poinsettia, stockings, baubles and more trees! I hope this is another idea you’ll try with your gel prints or any patterned papers or tapes. Washi tapes work well because the adhesive is already there!
Trees from strips and scraps
Posted: November 29, 2023 Filed under: Darkroom Door, Dies, Music Background, Penny Black, sheet music, starry night | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps 5 Comments
I have a few more cards made from leftovers today; I love leftovers, especially the ones in the fridge but the paper ones are nice too! The card above is my favourite of the mix and it is so simple, just strips and stars. I stamped one of those strips with a music background stamp but the rest are just patterned or gold shimmer cardstock.
I made use of one tree die for the rest of today’s cards, it’s from Penny Black’s ‘evergreen tree‘ die set. The trees above are cut from stamped and patterned paper. The tree below I cut from a piece of kraft that I had coloured my own plaid pattern on with coloured pencils and a gel pen. It was fun but not necessary if you want to be quick. The pretty music stamp featured below is from Darkroom Door and the larger one above from Penny Black.
The final card shows another tree cut with the same die but from printed plaid paper attached to a panel stamped with an old holiday word stamp. The little stars I cut with the PB ‘starry night die’ and used small sentiments from the PB holiday snippets set. It is an old set now but I use it all the time on Christmas cards.
Today’s post features affiliate links to The Foiled Fox. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Christmas Filigree
Posted: November 23, 2023 Filed under: Christmas filigree, Dies, Echidna Studios, joy of giving, Penny Black, Taylored Expressions | Tags: digital stamps, Echidna Studios, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Taylored Expressions 2 Comments
I am pretty excited about these new images. I think filigree patterns are very pretty and once I got the gist of it had a lovely time designing a bell, a star and a finial ornament. I thought it made sense to have a solid background to show off the filigree and, tada, the Christmas filigree digital stamp and cut file set came to be! This set is now in the Echidna Studios store along with three more new sets and some updated Christmas sets from last year. It’s beginning to look more like Christmas every day.
I think the bell is my favourite of the three images and will come in handy making wedding cards as well as Christmas. I wanted to show off the designs on dark backgrounds but when in comes to photographing shimmery gold, embossing on dark green or navy and the high contrast of cream cardstock as well, I can’t always nail it.
So let me tell you the bells are sitting on dark green panels embossed with Spellbinders ‘forever green’ folder. The green panel on the left below is also embossed with that folder but the one on the right is embossed with the Anna Griffin ‘regal braid’ folder. The star cards at the end of this very long post are on navy blue backgrounds and it is again a little tricky to see one base is embossed with the ‘speckles/snowfall‘ folder and the other with the Taylored Expressions ‘sheet music‘ folder.
I decorated the finials and bells with a mix of die cut foliage from Penny Black including the ‘joy of giving‘ set.
As the finial is such a long thin shape I made the card a little larger than usual, around 6″x4.5″.
I created the star cards without foliage but found suitable sentiment from PB and Taylored Expressions.
I think all three designs would make lovely tree ornaments either stacked to give them extra stability or cut from thick acrylic or thin board on a laser cutter. I don’t have a laser cutter but it is possible to book time on one at the library; if get some cut I will definitely show them here on the blog.
Thanks for scrolling all the way through this long post; I really appreciate you visiting the blog. Have a great day!
Today’s post features affiliate links to Scrap’n’Stamp. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Stripes and strips
Posted: November 14, 2023 Filed under: Christmas background, Dies, Hand drawn, Hand lettered, My Favorite Things, Penny Black, starry night | Tags: collage, My Favorite Things, Penny Black creative dies 8 Comments
If you have scraps of patterned or solid coloured paper today’s post is for you. I made a panel of striped cardstock by cutting thin strips of patterned paper and gluing them to a piece of light cardstock. From my homemade ‘striped cardstock’ I cut a hand drawn tree, a hand drawn bird and some simple triangle trees. You could use dies for all the elements I was just playing with ideas and decided to sketch and cut myself.
I used an embossed snowflake background for the card at the top of the page, a stamped kraft background for the tree above and then plain kraft for the bird. The little stars that decorate each card I did not hand cut of course! They are cut with the PB ‘starry night die’ and applied with the help of one of those sticky ended tools. Little embellishments have a high fiddliness factor which I don’t appreciate but these tiny stars were necessary!
I added outlines to both the bird and the tree with white or black gel pen along with some dots and a handwritten sentiment.
Cutting my own shapes was fun and put some of the many paper scraps to good use!
More Alcohol Inks on the Gel Plate
Posted: September 25, 2023 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, Dies, Flutters, gel press, Lavinia, Penny Black, pods stencil, Taylored Expressions | Tags: Alcohol Ink, gel press, gel printing, Lavinia, Penny Black creative dies, Taylored Expressions 1 Comment
Using alcohol inks and stencils on the gel plate is a bit of an addiction for me right now so I filmed another one to show you. A friend let me know that if you receive my blog posts by email the video doesn’t show up in the email. To see the video just click on the title of the blog post and it will take you to my blog. If you would like to subscribe to my youtube channel too that would be delightful.
I started this print with the Lavinia pods stencil already covered in ink and then added more ink and isopropyl alcohol when it was on the gel plate. Take a look at the video below to see the process.
I would love to hear if you try this technique. As I mentioned last week I like pulling the prints with paper or cardstock because they are surfaces that I wouldn’t normally use with alcohol inks.
The finished card does include most of the print; it is a larger size than my usual A2 cards. I decided to add the Penny Black dragonflies in the wine colour which matches the alcohol ink I added very sparingly. In retrospect you will probably agree I could have added more. The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions ‘In and Out Birthday’ stamped in Chianti versafine clair ink.
My blog features affiliate links to the following companies. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Ecstasy Crafts (Ecstasy Crafts offers a discount code heathertecs10 you can use for a 10% discount at checkout)
Alcohol Inks + Stencil on the Gel Plate
Posted: September 18, 2023 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, Dies, gel press, Lavinia, Penny Black, Tutorial | Tags: Alcohol Ink, gel press, Lavinia, Tutorial, video 5 Comments
Recently I posted a card featuring a gel print made with alcohol inks and a stencil. You can check out that card here. There was quite a lot of interest in seeing a video of my process so that is what I have for you today. One of the bonuses of this technique is the way I can make more than one print from the same initial application of alcohol ink. I worked with T-Rex alcohol inks on a 5″x7″ gel plate.
As you will see in the video the first card (shown above) is made from the first print pulled from the gel plate.
The second print pulled from the gel plate features the same inks but they are more muted because I diluted them to move them from the stencil to the plate. I quite like the softness of the second print.
If a print works for me and honestly, they don’t all work, I often don’t want to cover them up with extra decoration or die cuts. That’s why I kept these card designs very simple with just a die cut ‘hello’ added to the first card. The second print which I made into the card below features an even smaller birthday sentiment and one thin strip of the same cardstock.
One of the reasons I like to work with alcohol inks on the gel plate is the fact that I can pull the prints with a piece of paper, in the case of these prints I used printer paper. When I work with alcohol inks apart from the gel plate I generally use a thicker plastic surface such as yupo or craft plastic. The inks move beautifully on those surfaces but the plastics are bulkier and a bit more expensive so it is nice to have the gel plate + paper option. The featured prints from today’s video were done on a 5″ x 7″ gel plate which meant I could get a 5.5″ x 4.25″ card front as well as a left over strip to add to the envelope.
If you are new to gel printing in general and would like to know more about creating a range of patterned prints please consider my online class, Gel Print Journey, where I cover all the basics with acrylic paint and all sorts of patterned and textured items. If you purchase any of my online classes before the end of September use the code: ENDOFSUMMERSALE for a 20% discount.
Wishing you comfort
Posted: August 3, 2023 Filed under: Branch 9 die, gel press, Moda Scrap, Penny Black, whisper | Tags: gel press, gel printing, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps 3 Comments
I’m always looking for ways to use my gel prints because I have many and want to make more! I found this two panel idea on Victoria Wilding’s instagram. I chose not to stamp on my prints but instead added the Penny Black ‘whisper’ die-cut over the top, a strip of cardstock along the edge and a sentiment from the PB set ‘strength‘.
If you don’t have gel prints you could use any kind of patterned paper but I would encourage you to check out my online course ‘Gel Print Journey‘ if you are interested in learning or trying new techniques.
I thought the muted tones of the gel prints lent themselves to a sympathy card as did the dark brown cardstock rather than bold black.
These gel prints are not very bulky as I printed on paper not cardstock. I added double sided adhesive to the back then attached the strips to the card base and trimmed off any overhanging paper.
You might recognise the same greeny brown print on this second card but this time paired with a print featuring the PB background stamp, ‘bed of roses’.
I cut both the Moda Scrap ‘branch 9‘ die and the edge strip from dark green cardstock and used a similar coloured ink for the sentiment. I know the cardstock looks black in the photo but it is truly dark green in real life.
I liked the clean but pretty effect of two gel printed strips together and was able to make several cards using bits of 6″x6″ prints. I kept all the left over scraps too; you will see them in an upcoming journal page.
Heather Telford 