Collage the Blues
Posted: July 31, 2024 Filed under: Darkroom Door, gel press, Nature Walk | Tags: collage, Darkroom Door stamps, gel press, gel printing, gelli plate 11 Comments
You might wonder what I do with all my gel prints, and believe me I have many, many gel prints! If I got rid of the partial prints that didn’t really work I would have less to deal with but sometimes the partial prints can become favourite cards or journal pages.
To create this collage of blues I tore a couple of partial prints into squares and stamped the delicate stamp from Darkroom Door’s nature walk set at different angles on the the squares. I put these ‘scraps’ back together and the partial prints brought shades of blue, pops of white and bits of pattern and texture.
So, how many gel prints is too many? You can’t have too many!
Leaf & Stencil print – Video
Posted: July 16, 2024 Filed under: Darkroom Door, gel press, gelli plate, simply perfect mix & match sentiments, Tutorial | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, gel press, gel printing, Spellbinders, video 6 Comments
Last week I shared a leaf and lavender gel print video; in today’s video I have added some gold dots through the totally dotty stencil for some shimmer and extra interest. In the video you will see the gel printing process. I turned the printed panel into five cards and I have listed the added stamps or dies below each card photo. I have an in-person botanical gel printing class coming up on Saturday July 27th and there are a couple of spaces left if you’re interested.
I added a die-cut sentiment in dark green to the panel above using the Spellbinders ‘simply perfect mix & match’ sentiment dies.
Even though I brayered blue, green and black paint very randomly on the plate, I like the way patches of one colour or another appear on the leaves.
To create the card above I embossed a white panel using the Stampin’ Up embossing folder scripty, added a gold mat behind the gel printed panel and added a Darkroom Door sentiment from the ‘happy birthday’ sentiment strip.
The panel above covers the whole card front and has a stacked green die-cut sentiment from the same Spellbinders set mentioned earlier. I stacked two layers for the sentiment to help it stand out from the stems on the gel print.
Another full card front panel above with a Darkroom Door sentiment. The gold looks shinier in real life but I think you can see some shimmer on both the card above and below.
You can cut your gel print panels to any size, sometimes cutting a large shape into smaller shapes is a good way to add interest to a layout. I’ve added another DD sentiment to the card above. I had fun printing the panel and working out how to get the most out of it for cards. I can give these away individually but I think I might keep them together as a gift set.
Leaf & Lavender Gel Print – Video
Posted: July 9, 2024 Filed under: Classes, gel press, Tutorial | Tags: Classes, gel press, gel printing, Tutorial, video 6 Comments
With all the summer rain and summer sun we’ve been having lately I am surrounded by plants and flowers. And when that happens what do I do? Well yes, I pick some and put them in vases. I wander around the garden and enjoy them but I also gel print them. I’ve done a couple of plant printing sessions recently and have some prints, cards and videos to share over the next few weeks.
I set up to film recently and began with what I thought would be a warm up print; I don’t always film my warm ups but I am so happy I did because I think this print was the best of the session.
I did this print without an end purpose in mind but I think it would make a great book cover for a future hand made book. The leaves look like sumac but I’m not certain. The flowers are lavender from my garden and the buds were closed when I printed them. I noticed today the buds have opened so I will pick some more and try printing them again. The fragrance was lovely as I used them but the ‘fragrance’ of acrylic paint definitely overpowers the lavender on the print.
My mind is full of botanical gel printing ideas right now as I am not only making videos but also teaching an in-person class here in Ottawa. I’ll be back with more botanical gel print inspiration soon as I’ve already turned some prints into cards.
Girl in the Garden Journal Page
Posted: June 18, 2024 Filed under: Alexandra Renke, Art Journal, Darkroom Door, gel press, global postmarks, mandala | Tags: Alexandra Renke, Art Journal, collage, Darkroom Door stamps, gel press, gel printing 4 Comments
Although I made this page a month or so back; it is an appropriate theme for right now. We are in the ‘garden days’. My back garden is looking colourful and I love wandering out there each day to see what is growing, blooming or falling over!
This page began as a collage of book page pieces. I didn’t have a plan but wanted a base. I used pages from an old novel, an old atlas, sewing instructions, sheet music and other scraps to cover the double page spread in my 7″x7″ handmade journal. Months passed before I came back to do more.
Before adding colour I painted some off white paint over the collaged pages. You might think the calendar image was the inspiration for the pages but bronze and the teal gel prints came first. Both prints were on tissue paper and were most likely made as I picked up extra paint around a primary design. As they were on tissue paper they revealed some of the print underneath when glued to the journal pages. I added ink through an Alexandra Renke mandala stencil.
At this point I went looking for pictures to add to the colourful abstract pages and this one from a calendar co-ordinated well. It is from an old art calendar and is a detail from Eugene Grasset’s painting ‘Young Girl in a Garden’. I used some liquid watercolours to extend the painting onto my journal pages, made a faux stamp, added some splatter and stamping then let it all dry. Sometimes I’m not sure when a journal page is finished but I think this one is.
Rose Print Card
Posted: June 7, 2024 Filed under: Correspondence, Darkroom Door, Echidna Studios, gel press, Roses digital stamp set | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Echidna Studios, gel printing 1 Comment
I’ve shared quite a few gel print collage cards now made from squares or rectangles. Today’s card also combines a couple of gel prints but in a different style. Both the blue background print and the gold strip are gel prints.
The background print and the little banner tag both feature rose stencils from my ‘roses digital stamp set‘ available as a digital file in the Echidna Studios etsy store. The set has three rose designs and I have cut stencils of different sizes from each of the designs which I have used mainly for gel printing but also with alcohol inks and basic stenciling.
To complete this card I added some stamping using a Darkroom Door text stamp and a little sentiment. This post includes an affiliate link from Foiled Fox. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. If you buy from Echidna Studios etsy store my daughter and I get all kinds of excited.
Birds & Feathers
Posted: June 5, 2024 Filed under: Collage cards, Darkroom Door, Feathers, gel press, on a wire, Penny Black | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, gel printing, Penny Black creative dies 2 Comments
Same concept, different colour palette. I’ve been sharing my collaged gel print cards over recent weeks featuring a lot of blue prints. You know I love blue but it isn’t the only colour I print with. Although I have gel-printed with feathers, the ones featured here were all stamped. You can add interest to your prints with stamping or stenciling or other techniques; you don’t have to leave them just the way they pulled off the plate.
For this bird themed card I chose yellow, orange and greenish prints then stamped feathers on them before cutting them into squares. To make the squares I sometimes use a square punch, but often tear the panels with a metal edge ruler so I get some white of the paper on the edge. The feather stamps are from Darkroom Door ‘Feathers’ set. The birds die is called ‘on a wire’ and it’s from Penny Black.
Speckled Leaf Trails
Posted: May 30, 2024 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, gel press, Lavinia, leaf trails stencil, Taylored Expressions | Tags: Alcohol Ink, gel press, gel printing, Lavinia, Taylored Expressions 2 Comments
If this design looks familiar it’s because I posted a couple of similar cards a few weeks back. They featured the same pretty Lavinia stencil, ‘leaf trails’.
The difference between the cards is partly the colours but more significantly today’s cards feature splatter! You know how I feel about splatter. I always say if a project doesn’t seem quite finished, add some splatter.
The panels on these cards were made with alcohol inks on a gel plate. I dropped three or four alcohol inks on the plate along with some isopropyl alcohol to help the inks move and blend. I dropped the leaf trails stencil on top and let the inks dry. Once the ink on the plate was dry I splatted some isopropyl alcohol over the design, waited a minute and lifted the stencil. I used white acrylic paint to pull the print on heavy cardboard then added Taylored Expressions sentiments to complete the cards. This post includes an affiliate link from Foiled Fox. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. And remember, if in doubt, add some splatter!
Pink & Blue Squares
Posted: May 18, 2024 Filed under: Collage cards, Dies, gel press, gift card pocket, Penny Black, Tim Holtz, wild flowers #1 | Tags: collage, gel printing, Penny Black creative dies, Tim Holtz 3 Comments
As mentioned in previous posts my stash of gel prints is considerable. I am always on the look out for ways to use them. Large prints are great for covers on handmade books; I use many smaller prints for card fronts and collage.
These two collage cards are made from four or five different gel prints. I punched the squares with a 1 3/8″ punch then fiddled around with the layout until I was happy with it. Because I love things to match all the prints had some blue in them and there is some repetition of pink as well.
The prints were part of my stash and were not made specifically for these cards so some have patterns and others were probably second or third pulls to clean off a plate. Once I had them arranged to my satisfaction I die-cut Tim Holtz wildflowers and added a tiny Penny Black tag. You’ll see more of this style in the next few weeks as I made them in several different colour combinations. Those of you who know me might have noticed the dark blue splatter on the both cards; I always think a bit of splatter ties thing s together.
Blue & Green Leaf Trails
Posted: May 7, 2024 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, gel press, Lavinia, leaf trails stencil, Taylored Expressions | Tags: Alcohol Ink, gel press, gel printing, Lavinia, Taylored Expressions 5 Comments
There are many ways to use stencils on the gel plate, one being with alcohol inks rather than acrylic paint. When I use alcohol inks I do pull the print with acrylic paint but most of the colour you see is from the initial layer of alcohol inks.
You can lay the stencil down then add alcohol inks or do it the other way round, dropping the stencil onto the wet alcohol ink. Some gel-printers add a layer of hand sanitiser first but that isn’t what I did to make these prints. I’m not 100% sure but I believe I lay the stencil down on top of a layer of alcohol ink for these prints. I use some isopropyl alcohol to help the inks move further and facilitate some blends between colours. I also use an air blower to push the ink around and speed up the drying process.
The pretty twirly patterns are from the Lavinia ‘leaf trails’ stencil. Lavinia has lovely organic stencils which often feature in my gel prints. I can’t remember the exact alcohol inks I used but the technique works with all sorts of colour combos so pick your faves. No surprise to see blue in my mix. I have mentioned before that I often gel print on printer paper but these panels I pulled with thick cardstock so when it came to making cards I just cut some rectangles from the print and added them to white card bases along with sentiments from Taylored Expressions.
Ocean Collage in Art Journal
Posted: May 2, 2024 Filed under: Art Journal, gel press, Handmade book | Tags: Art Journal, collage, gel printing 3 Comments
I guess the title gives it away but I hope you can see the ocean, the rocks and the shore in this art journal spread. As with many recent blog posts I used gel prints to create this scene in my 7”x7“ journal.
I created this double page scene after seeing a torn paper landscape a friend had created. I tore strips of paper from several blue prints and brown prints. As I laid them out I realized that the order in which I glued them would affect the end result. I had intentionally ripped the paper to have white edges that looked like the surf.
Rather than try and plan the whole design I just started gluing and some how it worked. It is a technique I will try again to see if I can settle on some general instructions.
You can see there are some patches of white here and there where I didn’t cover the journal page at all. I felt those patches acted as white caps and surf or sand.
As I sit and write this I can see the ocean out the window and a couple of hours ago I was walking on a beach which looks a bit like these pages. Although the inspiration for this page came out of my memory it seemed like a good day to share an ocean view.
Heather Telford 