City Buildings gel print
Posted: January 10, 2025 Filed under: city buildings, gel press, The Crafters Workshop | Tags: gel press, gel printing, Penny Black stamps, The Crafter's Workshop 3 Comments
Quite a simple gel printed card but the freshness of blue and white seems to lend a brightness to it. I used the TCW ‘city buildings’ stencil on a gel plate with blue paint.
My most used technique with stencils on the gel plate is to lay the stencil on the paint covered plate, remove paint from the spaces in the stencil with tissue paper then pull the print with another layer of paint.
When I looked through my tray of sentiments I found this one already stamped in blue on a circle. The colour is a perfect match so I was pretty happy. The circle is a nice contrast to all those angles and lines. The sentiment comes from the Penny Black ‘better with age‘ sentiment set. This post includes affiliate links from Foiled Fox. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Tree Canopy
Posted: November 7, 2023 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, gel press, The Crafters Workshop, tree canopy | Tags: Alcohol Ink, gel press, gel printing, The Crafter's Workshop 8 Comments
Some might say this print didn’t work and I admit, that was my first thought when I looked at it. On later inspection I decided I really liked its imperfection and incomplete nature. The technique is alcohol ink through a stencil on a gel plate. Once the alcohol ink dries I pull the print with acrylic paint. (I have several videos on my youtube channel showing the technique)
When applying alcohol ink through a stencil onto a gel plate I have had the most success when using stencils full of fine lines not large solid spaces. The tree canopy stencil from The Crafter’s Workshop has some very fine lines but quite a lot of solid tree trunks also. The alcohol ink pools under the expanse of stencil plastic and takes quite a while to dry. If you move the stencil before the ink dries it starts moving again. I don’t believe I waited long enough for the ink to dry so I have some distinctly tree-ish bits in my print and some very abstract blobby bits. Despite the indistinct image I love the atmosphere of the print which I pulled with white acrylic paint. The stencil is 6″x6″ and so is the gel plate I used so I chose the best part of the print to make my 4.25″x5.5″ card. The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions ‘In & Out birthday’ set.
So let me know, is this too abstract for you or do you see a bit of whimsical forest atmosphere in there?
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Botanical Dream
Posted: August 30, 2023 Filed under: Alcohol Ink, botanical dream stencil, gel press, gelli plate, Taylored Expressions, The Crafter's Workshop, The Crafters Workshop | Tags: gel press, gel printing, Ranger Alcohol Ink, Taylored Expressions, The Crafter's Workshop 7 Comments
I think you’ve noticed my love of gel printing. Let me assure you it hasn’t diminished at all. Today’s card features an alcohol ink and stencil print completed on the gel plate then lifted with a layer of acrylic paint.
I’m not sure which alcohol inks I used but I am pretty sure there was a cloudy blue and a brown involved. I’ve learned to like blue and brown combos over recent years which has surprised me a bit. Often we use alcohol inks only on plastic surfaces such as yupo or craft plastic. What I like about using alcohol inks on the gel plate is the way I can lift the print with any paper at all. I plan to make a video showing this technique so stay tuned.
The lovely stencil featured here is called botanical dream from The Crafters Workshop. All the little spaces trap alcohol really well making it a great choice for this technique. I let the stencil sit on the alcohol ink pattern for a while so it dries then lift the print with acrylic paint. I finished the card with a cute greeting from the Taylored Expressions set ‘In & Out Birthday. The set is full of pretty fonts.
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)
Gel Print Mandala Thank You Card
Posted: May 3, 2023 Filed under: beaded mandala, Deco Frame, Dies, gel press, Penny Black, The Crafters Workshop | Tags: gel press, gel printing, Penny Black creative dies, The Crafter's Workshop 3 Comments
Gel printing continues to entice and delight me. This brown and burgandy print was done with a mandala mask from The Crafter’s Workshop; it’s called ‘beaded mandala’.
This print is a good example of the bonuses you pick up when you don’t start with a perfectly clean gel plate. If you look closely you can see some tiny remnants of text from an image transfer as well as the more obvious grey leftovers. I chose burgandy for the stacked PB diecut ‘thank you’ because there are some patches that look more burgandy than brown.
This technique with stencils is one of my favourites and is included in my upcoming online class Gel Print Journey. I am excited to be talking about it again despite the months that have passed since I began. I am back on it and excited to release it soon!
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Heather Telford 