Today & Always

Posted: May 14, 2026 | Author: Heather | Filed under: beaded mandala, cricut, The Crafter's Workshop, Watercolour | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, Stencils, The Crafter's Workshop | 2 Comments

I have turned yet another stencil & watercolour print into a card, this time a wedding card featuring a large circle print made with the The Crafter’s Workshop ‘beaded mandala’ stencil.

Most of the stencil print is paler than the surrounding blended watercolour painting because my technique involved spritzing the stencil to cover it with water before pressing it onto the painted panel. The water on the stencil dilutes the paint. I can’t remember for certain but I probably weighted the stencil down with a large acrylic block and let it dry for quite some time, maybe overnight. In the close up above you can see an area of the stencil print is a mustard colour, that was a happy accident due to the stencil not being clean! It prompted me to choose gold cardstock for the circle border and the sentiment cut on the cricut.

Thanks for dropping by. I think there will be several more stencil and watercolour projects to share but I do hear the gel plate calling me, so stay tuned!

Leafy Vines

Posted: May 11, 2026 | Author: Heather | Filed under: AALL & Create, The Crafter's Workshop, Watercolour | Tags: AALL & Create, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, The Crafter's Workshop | 4 Comments

I have a stack of stencil+watercolour prints to turn into something and it appears that this ‘leafy vines’ stencil from The Crafters Workshop was a favourite during my preparations and workshops. I’ve turned one panel into a card and have six more panels to work with. I used a variety of techniques to create the panels including painting through the stencil as shown on this card.

Painting through the stencil didn’t give me a sharp complete representation of the stencil but it did give me a loose and impressionistic design with lovely soft blends from bluegreen to green to mustard. I matted with dark green cardstock and stamped an AALL & Create sentiment in green to complete the card.

Below are some more panels completed using the same stencil but different techniques. A few of them will become cards I imagine but I’m not sure with the blotchy one bottom right; not my favourite!

City Buildings gel print

Posted: January 10, 2025 | Author: Heather | 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 | Author: Heather | 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?

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

Botanical Dream

Posted: August 30, 2023 | Author: Heather | 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.

The Foiled Fox

Scrap’n’Stamp

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 | Author: Heather | 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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