Mark's Finest Papers Columns: Basic Backgrounds 08/13/13

I was reading a Forum on a stamping site and kept seeing Gelli plate. I ignored it for weeks and then decided to see what it was. Did you know you could make backgrounds on Jello Gelatin. LOL I would rather eat mine but I thought how interesting is this so I bought a Gelli Plate rather than use Gelatin. I knew I would like it so it was a necessary purchase. You just don't know what you are going to end up with and you can do lots in a short time. You need space. Next time I will be doing it in the kitchen and have the sink full of water to put all my equipment in it as I used the for easier clean up. Today is my first time trying. You will be seeing my second try. The first one was a mess but I had to figure it out. There are lots of videos out there and a Pinterest page dedicated to Gelli printing. I will be watching them all. I LOVE this. I was only doing the basics today but adding textures and glitters will be another play day soon.

You will need paints, a spray bottle of water, stencils,texture tools and a brayer. I used both Printer Paper and Card Stock today.

Here is what a Gelli Plate looks like. You start out with about a Table Spoon of paint.

Brayer it all over.

Now the fun begins. I used a texture tool to make a design.

You can use really anything you want to remove the paint in a design. Next I laid a piece of plastic canvas in the solid areas. Pressed down and pulled up straight

Click on the photos for a closer view.

Now lay a sheet of paper on top and smooth with your hands

Peal off. Here is the first printing.

Make a second printing.

Now you can use them like this or add more paint to your Gelli Plate and continue.

I took drops of 3 colors of paint and just put a drop here and there of each. Carefully brayer so you don't muddy the colors.

I laid a stencil on top and brayered over the stencil without adding paint. I repeated this with a couple more stencils and then laid the second printing from above on top. Look what I got.