Christmas Card With My Gelli Printing Plate

If you're on twitter and post your work there then you'll know how wide and far your image can travel not just to your followers but to anyone who is on there.  I posted a gelli print I had created and it was picked up by a pen company - Pen Heaven based down in London (follow them on facebook).  Paul came across the twitter picture and was intrigued by the process and asked if I would create a Christmas card which they could use in their 12 day of Christmas project.  So here I am writing this rather long post on a sunny but cold Monday morning.

This tutorial show you how I created my gelli prints using the Gelli Arts printing plate.  There are endless possibilities and and no two will ever be the same.  What I will say is have fun and go with the flow -  slap the paint on if you don't like it wipe it off.  There really is no right or wrong.  This is how I created my print and I know if I do it again I will create something else which will be unique and different. 

I am by no means an expert in fact I would say I am still a novice at the gelli plate.  So why am I doing this tutorial?  Well mainly because I was asked and also to show that you don't have to be an expert to do this type of printing.  I know when I first bought my plate I was intimidated by the whole process and never thought I would like creating in this way.  I'll put my hand up and say I love it and it's not going to be one of those fad buys where you use it for a short time and then it gets left on a shelf somewhere.  

So lets get started - the first image is the card I created and the 2nd is of the print from which it was made from.

Gelli print Christmas Card

Gelli print from which I created the above card

Some of the supplies I used for the card

Gelli plate by GELLI ARTs

1. apply blobs of acrylic paint to the gelli plate

2.using roller spread the paint to create background add paper on top and rub to transfer colour

3. cut triangles to use as a mask

4. apply blobs of colour in lighter tones 

5. spread colour over the plate and masks

6. using the corrugated board, sequin left over and bubble wrap create texture on the painted surface

7.  apply the background paper over and pull 2nd print - let dry

8. using black pen add the outlines and and 'bubbles' 

9. paint the bubbles with the water soluble wax crayons

10. add white swirls over the coloured bubbles and go over the edges with black pen to make the bubbles stand out

11.  crop the image to neaten the edges and add other elements using the black and white pens.

12.  using some left over pieces from another gelli print cut out the trunks of the trees (or you can draw them in)   Apply a thin layer of Golden regular gel - semi gloss - let dry

13. once the gel has dried apply  Golden's clear tar gel to create the bubbles as you can see it's cloudy but will dry clear (you can use any glue which will created a dome diamond glaze/glossy accents)

14 the bubbles will dry clear and give another texture to the artwork.  Now at this point you can cut it down further and create 2 cards or leave it as it is.  

I've left mine as it is for now - the above image shows how it would look if it was mounted and framed.

I hope the above steps have given you a starting point of pulling a gelli print.

There are more detailed and informative videos and tutorials by the lovely people at Gelli Arts. So why not pop on over to their blog website  or facebook page.

Have a fabulous week and enjoy your gelli printing

Anita