Gelatin + Acrylic Paint + Paper = ART!

We’re slowing getting settled in to our new home here in Colorado.  I haven’t crafted in quite some time…. in fact, nearly every craft supply or tool I own is still packed away neatly in boxes… BUT, earlier this week end of last week I did dig my desk out from under the chaos of boxes and furniture that is currently occupying my future craft room.  We figured out some good configurations for workstations and are deciding on color for the walls.  Brent even cut down my desk top with his skill saw, right there IN my studio on the carpet. LOL!  What a mess, but hey… progress, right? Thank goodness for vacuums and I am sure that floor is going to see worse than sawdust… :)

So anyway…. today (technically last Friday, since I’m a slacker butt and didn’t finish this post when I started it) I got to do some MESSY art with my friend, Erica Michel, who drove down from FoCo {Fort Collins} to play …

Here’s Erica and her pooch, Major.  He came to play, too.  He thinks he’s a lapdog. I love that.

Erica introduced me to a new messy but fun technique: Monotype Printing on a gelatin “plate”. 

 Monoprinting? What’s that??

”Monoprinting is a form of printmaking that has images or lines that can only be made once, unlike most printmaking, where there are multiple originals” ~ From Wikipedia.

 

So there’s a product on the market by Gelli Arts, called a Gelli plate. It’s a rubbery feeling thing that you can paint on and print with, withOUT a second plate or press! 

Erica ordered one, but was anxious to try out monoprinting on gelatin (hers had not arrived yet), so she did some google’ing and found a recipe for making a homemade (but biodegradable) gelatin plate.  You will want to make it the night prior or several hours prior to playing…

Here’s the recipe she found on YouTube (Linda Germain):

12 Tablespoons Knox Gelatin
3 cups cold water
3 cups boiling water

Directions:  Dissolve gelatin in COLD water in a bowl, stir until all gelatin is dissolved.  Slowly stir in BOILING water and stir with a whisk.  It may or may not be foamy… skim off the foam with a piece of thin cardboard or heavy cardstock.  Pour into a large baking sheet or 9x13 pan (it will be very thick in a 9x13). Skim off any bubbles with a piece of paper.  Put in the fridge (make sure it is level) and let cool until solid.

Flip out onto a non stick mat onto a solid surface.

FLIP IT, Flip it good…

Here’s a step by step for flipping your mat… you don’t want to just dump it or it will become a big nasty mess….  You will need:  your gelatin goo mat, some type of nonstick craft mat (I used my Tupperware baking sheet), and a sheet pan or other hard thing to catch the mat.  I used a sheet pan because it nested nicely right inside the pan that I made the gelatin mat in.

{Notice the “lake” looking bit on my gelatin mat?  Well, that was because I followed the original instructions and put some silly plastic wrap over it in the fridge.  This stuff sets up FAST… skip the plastic wrap… Erica did and hers turned out purtier… }

 

Carefully loosen the edges by cutting with a knife, or a paint spatula like me because I was too lazy to walk the 6 steps to the kitchen behind me and get a knife.   I can justify my laziness with my klutziness… plastic spatulas are safer for me. :)

Lay your non stick mat on top of your gelatin mat.

Set your extra pan or hard surface thing on your mat and prepare to flip it…

When some gelli comes along, you must flip it!
Dump that baby right out… lift the top pan (the one you made the gelatin mat in) up and the gelatin mat SHOULD just slide right out of the pan.

 

You may want to trim up the edges.  See the photo above? Top right corner… not good.  A crack like that will just spread as you use the mat.  Cut if off.. with your plastic spatula… and feel free to play with the excess…

Yes, like a 3rd grade boy… you know you want to… Squish it, squish it good…

There ya go.. Mat is prepped and you’re ready to get messy.

You will need (see top pic cuz I am too lazy to post it here again, haha):

• a gelatin mat
• some stencils (any kind – paper, plastic, whatever)
• texture thangs… (bubble wrap, sponges, leaves, whatever)
• a brayer or two
• a spraybottle filled with water
• some paper towels
• a nearby garbage can
• something to cover your workspace (if you care about it getting completely filthy)
• and some PAINT, LOTS of paint, the cheap acrylic kind works GREAT

Let’s PLAY!  I’m just going to show a basic, simple monoprint..  I was having too much fun playing (that I forgot to keep taking pics) and my hands were so covered in paint that I did not want to touch my camera…

The first thing you want to do is drop a couple of blobs of paint onto your gel mat. Any colors or mixtures will do.  Here I’ve globbed some tealy blue and a metallic limey green onto my mat.

Then roll it out with your brayer.  Don’t smash the paint into the mat… you could damage/rip/shred your gelatin mat and then the fun would be over.

Once your paint is sufficiently spread out, you can lay down a stencil, or pounce some texture onto the paint… We used a really cool plastic stencil for this one.

Next, lay your paper on the paint… here is where we become our own “press”.  This is a cheap sketch book paper.. nothing fancy.  It’s thin, but that’s ok, the paint adds thickness as it dries..  Just press that paper onto the stencil and pick up the paint.  You can also use a brayer and roll it across the paint.  I was lazy. I smooshed with my hands. It’s all good.

 
And peel that paper up… OOOOH LA LA!  We have made a monoprint… I LOVE the shimmer of the green mixed with the tealy blue… love it…. LOVE IT!

And this is what you end up with….one excited lady and a shiney design!

This is what will be left on your gelatin mat…. OOOH! I could use that for SOMETHING!!!

 

Why YES, I do believe I know what I will do with this leftover paint… hrmmm..  Let’s pick it up with the original print we made… this stuff dries SUPER fast, so you don’t have to worry too much about “schmutzing” it up too badly…  Just lay that baby back down on the gelatin mat and pick up some more paint. 

 
This is where I will attack it with a brayer…

Since the stencil was stuck there originally some of the paint came up when we removed the stencil which will give this layer a “grungy” look.

OH! Don’t forget… there’s still paint on the stencil, too! Let’s just spritz it with some water to re-wet the paint a little… and use the brayer for this bit…

VOILA! I will use this little beauty later for something awesome.

 

So there you have it, kids… mono printing on a gelatin mat.  Loads of fun, loads of mess, loads of color…

A few helpful tips:

** Be GENTLE… the mat WILL rip and tear.  Ask me how I know.

Cleaning:
In between coats of paint you CAN clean it if you want to… I did, Erica didn’t, and then I stopped after a while because it was too time consuming. LOL!

To clean off the gelatin mat surface just spritz with water and use a paper towel to GENTLY wipe the paint off. 

Paints:
ONLY use a water based paint.  Anything else will either eat or ruin your mat.

Sizing:
You may cut your gelatin mat to ANY size you need.  If you’re doing this with kids (which, by the way, is a FABULOUS idea… just supervise) you can cut the mats down to 6x6 or 5x5, etc.  One sheet cake pan can be cut in half for two pretty close to standard paper size mats.

Pets & Small Children:
They will try to eat the gelatin mat.  I don’t think that’s a great idea… Sadie tried licking my pan clean so I had to move it out of her reach. This is not “Jello”…

Textures and Whatnot:
You don’t have to just use stencils. You can use a soft rubber tipped paintbrush or a rubber eraser on the end of a pencil, or a q tip, or other soft “pen” to draw OFF the paint and doodle on the mat.  You can also use things such as leaves and bubble wrap, crumpled paper, yarn, twigs, or other fun found objects to create texture and patterns on your gelatin mat.  Use your imagination and go wild!

Here are some more fun snap shots from the day.

Erica made this AWESOME print… She put globs of paint on her gelatin mat, brayered it, and then rolled a paper towel roll in the paint to pick up a little paint and leave some texture on the mat…

I think this one is the favorite of the ones I made.  Lots and lots of layers and colors… I globbed some white Gesso in a puddle on my mat and used a paint bottle bum to pick up some paint and make funky circles all over the page. 

We had soooo much fun! Here’s our pile of lovelies…

“What will you do with them?” you ask… Well, they will likely become bits and pieces in other art projects like art journals, collages, maybe a card or two…

Thanks for popping by! I hope you enjoyed this post.. and if you make some gelatin monoprints please be sure to share pics and link to your post in the comments!

Inky Smiles!

Erin

PS… while I was editing these pics and writing this post Brent unpacked and put away 7 boxes of books ! Woot! We’re making progress :)

PPS… the homemade gelatin mat is a one time use … most likely…

Looks like I need to be ordering a Gelli plate by GelliArts here sooooon!

PPPS. Check out YouTube and search for Linda Germain for some pretty awesome ideas for more gelatin printmaking!

Vintage Cone

I saw an idea for a vintage cone on The Graphics Fairy blog a while back and decided that I wanted to make one, too.  I’m finding myself drawn to vintagey goodness lately. Anyway, I dug out some styrofoam cones that I had stashed away in my craft closet for a Christmas project that I never got to, cut it in half, and started playing around with paper and Mod Podge.

All images are courtesy of The Graphics Fairy.  If you’ve never been there you have got to stop in and take a gander and download some of her FABULOUS vintage images.  Lovely schtuff!

I had a really difficult time taking photos today and it’s been very cold and dreary today so the lighting was not all that great, so please forgive the lousy photos.  I tried taking them in my studio first and then moved upstairs to the front room in hopes of some decent light.  It was a little better. LOL!  

Overall I like how it turned out, but I think I am going to add some off-white & bluish lilac sprigs to the top part to give it more “fluff”.   This little altered cone is meant to be hung on the wall and I am still trying to decide which wall it will grace in my home…. currently I’m thinking it would really pop nicely on the chocolate brown walls in my front bathroom …. hrmmmmm…..

You can’t tell in the photo but each little vintage card (images printed from TGF onto white cardstock and aged with Tim’s distress inks) has been glittered either on the birds or the flowers/leaves. In real life they shimmer nicely!

Bird envelope pre-glittered.

I plucked this crystal heart and jewels off of a junklace that I don’t think I will be wearing any time soon…. LOVE it.

Thanks for popping by!  Inky Smiles!

PS.. the feather in my hair is hanging much nicer today since the hair got a good wash, dry, and straightening. Love it!

You Said Twinchie, But Did You Mean Twinkie?

{ACK! THis was suppposed to have posted while I was away at C.U…. I opened up Live Writer this morning and there it was still in my drafts. Ooops!  Anyway.. I am back from CU but am sick as a dog.  I spent 4 hours at instacare on Monday night because I had a 101.7 fever that would not drop and could not stop coughing.  Well, my fever has dropped to about 100, waffling back and forth between 99.5 and 100, but I’m still getting the ultra upper body workout which is sponsored by the letter C for cough.  I am currently sifting through the 270 pics I took at CU and hope to have some posted by this weekend. Today is the first day that I have been able to sit upright out of bed since Sunday.  Be back soon!~}

 

Hey friends!  I’m off having fun at Creative University but I thought I would share with you one of our “group art projects”.  Tresa asked us each to make a “twinchie”…

HUH?

A what? 

Don’t ya mean twinkie? You know, those fluffy uber preserved puffy cake things filled with a mystery cream that will last through a nuclear war with the roaches?

Nope.

She meant  a twinchie.  A two inch square bit o’ artwork.  I knew what an inchie was but I guess a twinchie is his big brother.

The “rules” were to stay within the theme.: WINGS 

“Creative U is about spreading our wings, learning to take chances and try new things, and lifting each other up.  Any image or word can be used to follow the theme, use your imagination!”

I’ve always wanted to get into collage and I “guess” this is my feet getting wet.   This twinchie was SUPER fun to make.  I cut a 2x2 piece of cardboard and mod podged a piece of red cardstock to it.  Then I created/printed the digi images onto white cardstock and adhered them to the red background… mod podging between layers so that everything was good and STUCK.   And then I drew a line with Crystal Laquer around the edges and sprinkled it with Martha Stewart Antique Silver glitter, let it dry and covered it with more Crystal Laquer and set it to dry overnight. 

It turned out fantastic.  Well, until I decided that I thought it needed another coat of something harder than Crystal Laquer…. (Keeping it real here….)  I put on a coat of Sally Hansen super hard nail polish.  Oy Vey!  Nail polish + mod podge = disaster.  All sorts of bubbly disaster….

So I started over.  And this is my second piece… It’s not nearly as pretty as the first one was but was done and I had no intention of starting over again.

Thanks for stopping by!  Keep calm , craft on, and try something new!

Inky Smiles!

Oh and PS… if you get the muchies while crafting you can always snack on a couple of these….

Birds of a Feather: A Tutorial

Hey friends! Back with the promised shabby chic feather birdie tutorial just for you!  I hope you all had a marvelous Thanksgiving and are recovering from the crazy Black Friday sales!  Brent and I skipped them this year and slept in in our nice cozy bed. :)

When I made the Christmas tree for my studio I wanted something fluffy and white for it to fill in some gaps and thought feather birdies would be perfect but I wasn’t able to find any in the stores so I figured I could make some.  These feather birdies are SO EASY and fun to make.

Here’s your supply list:
Glue Gun & Glue Sticks
String (I used beading string)
Pearlescent beads (10 mm and 2 mm)
A Feather Boa (you know you have one in your closet)
Scissors, Piercing tool or other pokey thingy
Styrofoam balls (about 2.5” diameter)
Something to press feathers down so you don’t burn your fingers (I used a bone folder)
Craft Mat to protect your work surface
Sparkly paper

{Yes, I forgot to include the sparkly paper for the beaks so it’s photoshopped in. :P}

Step One: 
Strip off a whole bunch of feathers from the feather boa and make a pile to the side of you.
 


Step Two: 
Spread hot glue in sections on the styrofoam ball, careful not to burn your fingers in the process.  Then carefully add feathers so that the styrofoam is completely covered.


 
  

Keep covering it until you have a big fuzzy ball of loooove like this:

 Step Three: 
Using very sharp scissors, begin trimming down the feather fluff… kind of like giving a fuzzy pet a haircut.  Don’t cut too much off, just enough to “smooth” and tame the frizz.


Step Four:
Time to build a tail for your birdie…. Snip off some nice “full” feathers from your feather boa and set them aside.  Begin gluing the feathers on one “end” to form a tail.  You might need to work in some extra fluff feathers to give it some body and trim up as needed.
  

Step Five: 
Glue on one of your 10 mm beads to make a head.


Step Six:
Snip off some beads from the garland that was too wimpy for your tree and dip in some hot glue using a tweezer or your fingers if you’re not a klutz like me and then adhere to either side of your head to create eyes.
 

tep Seven:
Cut a small triangle from your sparkly paper, score from one point to the longest side with a paper piercer or other tool, fold in half (trim if necessary) and dip in hot glue.  Adhere to front of bird head to create a beak.



Voila! Your ball o’ feathers is starting to look like a birdie! How TWEET!
 


Step Eight:
Cut a small piece of string to desired hanging length and tie the ends in a knot like this
 

Step Nine:
Using your paper piercer or other pokey tool, poke the knot down through the feathers and into the styrofoam on the top of the bird.  Be careful not to put it too close to the tail or your birdies will be nose diving from your tree.



And there you have it!  A loverly shabby chic feather birdie for your tree, wreath, or other happy place in your home! 
 

Now realize you and everything around you is covered in feathers, which, according to your husband ranks right up there with you and everything around you being covered in glitter….

                     
I
nky  Smiles & Happy Birdie Making!

PS.. If you make some birdies please link up and share what you’ve created!  (I m trying to figure out the Mr Linky thing and add it to the blog posts… )