Thursday, February 14, 2013

What To Do.......

......with all those gelli plate prints?  In my last post I shared the results of a weekend spent churning out prints on deli wrap.  Then comes the question of what to do with all those papers piling up around the studio.  The first thing I thought of was a wonderful journal I made last year in Michelle Ward's Debris Journal class at CREATE NJ.  I never did anything with the covers, so decided to put some of my gelli prints to good use.



I started by selecting a few sheets and randomly ripping them into pieces.

I used Ranger's Glue N Seal to adhere them, (also randomly, and with a lot of overlapping) and also applied a top coat to seal and protect the cover.  I generally use the matte finish, but this time I opted for the gloss.  It's not really all that glossy, more of a satin or semi-gloss, and I do like it a lot.

BTW, the journal was constructed of 6x12" pieces of corrugated cardboard, and the only way I could even semi successfully photograph the cover was to lean the book up against something and try my best to eliminate glare.  Like I said, semi successful.

 
After the top coat dried I added some more stenciling and the silhouette on the bottom right.  That is a Dina Wakley stamp, applied to yet another gelli print and cut out.  I added the white dots, red heart, and the arrow and word BE afterwards.  Here's a close up of that.
 
 
 
The arrow and word are actually a little rubber stamp I carved myself....stamped with black archival ink and outlined with a white Sharpie poster paint marker (water based).
 
Oh, by the way, the print the silhouette is on was done on the gelli plate using the new Tim Holtz distress paints.  They react very differently on the plate than other acrylics and result in interesting prints without even adding stencils or other designs.  Hard to describe, but if you have any of the paints give it a try.
 
Not my favorite holiday, but I do realize that it is February 14, and therefore Valentine's Day, so here is a sweet vintage image I found on The Graphics Fairy.
 
 
 
Whether you're a romantic who embraces V-Day, or a non-believer who ignores it, have a wonderful February 14th.





5 comments:

Patzee said...

Happy VD to you, too! Love your use of the deli sheets. Overlapping pages and covering with glue-n-seal makes the colors pop! Thanks for the inspiration!

Carol said...

Love your Gelli prints, I need to play with mine more. Love the covers!

Monica said...

Impressed with your use of Gelli prints. it does seem to be the in thing now TH is selling the technique. Your journal color looks fabulous. Hope you show us what you do in the journal.

Lori said...

Cool! Great use of the leftover papers! Makes for a wonderful book!

MHH said...

Your book cover is awesome, and gave me a great idea for a cover I need to do! I have an old Children's Atlas that I need to alter and don't want to use fabric on the outside. (Not following the class rules, but oh well!) Thanks for the inspiration. I love my Gelli-Arts plate, too.