gelli print toadstool resists

I've been wanting to play with this gorgeous stamp for a while now - and it turns out this small fairy chain is the perfect size for a tag.

My original idea was to create a painted background for the fairies using my gelli plate but I just wasn't feeling it!  Sometimes you just have to leave something that's not working - and it can end up working differently when you return to it another time.

So I started again and this time used a single colour of paint and decided to see what happens when paint is lifted off the gelli plate with a Lavinia stamp.  I was really pleased with the effect but the magic occurred when I added the distress ink, which is resisted by the acrylic paint :)

This was a fab project to work on and I'll certainly be playing with this idea further.  If you want to know/see more, my step by step guide to creating this tag is over on the Lavinia Stamps website .

Thanks for visiting today :)

deli paper and the gelli plate

I finally got hold of some deli paper to try with my gelli plate - only taken me a year!!  I discovered this when I googled 'deli paper gelli  plate' and found Kate's post, which is where I must have seen it originally!

So I spent yesterday afternoon playing, and what made it more wonderful was that I did it with two good friends :)  I started off with colours and stencils I'm happiest with...

... then branched out, adding an earth colour as per Sami Harding's advice at Art Summer Camp this year...

... and ended up adding colours I don't normally immediately choose as that was what my friend used and it looked amazing!  That's one of the brilliant things about playing with your paints etc alongside others, whether at home with a friend or in a class.

I particularly wanted to try deli paper this week because I discovered Bible Journaling a week or so back and, keen to give it a try, I purchased a journaling Bible (it has extra wide margins for note taking ...or paint, depending on your preferences ;)  )

I thought the deli paper would work well on the fine paper that Bible's are made up of.  In the end, I also dived in and added paint straight to my pages, working alongside my gelli plate, using it just like I would any other journal!

I added some texture to a random page whilst cleaning off my stencil ...

...and added some gelli printed deli paper alongside one of my favourite Psalms

 And that was my very happy Saturday after an exhausting first week back at school :)

Visual Journalism 101

I have thoroughly enjoyed taking this online class with Pam Carriker. I still have more to do on my other journal pages but I finally finished the class techniques on this page. The final task was adding shading and I loved doing this - so relaxing, and just great for a rainy day like today. [Note: the first image is pre-shading].

By the way, I don't know where all my lovely followers went...one day you were there, the next the space was empty!!! Very odd.
- phew, it's not just me, no blogspot blogs seem to have anyone!