The Rainforest is My Home

These are a few ATC's that I made from one of the a recent gelli printing session. 

See It, Make It

I saw a book like this somewhere on my Internet travels and had to make one.   I was taken by the flap on the right hand side that holds it closed.

It's made from a file folder and a few of the other bits of paper that fill my office.

There seems to be no end of journals that I have to make! 

Lessons from a Gelli Plate

Although I love to play with art supplies, my time is usually a learning experience as well.  Recently I tried out some new (to me) approaches to gelli printing, and learned a few lessons.

I worked on a dozen prints at once with just a few tools, allowing me to work in a my small space with the 8 x 10 gelli plate.  I reworked some of my older prints too, so that I didn't end up with another bunch of new prints without an end game in mind.

Mostly I used a brush rather than a brayer to apply the paint, and I didn't mix the colors completely together.  This resulted in much more texture.  My favorite "stencil" is still sequin waste, and here I also used textured wallpaper.  The black dots are just the end of the paint tube.

Often I printed just part of the plate, as you can see here with the black:

I drew in the paint too:

I managed to silence my inner critic, remembering that different prints are good for different things.  Here, I lightened up some overly dark prints with some white paint so that I can stamp on them in black:

Some of these will be used for collage, some for handmade books, and some for artist trading cards or greeting cards.

Collaborative Calendar Project

My sister and I have begun a new calendar project.  The theme for January is paper.  I intended to do mine slowly, day by day, but Dianne tore ahead and covered all of her squares with paper and numbers.  I stuck to my plan for three days, but this morning I could resist no more and started gluing things down.  I'll add things (including numbers) as the month progresses, and I'm still playing with ideas for the top half of the calendar.

When Something Works, Do it Again

Stamp By Hero Arts

After the ATC failure, I wanted a success, so I went back to a technique that worked.  When you're out of Thank You cards, you need something that you know will work!

Altered Playing Cards - the Good the Bad and the Ugly

Not all of my crafty experiments are successful.  But I'd like my blog to be a place that I can refer back to, so I'm posting these anyway. LOL

One of the January themes in the Vancouver ATC Group is altered playing cards.  I wanted the playing cards to be visible, so I collaged a translucent napkin over them.  I've tried various combinations of clip art and stamps but I'm not really happy with any of them.  I like the Alice in Wonderland clip art but the images are quite pale and don't stand out with the vivid, busy background.

I did learn that I don't need to apply a layer of gel medium over top of the napkin; it stuck quite well just by applying a thin layer to the card and placing the napkin over the top.

Christmas Bookmarks

Christmas papers mean Christmas paper scraps.  And Christmas paper scraps mean mosaic bookmarks