Mixed Media Art Techniques and Projects to Inspire You!
When we are getting started with mixed media, it can be confusing to know which adhesive to use, so Michelle has compiled this guide to help those getting started out in papercrafts and art journalling.
So if you have ever asked “What’s the best glue for…?” here is a guide for you!
If you need some of Michelle’s favourite matte gel medium, you can find it here: TCW Matte Gel Medium
Happy crafting,
Michelle
This article is written by Michelle Brown
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I love how we can get lots of unique prints from our gel plates, really, really quickly. The challenge, of course, is how you can store your gel prints and how to use them in your crafting. I spoke about how to store them over in this article: Storing your Gel Prints. And we had a few ideas on how to use your gel prints over here: What to do with your Gel Prints.
Now I want to talk about taking your gel prints to the next level.
Here are my top for favourite ways to enhancing our gel printing a crafting projects.
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Adding a touch of shine to our gel prints can be done easily with foils. There are many ways to adhere the foil to gel prints. Here we have used the transfer gel and applying it through a stencil. Once it dries clear (about 30 minutes, depending on room temperature) the gel print can then be run through a hot laminator, with a layer of the foil on top. The foil then adheres to the gel and adds shine to your art. This foil system is by Thermo Web.
Then we added the gel print to an ATC sized cardboard and added embellishments to complete our project.
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Embossing powders are basic craft supplies for many of us and adding them as an extra level on top of our prints creates depth and a real texture to them. Here I have used the Dina Wakley stamps and Versamark ink to add Emerald Creek embossing powders in Fluorescent Hot Pink and Seth Apter‘s Patina Oxide Baked Texture.
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It’s easy to forget our crafting roots and miss the simplicity that stamping offers us! Plus is gives us a chance to use some of those stamps we have collected over the years! Here I used Jet Black Archival Ink. It stamps well onto painty surfaces and is waterproof so it won’t run when using the Scribble Sticks over it. The Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks were applies directly onto the background and activated with a water brush. The words are a sticker from Dylusions Creative Dyary Stickers book.
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One of my favourite things to do with gel prints is to turn them into stickers! Stickers makes it SO easy to take your prints on the road and allows you to create and art journal anywhere!
To create your own gel print stickers, use a double sided adhesive and stick it to the back of the print. Then you can cut into shapes with your die cutter or stamp and die cut, like we have done with the feather (above). The feather is from the Kaisercraft stamp and die set.
If you would like to learn more about taking your gel prints to the next level, you might be interested in an upcoming class at the MMA studio. The studio is based in Melbourne Australia. Click here for class details!
Happy creating,
Michelle
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This article is written by Tamara Dinius
Tamara shares her fun art journaling process, showing we don’t need to be great at drawing to get started! The videos (Part 1 and Part 2) show the process of completing an art journal layout, start to finish.
The layout was completed using Dylusion Sprays, Liquitex Acrylic Inks, stamps, stencils, papers, paper napkins, as well as other items.
Follow along and complete a layout in less than 30 minutes.
Part 1
Part 2
Here are a few close-ups of the layout elements:
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Tamara Dinius lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and chocolate lab. She has two grown daughters who make her life meaningful. They support her, ground her, embrace her, and are amazing people in their own right.
Her love for mixed media has taken over most aspects of her creative journey. She believes mixed media allows for a broad range of styles and anyone can find success in this form of artistic expression.
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For those of you who have been playing with your Gelli Art mono printing plates I’m sure you have a huge collection of colourful prints. So what are we actually going to do with all of these Gelli plate prints?
Here are some of the projects Michelle has undertaken to put these colourful prints to use. If you don’t have a Gelli plate or a huge collection of Gelli plate prints, you can always use bought background papers or backgrounds you have made using other mixed media technique, like Credit card printing or found object painting.
One of my crafting friends had admired my colourful Gelli print backgrounds. For her birthday I chose some of my favourite prints and put them into a nice folder. She was delighted with them and even made me a card from one of the prints I had given her.
The prints are also fun to swap and share with friends, as each of us has a different style and colour preference, so all of the backgrounds turn out so differently.
It is easy to turn your Gelli plate prints into lovely handmade greeting cards. My preference is to simply cut or tear to size, add a little ink around the edges and stamp a greeting. Then use double sided tape to stick it to the card. This is a great way to show off the colourful prints and not hide any of the details.
I have also used my punches to cut out shapes from the Gelli plate print. These cards were made for my Christmas cards for 2013. Firstly I punched shapes out os several sheets of gelli print paper, so I had a variety of patterns and colours available. I then arranged the pieces and checked I was happy with the overall colours and patterns. The shapes were stuck down using a glue stick. To finish off the cards are used some Christmas stickers. These were simple to add and stood out well on top of the brightly coloured background.
Teabag folding is a specific kind of origami. You can buy prints that are identical to make these arrangements. I decided to try using my Gelli plate prints.
Firstly I cut out 8 2 inch squares. Then folded them into the correct shape.
I stuck into the eight pieces carefully into the flower arrangements using PVA glue on a toothpick to get into the folds of each piece.
Once the flower arrangement was dry I did added it onto the card background with double sided tape.
These cards are not as simple as the ones above but they are worth the effort and are perfect for crafting friends who appreciate them.
While I am making my Gelli plate prints, I also use the excess paint from the stencils and brayer in my art journal to create a pre-painted background. It is then easy to use the colour-coordinated prints to add features in the art journal layout.
Here are a few of my favourites:
For my 2013 Christmas ornaments swap I also used a piece of Gelli plate print. You can see the full details of how these were made here at #4. Like the teabag folding it was a tricky process but I love how it turned out.
Having these prints lying around certainly makes it handy when you need inspiration. When I needed a quick gift wrapped for a Christmas gift, I decided to turn one of my sheets into an envelope. I then sealed it with double sided tape.
That inspired me to make more envelopes. And want to have finished with the envelopes I still had more offcuts, so I got out of my punches and created some stationery to go with the envelopes, decorating the plain copy paper. It will make a lovely gift.
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We hope this has given you a few ideas as to what to do with that BIG pile of Gelli plate prints you have been creating. Of course, this list isn’t exhaustive – if YOU have another great use for handmade background papers, we’d LOVE to hear from you – just leave a note in the comments!
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