Gelli Arts® Gel Printing with DIY Cardboard Texture Plates!

Get a head start making your own custom-designed texture plates
forRound Gelli® platesby beginning with pre-cut
cardboard cake circles! Watch this video and see how easy it is to create texture
plates for monoprinting using these corrugated cardboard circles.

The baking aisles in craft stores are stocked with a number of
products that have potential use in printmaking — and it’s a fun
place to get ideas. What captured my attention were the cardboard cake circles!
The sizes are just right for making texture plates for the round Gelli® Plates!

Corrugated cardboard is like a springboard for the imagination!
There are countless ways to create textures on a cardboard substrate for
printing. Plus, corrugated cardboard’s unique layered and laminated structure
means you can carve interesting designs in it, then pull back the top layer to
reveal striped areas! Let’s explore that process!

All you need for carving cardboard texture plates is a craft knife with a sharp blade, a cutting mat, and a pointed tool.

The cardboard cake circles I bought are regular corrugated
cardboard with brown kraft paper on one side — and shiny white
paper on the other. After experimenting with cutting and printing both sides, I
found the regular brown cardboard side printed the best and resulted in the
crispest images. So that’s what I recommend.

You can work freehand, or draw your design on the cardboard first
and cut along the drawn lines. Don’t cut all the way through the bottom layer — just
the top. I tend to cut through the corrugated layer too — it’s hard to avoid — and
that’s okay. It also helps to mark the sections you want to remove.

Cut your design through the top layer of the cardboard with a
craft knife. Then remove sections of the top layer of paper — revealing
the stripes below.

To remove a cut section of the top layer of the cardboard — carefully
pull it up. It helps to slip a pointed tool, like a knitting needle or an awl,
into a ‘valley’ under the area you wish to remove. That helps lift the paper — revealing
the striped corrugated paper underneath.

TIP:  The top paper
does not usually come off cleanly. So, while pulling the paper up, I run an awl
or knitting needle along the edge of the ‘mountains’ to help release the paper.
A tweezer comes in very handy to pull up any small or stubborn remaining
pieces.

As you’re tearing and removing the top paper, you may want to
leave some of the peeled paper remnants that stick to the corrugated ‘mountain’
part of the cardboard. The torn paper remnants can create a more organic look
in your prints.

You can also trace a stencil onto the cardboard and use that as
your guide for carving the cardboard! Cut along the lines and remove the top
layer of paper — leaving the areas that are the ‘holes’ in the stencil — to
create your pattern.

Add layers! Cardstock, chipboard, or manila folders are all great
paper materials to use for adding shapes to your cardboard substrate. You want
to be sure to glue any papers securely to the cardboard so they don’t come off
while printing. Tacky glue works well.

You can create interesting printed images by gluing torn paper,
hand-cut shapes, die-cuts and punched pieces to your cardboard plate.

Punching holes into the cardboard plate with an awl will create
dots in your printed image.

Printing with cardboard plates:

1. Apply acrylic paint to your Gelli® plate and roll
   into thin layer with a brayer.
2. Press your cardboard plate firmly into the wet
   paint — and remove.
3. Place your printing paper on the Gelli® plate,
   rub to transfer the paint — and pull your print!

The paints used for all of these prints are Amsterdam Standard Series acrylics. They have a fabulous line of colors — one of my favorites
is Pewter. It’s a beautiful metallic — and great when layering with other
colors! 

If you’re into neon brights — check out their
Reflex colors! The final pull on this print is toned with a solid sheer layer
of Reflex Rose. Seriously vibrant!

When working in layers with the same texture plate, as you press
the cardboard plate into wet paint on the Gelli® plate, each layer is usually a
bit out of registration. That can create a ‘drop shadow’ effect, which gives
the print a dimensional look. Very cool!

It’s so satisfying to make your own unique cardboard texture
plates! And cardboard is everywhere! Keep your eye out for round cardboard
packaging! It’s a great find when you come across it 🙂

Cardboard texture plates are sturdy and can be used over and
over! And the prints are so wonderful!! Try it!

Eventually, the cardboard texture plates can become so layered
with paint they develop a beautiful patina — and you may want to
use them as collage material. They can even be a finished piece of art — as
is!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!!!! 

Winner is Camille G-H!

Our FABULOUS giveaway is a
complete kit for making exciting ROUND prints with DIY cardboard texture
plates!

The Prize Kit includes:

• 1 – 8″ Round Gelli Arts® Gel Printing Plate
• 1 – 6″ Round Gelli Arts® Gel Printing Plate
• 1 – 4″ Round Gelli Arts® Gel Printing Plate
• 10 – Amsterdam Standard Series Acrylic Paint – 120 ml Tubes
• 1 – Speedball® 4″ Soft Rubber Pop-in Brayer
• 1 – 6 in. Wilton® Cake Circles – pkg. 10 count
• 1 – 8 in. Wilton® Cake Circles – pkg. 12 count
• 1 – 10 in. Wilton® Cake Circles – pkg. 12 count
• 1 – X-Acto Gripster™ Knife
• 1 – Gelli Plate Printing: Mixed Media Monoprinting Without a
  Press – 144 page book signed by author, Joan Bess

To enter the giveaway,
click on the red “ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE” button below! (This will
ensure that we can contact the winner and that entries are limited to one per person.
One winner will be selected from all the entries via a random number generator to
receive this very special giveaway!) Entries will be accepted until noon EST Monday, June 22nd, 2015. Our lucky winner will be contacted by email and
announced here on the blog and on our Facebook page no
later than 5pm EST on June 22nd, 2015! 

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!!!!

.

Remember, we now have
Gelli® partners all over the world, so it’s easier than ever to find a Gelli® retailer near you!

Good Luck
and Happy Printing! 

Materials Used In Today’s Blog:

4″ Round Gelli® Plate

6″ Round Gelli® Plate

8″ Round Gelli® Plate

Wilton® 6″ Cake Circles

Wilton® 8″ Cake Circles

Wilton 10″ Cake Circles

X-Acto Gripster Knife

Creative Mark Cutting Mat

Clover Bamboo Knitting Needles

110 lbs Cardstock

Chipboard

Manila Folders

Tacky Glue

Clover Straight Tailor’s Awl

Amsterdam® Standard Series Acrylic