Printing with Gelli Arts®: DIY Gift Wrap… and More!

We at Gelli Arts® often hear about the great time people are
having when they break out theGelli ® platesfor a printing session with their
kids and grandchildren. What a thrill for us knowing that a Gelli® plate, some
acrylic paint, a brayer, a few texture materials, and some paper can generate
hours of enthusiastic family fun! We thank you for sharing your pictures and
prints with us!

Printing your own unique wrapping paper is one of those projects
that everyone (all ages!) can enjoy. It’s that time of the year! If you’re
looking for a creative activity to share with your family—this is a good one!
And the results add a personal and charming touch to your wrapped gifts.

You can find rolls of unprinted gift wrap paper and assorted
plain shopping bags, as well as blank tags and cards, at craft stores—ready for
printing. Or maybe you prefer to cut open some brown paper bags and print on
the back side. This is a wonderful opportunity for repurposing paper bags!

Stamping with Gelli® plates is especially well-suited for making
decorated gift wrap. The new Mini plates are an endless source for creating all
sorts of designs. On some of my papers, I started by stamping areas of color
with a 6″x6″ square, or 6″ round and 4″ round plates—then
stamped over that layer with Mini shapes. Totally no-stress printing!

I used Blick Matte Acrylic paints—which work perfectly for this
project. The colors are highly opaque and layer beautifully. The range of
colors is wonderful, drying to a matte finish—and the printed matte paint
surface accepts all sorts of pens and pencils for further embellishing. I used
Sharpie Metallics and Uni-ball Signo pens on some of my papers and love how it
looks!

Use any of your favorite monoprinting techniques—stencils, masks,
combs, texture tools, etc.—to create images on your wrapping paper.

And how about adding words! If you’ve ever written or
rubber-stamped a word directly on a Gelli® plate—you know it prints in reverse.
With printmaking in mind, Lesley Riley created a set of ‘Reverse Alphabet Stamps™‘—and you can use them to stamp words
directly on your Gelli® plate. The stamp set features backwards letters for
stamping directly into wet paint or stamp pad ink on a Gelli® plate to pull a
right-reading print. Gotta love that!

The click-together Pegz stamps make forming words so easy.

 

To start, snap the letters together to create your word stamp.
Here’s the process I used to print with my word stamp:

Tap StazOn solvent ink directly onto the Mini plate. Next, ink
the word stamp with a different, contrasting StazOn color—and stamp an
impression on the inked Mini plate. The Mini gel plate is ready now to stamp on
a desired substrate—in this case, blank tags.

Try these convenient reverse stamps for personalizing gift wrap,
tags, cards, journal pages—or any print!

Dress up your packages with gel printed fabric strips instead
of ribbon! Simply tear fabric strips to the width you want—and print on them
with the same acrylic paints you use on your wrapping paper. Muslin and other
tight weave cottons are good fabric choices for this. Such an easy way to make
any package look extra special!

When it comes time to wrap your gifts with the fabulous papers
you’ve created—why not add some Gel printed stickers, as shown in the
previous blog post. It’s a fast and easy way to put your hand-printed touch on
any package, tag or card!

Artfully gel printed gift wrap and tags show the love you put
into wrapping your gifts!!

We love to see what you create, so please share your prints with
us on our Facebook
page and Instagram! Be sure to use the hashtag(s) #gelliprint, #gelliplate or #gelliarts — we will be sure to find you! Tag us on Instagram and Twitter too with @gelliarts. We love to see what you are creating!

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

Have Fun and Happy Printing!

Gelli® 8×10 Plate

Gelli Mini Plates – Circle, Square, Tirangle

Gelli® Mini Plates – Rectangle, Oval, Hexagon

Gelli® 6X6 Plate

Blick Matte Acrylic Paint

Avery Specialty Labels

Speedball 4″ Soft Rubber Brayer

White, Gold, Silver Uniball Signo Pens

Lesley Riley Reverse Alphabet Stamps

Tsukineko StazOn Ink Pads

Plain Paper Bags

Plain Paper Rolls

Gelli Round Printing Tools

Elli Square Printing Tools

4″, 6″ & 8″ Round Gelli Plates

Unbleached Muslin