Create a Mini Book with the Gelli Arts® Card Printing Kit

Hi
there! It’s Marsha here with another summer gel printing project,   This project is super fun to do with kids!

GelliArts® DIY Printing Kits are perfect for taking with you on a summer trip or a
weekend getaway.

They
come in a sturdy little container and include everything you need for a gel
printing session.

For
this art-on-the-go project, I chose to work with the Card Printing Kit. It
contains a 5”x5” Gelli Arts® gel printing plate, three bottles of Gelli Arts®
Premium Acrylic Paint, a 4” roller, five 5”x5” blank cards, two 4.5”x6” foam
sheets, twelve sheets of 5”x5” parchment paper, bubble wrap, yarn and
punchinella.

In
addition to the kit, I used a bottle of Snowbound Gelli Arts® Premium AcrylicPaint, a stapler, and a tape runner with repositionable adhesive. I also used found objects like popsicle sticks, a coffee cup sleeve, a drinking straw, a
lid, the cork from a wine bottle, a matchbox and packaging material as mark
makers.

To
finish my pages, I used newspaper, a small paper bag and clippings from
(Fifties) magazines as collage material. I also used a couple of supplies that
I carry with me in a pouch for art-on-the go, like a ballpoint pen, a black
fineliner, scissors, adhesive, washi tape and a couple of crayons and markers.

Step
1

Create
a couple of texture plates. Glue popsicle sticks to a scrap piece of cardboard.

Use
a ballpoint pen to draw fun designs on the foam sheets that come with the kit.

Make
sure that you press the ballpoint pen firmly into the foam and retrace each
line to create a nice dent.

Step
2

Cut
a couple of paper masks. You can use the parchment paper that comes with the
kit or just plain printer paper.

Take
the 5”x5” blank cards and adhere the masks to the cards using temporary
adhesive.

I adhered
one mask or one group of masks to each side of four cards and kept one card
aside for the cover.

Step
3

Place
your Gelli Arts® gel printing plate on a smooth flat surface and start
printing!

Roll
a drop (or two) of acrylic paint onto the Gelli Arts® gel printing plate with
the roller.

Step
4

Press
the mark making tool of your choice into the paint.

Step
5

Take
a blank card and pull a print.

Repeat
each pattern on a couple of cards. This, together with the limited color
palette, will make the mini book look cohesive.

To
achieve the repetition of color and pattern, I cover the plate with a couple
of cards at the same time, or I pull a partial print on one card and then
proceed to the next one until all of the paint on the plate is gone.

If
one of your hand-cut masks sticks to the plate just re-adhere it to the card in
the same position it was before.

Print
until all of your cards are covered, and you are happy with the results!

Step
6

Lift
the masks off the cards and remove the all of the adhesive residue.

Step
7

Assemble
your booklet. Start with the cover, arrange the pages and decide on which order
you like.

Staple
the spine or use your favorite bookbinding method instead.

Step
8

Now
you can dress up the mini book in any way you like.

Doodle,
collage, add washi tape (or stickers), make marks, scribble and splatter.

Use
it as a sketchbook, art journal, travel journal, scrapbook, a book of
hand-lettered quotes, or a summer bucket list. The possibilities are endless!

Don’t
forget to share your mini books with us. We would love to see them!

Enjoy your summer!!!

Materials

Gelli
Arts®:

Gelli
Arts® Card Printing Kit

Gelli
Arts® Premium Acrylic Paint – Snowbound

Other:

Adhesive

Ballpoint
pen

Repositionable
adhesive tape

Stapler

Scissors

Black
fineliner

Pencil

Washi
tape

China
markers

Paint
markers

Optional:

Printer
paper

More
5”x5” blank cards

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All rights reserved.