Hi there and welcome
to the Gelli Arts® blog!
It’s Birgit here today
and I want to share with you a fun and easy way to create textures to use on
the gel printing plate using moldable foam.
You can find these blocks online by searching for moldable foam blocks or stamps.
There are many things
that you can use to add texture to the blocks. For instance you can use a stamp
with a bold pattern and create a negative texture of the stamp.
Use a heat tool to
heat up the foam. It takes about 20-25 seconds. Keep the heat tool
moving so you don’t heat the foam too much in one place – that might cause the
foam to melt.
Once the foam is heated press it down on the stamp firmly and keep it in place for a couple of seconds to let the foam cool down. The texture will now stay in the foam.
You can also do this
with your favorite stencils.
Besides stamps and
stencils, you can use whatever you find in and around the house that will create a texture.
Look around and get creative!
Just go ahead and
experiment! In case you end up with a texture you don’t like, you can simply
heat the foam again until it gets back in its original shape and then start
over. You can even do this right after you used it to print! Just clean the
foam, which can be easily done with a baby wipe, and heat it again. Keep in
mind that the longer you leave the texture in, the more difficult it will be to
remove.
You can print with the
foam the same way you would any other stamp, texture, or art printing plate.
Of course you can also
stamp off the paint from the foam to another sheet of paper to get the opposite
effect and not waste any paint!
Texture created with a
paint grid:
Texture created with a
piece of rope:
Textures created with
stencils:
Texture created with
tin foil:
Thank you for
visiting! We would love to see all the textures you come up with so please
share your work on IG using #gelliarts
Happy Printing!
Birgit
© 2019 by Gelli Arts®, LLC
Philadelphia, PA All rights reserved.
Fantastic techniques and results! Thanks for sharing.
Another good post. I always enjoy seeing what designs are going to be made and materials will be used. Colors are so happy!
This is so useful! At the moment I do not own any Gelli plates. Santa dropped the ball! Hopes to get at least one for my Valentine Bday. Read all your post.
Can't find the blocks. Do you have a source. Not on Amazon. Thanks
Hi Susan! Here's a a link for you. Hope this helps: https://www.dharmatrading.com/tools/moldable-foam-stamps.html
Many thanks.
would the foam take imprints of leaves? And thank you. Your posts always get my gears going.
Definitely! Of course leaves with thicker veins will give better results but you can try any leaf. If it doesn’t work- just reheat the foam and you’re good to try something else!