First thoughts on Gel Press

 

Hello everyone! Before we start you may wanna go grab a cuppa. This is a longer post than usual 😉 I've always steared clear from mixed media thinking it was way too many impressions in one piece of paper, lol 😅 However lately I've found that there are ways to use layers and glitter in mixed media, so I warmed up to it. Which led to the obvious question - what exactly is mixed media? Turns out it really just describes the use of more than one medium. So in a way pretty much every card I've ever made is mixed media. Although most of us probably wouldn't put them in that category.

I started watching videos of mixed media projects on YouTube. Lots of videos. There are soooo many possibilities and adding color to paper on a gel plate is only one of them. Originally they are intended for acrylic paint, but also work with regular and oxide Distress inks and alcohol ink, which I'm looking forward to try.

But if you want to give gel press a try I do recommend you get yourself a good quality gel plate that's soft enough to transfer your prints, as well as a wide and soft brayer. Mine unfortunately isn't wide enough to cover the length of my paper so I'll have to get a new one.

 

For my first try though I chose oxide inks as I thought they would be easy to work with. I did struggle a bit with it though. The ink seemed to dry much faster than I was prepaired for. That being said I had so much fun! And I love the fact that colors that would normally make mud can work together.

Some stencils were bought secondhand and for the life of me I can't remember the brands, but there's Tim Holtz and Taylored Expressions for sure. I also used some bubble wrap.

As you'll see I continued playing after taking this photo. Ink combos used:

Victorian velvet, Festive berries, Seedless preserves

Squeezed lemonade, Spiced marmelade, Barn door

Dried marigold, Worn lipstick, Peacock feathers

Victorian velvet, Fossilized amber, Faded jeans

Cracked pistacio, Evergreen bough, Faded jeans

As I felt it was too much or too busy using an entire print on a card I cut them to smaller pieces. I kinda think some of them look like wall paper and I really like that. I'm quite happy with my first try.

For all my cards I used some pre-colored critters from Mama Elephant Sincerely yours that never made it onto christmas cards.

The snapshot frames and speech bubbles are from Hello Bluebird Photo stack and I doodled on the frames. Just for fun. I also added small strips of washi tape sobecause I was imagining a home made photo album.

The speech bubble sentiment is from Simple and Basic and means "thinking of you" and the Hygge sentiment is from Three Scoops. You may have heard of hygge. It is a Danish word or rather a feeling. It's that cozy, warm feeling when you're spending quality time with family or close friends. 

These will go in my Operation write home - box as I think they're perfect for sending home to dearly missed loved ones.

Thank you for stopping by.

Stay safe, and happy crafting!

Tina

The cards are entered into:

http://creationsinpink.blogspot.com/

http://timeoutchallenges.blogspot.com/ - do your thing, different

https://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/category/challenges/ - a bit of green

https://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/?p=23138 - use something green

https://polkadoodle.blogspot.com/

https://pinkgemchallengeblog.blogspot.com/

http://thepaperplayers.blogs - spring is in the airpot.com/

https://www.mftstamps.com/blogs/news/wsc532

https://www.mftstamps.com/blogs/news/cc161