I’ve had a great time playing with my 8x10” Gelli® plate, paints and inks and I’m hoping to lure you into the world of artsy, but not-so-messy mono printing fun! Perhaps you love the artsy look on cards but aren’t sure where to start. I’m sharing a few simple techniques that should get your creative juices flowing and help you to create your very own artsy cards.

You will need a Gelli® Plate or a similar branded mono-printing gelatine plate, a brayer, paints or dye inks and some masks, texture tools and items of your choice. The choice really is yours because anything, including your finger can leave a very detailed print. I stuck to masks in this feature for simplicity and clarity, but you can use various items like a soft comb, die cuts, feathers, crinkled paper, bubble wrap, embossing folders or embossed cardstock, flowers and leaves, strings, fabric… the possibilities are endless!

The idea is to make marks and imprints in the paint or ink and then remove the marked paint or ink from the plate using your paper or a cardstock. Any marks that you make in the paint will be mirror printed on the cardstock. You can even take a second or a third print depending on the paint you use and the thickness of the paint you use. We call these ‘ghost prints’. You can add layers on the prints and create fun background by varying printing techniques and colours of paint. Dye inked mono printed backgrounds can be sealed with a layer of matte medium if you then wish to use them for mixed media. Matte medium can also be used with your printing plate and stencils and, once your print is dry, to create a resist background with dye inks on top. There’s an idea! Surprisingly, mono printing is less messy than it seems so be brave, enjoy a play in your craft room and make some cards with the ‘how’d she do that!’ effect!

1

Add inks onto your plate separately so the pads don’t get contaminated.

2

Use the brayer to spread the inks evenly and to blend the colours. 3 You can brayer off some ink onto a scrap paper, if it feels too saturated/wet.

3

Add the stencils on top in any way you like. Pull the first print and set aside.

4

Remove the masks to reveal more wet ink underneath. The designs of the masks will be imprinted on the plate so you can pull a more detailed print on a separate card.

5

You will end up with two different backgrounds that you can use as are or create more layers on top.

Scalloped and stitched birthday card
Learn how to make this card using stencils and die-cutting techniques

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