Happy New Year everyone. I hope you had a great Christmas. We spent loads of time with family and friends .... cracking stuff! It's the Lady Bug Crafts Challenge time once more so pop over and enter the Lady Bug Crafts Challenge This months theme is 'Anything but a card' There is a voucher for the winner of £15 to spend at LadyBug Crafts. Have a look at all the crafty goodies! My DT sample Tag was made using a super Christmas present that I received from my friend Melissa. A Gelli Plate. Easy to use, you can create stunning backgrounds and pattens. I brayed on some acrylic paint over the Gelli Plate.. dragged a plastic comb through the paint, then laid a sheet of paper over the top, pressing down gently and then lifted it off … bingo! I left it to dry, die-cut the tag and finally stamped over the top using some Dylusions, leaves and flowers Stamps. Thanks for looking today. I'll be back soon. I hope 2013 will be kind to us all! Lots going on this week......Mmmmmm .. oh yes indeed! Eileen x

I managed to have a good play yesterday, staying in the warm! Here is a card that has been in my head since I made the papers on my gelli plate, and I am rather pleased with how it has turned out. I was thinking of Brenda's follower celebration, knowing how much she loves getting inky or painty, distress markers, floral, a butterfly, ribbons and the odd pearl! The stamps used are all from Inkylicious and the inks are all Distress inks. The paints used on the gelli plate papers are all Do Craft Artiste Pearl (Wisteria and Ice blue). Here is a close up of the papers. There is another post on my gelli plate papers here and here. You can see the shine of the paint but also the ink dusting and stamping that I added in the white spaces. Here is a close up of the butterfly. I first inked it with shaded lilac DI and then used Versamark and kaleidoscope EP to get the shimmer. Finally here is a close up of the main image. I coloured the stamp with a mixture of distress markers, huffed on the stamp and stamped on to watercolour paper. I then used a water brush to drag the colour onto the image. I finished it off with some ink dusting and the script stamp in tumbled glass DI, and a spray of glimmer mist in iridescent gold. As well as Brenda's follower celebration, I am also entering this into Heck of a challenge, where the theme is butterflies and pearls, Visible Image Challenge where the theme is Spring and By the Cute and Girly (Favourite things: mine are inkylicious stamps, distress inks and my gelli plate!)

Hi everyone, We have a video for you today. And in advance, we do apologize for the sound. Gio had some trouble and tried to fix it but could not. Still, you will understand what she does for sure, even if it's in Italian (I love love listening to her videos LOL), and I am very grateful that she took the time to make it. Let us / her know what you think in a comment below. Confession.... When I heard about the Gelli plate, I thought ... "nahhhh, won't bother, it's ok, but nahhh". Then I saw Gio's video and I started to think that, afterall, it might be a cool thing to have... I might "need" it... so it went in my wishlist... Then I saw Andy's videos and bought the Gelli plate. I have had time to play with it and now LOVE it. I actually have three classes planned using this and my 9 year old daughter is hooked too!! It's very easy to use and so much fun!! This is *really* something to have (says that one who is very selective with what she buys) I'll let you watch the video, and then enjoy Gio's album PS: The biggest Gelli plate is out of stock at the moment, but should be back in stock in April. To make the mini-album I cut to size the Gelli printed cardstocks, then I cut some pieces from an acetate sheet. I adhered the chosen pictures to the acetate. I gessoed some pieces of book pages, then I sprayed them using some Dylusion inks and Crafty Individuals mask: Magic roundabout. I cut to size and I covered the back of the pictures. I added some beads, fabric leftovers, and metallic charms to a large safety pin. I made a hole on the left corners of every piece of cardstock and acetate, then I linked them together with the safety pin. Materials Gel Printing plate 6x6" Fresco Finish paints DecoArt Americana Acrylics The Crafters Workshop templates - Circle explosion; Chickenwire reversed; Harlequin; Mixed-up alpha Artcoe masking fluid: blue mask (OFS) Dylusions ink spray Acetate sheet Claudine Hellmuth gesso Crafty Individuals mask: Magic roundabout Glass bead mix: Lollipop white cardstock See you tomorrow

I've been playing with my Gelli plate for the past 2 days. Some friends asked to have a demo and play day using it. So I thought I'd get a tutorial put together with sample and colors used etc... Got some nice prints, so think I'll even bind it for future reference... Anyway, one of the techniques is allowing the paint to dry on the Gelli plate, lifting it with cold laminating film or clear packing tape, then apply gold leaf and burnishing etc. That's what these ornaments are made with. BIG GRIN. Then I put it together as a card... PS the snowflakes used in the ornaments are from Sizzix Tim's movers & shapers mini snowflakes dies. You can see all the details and descriptions by clicking on card image. Enjoy. PS there is a link to the Gelli printing pages as well. I'm using an Xmas quote stamp from Quietfire Design And it fits for these challenges: Old Back Porch #90 card a week Creative Card Crew #45 Xmas Creative Craft Challenges #19 ribbon Divas By Design #103 anything goes Southern Girls Challenge #78 monochrome Christmas Stampin #34 anything goes Fussy n Fancy #98 Punches & dies One Stitch At A Time #182 anything goes Pan Pastel UK #38 anything goes

I don't have a lot of photos from this project, I apologize about that in advance. Sometimes I get working in my craft room and I just get carried away and forget to take photos! I had a few bottle caps laying around that I thought were neat looking, one of them was a coca~cola one and I have been wanting to alter it. The flat one that I made here was just a plain cap that was already flattened that I bought off of ebay, they sell them in bulk there.. I am making a magnet out of that one. So for starters I had to heat up the inside of each cap in order to take out the plastic. I just use my heat tool and some pliers. Then I picked out some cool paper for my backgrounds. One of the papers was a tag that I had made using my Gelli plate awhile back and I thought it would make a perfect background. I just use a 1" punch for these, it's the perfect size. Then I decided to use the Tim Holtz rub ons for the sentiments. These are perfect and you can use glossy accents over them without worry that they will mess up or move. I did bit a of stenciling on them and added a few elements. I also stamped the butterfly here on this one. I used Archival ink pads just to be sure it didn't run once I put my glossy accents inside. Once they were done I glues the paper inside the caps and added my glossy accents. I also made holes in the Coca~cola charm in order for in order to add a few hanging things and my charm top. For the magnet I simply added high power magnets to the back with E6000 glue. Thanks again for stopping by, cya next time.

Welcome to the March Colorful Gelli Print Party! A Gelli Plate , Crafter’s Workshop Stencils, and Amsterdam paint – what else could make me this happy? Wearing these at Art is You in Nashville! There’s a giveaway this month – a spot in A Colorful Workshop: Gelli Printing, my newest workshop. I’m demystifying the Gelli […]

Hi Everyone Tuesday has come around again which means I am over on That's Crafty blog sharing some art. This week has me back creating an art journal page using some of the fabulous, newly released, stamps from Carabelle Studio designed by Kate Crane, more great fun stamps to play with from Kate. To see it in full and read all the details you just need to pop over HERE Have a great week, stay safe Love Amanda X

It’s love, Gelli Plate style! The cute little heart shaped candy boxes from last year were given a new life with paint and the Gelli for this month’s A Colorful Gelli Print Party. The February link party will be open all month for you you share what you’ve Gelli’d and to enjoy some inspiration from […]

One of the characteristics of the Gelli Plate is that it is highly unlikely you will ever get identical prints. This can be a good thing, because half the fun is not knowing what the print will come out like until you see it. However, it can be annoying when you get a really good print and know you'll never be able to repeat it! I was playing with some Crafter's Workshop masks, one of which was the Mini Roman Letters (by Dina Wakley). This is the first print I made with it. Possibly my best Gelli print yet! I didn't want to cover up too much of it, so all I added was some stamped clocks (Crafty Individuals), a column top (Non Sequitur) (I think it's actually Greek but I'm pretending it's Roman) a couple of gods (part of an Aspects Of Design stamp) and a printed picture (Crafty Individuals). Think I might have to keep this card. I'll never be able to make another like it!

Probably my favorite thing to do with the gelli plate is to make lots of papers and then collage with them. I used my gelli prints to make this design for Rosh Hashanah: And this one for Hanuukah: I've been super-busy getting ready for the upcoming Surface and Textile Design Show (SURTEX) happening in May at the Javits Center. It's funny to think of how that world and the mixed media world don't overlap that much. I'm hoping to bridge the gap with these two designs! Linking to the Gelli Plate Party going on at Carolyn Dube's blog. And REMEMBER - Thursday is another Stencil Test Drive, featuring the Retro Flowers and Circles Stencil and the beautiful art of Michelle Rydell, Natasha May, and Maria McGuire. Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

Ok, unfortunately I can't blame this one on blogger! I am back at work and have not been feeling the greatest lately. I have my days TOTALLY mixed up! Oooops! It's Friday so that means another fun challenge from the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog. It is Nancy's turn this week, and her challenge was a one layer card. Immediately I knew what set i wanted to pull out, my Peaceful Garden set from PTI. I also used my Hero Arts woodgrain background stamp. This is a great challenge, if you haven't played along yet now is the time. You can win a fabulous prize courtesy of Scrapbooker's Paradise. This week it includes some chipboard, sticker stacker and 2 stamps from Imaginisce's Santa's Little Helper line. Check out what the rest of the design team has come up with, Allison Angie Merlie Nancy Tracy  then join in the fun! Have a fabulous weekend, thanks for stopping by!

Had a go using my Gelli plate with a piece of acetate today, with this method you are kind of working backwards so you have to train your m...

Good Morning Everybody! Of course it's the evening... I'm waiting for another video to load that should be up by morning... so that's why I'm writing this in the evening... for a morning post! LOL! Now if that doesn't sound like a Jimism than nothing does. What's even worse, I think some of you are starting to get my Jim speak! Anyway, last night, I got all crazy with the Gelli Plate from Gelli Arts! I received this for Christmas and never had time to really pull it out and play. I just watched my friend B do it and honesty had a blast just watching her work magic. Well, it was my turn to dig it out and have a go! You talk about addictive, this is truly addictive! The thing you MUST remember is to have a fresh stack of cardstock on hand, because you will be pulling monoprints all night long! Trust me! It's like this... "wonder what happens if I do this...what if I add this color....Oh that's cool, but if I do this what will happen." It was an awesome night for coming up with a ton of backgrounds I can go back and use when I need them. So, not watching any Youtubes for instruction (go figure!) just going on memory (what's left of it!) I began my first prints. They are not the most artful things you will ever see, but it was another first attempt at something new. Pushing myself to learn new things this year...Gosh It's Fun! This to me would make excellent fodder for collage, mixed media projects and for me, card backgrounds. So, with that in mind, I give you a video and a couple of cards I created using the pulled monoprints as backgrounds. Getting Gelli-fied Video... The Valentine Cards.... YOU TURN ME ON! BOUND TO YOU! Well, I hope you can find some inspiration from these. I had a great time playing! Have An Awesome Day My Friends! Jim The Gentleman Crafter Pin It

Thought I had better catch up on what I have been up to the past few days, my workshop last weekend was cancelled due to the awful weather so I used the time to update my website and this blog so that they kind of match and look similar, I was going to move the blog over to the website but after looking into it it's far to much hassle! I have also been experimenting with new product and techniques, below is a book box using Decoart Texture Crackle, mediums and Traditions Acrylic paint. I achieved some really nice effects on this Iridescent project, needs a bit more tinkering and its hard to see from a photo but as you turn the book cover in the light it changes from pink to purple to blue to green! Finally some more Gelli Prints. Thanks for reading, Andy

Good Morning Splodgers, How was your weekend? I hope you all had a lovely time no matter what you did. Today Zoe is going to share a mini ...

Hello and welcome to my blog on this beautiful Monday morning. continues at Simon Says Stamp for all of the month of September as we celebrate stamping with some really fun challenges and some exciting new products. This week, at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, we want you to stretch your imagination just a bit and stamp on something other than plain white cardstock! I recently saw a very cool video on Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's blog working with a Gelli Plate and packing tape. It looked like so much fun that I decided to give that technique a try and stamp right onto the Gelli Plate using stamps and other items with shape and texture. Here is my finished tag, using the backgrounds I made on the Gelli Plate and transferred to the packing tape. If you don't have a Gelli Plate, you seriously need to think about getting one! They are so much fun to play with! Here is the step by step of how I created this fun tag: 1. Begin by placing a few piece of torn paper strips onto your Gelli Plate. (I was using an 8x10 Gelli Plate but a 6x6 one works great, too.) Choose a couple of contrasting acrylic paint colors and spread the colors over your Gelli Plate, using a soft rubber brayer. Don't mix the colors too much or they may become muddy. Just lightly blend them with the brayer and move on to the next step. 2. Remove the paper strips and create some interesting patterns on the paint. I used a little rake to create wavy lines. I also used a Q-Tip to create polka dots. Let the paint dry before going on to the next step. 3. Stamp with paint instead of ink directly onto the Gelli Plate! Spread a little paint out onto a palette pad or a sheet of paper and then run the brayer over a stamp. Then randomly stamp the pattern onto the Gelli Plate. This plaid background stamp is from Wendy Vecchi's Sunshine And Art stamp set. I even used a round plastic canvas piece that I had brayered paint onto. In the picture above, you can see the wavy lines, the polka dots, the plaid paint, this plastic canvas being stamped and also a honeycomb stamp from Wendy Vecchi's Art For You stamp set that was stamped using a gold paint. 4. Then go back over the clear polka dots with yet another color of paint and fill in the dots. 5. Finally, I used a jar lid that I had dabbed into black acrylic paint and randomly stamped it onto the Gelli Plate. The design you see is the design you will get when you add the packing tape and transfer the design! Let the paint dry completely before adding the packing tape over it! 6. When the paint is dry, lay strips of packing tape side by side over the entire Gelli Plate surface. Burnish the packing tape to the Gelli Plate using a bone folder or a used hotel key ... something with a flat edge. Slowly begin peeling one end of the tape away from the Gelli Plate. If a little of the paint stays on the Gelli Plate, just lay the tape back down, rub over it and lift it again. This is a great way to remove the paint from your Gelli Plate, too! Remove all of the strips from the Gelli Plate in the same manner. The photo above shows the different strips that are transparent; particularly in the areas where the torn strips of paper were originally placed. 7. Use aluminum foil, Perfect Pearls Powders (for these strips, I used Sunflower Sparkle and Blue Raspberry Perfect Pearls Powders) or Gold Leafing on the sticky side of the packing tape to create really unusual areas of metallic and shimmering color to the tape. (I also added a white paper underneath the strips that I did not back with aluminum foil so that the colors were even more vivid). It's THAT SIMPLE and look at the really cool design strips that you've created and can use on all sorts of things! I cut some of my packing tape strips into smaller strips and mounted them onto a #10 Black Tag. Next, using Specialty Stamping Paper, I stamped this adorable Prima Doll With Ruffle Dress Paper Doll using Jet Black Archival Ink. I then stamped just the dress and hairband portion of the stamp again onto a piece of scrap cardstock and cut it out. I colorized my doll using a Detailer Water Brush and Scattered Straw and Tattered Rose Distress Inks for the skin tones. Her hair was first colored with Scattered Straw and then I added a little Tea Dye Distress Ink to it. Then I hot glued a sweet little cream colored bow and rose to the waist of her dress. She is so cute but she really needed to be mounted on black cardstock to give her a nice contrast when I placed her on top of the brightly colored and patterned background of the large tag. In this photo, you can see more of the closeup details of the background colors, patterns and metallics added to the underside of the packing tape strips. And you can see how much better the girl looks with that small black matting around her. Instead of just stamping the word "CREATE" onto Specialty Stamping Paper, I decided to emboss the letters. The shiny finish of the letters goes nicely with the shiny finish of the packing tape. The letters are from Tim Holtz' Worn Text stamp set and are embossed with Black Embossing Powder. I cut out the letters and mounted them onto black cardstock. They are popped into place using black pop dots. In this photograph, you can see the wavy lines made by the little rake and how they are filled in with Perfect Pearls Powders to give a special shimmer effect. Much more effective than just leaving them transparent. You can also see the Gold Leafing running across the strip where the torn paper strip once was. So, there it is ... my stamping on something besides plain white cardstock creation! Come join us at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and enter your stamped creation! You could be the lucky winner of our weekly random drawing of a $50.00 credit voucher to Simon Says Stamp. You could also be selected as one of our featured artists in our ... a very nice honor indeed! Good luck! I can't wait to see how you get your stamp on! Here are all of the products available at Simon Says Stamp that were used in creating this Gelli Plate tag: *PREORDER Ranger #12 BLACK CRAFT TAGS 5.125"" x 10.5"" Inkssentials Surfaces ISB35220 *Prima Flowers DOLL WITH RUFFLE DRESS Mixed Media Doll Stamp 910143 *Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps 2013 WORN TEXT cms156 *Wendy Vecchi Cling Rubber Stamps ART FOR YOU Studio 490 *Wendy Vecchi Cling Rubber Stamps SUNSHINE AND ART Studio 490 *Ranger Inkssentials 8.5 x 11 SPECIALTY STAMPING PAPER ISP32908 *Ranger Archival Ink Pad JET BLACK AIP31468 *Tim Holtz DETAILER WATER BRUSH Ranger Watercoloring TIP33080 *Tim Holtz Distress Ink PAD TATTERED ROSE Pink Ranger *Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD SCATTERED STRAW Yellow Ranger *Ranger Perfect Pearls SUNFLOWER SPARKLE Yellow Individual Pigment Powder *Ranger Perfect Pearls BLUE RASPBERRY Individual Pigment Powder *Ranger EMBOSSING POWDER BLACK Rubber Stamp Ink *Versamark WATERMARK Rubber Stamp Emboss Chalk Resist INK PAD InLinkz.com

Hello again everyone! I know its been a while since my last post. Its been crazy busy plus some downtime for a cold/sinus thing. Doing much better now and wanted to share with you my latest post on the Artistcellar blog. You can also link directly to the video here. Here are a few pics of my project in the video using Artistcellar Cathedral Series Stencils - LOVE!!! I started with a layer of black gesso, then went a little crazy. You'll have to watch the video (ha ha!) to see how I got this look within the stencil pattern! ;o) This is a close up of the Viva Decor 3D Gel in Hologram I used thru a stencil. I love this stuff and it really pops on the black gesso. The black actually looks brown on this shot due to the angle and the overspray of the Dylusions Inks. Using some Stewart Gill Gilding Chips here. Really cool stuff and tons of colors. You can buy this from Artistcellar. *************************** I've been up to some more gelli printing! If you decide to try it, please be prepared to seek help from a professional counselor! IT IS ADDICTING!!! You'll be in need of a 12 step program for sure, but what a way to go! So much fun. (If you decide you want to buy one anyway, check out The Queen's Ink if you're in the Maryland/DC area, or you can buy one directly from Gelli Arts. Here are a few of my latest prints using some of the newest Crafters Workshop stencils... This one was a mop up of my dirty plate, but I love the way it came out. This is a close up showing the detail that it picked up from previous prints. LOVE!!! Quick post today! More coming soon, I promise! I've got some projects people have asked me to do including several canvases and some altered cigar boxes. I'll post pics of those as I go too. *************************** On another note, many of you know we lost my Dad in July of 2010. Today is his birthday. He would have been 88. Love you Daddy and miss you like crazy! Me and my Daddy! Me and my Daddy 50+ years later! Handsome devil, wasn't he? ;o) *************************** Now go have some fun and get all inky!!!

So, have you managed to get yourself a Gelli Arts printing plate yet? Ooh, they are such a lot of fun :-) I had a play with mine last ...

I can tell I need to be careful or this will turn into a “nothing but gelli prints all the time” blog :) But it’s just so much fun and so addicting to make gelli prints! When maki…

Hello My Dear Stamper Friends: I continue with the "fever" of Stencils and this time I decided to use the "Gelli Plate" I featured this card at my French blog for Memory Box: " Un brin De Créativité"... This is a new adventure for me because it is the first time that I use the "Gelli Plate" and I have to admit that it was quite intimidating at first...but there is a 1st for everything! right? and at the end, I "manage" to make something!... For the ones that do not know what is the "Gelli Plate" .. It is a plate that looks and feels like gelatin, in which you can produce mono prints without the use of a press. It is reusable, easy to clean with water or hand sanitizer. You simply squeeze some (acrylic) paint on top of it, use a brayer to spread the paint , place a paper on top, press down, peel back to reveal whatever design you have place down on the plate! and here is where the possibilities are endless, because whatever you imagine to place and create on top of the "Gelli Plate" it is what you are "printing"... For a Demo from "Gelli Arts" click HERE step by step; 1- place 2 small drops of blue and magenta acrylic paint (Golden brand, because of their quality of transparency, high level of pigment and fluidity), mix and spread with the brayer 2- place paper on top, press down with brayer or hands and lift (to get the background color) 3- clean plate with hand sanitizer and a paper towel 4- place a little drop of magenta paint, spread with the brayer 5- place stencil on top 6- press down some wax paper (for cooking), lift : this is what it is called the 1st impression 7- remove stencil from the plate 8- place final card stock on top and press down, lift to reveal design the results are quite different...as you can see in the photo and I added some liquid pearls all around the petals and here are 3 different cards using the same stencil "Brillant Peony" from Memory box featuring different stencil techniques... 1- the card on the left is done with the "Gelli Plate" (today's post) 2- thew one on the center presents the Stencil technique: Faux Cross-Stitch (see VIDEO) 3- and on the right this card was done with Beads and Molding Paste (see TUTORIAL) for other stencil techniques relate articles click HERE I hope you have enjoyed the late tutorials and videos presented in the last posts! I have enjoyed very much doing them and sharing them with you all! I Thank you for the visit and for the lovely comments! SUPPLIES: InLinkz.com

A blog about Art Journals, rubberstamping and mixed media art

Hi everyone.This is my review of the book I chose and the art it inspired for the March meeting of the Artful Readers Club. This might seem an odd choice... but bear with me. My Monster Burrufu by Alberto Corral Goodreads says: Seven-year-old Olivia has just moved to a new house—the same house where a lonely monster named Burrufu lives hidden in a secret attic. One night, unable to resist the smell of delicious cookies, Burrufu sneaks out and is discovered by Olivia. The two soon learn that you can find friendship in the most unexpected places. My Monster Burrufu is a story of overcoming fear, a curse, and a most unusual monster who learns from a little girl how to trust his heart. I bought my kindle version of this book purely because of a review where the reader was drooling over the illustrations. The book, according to Amazon, is aimed at readers aged 9 years and above (Yeah - I know, just my age then!) The illustrations, by Alessandra Sorrentino, are gorgeous. They remind me of Disney or Pixar style illustration. The story also reads like it would translate into a film really well - it goes from gentle story about a young girl and her Dad moving to the country to epic chase scenes quite seamlessly. I did really enjoy the book. The plentiful illustrations are grey and white - I wondered if this was just because I was reading on my Kindle but when I checked my Kindle reader via the app on my tablet, they were still grey and white. On further checking it does look like the 'proper' book is the same. Reading is no less enjoyable through the kindle than, I am guessing, it would be via traditional format. I would like to get hold of this in book form to read to my youngest daughter who at 5 years old, I think would also enjoy this too.. and I do try to get hold of books that I have bought solely for the pictures in traditional book form. Having said all that - the story itself is a good one. Lots of intrigue, secrecy, drama - a good moral tale about prejudice and what it can do entwined within. The only thing I didn't like... and it's something I have noticed with other children's novels, is the way that Olivia was left completely on her own in the house while Dad went to work. That didn't sit well with me - but I've had the same conversation about Charlie and Lola so it must just be a thing that is 'OK' in children's books. Really recommend the book... Suitable for little kids and grown ups too in my opinion. This 36 year old loved it. There's a lovely website for the book. Click here if you fancy a peep. *** On to the art. There is a lovely scene where Burrufu kind of flies Olivia away and they are able to be themselves, not scared about anyone or anything else. This is one of the scenes that sticks in my mind the most and so what I used to inspire the art piece. I roughly drew a monster and child holding hands. The monster is not strictly true to Burrufu himself - I just drew whatever monster-ish but cuddly form came to mind. I cut out the image to use as a mask... ...and then had lots of fun with acrylic paint and the Gelli Arts printing plate. It is so colourful and shimmery in real life - there are layers and layers of gold, bronze and silver paint in that sunset. The aforementioned 5 year old has declared that is her and the Gruffalo. No prizes for guessing what they read at school this week! The 'Big Love' in the background is because that's the last thing I say to my girls at night before they go to bed. It seemed appropriate. Am not ashamed to say, this is my favourite arty thing I have done in a long time :) *** The book I've chosen for April is: Thank you, as always, for stopping by :) I've now linked up to Carolyn Dube's Gelli Print Party. Links are open all month if you'd like to play along :)

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Hi ho crafters This Tag is my DT Sample for the Pan P astels Challenge Blog It was so quick, so easy and great fun to make. Me...

I don't have a lot of photos from this project, I apologize about that in advance. Sometimes I get working in my craft room and I just get carried away and forget to take photos! I had a few bottle caps laying around that I thought were neat looking, one of them was a coca~cola one and I have been wanting to alter it. The flat one that I made here was just a plain cap that was already flattened that I bought off of ebay, they sell them in bulk there.. I am making a magnet out of that one. So for starters I had to heat up the inside of each cap in order to take out the plastic. I just use my heat tool and some pliers. Then I picked out some cool paper for my backgrounds. One of the papers was a tag that I had made using my Gelli plate awhile back and I thought it would make a perfect background. I just use a 1" punch for these, it's the perfect size. Then I decided to use the Tim Holtz rub ons for the sentiments. These are perfect and you can use glossy accents over them without worry that they will mess up or move. I did bit a of stenciling on them and added a few elements. I also stamped the butterfly here on this one. I used Archival ink pads just to be sure it didn't run once I put my glossy accents inside. Once they were done I glues the paper inside the caps and added my glossy accents. I also made holes in the Coca~cola charm in order for in order to add a few hanging things and my charm top. For the magnet I simply added high power magnets to the back with E6000 glue. Thanks again for stopping by, cya next time.

Last Saturday I told you (and showed you) my new Gelli plate. A new toy is always so much fun. http://fat-emma.blogspot.com/2013/03/new-toys.html I spent that afternoon making some fun new Gelli prints. Here's a few of the prints I made that day. Then I used some of my Gelli prints and made some cards. Here's one. The background is from a piece of the very top photo. The pink flowers really make the gelli print colors pop more too. I die cut part of a Gelli print with a Spellbinder's deckle edged die. Then I stamped and watercolor painted these cool flowers from Technique Tuesday. (They are stamped and added twice. The first time a flat set is glued down and then I embossed a second image, cut those out and added them at different heights to give the branch a more 3D realistic look.) Inside the center of the flowers I add some white and silver pen highlights and some clear Viva paint-pen. I also cut apart some green Prima flowers-those basic ones they made ages ago-which I then used a leaves to really enhance the bouquet. I embossed the thank you on the card-word by Flourishes Rubber Stamps, and then finally I added a few little Prima metal embellishments on the corners. Hope you have something planned for today. See you again soon.

Time for a catch up post! I am still having a blast experimenting with my Gelli plate. I made this print the other day. I still haven't had time to shop for more paint colours to round out my pallet, but I'm hoping to fit that in soon. The weather here has been spectacular. Over the weekend we hit highs of 30C. We took Indy to Davison's Pool, a hidden away swim hole in the Alouette River my husband grew up swimming in. Indy loves it. We had our first picnic of the year afterwards and I played around with the camera in my iPhone. I was aiming for sun flare and I got it! Still looking for great photography apps, so if you have a favourite you think I should get, please comment and let me know! I took this shot after Indy got out of the river. Something about the intensity in his eyes make me think he looks kind of wolfish when he stares like this. People who don't know him are very cautious of him because he's big, black and lean like a panther. Thing is, he really is the sweetest boy. To know him is to love him. He was completely tuckered out when we got home. He crashed on the futon in our spare room. It always cracks me up how he has to lie with his head on a pillow. When he lies on our bed, for some reason, my pillow is the pillow of choice. Dogs really are creatures of comfort. Like my sexy new splint? For just $115 this too could be yours! Seriously, while I am not thrilled about having to wear it, it is making the wrist fracture easier to live with. I finally managed to get a referral to a hand specialist and it looks like I am going to need an MRI and a referral for a plastic surgeon to take out a tiny floating bone in my wrist (the pisiform) that is causing me grief. It's impinging my ulnar nerve and making my ring and pinkie finger numb, cold and when the swelling is really bad, change colour. It's not carpel tunnel, but sort of similar. It's very uncomfortable and has become a chronic problem. I've fracture my wrist every year for the last 4 years and as much as I've tried to ignore it and just carry on, it's time to do something about it. No telling how long this will take, but at least it's in motion. In the good news department, I've had two really cool opportunities come up. The details are still being worked out, but I'll share as soon as I can! Lots of great things in the works!