A Girl And Her Gelli Plate | a Mixed Media Tutorial by Dale Ann Cubbage

Good morning all you crafty bad girls!  Are you sleeping in this morning?  I wish I was!  By the time you’re reading this I will be on my way home from a weekend out of town.  I am writing this post on Friday, before I leave.  Can I tell you, I am already tired and I haven’t even left yet?  Probably because my laptop locked up on me, and I have been working feverishly all week to get this video tutorial together, edited and uploaded from my husband’s tiny tablet, so you could watch it today.  It has been a traumatic ordeal to say the least.  With that said, let me apologize for the quality of photos and video, as I have had to operate without my usual tools, and am feeling very insecure about the results you are getting ready to see.  I’m hoping the content will make it worth the poor quality visuals.

But enough about that, how about we talk about one of my favorite mixed media tools, the totally sexy Gelli Arts printing plate!  That’s right, this little piece of gelatin like, squishy rectangle is so hot right now!

There happens to be an Instagram challenge going on right now with Birgit Koopsen, centered around this magical tool.  So, I decided to do a tutorial video with mine using my Haute Mess Acrylic paints! That’s right, the Haute Mess collection is fabulous on the Gelli plate!  Here are a couple of my favorite prints from this session.

I do have a tip when using your Haute Mess paints with the gelli plate. Since our line of acrylic paints are thick and creamy, and made with the best ingredients, they do tend to dry quicker than those craft paints you can buy at WalMart.  This is a testament to quality of our product. However, when working with the gelli plate, I like to create layers with stencils and multiple colors. Using a cheaper craft paint that contains more water in it as your last layer will help to pull the entire print off the plate.

You can use stencils and any kind of mark making tools you would normally use in your mark making.  I have used the end of a paint brush, my fingers, various sized lids, toilet paper rolls, straws, bubble wrap and clear polymer stamps.  The possibilities are endless!

You can get great layered affects by putting on a layer of paint or marks, then letting it dry naturally or use a heat tool or hair dryer.  Once completely dry, you can add another layer of color or marks.  The more you play with it and experiment the more fun you will have!

You will see that I like to use a selection of different kinds of papers to print on.  In this session, I have used art paper, card stock, paper bags, printer paper, vintage book pages and paper tags. I also like to use magazine pages, waxed paper, parchment paper and sheets music.

Once I’ve created these prints, I use them as the base for lots of things!  I usually add doodles or more paint to them, and then use them as collage papers or make things like tags and cards out of them.  I am currently using them to create a unique and very personal junk journal. But that’s for another day.

Here’s a look at some of the tags I made.

I have prepared a video for you,  so you can see the process. I hope you

Thanks for watching friend! If you have any questions, you can leave a comment here, and I’ll happily answer!

Until Next Time,  Dale Ann