A Gelli Plate is just like having your own private paper store. Using old scrapbook papers and dictionary pages with the Gelli Plate I unintentionally created a coordinating set of papers!  These papers sparked my art journal page for Artsy Fartsy.

Why did I have my Gelli Plate out?  Because it is time for another Artsy Fartsy challenge with Maria McGuire!  I get so excited for Artsy Fartsy, not only because I am arting but the excitement I feel when I know the posts will go live and I can click over and see what she’s created.  Love how we each follow the same guidelines but in our own ways.  Be sure to stop over and see what she made using the same 3 things.  The 3 things for this challenge were a Gelli Plate, any of the Catalyst tools, and any stamp by The Backporch Artessa.

Here are some of the prints I made.  There are layers of stamps from The Backporch Artessa, Kari McKnight Holbrook.  Her huge 8 1/2 x 11″ stamps are sturdy polymer that work well on the Gelli Plate, on polymer clay, with ink pads – anything I’ve tried them on they have worked.  You can check out my post and video here on using stamps with a Gelli Plate.  The dark blue layer of circles was created with Catalyst tools.  In the quick video I show you how I used it.

The faces on the top right of this one called to me so I decided to start here for an art journal page.

The face was too subtle for my mood today so I ripped out a bolder woman.  The dark blue behind her – well that was from the paper I used to clean my brayer.

She felt very royal to me but she isn’t the type of royalty that wears a crown so I put the understated crowns near her.

While printing the papers I used a top layer of silver Amsterdam paint and a stamp.  It left a very subtle shimmer that added to the mystery of her.

A white Stabilo Pencil (which writes easily on just about any surface) on the blue summed up what I felt about this woman. “Just because you can’t see my crown doesn’t mean I’m not royalty.”

Be sure to stop back on Thursday because it is time for another Stencil Test Drive with Jessica Sporn!  Test driving her random squares stencil will be Diana Trout, Seth Apter, Kristin Dudish, Corrine Gillman, and Jessica of course!

Linking up with Inspire Me Monday, Creative Every Day, Make It Monday, and Art Journal Journey.

I loved seeing what everyone created on their Gelli Plate and missed it once the party was over.  So I decided that the party should go on!  On the 1st of each month I will have a post dedicated to the Gelli Plate and a link party that will be open all month.  The next party is on Feb. 1st.  Get ready to share a great print, an unexpected print, an experimental print, a project you made using a Gelli print, or anything else Gelli related!

The need for a bigger piece of paper led me to my stash of old scrapbook paper from long ago.  Why not just Gelli print over them?  I went to town adding layers of paint with my Gelli Plate.  This video shows you how I quickly used those prints to make a stash of cards and envelopes.

I can’t wait to mail these!

This is what the USPS has for the size requirements for envelopes in first class mail.  If you keep the size within their “normal” range they can be mailed with a regular stamp!

Letters

• Must be rectangular.
• Minimum size is 5″ long x 3 1/2″ high x 0.007” thick.
• Maximum size of 11 1/2″ long x 6 1/8″ high x 1/4” thick.
• Maximum weight is 3.5 oz.
• A letter will be charged a nonmachinable surcharge if it’s a square letter 5″ x 5″ or larger, it doesn’t bend easily, has clasps or similar closure devices, has an address parallel to the shorter dimension of the letter, is lumpy, or the length divided by height is less than 1.3 or more than 2.5.

Linking up with Paint Party Friday and Creative Every Day.