Playing with Gelatos

I have had a lot of fun playing with Gelato ( gel sticks ) recently.  Today I want to share with you some projects I have created using this fun medium. 

For my first project  I created a background for one of my PL style swap cards. I used water color paper as my base.  I started by rubbing the paper with a baby wipe to moisten my card.  You can start with the lightest or darkest color, whichever you prefer.  First, rub the gel stick onto the paper, graduating the color and rubbing gently with a baby wipe and your finger to blend the colors.  You can go back and add more colors, layering until you get the intense color your looking for.


This is my completed card     




Next I chose some wood pieces that I picked up at Michaels Crafts
I started by spritzing water onto my wood piece and then layering the colors, rubbing them in and blending with my finger ( this is a messy but fun project )

Here you can see the water I spritzed on the wood before blending my colors
I really like this color combo

These are the complete pieces I *painted a light coat of gel varnish over the surface of the pieces to finish them off and give them a shiny look.  * make sure your get is completely dry before adding this step.

 For my last technique I used a foam stamp with my gelatos and stamped a pretty flower onto my white card. ( I only use smooth finish cardstock when stamping ) I applied the lightest color of gel stick to the center of the stamp and then worked outward to the darkest color, covering the entire image. 

Next I sprayed the entire image with water.

Then I carefully stamped onto my card.

I then added a bit of color to the corners and blended with my finger and a baby wipe.
I used my heat tool to completely dry the surface of my card and then using a brush tip pen I added my title.
I'm really happy with the results of these cards.  The bottom journal card was done with a second stamp of the gel, creating a lighter watercolor effect.

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope this little tutorial inspires you to get a bit messy and play with this fun medium. 

Happy Scrappin'
Carrie

Creating Handmade PL style cards from Sketches.

Today I want to share with you my take on some recent Sketch challenges I have done.

 First was a sketch created by Jenny Perkins from Unscripted Sketches  This is a new blog that I have been invited to be a Design Team member on.



 This is my take on the sketch.  As you can see I created my card in a 4x6 format. That's the fun part of using a sketch for inspiration, you can make it your own. 

If you would like to play along at Unscripted Sketches each week just follow this link and sign up.  Every Saturday morning we post a sketch for the week. Flip the sketch, rotate it… create a project life card, a scrapbook page, a card or anything your imagination comes up with! There is no right or wrong way, as long as you are using the Unscripted Sketch as the inspiration and basis of your creation!


 This is another sketch I used to create the card below.  This sketch was a monthly challenge sketch from another group I am in,  called Project Life Card Swap on Facebook.  This is a fun group where we make and swap PL style cards each month.  If you want to join this group, follow the link and request to join the group and I will make sure you are added. 


 These are just a couple of examples on using sketches to inspire your Pl creations.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Scrappin'
Carrie