8" Round = Happiness

The brand new 8" Round Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate finally arrived! I dropped everything and got out my paints and brayer the minute it entered the door. (Caution: This might happen to you.) Fortunately, I wasn't in the middle of a meeting, or there may have been a few awkward moments.

I was far too engrossed in my playtime to take photos during the printing process, but Kay was kind enough to help me showcase the final results.

My first attempt included experimenting with the Fire & Ice Stencil and copper/ivory acrylic paints. Initially, I thought this sheet was destined for the, uh, "circular file," but I stuck with it and am quite happy with the final outcome.

The Fire & Ice quote from the FontArt UM was the perfect finishing touch. I trimmed the final piece to 11-1/2" square and matted it onto Black and Fire & Ice Orange. It will fit right into a 12x12" frame.

Paint was removed by stamping on the paint on the Gelli plate with the scroll image from the Big Deal Greeting UM. I stamped additional scrolls with Mahogany ink after imprinting.

Remember the bright neon acrylic paints I stealthily took from my daughter's stash? I used them to create a bright, lively art piece that I can't wait to frame. The rounded edges of the imprints add such a neat look.

I used an assortment of stamps and masking stencils. Oh, my . . . this was fun.

The Reel Masking Stencil from the Get the Picture collection was used during the gel printing process and also as a mask after the piece was dry. Here, I masked the area and applied our Neon Pink ink with a foam applicator.

I am always amazed at the detail that can be achieved with this awesome Dragonfly Masking stencil from the Bugs collection.

When working with a circular Gelli plate shape and square piece of paper, it's good to keep in mind that you can still get several impressions with one painting of the plate. Divide the circle into two or three sections, allowing the edge of the paper to land on the middle of the plate.

Here's an illustration of two different ways I divided the round area to distribute the paint to the 12x12 sheet.

I hope you have a ball playing with your new round plate. Be sure to post your results!

Now, what was I doing again?
Tricia