Monday Menu

Hello to all!

 Today's menu focuses on easy ways to explore printmaking.   If, like me, you’ve been itching to try your hand at using a Gelli Arts printing plate, but cannot afford to purchase one, I’ve rounded up some inexpensive alternatives using tools and art supplies you probably already have on hand.  

  • Mixed media superstar Traci Bautista has many ideas on how to create different types of prints, including using puffy paints to make prints.     
  • Alisa Burke shows how to make monotype prints with a plastic bag.  
  • Jenny Doh, formerly of Stampington & Company, now of Crescendoh.com, shows how to make stamps from craft foam marshmallows. 
  • Another method for making stamps from craft foam is here.  
  • My first foray into paper crafts as an adult was making leaf prints on fancy papers and card stock.  Cindy from Skip to My Lou has a great tutorial about leaf prints.    Although leaf printing is especially appropriate in the fall, it is best to use leaves that are still fresh and pliable. I know from experience that spring, summer, and early autumn are the best times to make leaf prints.  Tuck this tutorial away as a printing method to try when winter finally releases us from its cold, firm grasp.  
  • The Frugal Crafter has a YouTube video on how to make our own permanent gelatin plate using plain gelatin, glycerin, and/or isopropyl alcohol.  
  • Linda Germain's blog has  wonderful instructions and tips for making your own gelatin plate along with tips on how to use it.  Registration for her six-week online printmaking course starts on February 21, 2014. The course begins March 24, 2014.  
  • If you have already purchased a Gelli Arts gel printing plate, the official website has some great videos and tutorials.      
Since winter is still very much with us, here's a link to Seven-Vegetable Minestrone from the Mama Miss blog.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ScrapFest Registration Change

Hi All: I received notice this morning that registration for Archiver's ScrapFest workshops has been postponed.  Due to server issues, registration will begin on Friday, August 3, 2012 at 7:00 a.m. CDT. Edited to Add:  Archiver's has shut the registration site down until Friday, August 3rd.  Othewise, I would provide a direct link to registration.  You can access the main ScrapFest page here .   ScrapFest is scheduled for September 14-16, 2012 at the Mall of America in Minnesota.
Read more

An Update and Upcoming Classes

I'm still looking for jobs and trying to do some freelance work, so new posts are likely to be few and far between for the coming weeks.   I spent this morning making bread and will be scoring and cutting card stock and making leaf prints this afternoon.   I took some time to not exactly scour the Internet to get information on upcoming workshops. Hurry, Hurry! Sign up for these while you can.  They start very soon.  Alisa Burke is holding her Larger than Life one-day class at her Oregon studio on Saturday, October 13, 2012.  Because the class involves working with lots of paint on large canvas substrates, class size is limited to six people.  As of last week, there were two spots open.  Since this class is small and is coming up so, soon, I suggest you contact Alisa immediately to see if you can still get in. Michelle Ward's Synchronicity workshop will be held at Valley Ridge Art Studi...
Read more

The Crusades End

Michelle Ward, who writes a column for Somerset Studio , among many other things, has decided to cease doing her monthly crusades at the GPP Street Team blog. Ward coordinated her crusades and encouraged artists to participate and link to their work that they did for each crusade.  There will be no new crusades as Ward takes a self-imposed sabbatical, but the archives  are still available. Michelle obviously put a lot of thought into the crusades.  Each one had a clever name, such as It's a Wrap (about documenting wrapping scraps and tags) or Grid Lock (the many ways grids can be made in an art journal).  I never actually participated in the crusades, but I did learn from them. The crusades were not about showing off so much as about learning by doing. Testing. Thinking about and trying different ways to interpret the prompt. I still make backgrounds using old gift cards after reading about the I...
Read more