Gelatos and stencils.

Hi everyone,

I promised to show you the five techniques I used on my Art Journal page a while back.

So here they are plus a bonus method I didn't include on my Five page.

Technique 1.  Use the gelato like a crayon.

This is the most basic technique.  Place the stencil over the paper and scribble the gelato over top. 

Then with finger rub the gelato into the stencil; different looks can be attained depending on how thoroughly this is done.  If it is smoothed out evenly this will look different to how I have done it which was to push the gelato to the stencil so that there was a ridge along the stencil edge.

Here is the end result...sorry the photo is not very good.  After finishing all the techniques, I rubbed the excess around on the tag in the general flower shape and it was very effective.  So this is a good way to get a shape on a page that can then be modified.

Technique Two: Use the Stencil as a stamp.

This can be used after rubbing over the stencil using the first technique..there is a lot of leftover gelato on the stencil so it makes the most of the product.  Just spray the stencil with water, I only used a spritz, but the more that is used the watery the image will be and the more the gelato will spread.

Then simply place the stencil onto paper and press on.  This will give a reverse image to the stencil and be quite water coloury in style.  I also pulled my journal out and pressed a few extra images onto there and also rubbed over the stencil with my hand to remove as much gelato as I could.  Use a paper towel to gently absorb the extra water or a heat tool, or it can be air dried.  

Technique Three: Mix with modelling paste.

This is a great way to alter normal white modelling paste to pretty colours and the depth of colour is dependant on how much is added and of course, if more than one gelato is added then there is no end to the modelling paste colours that can be created!  I used an old package to mix my paste on because I like to recycle.  I scraped a bit of gelato onto the package and then squeezed out some paste and mixed the two together.  The better this is mixed, the smoother the colour, but sometimes it can be quite effective to leave streaks of gelato through the paste.

 Next spread the paste over the stencil.  Again, this can be done smoothly and carefully or rough and ready and the results will differ.  I did this sort of carefully but to be honest..I'm more likely to slap the paste on and not worry to much if I miss a spot or if it's not smoothed out.

Leave to dry.  I love how this looks and the dimension the texture paste gives.

Technique three: Using with a sponge.

This is pretty similar in result to the using as a crayon technique but doesn't give such a vivid result because there is an intermediate medium (the sponge) between the gelato and the paper.  I used a Faber Castel sponge that came in a tool set, but any sponge would work.  Dab the sponge onto the gelato and then rub through the stencil.

This is easier to control than using as a crayon because there is not as much excess over the stencil and it is easier to get into the nooks and crannies.  The sponge can be rubbed or dabbed depending on the surface to cover.  

To my eye, this gives a classic stencil look, quite soft and the amount of colour can be controlled.

Technique five: Using as a water colour.

If you love watercolours but aren't confident in creating a shape free hand then this is a great method. Again I used old packaging to make my watercolour mix on but this method could also be done by touching a wet brush to a gelato.  I scraped some gelato onto the plastic and then sprizted some water on and mixed very well.  

To create depths of colour, have some water nearby to dip brush in to get more water and use the original mix for the darker areas, or mix some more gelato in after painting the light areas.

I'm no watercolour expert but I love this technique! I need a bit of practise but it's an awesome way to get the watercolour look when you have no skills!

Technique six: Ghosting with a wet wipe

This is my bonus technique that I didn't have on my five techniques page and is lots of fun.  To start with, the paper has to be coated with gelato.  To do this, I scribbled over the tag and rubbed in with my finger, I had previously gessoed this tag which I didn't bother with any of the others.

Next stick the stencil down with washi tape over the paper and use a wet wipe to remove the gelato inside the stencil.  

The more that it is rubbed, the cleaner the end result will look.

It was a lot of fun to pull out a stencil and gelatos and see what I could create with just those and the different results are all very cool.  There are of course other techniques with a stencil and more with the gelatos so I find these are very versatile products to have in my stash.  If you have some of these but have been too scared to pull them out, then please do and let me know how you went!

Happy Easter

I had an idea for an Easter layout that I wanted to try out.  This is one of the few times in my life I have created a layout without a photo in mind so when it came time to finding a photo, I realised I have few really nice photos of Easter...just lots of ones with small ones running about hunting!  However, I did have this photo of my son aged about 2..I really wanted to do Easter crafts with him but it was after childcare (a full day!) and he was so tired.  Why oh why I thought it was a good idea I cannot say.  I think you can tell from the photo that he just was NOT interested ;-)

For the layout, I wanted to cut some egg shapes and then fill with paper but have a few eggs with fancy things on them.  The eggs were easy.  I found a free shape online and then used the Replicate window to add the rest of them using Row of Four then selecting all the eggs in the row and duplicate below. Done!

 

Now I just had to decorate. I used Bo Bunny Soiree 6x6 paper pad.  One egg, I used a Prima adhesive rub on to add foiling.  The second decorated egg is actually the Bazzil plastic paper embossed with tiny hearts. Another egg, I used my fringe scissors (okay, okay, herb cutting scissors) to make a fringed egg like the hearts that are so trendy at the moment.  The fourth decorated egg has a piece of crepe paper ruffle on it.

I finished off the page with a pretty doily and Soiree papers backing my photo and a cute bunny, possibly Prima and some strip journaling I typed on my typewriter.

Clever Darling

I love Crate Paper though for some reason I hardly ever use the papers and embellishments I have in my stash.  I would really like to get using this beautiful product because what is the point of having it sitting there gathering dust?!?
I recently participated in a iNSD challenge which was a recipe challenge but called a 'grab five' as it includes five things.  The five things were: gold, tiny word stickers, floral paper, wood veneer and hearts.  Here is my layout.

I'm pretty happy with it though it ended up busier than I meant it to...however, that is a good thing as it means I am getting the pretties onto a page!

Birthday Delivery

I just love this Julie Nutting Paper Doll collection from Photo Play. It's girly retro with lovely colours and cute icons including lots of the paper dolls the Julie Nutting is so famous for.  I really wish I had a photo of me as a kid playing with my paper dolls (actually, one was a bear family, the other was Holly Hobbie, I wish I still had these!) as I loved them,  though it seems funny to me now.... dolls that didn't stand up properly and didn't move and the clothes fell off. Strange thing to love!

Anyway, I don't have any photos and I guess I could do a no photo layout and record the memory anyway but in the meantime I couldn't resist using the paper for a pocket page layout of my wee darling opening a present and using GIANT scissors to open the packets.  

This was a fun collection to play with and I love how this page turned out.

The Paper Teapot Fifth Birthday Bunting

I’d like to start my blog today with thanking Joanna for being so awesome and for bringing so many beautiful scrappy supplies into my life – where would I be without The Paper Teapot?  I’m so glad I found this place in 2013!

This project was a last minute decision but a very fun one.  I have never made a bunting before but thought it would be fun and would give me a chance to do a mini tutorial on using the silhouette machine.

The first step is to decide on a shape, which to me was obvious…teapots!  I googled ‘teapot silhouette cut file’ as there are loads of free images out there that can be used as is or modified to suit.  I found this website which had a lovely teapot shape with a teacup.  This cut file was really for an easel card but it is easy enough to change this. http://www.birdscards.com/vintage-tea-easel-card/.   Here is the cut file shown in silhouette.

I wanted to use the Bo Bunny Soiree 6×6 paper pad for this project and I wanted each teapot to be as large as possible.  I copied and pasted the plain teapot to a new drawing and resized to fit nicely in a 6×6 square.  To make this easy, I set the grids up by opening the grid setting window and changing the Spacing to 3 (it won’t allow it to be set to 6) and the divisions to 1.

Now I could put 4 different pieces of paper on the cutting mat and cut 4 teapots in one go. I copied the teapot 3 times and placed inside the 6×6 squares making sure there was enough space around and then sent to the silhouette.  It cut brilliantly on cardstock setting with only one cut.

Obviously I needed a fifth teapot so I set up the cutting mat with two more pieces of paper for the teapots (I changed my mind about the green paper) and two pieces of paper for the teacups.  I placed the teacups all within the same two pieces of paper and to mix things up a little I mirrored two teapots and three teacups so they were flipped over.

Next I used some silhouette chipboard to cut the same shapes out again.  This chipboard is a great weight to add a little bit of sturdiness to off the page projects or for some dimension.  It cuts really well without having to worry about testing before running the real cut; set the material type to chipboard and make sure it is set to double cut and don’t forget to change the actual blade!

 Now I had awesome teapots and cups to stick together and decorate…the fun bit!  I confess that I had a little help, my sister came for coffee with my dear niece and they helped me glue and choose ribbons and flowers.  My niece decorated one of the extra teapots I had cut, didn’t she do well!

Here are the finished teapots. 

And this is the bunting strung up.  And yes my walls really are that colour!

I love love love these little teapots and I hope Joanna thinks they are as cute as I do!  Happy birthday!!

International Scrapbooking Day!

What a great combination...iNSD around the world and Mothers Day here in New Zealand.

What's more, my favourite shop The Paper Teapot is celebrating its birthday - five years! I've been lucky enough to be on the design team for a while now and have a wonderful friend now who is always very encouraging and positive.  Thanks for being so awesome Joanna!!

So to celebrate all these events, I thought I would have a wee challenge with a little prize at the end. If you would like to be in to win, complete either a layout or a card based on the following moodboard.  Leave a comment on my blog to let me know where I can find your layout.

Here is the moodboard...

www.polyvore.com

I will update this blog post with my own take on this moodboard, hopefully tomorrow, but in the meantime have fun with the lovely inspiration!
The prize is a $20 voucher to The Paper Teapot.