My Sweet Petunia

Howdy - Lydia here today. I was a guest over at Gel Press last week and I have a fun experiment for you today. Normally when you gel print, you're using acrylic paint, which is opaque. The layer that goes onto the Gel Press first, and then becomes the bottom layer of paint, is actually the layer that will appear on top of your print. So you're sort of always thinking about your design backwards. Or you're just experimenting and not thinking about it at all - my method :). But transparent, non-alcohol mediums don't work that well on the surface of the Gel Press, because they are water-based and just pool on the gel. That is, until now! I have a little trick for you for using dye-based reinkers with your Gel Press! I didn't do anything fancy - just layered stencil printing using my MISTI, but this trick opens up a world of possibility with all sorts of transparent mediums and the Gel Press - watercolors, inks, anything you can think of. So I made a birthday card out of my experiment, with the help of this month's My Monthly Hero Kit, a fun stencil and some Neat & Tangled dies.

My Monthly Hero Kit - November 2017 [ HA ] The Crafter's Workshop MINI CUBIST... [ SSS | JGG ] Gel Press 3 x 5 REUSABLE GEL PRINTING... [ SSS | JGG | BLIC | AMZUS ] Hooray Word - Nice and Neat Dies [ N&T | SSS | SBC ] Hooray [ N&T | SSS | SBC ] Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Ink... [ SUP ] Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Ink... [ SUP ] Versamark Refill by Stampin' Up! [ SUP ] Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin'... [ SUP ] Golden Taklon Wash Brush Set Sizes... [ AMZUS ] Amazon.com | 1 Dz White Porcelain... [ AMZUS ] Whisper White Cardstock - Thick [ SUP ] Lemon Lime Twist 8-1/2" X 11"... [ SUP ] Merry Little Christmas Designer... [ SUP ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | SSS | SBC ] Absorber - Synthetic Cleaning Cloth [ AMZUS ] Hero Arts Intense Black Ink [ HA ]

Isn't that festive? I love the layered inks - especially in the spots where you can see all three colors. So want to see what I did? Here's a quick video of the process - enjoy!