Printing and Stamping with our NEW 4" and 6" Round Gelli� Plates!

Gelli printing is going in CIRCLES! Introducing two NEW round Gelli plate sizes� a 6" round and a 4" round! The perfect compliments to our 8" round plate! 

Oh the fun!!! Now you can use all three round plates together to create exciting prints designed with varied circular imprints! You won't believe how easy it is to achieve amazing prints by overlapping circular images, layering the round sizes, and switching between transparent and opaque paints! The design opportunities are truly endless! 

The two new round plates each work beautifully as stamps when stuck onto a piece of acrylic or acrylic stamping blocks. The 8" round plate works great as a stamp when pressed onto the bottom of an 8-1/2"x11" acrylic box frame. Using the round plates as stamps allows you to place the images right where you want them! That's great when you're overlapping images. 

Have you wanted to print your own fabric for a sewing or quilting project? Try stamping circle prints in different sizes all over a piece of fabric! What a great way to cover a large area! 

Printing your own fabric is so rewarding�and totally unique. I'm starting with a 16" square pillow. It takes a printed piece of fabric measuring 17" x 40". That's a whole lot of fun to Gelli print! 

For this pillow project, I chose drill cloth�a tightly woven 100% cotton medium-weight fabric that's very durable and easy to work with. It's unbleached and has a natural color, similar to unprimed canvas. Typically, when printing on fabric, I temporarily stabilize the fabric by ironing it onto a piece of freezer paper, which peels away easily after the printing is done. However, the substantial drill cloth is perfect for printing as is�so no need to stabilize it. 

I used DecoArt's Multi-Surface Satin Acrylics and SoSoft with great results. When printing on fabric, use a heavier application of paint on the gel plate than when printing on paper. 

Create images using your favorite texture tools and techniques. I've used stencils, rubbing plates, embossed paper, combs, and a variety of found textures like corrugated cardboard and bubble wrap. There's lots of room to play when you're printing up a larger piece of fabric! 

When the round Gelli plates are placed on an acrylic (clear) base, you can layer stamped images with some precision. Many of the impressions on my fabric were made by first stamping a solid opaque color, then stamping directly over it with a textured image�using stencils, combs, and other tools�in a different color. 

Mixing it up with opaque and transparent paints in different layers makes exciting prints. Playing with different color combinations adds even more fun! But keep the color wheel in mind to avoid making mud. When in doubt, use colors that live next to each other on the color wheel. 

If you make an impression you aren't so happy with�here's an easy fix: Stamp over it again with titanium white (or a solid opaque color)�and have another go at it! It can be that easy to undo a yucky color! 

The overlapping areas of the circle images give a certain dimension to the overall print, as some prints are in front and some recede. You can enhance the dimensional aspect by adding shadows and highlights with colored pencils, paint and markers. Doodlers will find tons of inspiration in circle prints�on paper and fabric! There are plenty of pens, markers and pencils that work great on fabric. So many options! 

If your idea of fun is pulling print after print�try stamping with three round plate sizes to cover a large piece of fabric with fabulous circular images! Pure bliss! 

Here are the steps for how I made this super-easy pillow. If you need visual step-by-step instructions for making a simple pillow, they're all over the internet. 

The pillow form I used is a 16" square. To make the pillow cover, it required a 17" x 40" piece of fabric. 

The measurements are based on the size of your pillow. Add 1 inch to the width of your pillow size. For the length, double the pillow size and add 6 inches. 

1. To create a finished edge on the short sides, fold the hem a half inch and press (wrong sides together). Then turn up another half inch and press again. Stitch along the edge of the inside fold. Do this on both short sides. 
2. Lay your printed fabric right side up on a table, positioned vertically. 
3. Bring the bottom edge up past the center (no need for exact measuring yet) 
4. Bring the top edge down past the center point so that your folded pillow fabric now measures exactly the same as your pillow form. (In my case, 16 inches) TIP: You can tweak the placement of the top and bottom folds�but make sure the folded fabric ends up measuring the same as your pillow form. 
5. Make sure the sides are lined up together. The top hem should overlap the bottom by about 4 inches. 
6. Pin the sides in place. 
7. Sew the side seams with a half inch seam allowance. 
8. Turn the pillow cover right-side out, through the opening. If needed, use a knitting needle or other blunt pointy tool to poke out the corners. 
9. Insert your pillow form into the opening and finesse it into place. You're done! 

I'm hooked on printing fabric and making pillows! Sew much fun :) Give it a try!!! 

Remember, we now have Gelli partners all over the world, so it's easier than ever to find a Gelli retailer near you! 
 
Happy Printing!