Large Format Gel Press Printing

Good Morning Creatives!

Today I want to share with you 2 projects using Gel Press’s Large Format 12×14 Gel Plate. 

I know looking at that blank 12×14 space can seem intimidating, but trust me…you can do it!

Think Small

One of the easiest was to take away the fear of a large format project is to break it down into smaller projects.

Recently, I was asked to make a set of Truth Cards for my favorite organization, Saving Grace. {you can learn more about Truth Cards from it’s inventor, Melody Ross, here: How to Make a Truth Card.} They were asked to be the key non-profit at a local bazaar and had the girls of Saving Grace, the volunteers and staff to make Truth Cards as their contribution to the bazaar.

For this project, I used my 12×14 Gel Press Plate to speed up the process of making the backgrounds on my 4×5 Matboard cards. This way I could be printing 3-4 backgrounds at at time. With 10 cards to make, this speed up my time drastically!

Ingredients

For this project, I used:

Mat Board (you can find this in the photo frame section of your craft store)

DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics  & Misters

Brayer

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Texture Cards

Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black

Liquitex Basics Modeling Paste

Stamps

Bottled Ink

The Crafter’s Workshop Stencils

Baby Wipes

Getting Started-You Tube Video

For this project, I did a quick video to show how to make small background quickly using your Large Format Gel Press Gel Plate.

As you can see, you can get quick backgrounds in no time! I sped the video up for times sake, but the original video was only 16 minutes long. 10 backgrounds in 16 minutes? Not too bad!

Add Layers

Once my backgrounds were done, it was time to add layers.

Here is a few suggestions!

My “naked” backgrounds looked like this before I started my layers. They are pretty yummy on their own!

I started by making a rectangle from 4 random cards and using a The Crafter’s Workshop Stencils with Modeling Paste to add texture.

The key to keeping it from looking “stale” is to reorder your cards between the different stencils so that it doesn’t organized and looks more random.

Add more Color!

Because there’s not enough, right? 🙂

Use bottled inks to make great splats and DecoArt Misters to splatter color all over.

I like to use the dropper and drop my ink from up hight for maximum splatter effect.

It’s great how the colors slightly change based on whether it hits the paints verses the modeling paste.

To use the DecoArt Mister, I actually remove my lid and use the tube to “flick” my mist ink on my project. This allows you to have smaller drops than you would if you sprayed it like normal. {Look at the yummy splatters in the background!}

Next, it’s time to ink it up!

Grab your favorite stamps and an archival permanent ink like Ranger’s Archival Ink in Jet Black.

How fun is all this texture!?

Lastly, it’s time to add your “truths.” I used a combination of scriptures and motivational quotes.

Here are a few of my favorites up close.

I used my Crop-a-dile to loop them all together with a  jump ring and added ribbon and charms to cover my ring.

When they are all together, they just make me so happy.

Keep it Big!!

Although it can be scary, using your Gel Press Large Format 12×14 Gel Plate is an easy way to get a large background done quickly.

Recently, I made this project for the Gel Press Blog using my 12×14 Plate:

For a complete tutorial on how to make this project, check out the Gel Press Blog: Floral Print using 12×14 Gel Press Gel Plate. 

Closing Thoughts

I hope that today was encouraging to you to step out into the land of the LARGE format gel plates. As you can see, they are sssooo useful in both large and small projects.

For more GEL-spiration, you can check back here or check out Gel Press on Pinterest or Gel Press Junkies on Facebook. 

Until next time…

XOXO

KERI