Friday, August 16, 2013

Fake it Friday: Gel plate printed flowers

Hello, and welcome to another instalment of Fake it Fridays.  Today I am sharing something new to me.  Making my own prints with a gel based printing plate that I made from scratch literally.  I got the original recipe and instructions from "Lindsay The Frugal Crafter".  I thought that it looked so neat that I had to try it for myself. Here is my version:



As you can see from the picture I keep my gel plate in a re sealable plastic container that I bought at the Dollar store (Dollarama), it is a perfect size for printing on 8 1/2" x11" paper. Those are some of the prints I made to the side of the gel plate . To use the gel plate I slide it out of the container onto a glass cutting board (also from the Dollar store), when I m done I clean the gel plate with some water before returning it to the container and putting the lid back on to keep the dust off until the next time I want to use it.  What is really fun about this gel plate is that if it tears or gets damaged in any way I just need to pop it (while in the container) in the microwave for one minute let it melt, take it out and let it reset.

This is my recipe:

8  envelopes (envelopes contain about 1 TBSP each ) of Knox Gelatin powder (Jello with no colour or flavour, available at the grocery store in the baking isle)
1 1/2 cups glycerin (available at the drugstore/pharmacy even Walmart).
1/2 cup of rubbing alcohol (70 or 90% will do)
1/2 cup boiling water (this is really just to help dissolve the gelatin powder.
* by the way this makes a pretty big and thick plate.

I pour the gelatin right into the container stir in the boiled water briskly to dissolve all the powder, add the other ingredients, sitr and let set.  To use the gel plate I use a knife or cake spatula to help dislodge it from the sides and slide it out onto a flat surface such as a piece of glass or non stick type board.  Just to make it easier to carry to the sink if I need to clean it off.  I pour paints onto the surface, make marks or use stencils, a brayer, and then pat down the paper.  I try to get more than one print from each.  Set the prints aside to dry and keep playing.  The gel plate can be easily wiped clean with a wet rag or if your sink is large enough it can even be rinsed ever so gently in the sink while still on the glass.  Pat it dry and return by sliding it gently back into the container.  A lot of people just use an inverted plastic photo frame (the deep kind) or a a cookie sheet.  Just remember to keep your plate covered when not in use because dust does stick to its surface and renders it icky.  Because of the alcohol and the glycerin this plate should be permanent to semi permanent.  If you can not find the commercial gel plates and want to give this a try it won't cost much.  Please remember that this is absolutely inedible.


Some of the prints I made using acrylic paints and found objects.


Paper flowers I made with some of the new papers.



Mixed Media Canvas I made and used the paper flowers I made out of my prints.

I hope that this inspires you to try something new as well.  Thanks for viewing.


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