Good Morning Creatives!!
Keri Sallee here and I am writing you today from the beautiful beaches of Destin, Florida. I am on vacation with my family, but I took a little time to get creative with my Faith Impressions Gel Plates.
One thing that is so fabulous about my Faith Impressions plates is their portability. If you are traveling, just grab your border plate and you can create with so many mediums that are easy to travel with, like inks and pastels.
Today, I want to share with you a travel friendly page I did recently in my bible. Don’t bible journal? That’s OK! This technique works on all styles of Gel Press plates and can be used in art journaling, card making, ATCs and more!
Gather you supplies!
The supplies for this project are super easy:
- Faith Impression by Keri Sallee for Gel Press (border plate)
- Archival Ink by Ranger (or your favorite permanent ink)
- Stencils
- Sponge
- Acrylic Paint
- Brayer
TIP: I found these little versions of Archival Ink at Hobby Lobby. Their size makes them easy to travel with and, using a 40% off Hobby Lobby coupon, I was able to get 4 colors at one time for only $7.20!
Add lots of layers!
To create a dynamic background, it’s all about layers. layers. and more layers!
The stencil I found has four different shapes on one stencil, again making it a great choice to travel with.
Simply dab your cosmetics sponge wedge onto your Archival Ink pad and apply through your stencil.
To get the most out of your layering, don’t cover the entire surface. This will allow your future layers to “peek” through your base layers.
Here you can see my first layer of red dots:
Continue to add layers in contrasting colors and patterns.
To add a bit of “distressing” to my page, I went old school and used my brown Archival Ink to distress the edges of my plate.
Lifting Your Print
Like most mediums, the ink you have applied to your plate is happy to just sit right there, so you need to give it something it wants to stick to more than your plate.
For this, we are going to be using a white acrylic paint. I am using white just because it is the color I packed. However, try different color combos of inks and acrylic paint… the possibilities are endless!
Use your Gel Press Brayer to apply a thin layer of your acrylic paint to your plate.
NOTE: I didn’t let my brown dry all the way, so it ended up moving all over the print, giving it more of a distressed look than I originally planned. Remember that when you try this! Allow the ink to dry if you want to keep you images “crispy!”
Finishing Touches
Since I was traveling my supplies were limited. Thankfully I had brought along set of planner stickers that had a little bit of everything!
Here is the finished product again!
Here is a close-up of the print in the finished product:
Final Thoughts
If you are like me you sometimes feel you spend WAY too much time in a car (all our family lives in other states, my daughter plays competitive soccer, etc, etc, etc-you get the picture!)
But rather than seeing that time as being “trapped” use it as a time to challenge yourself. I use our car trips to doodle, try out a new sketch idea I found on pinterest and occasionally (much to my husband’s horror!) I even paint in the car (I am nice and stick with watercolors! LOL)
Spending a long time in a hotel? Make sure to carve out a little time for your creative spirit. Hotels leave so little room for privacy that it becomes even more important to de-stress and decompress via a creative outlet. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or over-complicated. Play with easy supplies like inks, pens, pencils and whatever else in your creative arsenal that is easily portable.
Don’t be afraid of simple. Just be creative.
Until next time,
XOXO,
Keri Sallee
P.S. In case you need a little creative inspiration, here is the view from my hotel room right now!
