Gelli Plate – inexpensive and homemade

I’ve looked into purchasing a gelli plate because I loved the look of what could be done with them, but I found they were too expensive.  So I wandered through Hobby Lobby just looking, not for a gelli plate, but for something that could function as a gelli plate with the same properties.  I came across craft foam in sheets with adhesive backings in the children’s section.

Adhering two of the 6 x 9 sheets together added some thickness and give to a solid surface.  I’ve used mine over and over, washing it out in between, and keep getting great results.  It may soak up a little more acrylic paint than the regular and you can see that some of the paint remains on the sheets even after washing, but it still works great.  The price difference is worth it.

Here are some of the many backgrounds I’ve made with my inexpensive homemade gelli plate, the left side one used for a post honoring my mother, the right used as a base for a Document Life Project prompt, with the middle one still to be used

Here, the left shows 3 gelli plate with stenciling pages ready for journaling/planner for a Document Life Project set of pages and the right ready for use.

(And I still have four more sheets in the package.  I have used these for art journaling Document Life Projects,  Project Life backgrounds for photos, and background for SoulCollage works, even for making greeting cards.)

 

Homemade Greeting Cards

I have really enjoyed making greeting cards for all occasions for loved ones.  As I cut and paste, color and paint, create and plan, I further think of the person and my gratitude for he/she being in my life.

Embellishments are added, along with washi tape, which give dimension and interest to the card.  Some cards are made for my grandchildren and use their interests as a base.  In this card the picture part of a postcard from the US post office provided a perfect image complete with drawn in buildings and vehicle washi tape as the traffic below for a young grandson.

This was for a young granddaughter complete with bareback rider with recipient’s face pasted on, along with circus images and circus washi.

From the remarks received, the recipients appreciate the extra thought that goes into making  a card especially for them.  I also use my scans of the completed cards to put into Project Life albums to further commemorate their birthdays, anniversaries, new births, congratulations, etc.