Cozy Up With This Day of the Dead Pillow!--Using the October Limited Edition Kit

Good day, friends! I wanted to share with you another idea on how to use some of the materials from the October Limited Edition kit. I have to tell ya'll that I have had a blast creating with this kit :) Now I'm not much of a seamstress, or sewing person, or whatever you would call that, but every once in a while I get the strong urge to sew something. So I thought it would be fun to create a pillow using the super cool Day of the Dead stencil from the kit.

The first thing I did was cut down a piece of muslin, and using my beloved Gelli plate (from last month's kit) I went to work monoprinting a background design. I don't like "scary" Halloween type of stuff so I thought it would be neat to make this sort of girly and colorful. I used bright colors like Quinacrodone Magenta and other shades of pink, as well as a variety of stencils and Catalyst tools. When I was finished printing the muslin looked like this.



It's important for me to say here that I just used regular acrylic paint on the muslin. I later learned about GAC 900, which when mixed with acrylic paints and heat set makes it very easy to work with on fabric, as well as makes it washable. (Thanks, Martha for the helpful tips!) So this pillow is only for decoration. When the fabric was all dry, I laid down the stencil on the fabric and traced the design with a white fabric pen. However, I quickly realized that the pen wasn't standing out enough on the design so I had to head back to the drawing board on that one!



So after digging around in my stash (and not finding any other colored fabric pens) I decided to stencil the design on instead using black paint. So I grabbed one of the dabbers from the kit and some paint and went to work. I was liking where this was going....



Now to really get to work! I wanted this to have a special touch, so I decided to hand embroider some of the details using colorful threads. I did find this very relaxing and was able to work on it while hanging out with the kids one evening. I really need to get a thimble or something....



Everything was all embroidered and it was time for another crazy trip to Hobby Lobby to find some coordinating fabric. Have I mentioned how unpleasant it is taking a 2 year old and 5 year old fabric shopping? LOL Anyway, I found this really cute fabric.



I won't share with you the epic disaster pics of me sewing the wrong fabric sides together (it's hard to focus when your kids are climbing all over you and pulling on the fabric you're trying to sew!--note to self: wait until bedtime before attempting another sewing project!) Here is a pic of the pieces sewn together CORRECTLY! Once that was accomplished I stuffed it with Polyester Fiberfill and hand stitched the opening closed.



And the finished product!



Halloween is near, do you have any projects planned? I'd love to hear about them! Thanks for stopping by :)

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The Witching Hour--October Limited Edition Kit

Welcome, friends!! Today I have another spooky project for you using the October Limited Edition Kit. For this project I used the 5 x 7 canvas board, ephemera, Lindy's sprays and Magicals, and the Dylusions stamps. Let's get started!

To begin, I laid down a background of the Lindy's Magicals combined with the spray ink. I also worked in a bit of the Viva Decor Glitter paste because I just can't get enough of that stuff!



I wanted to create a quirky, funky little Halloween house so I de-constructed the viewfinder and it's envelope. I cut the envelope into a house shape, and the stamp sheet into a roof. I cut up the viewfinder and tried to use the little negatives as windows, but they wouldn't stick so I ended up using the frames they were housed in instead. I also cut the club off of the playing card and stuck it on top like a weather vane. Then, I used one of the Dylusions border stamps to create a little eave to attach under the roof. I also attached one of the bingo pieces on the front door.



At this point I thought the bingo piece didn't really fit in too much so I painted it with the Lindy's. I also added some rub ons and stamping to the piece, as well as an older Tim Holtz sticker that I had in my stash.



This piece sat for a couple of weeks like it is. I wasn't totally happy with it, but couldn't figure out what was wrong. I just knew that it felt "off" somehow. So I gave it some thought. In the meantime I added some white Magicals because I thought I would be adding something else to it and wanted to lighten up the background a little bit.

In the end I ended up removing the Spooky sticker and the bingo piece. I then downloaded some free vintage clip art and added that instead. I found the cute sentiment and added that as well. While browsing around at Hobby Lobby I found the perfect frame (which happened to be 50% off!) and once I made those changes I was a lot happier with the piece overall. I think that this is why I struggle with making videos. I change so many things around and go back and forth and let things sit for so long while I mull them over!



I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you do when you get stuck on a piece that doesn't feel right. Any suggestions on how you push through a creative block? Thanks for stopping by :)

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Have You Ever Wondered...Gelli Arts Printing Plate Fun

Hello ...Martha Richardson here. Today I would like to share information about GELLI ARTS Gel Printing Plate...a revolutionary printing plate that looks and feels like a gelatin monoprinting plate. It has swept the mixed media artists by storm. I was so excited when Frog Dog Studio put together a Limited Edition Kit for September. If you are on the fence about purchasing this kit I recommend you go ahead and dive in. The kit comes with EVERYTHING you need to get started including a customized Frog Dog Studio Texture Pack!

The September Limited Edition Kit includes:

(1) 8x10 Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate
(1) Frog Dog Studio Exclusive 6x6 Stencil
(1) Full size Catalyst Silicon Wedge
(1) Speedball Soft Brayer
(1) Frog Dog Studio Texture Pack
(4) 2 oz DecoArt American Acrylic Paints, Sour Apple, Bright Orange, Bright Yellow & Carousel Pink
(5) Foam Rectangles (great for creating your own textures and shapes
(1) Composition Book

Valued at over $65

WHAT IS A GEL PRINTING PLATE?

Gelli Plate Printing…a form of mono-printing using a revolutionary product that creates what is similar to a gelatin mono-printing plate...yet it's durable, reusable, and stores at room temperature.

Because it's portable, you can use it at home, take it to a workshop, or even use it outdoors. Flexible and simple to work with, it's always ready for printing and can easily be cleaned with gel hand sanitizer or soap and water — then used again and again!

Try it for mixed media art, card making, quilt making and more. It's also a great, economical choice for beginning printmakers and students.The Gelli Arts Printing Plate measures 3/8" thick.

There is a incredible amount of information on the internet concerning this technique. I highly recommend that you start here. Everything you need or want to know can be found  at http://www.gelliarts.com

GETTING STARTED

http://www.gelliarts.com/pages/what-to-know

FAQ

http://www.gelliarts.com/pages/faq

BLOG

http://gelliarts.blogspot.com

PINTREST

http://pinterest.com/gelliarts/

FACEBOOK

https://www.facebook.com/GelliArts

Let's take a look at what I created with my Gelli Arts Printing Plate:

Here are several examples of pages I created during one printing session. Some I am happy with...some not so. I know that each and every page can be used in one way or another. 

I'm going to show you how I transformed one page created using the Gelli Arts Printing Plate into an art journal page and how to create copies to use in other projects.

I take my scanned image to an office supply store and have it copied on either 80lb. cover paper or cardstock.

I have for all the Frog Dog Studio blog readers a free copy of my finished art journal page for your own personal use. 

Download Here

Thanks for stopping by and spending time with me...my next blog post will show a project I created with the die cut pieces created from this page.

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