Mixed Media Mix Up – Volume 4

Hi Cherries! Natalie here once again with Mixed Media Mix Up! Volume 4 is a treat focusing on a gel mat using acrylic paint.

(Check out the previous posts: Vol 1, Vol 2, Vol 3)

Gel plates are a super fun and easy way to experiment with mixed media. A Cherry on Top has a variety of different gel mat options. They come in multiple shapes and sizes.

Let’s get started with practicing, and then we will do a practical application to a scrapbook layout!

Supplies needed:

– Gel Plate

– Brayer

– Paint/ink medium

We are focusing on acrylic paint today, but gel mats are fabulous for all kinds of mediums. You can scrape paint onto the gel mat with a palette knife or wedge, but you must be careful to not tear, rip or indent the mat, or that imperfection will always be on the pulled images. A brayer is the best way to spread color.

You do not need gesso for these thin applications of acrylic paint!

You can watch a process video on my YouTube channel. I will also outline the steps here.

Creating an ombre background is quick and so easy!

I put a few dots of each color, light to dark, in the direction I wanted my ombre to fade. I then began braying the lightest color and worked it until smoothly covering the gel plate. I moved through the colors, light to dark. If you try to go back to a lighter color from a darker, it will cover it up!

After you have the color as you wish, you can stencil atop it, add masks or texturize the color, then lay your paper atop the gel press and smooth down with light to medium pressure of your hands. You do not have to press down the paper with the brayer. However, I do find this to be a great way to clean your brayer if you do not intend to utilize the opposite side of the paper. Even if you do plan to utilize that side of the paper, cleaning the brayer can leave a pretty awesome design!

After the initial pull, there usually remains much paint on the gel press. A second pull will be less vibrant and is called a ghost print. This landscape was pulled as the ghost print. I placed a cityscape rubber stamp on the paint first, which left a lovely imprint. I also used a texture tool to draw a rainbow image above the city. The possibilities are endless when adding different textures to your paint! You can use texture tools, stamps, or any household item you see with neat texture!

You can also utilize your stencils with the gel plate! I created a blue ombre background first, then stamped feathers, then added an octagon stencil and stamped again through the stencil. I then removed the stencil and added feather die cuts to use as masks. Wherever the mask is will appear white (or the paper color) when the image is pulled.

This Image was created by cleaning the brayer with the aqua colors and later with orange colors. The stenciled image is the offset of the purple stenciled imaged used in this pull:

You can build multiple layers on the gel press. In this example, I brayered yellow through a honeycomb stencil and pulled the image. The acrylic paint dries very quickly. So it wasn’t long before I could brayer a full pink background, into which I stamped diamonds and hearts. I then pulled the image with the same dried honeycomb paper. Later I had a black bit of paint to grab up, so I made a stripe of it on this same layered image. You can see the yellow even shines through the black. I love the grungy, surprising texture you can achieve with only one type of medium on this gel plate!

For this last example, I did a full yellow background, then I laid some clear floral stamps atop the wet paint. The pulled floral image alone was beautiful!

I then put on circles as masks and did a second layer of pink paint. I actually forgot to pull up the masks before my second pull, but the paint had dried mostly on the paper circles, and I got plenty of clear mask through which you could see the yellow florals anyway! It gave a lovely distressed texture, and I went with it as though I meant to do it that way.

As you can see, the gel press is SO fun! You can really experiment with your mixed media process, but it keeps your mediums well contained so that clean up is easy. You can do full size prints, or create your own patterned papers for die cut images. The gel press is particularly great for mini albums or junk journals, but you can use it for so many projects. I used it to demonstrate use on a scrapbook page.

I love the ombre technique, so that’s what I chose to use for this page of my husband and me at Animal Kingdom. The bright, distressed colors remind me of the park’s decor! You can find a full process video on my YouTube channel.

I brayered yellow, medium orange, and red orange full onto the 8×10 gel press. I then centered m 8.5×11 paper atop the press so that the ombre color would be centered.

I used a chevron stencil for a swatch of bold black acrylic paint in the location of my photo. I made sure to apply paint in an imperfect rectangle and ensured the black would peek around the edges of the photo.

I then splattered with some black spray and watered down white acrylic paint.

I sewed with black thread in a zigzag pattern around the layout to add a border since the paint didn’t reach the edge.

I wanted a long title, so I combined black glitter Thickers with die cut alphas from my Sizzix Big Shot. I used Double Cut Concord & 9th alpha dies.

I embellished the page with cut aparts from the Paper Phenomenon Remember the Magic collection. I also used the Food & Travel stamps from Prima and stashed bits from past Simple Stories Say Cheese collection.

I love how the textured grunge of the gel plate combines with the grunge of Paper Phenomenon’s Disney collection. Then brightening the layout up with white splatters and bright cuteness from Simple Stories is a fun contrast!

I hope you’re inspired to try to some new Mixed Media techniques, and perhaps grab a gel press mat on your next A Cherry on Top shopping trip!

xoxo, Natalie
-ACOT designt team