{Mixed Media Tutorial} Fun Stencil and Gel Plate Technique with MariLynn

MariLynn here with a really fun technique that I learned recently and I have been having so much fun I want to share with you. Of course it starts with my gel plate. (How I crafted before my gel plate I don't know. I have so much fun with it.)

I placed my Bold Florals mini stencil on top of my gel plate.

Then I got my chalks out. I just had to have these chalks when I started crafting. Mine happen to be from Stampin' Up but any chalk will do. 

I used a q-tip to get the color of the chalk and I rubbed the chalk into the open areas of the stencil.

Then I lifted up the stencil. This is what it looked like on the gel plate.

I then put some acrylic paint over the top of the chalk layer. So I could control how much paint went down I put a line of paint at the edge and then used my brayer to roll out the paint.

You want to have a thin layer of paint that just covers the gel plate.

Then I place a piece of white cardstock on top of the plate and added pressure. This is how the print turned out. Isn't that pretty? Now I know that you could just have put the cardstock under the stencil and used the chalk. It would have looked similar. The difference is without the layer of paint the chalk rubs off easily and smears. This way the chalk is sealed by the paint.

The other nice thing about the chalk is the pigment is strong enough that you can make two prints. Here is a look at the second or "ghost" print. It is a little lighter.

There is one thing I have to warn you about this technique. It will sort of stain your gel plate. You can put some cooking oil on it and rub it then clean with some Dawn dish soap. It will look stained but it won't affect any of your next prints. At first I was cautiously afraid to try this technique, but I decided I would rather have fun and have a stained gel plate than to never use my plate and have a sparkling clean one. Stay tuned to see what I make with these two prints.