Gelli printing on fabric and what I've made with the prints...

I'm gone for a month, now two posts in one week? Really??? Well, there was a little more going on than I mentioned, but now that I got all the final results (as of last night!) for all the tests, I'll share it with you all. Its GREAT news! I recently went for my bi-annual check up with my oncologist. Long story, but I mentioned having a strange sensation on the side of my neck. She felt it and ordered an ultrasound. That came back showing enlarged and reactive nodes, so that called for a biopsy. Dave took me in last week for that. Took them about 25 mins to get a sample from my neck, and it wasn’t sufficient. The results came back negative, but since it was not a sufficient piece, they suggested following up in four months. I suggested following up now! LOL! Big girl doesn't screw around with this stuff. I'm all over it like a pitbull on a chicken leg! So I had a PET scan yesterday, and my doc called me last night with the results – NEGATIVE!!! Yay! And since this was negative and since the head radiologist didn’t see anything in the first ultrasound that would suggest a malignancy, I'm all clear and good to go!!! Happy to have that over with. You may see a few more grey hairs on my next video, but it beats the hell out of being bald! Ha! 

So now to the really fun stuff. Several weeks ago, me and my tribe had a playdate one Saturday -- ALL Saturday! Fun stuff. Ellen Vargo recently moved into a new home with her husband Jack and she has the studio that each of us dream of -- and we got to play in it! Fabulous. Check out the pics for yourself on her blog. 

Anywho, I thought I'd try using some fabric on my gelli plate. If its flat and stands still long enough, I'm going to try to print on it. Well, actually, I did try to print on some Easter eggs as you may recall, so flat may be taken out of my list for printable criteria! I know nothing about fabric, but I bought some muslin and some white denim. They each pull a print very differently. The smooth muslin will pull a print closer to what it would look like on paper, however, the denim, due to its nap or whatever you call the texturey highs and lows between the threads, pulls a completely different print. Much less saturated in color and sort of a ethereal look to it, if that makes any sense??? Check out the pics, maybe they well help.

These were done on muslin...

 One of my favorites! I did most of these using my big foam handmade stamps. YouTube coming soon on how to make them. Its almost too simple for a video, but I'll do it anyway. 

 This was a mop up print I did to clean up the plate. 

 Another mop up print. 

 One of my favorites... 

 And these were done on the demin...

Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I started with some rubber stamping with black ink.

Wasn't happy leaving it there either, so I started throwing in everything I could get my hands on -- Perfect Pearls pigments, acrylic paint, metallic inks, some 3D paints, you name it -- and here's where I landed. I should have taken pics of the pieces before I made them into pencil cases -- and I use the terms 'made' and 'pencil cases' very loosely! This is the first time I touched a sewing machine since I was in 7th grade home ec class, and trust me, that was a LONG time ago! I honestly had no clue what I was doing. I got out the manual for the machine (which I purchased a couple years ago for $49 at overstock.com!), threaded that sucker up and away we went. I did put some thought into it and tweaked my 'design' a bit after the first one. Then I glued some velcro closures on the flap and have been using them ever since. They serve my purpose and I really do love them and am amazed at myself for not sewing my pinky into one of them! LOL 

 This one was actually the dark pink denim piece with all the concentric circles stamped on it. I went a little overboard with the perfect pearls, then had to commit to the brown scheme. But I love the southwesty feel of this one. I added a little gold feather for a finishing touch.

 I didn't really think about the orientation of the bird stamps when I started this one, so I have sideways blackbirds, but it still works. I added my usual marks to this one and some ink splatters. 

 This was the piece of demin with the turquoise and orange paint, so I went with that theme and added some circles of Pebeo and some more splatters. Splatters are always good in my book! I decided to go for a different shape this time, so this smaller case opens in portrait orientation if that makes sense. 

 And this one I made out of the left over piece of fabric. I haven't used this one yet, but I'm sure I'll find something to do with it. 

 And there you have it -- my complete fall collection! BAH! Oh, and I put a layer of clear gesso over the fabrics after I added all the pigments and inks just to make sure they stayed put. It also gave more body to the denim and it feels even stronger. It has a nice hand to it now. (notice the use of the fabric-related terms?)

Stay tune -- Another post coming soon. I need to spread these babies out instead of throwing too much stuff into one huge one! There are only so many hours in a day! 

Enjoy your holiday weekend! 

Happy Arting, 

Patti