3.25.2014

Gelatin Printing Bug


Hubby picked these up for me while out thrifting and estate sale hopping.  The black shelf will go in my art building when I finally get it here.  The weird metal box makes a really cool photo prop, and I can use it to hold magnets too!


So the other day I happened across a video called Glycerin 101 for Crafters! by The Frugal Crafter.  It's a really useful video that give crafters a list of uses for glycerin.  In the video she mentioned a permanent gelatin plate made with glycerin, so I just went completely nuts!  You can watch the video here.  Sunday night I went out and bought some glycerin and Knox gelatin and some new paints, and made one right away.  By Monday I was printing and having a blast.  Here's my plate.  I had to tear it up and remelt it once already because my marks were too hard and scratched the surface.  But it can easily be remolded.  It's on aluminum foil because I ran out of wax paper.



I used a spray bottle of glycerin water to increase the working time with my craft paints, and I just rolled out backgrounds.  I do not have good stencils to use right now, so I just used a couple of old ones with a brush for the second layer, and finger painted a bit too.  I had a blast, and ended up printing 20 of these sheets.  


It wasn't as expensive as a Gelli plate (I still plan on purchasing one soon), but it was not exactly cheap.  The two bottles of glycerine cost me $8, the about $2 for the gelatin.  You would need some sugar and water too if you wanted to make your own.  If you get bit by the bug, this is a good alternative if you are on a tight budget.  If your budget is even tighter, check out my free page here and download a free PDF of five of my prints.  Use it in your art and for submissions, just don't resale the file.  Any questions just contact me (ispywithmycraftyeyes@live.com).


 I cut the paper into 2" x 11" strips with my paper cutter and used the to wrap around my boxes for my jewelry pieces.  Then I used my PhotoEZ screen to print out my logo on them.



I love how these turned out!  Check out my Printing, Stamps, and Stencils Pinterest Board to see more lovely examples of gelatin prints and monoprint art.



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