Easy-to-make foam printing plate stamps create fabulous textured Gelli prints! Watch this video
to see how to create DIY foam stamps for unique prints on cards!
FYI - Joan did this project a few years ago and it was such a big hit - we decided to create a DIY Card Printing Kit and a DIY Stamping & Printing Kit for you! You can follow along her blog using the items in your new kit. Feel free to use additional items to create textures or additional colors of acrylic paints! You can make similar stamps with the foam sheets included in your kits.
Now on to Joan's original blog! Have fun!
FYI - Joan did this project a few years ago and it was such a big hit - we decided to create a DIY Card Printing Kit and a DIY Stamping & Printing Kit for you! You can follow along her blog using the items in your new kit. Feel free to use additional items to create textures or additional colors of acrylic paints! You can make similar stamps with the foam sheets included in your kits.
Now on to Joan's original blog! Have fun!
They're so easy and fun to make, you'll have a collection of these stamps in no time!
There's a variety of materials that you can use to make a texture stamp. Here we're using thin sheets of foam—available at art stores for use as printmaking plates. It cuts easily with scissors or a craft knife—and drawing into it with a pen, pencil, stylus or other pointed tool gives you endless design opportunities!
Decorative-edge scissors cut smoothly through the thin foam material—and hand punches work well too! If you have a die-cutting machine (like a Cuttlebug, etc.)—you can run it through with an embossing folder and create a very cool embossed surface on the foam. Then cut your own shapes from the embossed printing foam!
Instead of the foam sheets for printmaking, you can also use styrofoam plates or repurposed clean food trays.
Incise lines into the pieces with a pencil, ballpoint pen or stylus. Cut or punch out some small areas. The design can be simple shapes, or as intricate as you want. You can plan your design beforehand, or just wing it!
As you make your marks in the foam, keep in mind that what you see is what you get. So that means you can write words in the foam too! No need to figure out reversals—how perfect for adding a sentiment to your cards!
The prints in the video are made on the 5"x7" Gelli plate —using Amsterdam Standard Series Acrylic paints and Pebeo Studio Acrylics.
(You can use the 5" x 5" Gelli® plate and our new Gelli Arts® premium acrylic paints in your kit).
Strathmore has a new line of printmaking paper and they've made it into beautiful card and envelope sets. The cards and envelopes shown here are all printed on Strathmore Printmaking Cards.
The following steps describe the process shown in the video for creating the Gelli printed card:
- Roll a thin layer of acrylic paint onto the Gelli plate with a brayer
- Press a texture tool (like bubble wrap) into the paint
- Cover with your card and pull a print
- Wipe the plate clean (not essential—but makes a nice clean print)
- Roll a layer of a contrasting color onto the plate with a brayer
- Place your foam stamps on the painted plate
- Cover with thin paper (such as deli paper)—to press the stamps into the paint and remove the paint from the plate around the stamps
- Remove the cover paper and remove the foam stamps
- Place your printed card on the Gelli plate to print a second layer
- Rub to transfer the paint and pull your print—the second layer on your card!
While you're printing your cards, also print on the envelopes!
There are various ways to create a blank space for the address. Here are a few suggestions:
- Strategically place a piece of torn or cut paper on the painted, stamped Gelli plate to create a blank space.
- Place a removable label on the envelope as a mask. Print over it—then remove the label.
- Scrape or wipe off an area of wet paint on the Gelli plate, then print your envelope.
Receiving hand-printed cards and envelopes is always special! Printing your unique stamp images on beautiful paper enhances your artwork and shows the love!
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!!!!
Winner is Roberta K!
And to show OUR love—we have an exceptional GIVEAWAY for cardmaking!!!
The prize kit includes:
1 - 5"x7" Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate
1 - Strathmore Printmaking Cards - Package of 50 Cards and Envelopes
8 - Amsterdam Standard Series Acrylic Paint - 120 ml tubes (4.1 fl. oz.)
1 - Speedball 4" Pop-In Soft Rubber Brayer
1 - Inovart 'Presto' Foam Printing Plates - Package of 20 - 9"x12" sheets
To enter the giveaway, click on the red "ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE" button below! (This will ensure that we can contact the winner and that entries are limited to one per person. One winner will be selected from all the entries via a random number generator to receive this very special giveaway!)
Entries will be accepted until Wednesday, February 25th at 1pm. Our lucky winner will be contacted by email and announced here on the blog and on our Facebook page no later than Wednesday, the 25th at 5pm!
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!!!!
Special thanks to our friends at Strathmore for their generous donation to our giveaway prize!
Remember, we now have Gelli partners all over the world, so it's easier than ever to find a Gelli retailer near you!
Good Luck and Happy Printing!
Wonderful ideas today, thank you! Thank you for the chance to win too! Will watch the video a little later xxx
ReplyDeleteWow how fun, thank you for sharing all the ideas! Thanks for a great giveaway!
ReplyDeleteA really fabulous idea Joan ad will be trying this for sure.
ReplyDeleteThanks too for the giveaway chance, such a fabulous prize!
Fliss x
Ok, Gelli Plates are just WAY too much fun! Great tutorial and love all the tips. Thanks for sharing with us.
ReplyDeleteElaine Allen
I was very lucky to get a Gelli plate over Christmas and I had no idea you could do that with foam plates. Thank you for the awesome video of techniques. I need to get some foam plates, paints, and other stash because I love what you've created and now I feel a little more confident Karen x
ReplyDeleteMy daughter's art teacher has them making prints with that foam. She hadn't heard about the Gelli Plate, though!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea, can't wait to make some foamie tools to play with!
ReplyDeleteFun tutorial! Thanks so much for sharing it. I'm headed upstairs to try it now!
ReplyDeleteOh my, this is such a "simple" yet beautiful way to make lovely cards !!!
ReplyDelete(or other prints ... on fabric perhaps .... would love to try !)
Thanks for (again) a wonderful tutorial ;-)
Awesome Sauce! The possibilities are endless with these foam sheets. Thank you for the give away and the great video. :)
ReplyDeleteWow. Another great give-a-way and great ideas. Thanks so much for always sharing such wonderful ideas. I really enjoy them.........Linda E.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like so much fun! It would be awesome to have your kids draw pictures on the foam plates and then print away on the Gelli plate for cards to send to relatives! Oh the possibilities- very exciting!
ReplyDeleteLove this tutorial and technique!! Definitely going to give it a try!! And...another super giveaway!! Fingers crossed!!!
ReplyDeleteLove the gelli plate great tutorial.
ReplyDeleteI can't enter the giveaway. The capcha control always give an error. :-(
ReplyDeleteThank you! This is great!
ReplyDeleteWonderful foam designs and cards. Loved the video and up beat music. Thanks for the chance to win this awesome prize.
ReplyDeleteThis is more my style of mark making and i LOVE how it gives such depth and texture to the prints. Thank You for such a fun tutorial and for the chance to win such amazing goodies:-) xxx
ReplyDeleteGreat tips here....I'm off to have a go.
ReplyDeleteStill dreaming of getting a Gelli plate! This looks so fun! They are gorgeous, thanks SO much for a chance to win!~kim
ReplyDeleteCool!
ReplyDeleteWonderful demo! I so love my gelli.
ReplyDeleteWow, I would love to win this giveaway. I just received a round gelli for christmas and would really like to have some of the small gellis too. Love your videos.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the wonderful ideas in the regular videos ! I just tried putting the polystyrene packaging base of a pizza thru my ebosser in an embossing folder and it worked! The resulting print is pretty amazing. The pizza base is cheaper as it's thrown away otherwise, and the foam boards I got in an art shop a year or so ago cost a fortune ... but mustn't live on pizza alone !!!
ReplyDeleteI am sooooo EXCITED to try this. OMG your videos are just so AWESOME!!!!!! Thank you and everyone involved in making them for all of us. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great ideas. I wouldn't have even thought of running it through the cuttlebug! And thanks for the chance to win!!
ReplyDeleteLove the creative joy this process brings to so many including me! Thank you xxx
ReplyDeleteSuch a simple but amazing idea. I absolutely love it.
ReplyDeleteAnother great idea! Love your videos so much, thank you.
ReplyDeleteAMAZING!! LOVE my gelli plate and the ideas you guys come up with are just so creative! Thank you !!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea, thank you for the video and the giveaway!!
ReplyDeletethank you ..il love this technic
ReplyDeletecan i participate in giveaway even if I live in France?
fun technique! thanks for the chance to win.
ReplyDeletestamping sue
http://stampingsueinconnecticut.blogspot.com/
What a great idea. I have never seen the foam printing plates. I hope I win so I can try this.
ReplyDeleteSomeone should write a book on all the ways you can use foam in printing.
ReplyDeleteIs Great!!! Amazing colors...
ReplyDeleteGood post
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Great video! This looks like so much fun. I can't wait to try it.
ReplyDeleteGellArts has inspired me again. Thanks for your great tutorials / videos.
ReplyDeleteTrès bonne idée, merci pour la vidéo!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great give away!!!
ReplyDeleteoh, i want to go and try this right now!!! how fun!
ReplyDeleteWOW but I only have the regular foam that you buy from Michael's in their craft aisle. Will this work too?
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to try this technique. Love it.
ReplyDeleteI love making cards with my Gelli Plate. This will be so fun! Thanks. Please keep the videos and ideas coming!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the very useful tutorial!
ReplyDeleteI can always stick two thin sheets of foam together when a single one is too difficult to handle. ;-)
I would love to win the giveaway!
What a great video and an amazing give away ... thank you and good luck to all that enterx Lynda
ReplyDeleteWow this is awesome! Looks like fun! Thanks for the chance to win too! :)
ReplyDeletePS thanks for the chance to win! Gotta love it :-)
ReplyDeletethank you so much for this chance to win!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great tutorial! I am just getting into Gelli plate printing, and am so fascinated!
ReplyDeleteHow cool... and thank you for the fun giveaway!
ReplyDeleteWowsers! Thanks for a chance!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea!!! Would love to win these awesome goodies!! Thank you for the chance to try something new!
ReplyDeleteScratchfoam is great! It's one of my go-to techniques. I usually let the paint stay
ReplyDeleteon the plate and only wash it occasionally. The resulting prints seem "grungier"--
which I love. I brayer-roll over them all the time, too, for overlapping (or not) brayer
prints. The scratch foam seems to really "lift" transparent paint off the plate, too, for a more precise design. If I'm lucky, I can apply paint to the plate and use it as a stamp,
and some extra paint layer grunge from the stamp may come off. Cool. ----Becky
Yup, another awesome technique to try! What fun!!!
ReplyDeleteI've been saving deli trays just to try this. Thanks for inspiring me to raid my stash and play. I also love that you used mandalas in your example. I shared this video with my peeps who participate in my 100 Mandalas Challenge. (www.100mandalas.org and www.facebook.com/100mandalas) I'm always looking for fun and creative ways to create mandalas. My fingers are crossed that I win the giveaway - what a generous prize!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful tutorial! I wish I had watched it the first day, because I just passed up buying some of those foam sheets because I didn't have a specific purpose for buying it. Darn hindsight! Guess I'll go back and see if it is still there! Unless I get lucky and win some from this giveaway! ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome giveaway!! Thanks Gelli and Strathmore for the chance!!
ReplyDeleteCarmen L
How pretty and looks pretty easy, so I will give it a go. thank you for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the inspiration. :)
ReplyDeleteAlways great ideas
ReplyDeleteHow very delicious to learn and create
ReplyDeleteWhat a GREAT idea combining the foam plates with the Gelli plate! Tremendous possibilities for all ages!! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteSomething I can do with grandchildren too! TY for this drawing,,,
ReplyDeleteThe possibilities are virtually endless I can't wait to play!! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeletefantastic tutorial and giveaway!!! ♥
ReplyDeleteThanks for wonderful ideas. I read every post.
ReplyDeleteThe red button for the giveaway just kept entering me for the subscription to the newsletter which I already receive. Oh well!
ReplyDeleteI plan to get out my round Gelli plate later on this week and will definitely have to make my own foam printing plates. Thanks for the wonderful tutorial.
Love the tutorial!!! This looks like a lot of fun... to play and create at the same time? WINNER!! Thank you for the chance to win!
ReplyDeletePerfect timing with this video, I just bought a friend a 5x7 plate. We are going to have a printing party using some of these techniques! I have a 6x6 plate, it's going to be fun! Thanks for the tutorial.
ReplyDeleteGelli plates are so much fun,
ReplyDeleterelaxing too in a Zen-like way,
just paint and stamp and print away *winks*
Makes me want to play all the more! Thanks for the tut and the chance to win!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the creative possibilities!!! And for the chance to win!
ReplyDeleteAnother wonderful set of ideas with inexpensive materials. Love it.
ReplyDeleteWOW ..i love it all so much. what a wealth of great ideas. and amazing products. wishing and hoping. thanks for the chance
ReplyDeleteI just bought a book on Gelli Printing from JoAnn's and can't wait to get started. I love to watch your tutorials tutorials for your wonderful ideas, techniques, and inspiration!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful give-away! I live in Spain so I hope it's international. It's quite difficult to find art supplies where I live so fingers crossed!
ReplyDeleteLOVE the fun foam idea. I've made my own stamps using it but never anything like this. I just love what you have done here. Thank you so much for sharing.
DeleteThank you for another great giveaway!! Love all the tutorials and my Gelli!! š
ReplyDeleteFabulous ideas - thanks so much
ReplyDeleteFantastic video, so many hints and tips using everyday objects, wonderful inspiration, thank you x
ReplyDeleteOoh, I just love my Gelli Arts plate! After wanting one for year, I finally bought one (8 x 10 inch) with Christmas gift money that I was given. I had SO much fun making wonderful paintings with it! I am using very very inexpensive paints, so the stencils don't seem to be working very well. So, I just blended and smushed paint blobs and some gloss acrylic medium, and had fun making very colourful abstract prints - wonderful for backgrounds for cards, and some I really like just as paintings! It is so good for my soul to have vibrant glorious colours here in the middle of a snowy winter in Canada! Thank you to Gelli Arts for a wonderful product, and for very informative and inspiring videos!
ReplyDeleteIt looks great. I love the ghost print you get. Xx Sam
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I am so happy to find you. I need more info about using the Gelli Plate. Thanks! kReN@afourthlife.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI am currently teaching a series of Gelliplate classes this is perfect for one of them!!!
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