New Toy: Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate

Thanks to the ever-creative, and ever-resourceful Penny Arrowood, I have a new toy to play with.  It's the  Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate for "monoprinting without a press".  Penny used one to do a demo at our recent Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild play date, to several rounds of enthusiastic  'oohs' and 'aahs'.  I decided I had to have one right then and there.  They're only available online, and I ordered the 6"x6" plate which came very quickly.  I later discovered a Facebook page devoted to all things Gelli Arts, here. 

At left you'll see the results of my first attempts at gelatin printing with the Gel Printing Plate.  I used some of my own hand carved rubber stamps (you know I love carving new ones, and this was a great excuse to do that!), as well as one Penny made for me (the large circle with squares).  And, at the left edge of the photo is a strip of drawings for new rubber stamps I'm considering carving next.

Working with the printing plate was pretty easy, though I have yet to come up with the perfect amount of paint to use for the best results (practice makes better, if not perfect, though).  I did find that it was easier to use liquid acrylics than heavier bodied paints (although the heavier ones did provide a deeper, richer color).  I also found that cleaning the stamp between impressions on the plate produced the best images (though I'm usually too impatient to do that!).  I liked being able to use a number of different stamps on the same plate, and the fun of seeing results so quickly is great for those of us who have problems with delay of creative gratification.  I have yet to explore using more than one layer, or using textures other than rubber stamps (like the strip of ribbon with holes at the bottom left of the photo, which was a gift with purchase of the Gel Printing Plate--thanks, ladies!), but I look forward to doing that and more with my 'new toy'!

Have you tried the Gel Printing Plate yet?  If so, what did you think?