Thursday 26 February 2015

Gelli Printed Art Travel Bag

Here's my travelling art and craft bag that I have decorated with gelli prints.

When I first saw one of these plain canvas tool bags I fell in love - it was decorated by Lucy Lampshade. Then late last year Gelli Arts® decorated one with Gelli® prints and I loved that one too! A year later I succumbed to getting one - sent all the way from the USA - many thanks to Cindy Jones Lantier!!
They can be bought at Harbor Freight - http://www.harborfreight.com/canvas-riggers-bag-38124.html

Here's how I decorated mine:

1. Gelli print fabric:

1 metre of cotton material
1 metre of iron on lining - this makes the material stronger and easier to print and sew
Gelli Arts® plate, acrylic paint, texture makes, stencils

1a. Cut your fabric just larger than your gelli plate then iron on your lining.
1b. Print your fabric and decorate it to suit you.  I used normal acrylic paint - in some places I did not have enough paint on the plate or the paint had dried (it's summer down under). Experiment, use fabric paint if you have it as you may get a better result.

The latest Gelli Arts® video demonstrated how to use foam sheets to make great texture on your plate so I tried this and loved my result.

Here are my Gelli® printed fabric pieces:
The feather stencil comes from Sarah Jane at Rainbow Gecko Gallery. Thank you!

2. Make your panels:

2a.  I made this stencil and used a lead pencil to outline my panel.

2b.  When I cut out my panels I added half an inch to the lead pencil stencil outline for my seam.

2c. I folded the material along the pencil line then I ironed down the seams.


2d. I sewed along the seams/edges.


3. Glue your panels to the bag:

I used fabric glue but you could use a hot glue gun. Be generous with the glue.  I held the top of the panels down with pegs but this has left an indentation on some of the panels.


Voilà!!

I love my bag!!!  It is several hours work but if you don't have a sewing machine then glue down your seams before gluing the panels to the bag.  the side panels are just one panel as I really liked how the print turned out and wanted to show off the whole section and not cut it up.

Many thanks to Lucy Lampshade, Gelli Arts®  and to Nicole Maki - whose bag and blog I found through Pinterest.   I like to gather all the knowledge I can before embarking on a project and found these blogs to be helpful.


Monday 16 February 2015

Meet Miss Kallie

Meet Miss Kallie - she's Miss Frida's younger sister and she loves colour!  Kallie is short for Kaleidoscope!!! I couldn't find a gemstone/mineral for K so my friend Lin suggested Kaliedoscope which I loved as Kallie.

Miss Kallie
Mixed Media on Mixed Media Paper
42cm x 30cm = 16 1/2" x 12"
Miss Kallie's face/hair was created on watercolour paper with watersoluble crayons and pencils, and acrylic paint. Her clothes and headband are gelli prints.  The background is mixed media paper painted with acrylic paints.

I have a busy week ahead but should have Miss Lapis Lazuli ready for you next Monday or earlier hopefully! Then I'll be busy creating Miss Monica Moonstone, Miss N?, Miss Opal and Miss Pearl.

Miss Kallie is available to purchase through my Etsy store.

Friday 13 February 2015

Meet Miss Jade the Jester

Meet Miss Jade in her Jester costume....

Miss Jade
Mixed Media on Mixed Media Paper
42cm x 30cm = 16 1/2" x 12"
Her face was created on watercolour paper with watersoluble crayons and pencils and acrylic paint.  Jade's clothes and hat are gelli prints and the mixed media paper background has been gelli printed too.

Miss Jade is available to purchase in my Etsy store.

I shall create some more jesters towards the end of the alphabet when I run out of gemstones/minerals to name my girls.

Meet Miss Kallie on Monday and meet my other girls - Miss Amethyst, Miss Beryl, Miss Charlotte, Miss Diamond, Miss Emerald, Miss Frida, Miss Goldie and Miss Honey here....



Wednesday 11 February 2015

Meet Miss Ivory

Here is Miss Ivory - she looks like a bride!

Miss Ivory
Mixed Media on Mixed Media Paper
42cm x 30cm = 16 1/2" x 12"

She has a collaged gelli printed background that I glazed. I used gelli printed papers for her clothes and headband.  Her face and hair are created with watercolour crayons and pencils and acrylic paint. The border is made of home-made washi tape.

Have you met my other girls  - Miss Amethyst, Miss Beryl, Miss Charlotte, Miss Diamond, Miss Emerald, Miss Frida, Miss Goldie and Miss Honey???

Check back later this week to meet Miss Jade and Miss Kallie!!!

Monday 9 February 2015

Meet Miss Honey

Meet Miss Honey - do you like her beehive hat?  Does she need a bee?

Miss Honey
Mixed Media on Black Card
42cm x 30cm = 16 1/2" x 12"

I couldn't find a gemstone/jewel/mineral that I liked for the letter H so I chose Honey.

I used gelli prints for her clothes and hat and her face was created with watercolour crayons and pencils and acrylic paint.

Miss Honey is available to purchase through my Etsy store.

This was the second Honey I created as the first one below wasn't working for me so I stopped and started afresh - which is okay to do.


Have you met my other girls  - Miss Amethyst, Miss Beryl, Miss Charlotte, Miss Diamond, Miss Emerald, Miss Frida and Miss Goldie???

Check back later this week to meet Miss Ivory, Miss Jade and Miss Kallie!!!

Friday 6 February 2015

Meet Miss Goldie

Miss Goldie - I actually created two Miss Goldies - one was going to be Miss Ivory but I gave her a crown and then thought that a crown should be gold so I made her Miss Goldie.

Miss Goldie
Mixed Media on Mixed Media Paper
42cm x 30cm = 16 1/2" x 12"


She has a gelli printed background and I used gelli printed papers for her clothes and crown.  Her face and hair are created with watercolour crayons and pencils and acrylic paint. The border is made of home-made washi tape.

Here's the first Miss Goldie - I will do a similiar girl as Miss Ivory.

Miss Goldie 2
Mixed Media on Mixed Media Paper
42cm x 30cm = 16 1/2" x 12"
She has an acrylic paint background and I used gelli printed papers for her clothes and headband.  Her face and hair are created with watercolour crayons and pencils and acrylic paint. The border is made of home-made washi tape.
Miss Goldie 2 is available to purchase through my Etsy store.
Check back on Monday to see Miss Honey - I had to restart her again as she wasn't working for me the first time....
Have you met my other girls  - Miss Amethyst, Miss Beryl, Miss Charlotte, Miss Diamond and Miss Emerald and Miss Frida???