Sunday, May 19, 2013

Homemade gelli plate *Updated


I am one of those people that weigh it over long and hard before I make a purchase. I like to try something out multiple times to see if I'd really use it. The gelli plate looks like so much fun so since I have been laid up a bit, I have been watching lots of youtube videos on gelli plates and art journaling and also reading blogs.  I found two that seemed to make the most sense to me. I lay awake til around 4am Sat. morning and decided.....I have to do something. So I folded some laundry, put dishes in the dishwasher, did a few other things and..............made a gelli plate.  lol  I went back to bed around 5:30am so the gelatin had plenty of time to harden so my daughter and I could play.  :-) I apologize for the quality of pictures.  I think we left the camera at momma's so had to use my phone.

Here is the written recipe and the video I got it from.
Homemade gelli plate
12 packets of knox gelatin
3 cups of boiling water
3 cups of cold water
1 Tbsp of bleach 
(the bleach I found from a sweet older lady on youtube and now don't know where it's at. It will help it to last longer)
Mix (gently) the gelatin and 3 cups of cold water. Slowly stir in hot water. Add bleach. Pour into cookie sheet, pan, etc.  I used an ~9X13 baking pan.  Leave it on the counter to gel for at least an hour. wrap with plastic wrap and store in fridge. If you are going to use the top of it be careful that the plastic is smooth because it will make places in the geletin.

*UPDATE  Lindsay at The Frugal Crafter is awesome!  You'll want to subscribe to her Youtube channel. Not only will you save money but if it's like me.....her energy will make you want to get up and get something done. :-) Anyway, she found a way to make a permanent homemade gelli plate. How cool is that? I am going to use mine with bleach until it gives out on me and then make one with her recipe.  
 Here is the permanent gelatin plate recipe, remember if you damage the plate you can nuke it on high in the microwave for a minute and reset it!
7 packets of gelatin (6Tablespoons)
mix into:
1 cup of alcohol mixed with 1/2 cup glycerin (room temperature)
then add:
1.5 cups boiling water and pour it into a shallow pan to set.

My daughter and I played with the one I made again and had so much fun. I did check to see how much the ingredients would cost for this one and it's approximately $9 - $10 give or take some. Since I already have the alcohol it will be less for me. :-) *

Below you can see me getting it out of the pan and after I had laid it on the baking sheet. The bottom photo is my daugher using stamps in the paint to make a print. She and I had so much fun and I loved that she "wanted" to create with me. <3 p="">

Here are some picture of my daughter creating and some of her pages. 

More pictures of the pages my daughter did.  I love the one on the right. She used bubble wrap.


Here are 4 prints I got from one time.  I put the stencils on and got two, and then after I took them off, was able to get two more.

If you use too much paint.....you will get what happened below.  Still pretty but not quite what we were going for. :-)

On this one the first print is with the stencil on, the second is with the stencil off, and the third is where I laid the stencil down on a piece of paper after I took it off. 

This one is the same...first one with stencil on, second with stencil off.  
TIP! If you are using a stencil with words place it backwards on your gelli plate to get it correct on your print. :-)
 I hope this was helpful to some of you. And I'm thinking.....with as much fun as my daughter and I had....it would be well worth my money to get a gelli plate. It was an inexpensive way to try it out and see if I would want it and......I plan on having lots of fun with it next week.  If you have any questions feel free to ask.
Hugs!


15 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm wondering how long the homemade plate lasts? I would like to try this. Also... Do you have to keep it cold in the fridge between uses... I'm thinking you would. Thanks for sharing!

mikosspot.blogspot.com said...

OMG, how amazing is this!! I actually had the same questions as Shawna.. lol

SandeeNC said...

Excellent prints, and so impressed that you made a gelli plate too!! waving hi from the "omg, it's NOT raining" hills of North Carolina ♥

Anna said...

Andy, these turned out SO neat!! You and Brooke made some terrific prints! You will find it is definitely addicting!

Sharing My Thoughts said...

Shawna and Tamiko,
The people that I've read about or watched say 3-4 weeks. The lady that said to put bleach in it, I think she said would help it to last longer. You are supposed to keep in the refrigerator in between uses. Hope this helps. :-)
Andy

Becky said...

Andy those are great prints! I just bought stuff to make my own plate this evening. I'm doing the version of the plate with glycerine and alcohol in it.

What kind of paper are you printing on? Does it matter? I'm totally new to this whole printing thing, but looking forward to it!

Sharing My Thoughts said...

Becky, the first time we did it I used mixed media paper and just plain old card stock. The next time I used dictionary pages, sketch book pages, atlas pages, and cardstock. It's fun to just try all kinds of papers. I thought about trying it on some of that old scrapbook paper that I got in sets and some of it wasn't so pretty. haha

Sandy said...

you did some awesome prints with your gelli plate and Brooke was all smiles so looked like you both aced the Gelli challenge. What wonderful prints you have to play with now will be looking forward to seeing what you are going to make..
Following you was surprised when I realised I wasn't already..
Sandy :)

Anonymous said...

Fascinating. Just found this and want to try it it.

Kristy Tyra said...

When you say "alcohol", do you mean drinking alcohol, or rubbing alcohol.

Sharing My Thoughts said...

Kristy, Rubbing alcohol. :-)

Petrin said...

It is already 2014, and i feel crazy about this gelli plate!...so crazy that i used an "ICE HOT gelpack" - and got beautiful card size impressions...Ha, Ha, Ha...now i will be trying your recipe with the glycerine, but it is very difficult to find the pure one. My question: can i use the one that comes to produce soap?...this one contains other ingredients. Your advice is appreciated...Petrin

sandra said...

Hey, just wanted to say, I made the rubbing alcohol one, and it was a stink lumpy mess! If you revisit the frugal crafter post, u will see she updated it to omit alcohol and add sugar, to make one which stores on the shelf. Just saying.......

Lisa Shea said...

I'm pretty sure microwaving alcohol is fairly dangerous - it's flammable and its specific heat is lower than water. I would highly recommend never putting alcohol into a microwave. I would suggest making a note in the recipe so people don't get hurt.

Sherry said...

Hi has there been any new updates for the recipe of a permanent Gelli plate
As I have changed the amount of glycerine to 1 cup and added less alcohol
Sometimes I have used less water and more glycerine to make my plate less spongie
I still get good prints any suggestions as to tweaking the recipe?
Thank you