Valentine’s Day is coming up so I thought it was time to get busy and start creating. I love making gel press prints and thought this year it would be fun to make a batch of collage style valentines. Each one is embellished with die cut hearts.
My process was the same for each card:
- I flipped through my gel press prints and pulled out some fun, busy, messy designs.
- I added paint splatters and stamping to some of the gel prints.
- I also used some book pages and added stamping and ink blending with stencils.
- I tore pieces off the prints and played around with layouts. For each, I left the top left corner for my sentiment.
- I used UHU glue stics to adhere the torn pieces to cardstock. This glue works great! It dries quickly and fully adheres so there was no need for liquid glue.
- Using my silicone shaper brush, I applied a thin layer of gesso to the top left corner of the card and along the seams of the torn prints. I also added a watercolor wash to these areas.
- I die cut hearts in a variety of sizes from brightly colored gel prints and then distressed the edges with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and a finger dauber. I glued these down to my panel.
- I added +s, dashes and doodles with Inktense pencils, Gel Pens, Posca Acrylic Pens and distressed the edge of the card panel with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and a finger dauber.
- I added a quick stamped sentiment, framed with black cardstock and added to an A2 card base.
The card above has more neutrals which I thought would be perfect for my husband.
I like the two stencils I used on the gel press prints for the card above.
These collage style valentines were SO fun to make! And, since they have a messy casual look, mistakes actually add to the appeal.
I’ve linked to some of the products I used below:
Uni Posca PC-5M White Colour Paint Marker Pens 2.5mm Medium Bullet Tip Nib Writes On Any Surface Metal Wood Plastic Fabric Glass Stone (Pack of 1) Gel Press Gel Printing Plate 5″x7″ 10810 UHU Stic – 0.29 oz / 8.2g Clear Glue Stick – Pack of 3 Derwent Inktense Pencils 24/Pkg, Colors may vary Liquitex 104004 BASICS Gesso Surface Prep Medium Tube, 8.45-oz Sakura 38369 10-Piece Blister Card Glaze 3-Dimensional Glossy Ink Pen Set, Assorted Color Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad, Frayed Burlap Barvotti Silicone Color Shaper Brush (Mottler) – a Flat Sharp-Edged Flexible Tool to Apply, Move and Remove Acrylic Paints and Water Based Medium with Precision – A Studio Essential 1 Inch Wide Bachmore Drawing Pad 9X12”(98lb/160g) 100 Sheets Mixed Media, Watercolor, Acrylic Art Pad for Sketching, Ink Sketchbook, Coloring in Multi-Media Top Spiral Notebook, Micro-Perforated, Heavy Weighted Acrylic Paint Set, Caliart 52 Vivid Colors (22 ml/0.74 oz) Craft Paints Supplies for Artists Kids Students Beginners, Canvas Ceramic Wood Fabric Rock Painting Supplies, Rich Pigments Non Toxic Paints Tombow 62191 MONO Multi Liquid Glue, 0.88 Ounce, 1-Pack. Multi-Purpose Glue with Dual Tip Dispenser for Precise to Full Coverage ApplicationThanks so much for stopping by!
Karen
Kenny's Cards 
Love these! Mixed media is very appealing to me and these examples are very cute(?). I’d love to make large sized mixed media piece for a wall; I guess I should start small. So many things to make, so little time!
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PS – I apologize, I meant to thank you for all the pointers. I think I could make something like this just by following the steps that you included.
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Thank you Linda! Collage is so forgiving and tons of fun. I appreciate your comments. 🙂
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Lina great minds think alike! I feel the same way.
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