Monoprinting

 

Thank you for hanging in there with me.  I hope you are enjoying the cards and that you will find something that may be helpful and or inspiring to you in your crafting journey.   This will be card number three (3) of my Altenew Educator Certification Program (AECP) level III projects.   Card #3 is for the Monoprinting class.  Monoprinting or another name Gel Printing uses as the name is implies Gel like shapes to transfer different media like acrylic paint, dye inks, pigment inks to different sub straits such as tissue paper, vellum, cardstock, etc.  You can use other things such as stamps to take your Monoprinting to the next level.   You can purchase Gel pads on-line (Amazon) or at places like Hobby Lobby, JoAnn’s, or Michaels if you are in the U.S. 

I purchased a set of pads from Amazon last year but never had an opportunity to use them.  I was so excited to see the Monoprinting class in the Altenew crafting class library.   This was my first time doing Monoprinting; although I had seen it done many times on YouTube videos.  I will say it was not as easy as I thought it was going to be.  I did several and I do mean several practice prints before I got to one that I thought might work.  I found that I had difficulty with colour combinations.  A tip that was very helpful was to graduate one colour or you could use the colour combinations by Kristina Werner on Pinterest.  She has put together some amazing colour combinations.  After several what I called failed attempts, I decided to monoprint with a monocolour (lol).   Graduating one colour was a little less anxiety provoking for me.   Something to remember is your print experience is greatly influence by the sub strait and media you use.   Since this was my first attempt and not going as I expected, I kept it simple with dye ink and card stock.   I like the abstractness of the prints and using stamps and other items to give the print further definition really helped. 

I used a blue ink and graduated the colour starting with the most concentration of ink at the bottom.  I kept using what was on the pad until it was nearly gone.  I added droplets of water and square stenciling in gold to give it a grunge look.  After it was dried I used Altenew’s LeafCanopy stamp set add some leaves to the print.  I wasn’t happy with the print while I was creating, but what I learn during the AECP classes was to keep going eventually something will come to you.  I’m glad I kept going.  In the end I manage to come out with something I’m at least okay with.  For me what really made me like the card was the sentiment.  I think using Altenew’s “A Note Of Thanks” stamp from the Many Thanks Stamp Set trimmed in gold brought the card together.   Here are a few phots of my finished card.

Thank you for taking the time to visit.  Card #4 coming up.

Joyce