Blog Hop Fathers Day - Paper or Cloth?

Fathers day is rapidly approaching and I have here a little project you can do for  your dear ol dad.

Welcome to our "Just For Him" blog hop with Gel Press™!  Please take time to hop through all the great blogs of our designers for inspiration.  Go back to the Gel Press Blog Hop and leave a comment as to which blog project gave you the most inspiration!  We will draw a random winner from the comments to win a prize from Gel Press™

You will find links to all the projects below

This  also includes a perfect project for kids too. At home or at school.

The point of this post is what you can do with your Gel Press™ Prints.  They are so versatile that they can be used for any project requiring printed papers - or even cloth.

This is the first time that I have used my Gel Press™ plates as a platform for printing fabric, but what a lovely experience it was.

I used the large format Gel Press™ plate 12 x 14 as it suited my needs perfectly and I needed to cover a large area.

I used an old white cotton shirt of mine to test the method.  And was very pleased with the results.

FABRIC BOWTIE with Gel Press™ 

CLICKHERE for both the pattern and how to tie the bow tie - please refer to this for the instructions for cutting out and construction

***TIP*** 

Always be sure to comment, and thank the originator of a project or photo....without these generous people (us included) these projects and tutorials  wouldn't circulate like they now do! 

Materials

12" x 14" Gel Press™ large format plate
Old white cotton shirt
Acrylic Paints
Brayer
Stencils and stamps
Card and Paper stock

With your chosen colours brayer paints evenly and lightly and include stamps or stencils to lay down pattern.  Carefully place your fabric over the plate and smooth firmly but gently making sure you don't disturb the fabric.  Peel off carefully.  Leave to dry!

I ws thrilled with the result and immediately pulled a ghost print above the original, in case I needed it. (Now saved for future use)  I also repeated the process over the rest of the shirt in other colours.  Again, saved for future use. Go to the site and proceed to print out the pattern layout and cut out the pieces.  I deliberately made it half the length for this exercise.  You would need two neck extensions for a "real" neck......

I then pressed each piece and ironed on the interfacing to the relevant sections and sewed together following the instructions.

This can of course be made as a tiable bowtie or a static bow with adjustable straps.  

I am really happy with the results....Now to make it more special!

Take a piece of A4 white card fold in half. Open, cut approx 4 cms down the middle and turn the collar 3/4 way own.  Cut 3cm  towards right from centre and 3cm on the other side, so it looks like photo A.  Turn up corners of first fold.  Draw line down centre from neckline (optional) for shirt opening.  For waistcoat chose complimentary print to bowtie.  Fold to fit front across shoulders and stick down.  Lapels could be cut also.  Trim to fit when dry.  Add 3 buttons to the front and hey presto....you are done!  Fix the Bowtie to the card so that it can be removed easily.

You could of course do the same process for making a standard tie. 

Here I created a very simple card using a Gel Press™ print for an Origami paper tie that I glued to the front of the card.  Simple but effective!  Doing a fabric one would be just as fun!

Here are three more shirts, (short sleeved) made by using the Origami techniques that I found whilst surfing Pinterest (as you do)! Pinterest links to Origami models

Each of these have additional features like the pocket or turned up sleeves.  Use your imagination.  They can be opened to reveal a message or gift, or stuck to a card.  Lets see what you come up with!
  
There are so many wonderful techniques out there but ONLY your printed design makes it unique.

I hope you have enjoyed this feature visiting all the creative design teams items and we look forward to hearing your comments and seeing who will be this months winner!

***BONUS***

Want a bonus chance to win a prize from Gel Press™?  Between now and Father's Day (June 19, 2016) create your own "Just For Him" project and post it on our Facebook page Gel Press Junkies!  Everyone that plays along will be entered in a drawing as well.  Yes, we would love you to use a Gel Press™ in your entry- but you don't have to! Just make a fabulous project featuring Fathers Day and post it!  Maybe you will win a Gel Press™! 

To Qualify for the drawing: 

1) You may enter a maximum of 3 times with individual projects.

2) You must by 18 years old.

3) You must live in the USA.

4) Mentioning other products or other companies in your post disqualifies your project.

See you again next month

Bixxy xx

Please Hop to the next blog hop post via these links....

Ann

Bix   ( You are here )

Cindi

Cyndi

Elena

Kathy

Keri

Lea

Sandee

Teresa   

        
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Concertina Style Sketchbook

I am using my Gel Press™ prints for the covers of this concertina style sketchbook.  After an enormously inspirational day last week holding a Draw with Stitch workshop here at Bandouille with the lovely Jenny Harris last week my ideas are spiralling. 

The idea is based on Free motion stitching and the prints are perfect for this technique as the acrylic paint has given each print the stability to withstand the needles going through and added to that after the page has been glued to the backing card it is further stabilized!
Please click here to view the video slideshow


After I chose my base paper Gel Press™ prints I then embellished them by glueing on the two birds and embroidered around a similar flower from another print, cut it out and glued it on. I finished these off by sewing in Free motion around each element.

Select some card

Glue prints to the card after embellishment.  Here I have used another set of prints

You can add a pocket with clear acetate on outside back to collect bits of memorablia

The buttons and beads just added a bit of fun and the elastic holds the pages together when not in use.  The ends of the elastic are hidden by the first page of the sketchbook and will be glued into place also

Glue to pages onto the prepared card and fold over the edges neatly and also glue into place

Glue the embellished page to the front page of the book taking care to line it up and then glue the back to the back page.

Go as far as you want!

I hope you enjoyed this little project and will try this yourselves......

See you again soon

Bixxy x

Sketching in Lanzerote April 2016

Just a quick post to show that I still paint!  Of course that is something that I would never give up.

Having just been to Lanzerote I brought my faithful paints and brushes with me together with a couple sketchbooks.

I am still at a loss though with sketchbooks and will finally decide on the right one for me!  But at the moment just have some basic watercolour ones and a couple cartiridge paper ones which I like the effect of but not the buckling of the paper when wet.  I am also in the process of making my own sketchbooks, but that will have to be another post in the near future!

So here are some of my sketches.

The aim was no longer than 20 minutes and try and get some different heights going to exercise my perspective lessons.

Also bear in mind I was painting by the pool and the beach only in a bikini.....so I didnt want to hang around cooking only one side of me!!!!

Having just joined on a online perspective sketching course with Stephanie Bower (Craftsy - great value) I was determined to test some theories and was pleased with the results.

These are by no means works of art that are wall worthy or sale-able but did what they needed to do and that was to give me more confidence in recording what I was seeing and having a "reasonable" entry in my sketchbook.

All advice received gratefully on urban sketching and keeping a "good" sketchbook.  Its what I am striving towards, so that when I finally do more travelling I can record in fab detail the things that stir me!

So if you you didn't know we do Art Holidays visit www.francepaintingholiday.com and book a week with us where we can go out sketching and come back to do the painting from the sketch in the afternoon.

We still have places left on Jane Minters workshop which I am really looking forward to this year so contact me now if you want to reserve a place.   You wont be disappointed!

Till nextime

Bx