New Year, New Toys, New Techniques

 

I bought a gel press last fall and never had time to play with it, so you could say it is new to me and using it with acrylic paint is a whole new experience.  Acrylics don't behave like ink and have a bit of a learning curve, but you can get effects you can't get with ink.  It is definitely a lesson in letting go because despite your planning, you can never be sure exactly what you are going to end up with.  That's part of what makes it so fun!  Right now I am practicing putting down a layer using different colors of paint and picking it back up on paper, otherwise known as pulling the print.  

I needed a birthday card for my husband, had a bunch of prints, and saw this Freshly Made Sketch:

I could see little cats sitting/standing in squares cut from my prints just like they were in windows.  Did I mention he is the world's best catdad?  I cut pieces out of several prints, sponged Archival ink along the edges and set about to arranging them, deciding on the more muted colors for the front and using the leftover bolder pieces for the inside below:

I used a die from Obsession Impression that doesn't seem to have a name other than Cat Set (DIE083-K) to cut the cats on the front from glossy black cardstock  and the ones on the inside from regular black cardstock.  I used a Simon Says Stamp die to cut the Happy Birthday from glossy black cardstock, the Kat Scrappiness die set, Pet Sentiments Brush Script Word and Sentiments, to cut the word love, and an old Stampin' Up die to cut the word you.  The card base was cut from Hero Arts Hero Hues Premium Pitch Black 111 lb. cardstock. 

I am also entering this card in the Cut It Up Birthday Card and Time Out New challenges.  Thank you for stopping by!  Until next time, Hansi