Trials with the Creative Palette - follow up to WOYWW 270

Morning Everyone

Blogger took umbrage at something yesterday afternoon and at first just refused to let me leave comments then gave up altogether and just refused! So, in a huff, I went back to my desk and tried out the Creative Palette that was still lying on my desk from this morning. Here's the result of the first trial run.

Some more practice required but you can see from these test pieces that it is possible to get some interesting effects combining inks, I used Colorbox Crafter's re-inkers as recommended by Jane Elizabeth Gill  to begin with ... the two pieces at the front are the result. I only had three colours in the Colorbox so I decided to mix it up a bit with some Distress Inks and you can see that the colours in the prints got a lot stronger. The Distress Inks are a lot thinner than the Colourbox making it easier to spread and easier to make a mess with ... and I did get pretty messy :)

I even found time later yesterday evening to make a card using one of the backgrounds. As best as I can remember the colours used were Limon and Fire (Colourbox) and Mustard Seed, Ripe Persimmon and Salty Ocean (Distress Inks). The texture was created by pulling a comb and 'drawing' curved lines with a pencil eraser before pulling the print from the palette. Using black Archival, I stamped my recently acquired Feathered Bird (Lost Coast Designs) ... it was love at first sight, I just had to have this dishevelled little fellow even though I shouldn't  ... and the greeting (from Stampin' Up's Wetlands set). To finish, the piece is matted on to a snippet of black card and two wee black dewdrops are the only decoration.

So what is the difference between the Gelli plate, which I already have and love, and the Creative Palette: Well, they are both monoprinting plates but where the gelli plate mimics a thick gelatin plate the creative palette is thinner and firmer - made of the same stuff, I think, as some clear stamps. I've not tried paint on the palette because, and this was one of the reasons for my purchase, I found that I could use my ink pads and re-inkers instead. For more information and instruction on what can be done with the palette check out this Stampendous YouTube video, which demonstrates it's potential so much better than I ever can. I've also discovered a great article on Sarah Anderson's blog, The Art of Moodling, which is well worth reading too.

Just from a personal perspective, I love both the Gelli plate and the Creative palette because using them is easier on the old hands. I've tried sponging backgrounds, in the manner of Sheena Douglas and Barbara Gray, but found the process can often lead to very painful cramps in my hands - I have RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury). Using either of these plates takes the pain out of creating my own backgrounds.
After spotting the palette on my desk shot yesterday, I hope you found this post answers any questions that might have occurred to you.

I'm submitting this card to Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 136 - used a snippet of black card for the matting.

The sun is shining, the washing is hung out, the EM is mowing the lawn, even though he shouldn't be doing that with his hip ... he's now going for blood tests and a scan to see what is at the bottom of it all ... and the cat is demanding my attention, so I'm off. Hope to be back later.

Have a great day.

Happy Crafting,

PS: just in case you wondered, I am in no way connected to the makers of the Creative Palette, nor will I benefit from this post in anyway :)