PaperArtsy: 2019 #3 Mail Art: Gel-printed Envelope with ETS {by Anneke de Clerck}

2019 Topic 3: Mail Art

Some amazing mail art from Anneke, with a very cool way to do a gel print and who knew that the inside of envelopes could look that good?!!

Hi everyone, it's Anneke with you today, and I'd like to share with you a project I created for the new 'Mail Art' topic. I'm planning to send a notebook to a friend as a small gift. I decided to make a matching envelope for the notebook and to decorate it too. I wanted it to be a colorful envelope and I hope my example will make my friend smile when she opens her letter box.

I used a gel printing technique inspired by a video by Kate Crane. It's a quick and easy way to add color to a background. I added stamping, stenciling, collaging, doodling and stitching to the gel print. I also recycled some used envelopes to further decorate my project.

This is what my finished envelope looks like.

I started by making 2 gel prints on Smoothy Regular A4 White Stamping Card. I worked with Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics Sugar Plum, Cherry Red, Smoked Paprika, Double Denim, Inky Pool and Snowflake. With a brayer I 'painted' stripes on a large gel printing plate.

When that layer was dry I added a thin layer of Golden Fluid Acrylics Titanium White on top. This layer works as an activating coat.

I immediately pulled a print. Love the distressed look of the print. I repeated the process to make a second similar print. I cut a rectangle out of each gel print, one for the front and one for the back of the envelope.

I made one rectangle a bit higher and folded the extra to the back to create a flap.

Before assembling I further decorated the front of the envelope.

I created big flowers randomly by sponging a few layers of Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics Snowflake through the PS126 stencil.

I added background stamping using various stamps from the ETS24 and ETS25 stamp set.

I inked up the stamps with Distress Oxide Ink Ripe Persimmon, Stazon Ink Cherry Pink and Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics Double Denim.

White envelopes often have nice patterns on the inside. I dug out some used envelopes, picked a few with a beautiful pattern inside and stamped a flower from the ETS25 set twice on top using Archival Ink Jet Black.

After cutting out I adhered both flowers to the envelope with Matte Medium.

I highlighted the address label by stamping arrows using a stamp from the ETS25 set and Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics Sugar Plum. I outlined the arrows as well as the blue dots with a white pen. The black scallops were done with a stamp from the ETS15 set.

After decorating I put both rectangles on top of each other and machine stitched along the edges to close the envelope. To increase the distressed look I applied Archival Ink Jet Black to the edges of the envelope using a blending tool.

I'm pleased with how the gel printing technique turned out. Kate Crane worked with Dina Wakley Media paints in the video but the Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics are perfect to use as well. The first layer has to be touch dry before you can add the activating coat. While applying this technique it's a big advantage the Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics dry quickly.

I also love how the collaged flowers turned out. I'm planning to create more projects using the patterned paper inside white envelopes. I collected a whole bunch of these envelopes, they all have different patterns and colors on the inside.

It has been a while since I did some mail art but I'm happy with the outcome. You have to agree my envelope is much more interesting than a boring white or brown one :)

I hope I could inspire you to do some mail art yourself and bring some color into the postman's bag.

Thanks for stopping by!

Anneke

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