Simply Irresistible

Hello all, and a very warm welcome (though it's pretty chilly here, yet again)!


A new challenge starts today over at eclectic Paperie, and it's a really cool one!  Our host is Julie, who would like to see what we all get up to with Gel Medium.


It's such versatile stuff, and there's lots of different ways to get crafty with it - check out Julie's amazing technique here, along with all the challenge details and rules.


I decided to play one of my favourite games and create a resist for some inky loveliness.  Yes, I'm back with another tag!!


First of all, I gave the tag a coat of Picket Fence Distress Paint, so that the colour coming through the transparent resist would be paler than the straight manila of the tag.











Then I splodged some Golden Gel Medium (Soft Gloss) onto the craft mat, and used a sponge to apply it to my stamp... yup, you spotted it: the wonderful Unity hedgerow flowers, Delicate Flowers by Donna Downey.

After stamping, it was straight to the sink and plenty of nailbrush action to make sure I'd got all the medium off my precious stamp!








One of the lovely things about using the medium like this is that you get not only a glossy finish, but also a bit of dimension to your image.












I used Distress Stains and Inks to build up layers of colour onto the background.

The opaque Distress Paint underneath slightly alters how the colours "take", which I quite enjoy.









I used another Unity stamp, Christy Tomlinson's yummy SheArt Print Texture to add some, yes, texture to my inks.  Some stampings are done in Faded Jeans Distress Ink, some in Memento Teal Zeal, and some in Olive Archival.

I rolled it on and off pretty randomly...

The three sentiments are also Unity - Donna Downey again - and I stamped them in Olive Archival onto a sticky-back canvas ATC.










I cut round them and then used Faded Jeans to give the edges some definition







I love the texture of the canvas, and I also love that you can just peel off the back and stick it down - dead simple!








Well, it wouldn't be right not to top the thing off, and I went with one of my current favourite combinations: some dyed crinkle ribbon tied together with paper string.

I dyed the ribbons initially with Distress Stains, and then decided that they'd look better with a touch of the opaque shabby look that using Distress Paint gives them, so I added some Picket Fence DP to the mix.










So that's one pretty simple game to play with Gel Medium... I can't wait to see what creative games you all get up to with it!

There's a prize voucher for the eclectic Paperie store on offer, generously sponsored by the lovely Kim of eP - so get out your sticky thinking caps and show us what you've got!

For now, thank you so much for stopping by, and I'll see you soon - either here, or elsewhere in Craftyblogland!

Stand before the people you fear and speak your mind - even if your voice shakes.
Maggie Kuhn

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow".
Mary Anne Radmacher

It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.
Madeleine Albright


Click on the link to go straight to the product (I used Golden Gel Medium, which I think might be in stock quite soon - but either of the options here would also work):