Sounds like a new recipe doesn’t it? Well, there is a recipe involved but you won’t want to eat it. But it can become addictive.

On some of the comments on the Documented Life Project Facebook page, I was noticing people talk about using a gelli plate. I had never heard of it and our local craft stores did not have one. So I did what my grandson told me when he was quite young and I was not able to answer his questions- “Just Google it, Grandma!”  I watched a lot of You Tube videos of people using gelli plates to make beautiful paper prints that could be used for all kinds of papercrafting. Even my grandkids were fascinated with the videos and can’t wait to try it.

When I saw the price of ordering a gelli plate, I decided it would have to wait a while. The prices range from about $30 to near $100 depending on the size. I want to make sure it is something I really like first.  However, I did see several ways of making your own homemade plate. Here’s one. Here’s what I did:

I bought glycerin (100% pure vegetable glycerine) from our local natural food store as well as bulk gelatin (you could also buy the Knox packets of gelatin in the grocery store but the bulk was cheaper.)

First step was to put enough water into my pan (an 8X8 inch glass pan) to measure 3/4 inch deep. Then I poured the water into a measuring cup to see how much liquid was needed total. I needed 3 cups total.

I poured 1 1/2 cups of glycerin into my measuring cup. Then added 6 Tbsp of gelatin to the glycerin and carefully stirred until it was mixed in. The ratio of gelatin needed is 2 Tbsp gelatin to 1 cup of liquid.The next step was to measure 1 1/2 cups of boiling water, add the gelatin/glycerin mix and stir until the gelatin was completely dissolved. When the mixture looked like it was dissolved and clear I poured it into my glass pan. There were a few bubbles but they quickly popped when I touched them with a flat knife. Next step was to stick the pan into the refrigerator (uncovered) and let it set. After it was set (like VERY thick jello) I used a sharp knife to go around the edge of the pan to loosen the gelli from the walls of the pan. The plan was to loosen it and then gently pry it out with my fingers from one edge and it would fall onto the glass cutting board I was using for my base. Well, that was the plan, but I tried to do it too quickly and tore the gelli. Not to worry though. I broke it all up and put the glass pan into the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes and melted it all again. It was back to the fridge to set again. By the way, you can do that as much as you need to in order to fix it after gouging or tearing it. You also can melt it to put into a new size or shape of pan.Finally, after reseting it, I got my gelli plate out of the pan without mishap and started playing today. I had so much fun experimenting to see what I could do. Here is just a sample of some of my playing today. The creative possibilities are endless. I’ll show you some more details in another post.