Free Mono Printing and
Handmade Stamp Tutorial
​Written And Designed By Janet M. McDonald Davies - New Zealand
I found Gelli Plates and have got hooked on Mono-Printing with Acrylic Paints. I have also made my own foam stamps to use on the printing. ​In among the Owl photos below I tell how I made my foam stamps.
I made the two designs above with 2 layers of printing. Then outlined the designs with black ink. I made full sheet size abstract stamps as below. 
These Peace designs were made with 3 layers of printing. I made a foam stamp and a soft plastic stencil. I outlined the designs with black ink.


​I made my own foam stamp from a Butterfly design I drew. The stamp is 10cm tall.

In the photo (left) the first layer is a stencil mono-printing with acrylic paints on my gelli plate. 

The second layer is the butterfly stamp with acrylic paint.

The third layer is yellow acrylic paint stamped with fine corrugated cardboard. 

​I love Russian Nesting Dolls.  I made a foam stamp of one, based on a wood burning design I had made in the past. The stamp is 10cm tall.

After mono-printing the backgrounds with 2 or 3 layers I then stamped on the doll using acrylic paints. 
Picture
wood burnt design
I made my own foam stamps from a flower design I drew. The large stamp is 8cm tall. 

After mono-printing the backgrounds with 2 or 3 layers, I then stamped on the flowers using acrylic paints. 
Below I made my own foam stamp from an Owl design, I had previously designed and stitched for needlework. The stamp is 10cm tall. The paper background I mono-printed with acrylic paints on my gelli plate. Then I dabbed with a sponge the acrylic paint onto the foam stamp.

How to Stamp with Acrylic Paint.
-Because the stamp line impressions are not very deep. Do not load the stamp up with lots of acrylic paint.

-Pat a clean, dry sponge into a small puddle of paint.

-Pat the sponge with paint onto the top of the stamp. 

- Do not rub the sponge across the surface of the stamp or it may fill the impression lines.

-Gently pat the stamp surface until the stamp is covered in paint.

-Press stamp onto your paper. Use a brayer to gently roll over the back of stamp. But do not get too close to the edge of the cardboard with the brayer or fingers, or you may end up showing the stamp cardboard edges on the paper. 

- The stamp will work better if the paint from the Gelli print itself is dry before stamping. 
How I made the stamp
- The design outline of the owl was drawn on paper.

- The design paper is placed over the top a piece of thin (2mm thick) cheap craft (eva) foam. 
​
- I have then drawn into the design outline with a pointed tool. You could use a fine crochet hook, knitting needle, sharp pointed ballpoint pen or thick blunt mending sewing needle. 

- Once the design can be seen on the foam, then remove paper and press grooves onto the foam into the design lines with your tool. 

- Cut out around the edge of the total foam design impression.

- Glue the foam stamp onto a thick piece of cardboard and allow to dry.

- Now trim cardboard about 3mm away from the edge of the stamp to make a border.

- See below how to use the stamp.
For the left hand yellow/orange mono-print I used a flattened clothes peg basket for my background stencils/stamps. I used the squares on the first layer. Then the round end sides on the second layer. Also on the second layer with a cut out piece of paper in the shape of a cat head. 
For the purple/red mono-print above I used bubble wrap for the first layer and then a star shaped cookie cutter, which I twisted slightly for the top layer. Also on the top layer I pressed some areas with the bottom of a fine metal sieve. Also on the second layer I used a cut out piece of paper in the shape of a cat head.
Above: I started with a 12 cm bare canvas block and plain white paper. I printed the leaves etc onto the plain paper with mono-printing, using acrylic paints and used about 4 colours. I made two paper colour combinations. I adhered the papers to the block. Then computer printed the words onto cream paper and adhered them to the backgrounds. Then highlighted with gold ink. Céad míle fáilte is Gaelic for ‘a hundred thousand welcomes’.
I have searched the internet for making my own Gelli Plate, but I have not seen a recipe that will stand the test of time yet. So I bought a Gelli Arts plate. Below is a video on how to use the plate.