TPS: Painterly Handmade PC

I've been playing with making prints by painting with brushes directly onto my Gelli plate since receiving a beautiful print from @BeckyG56 for the TPS: It's a Wrap swap in which she placed wrapping paper under the plate and traced the design with paint. Would you like to join me in experimenting with this fun technique?

• Make one handmade postcard for one partner using a painterly approach...painting directly onto a gelatin plate. Here is a good video tutorial from the Gelli Arts website. You can either place a picture under the plate and trace the design with a loaded brush like @BeckyG56 did for our swap or you can freehand a design onto the plate as the video suggests.

• Securely attach the print to a cardboard backing. Cereal boxes or something similar work well for this. You can use whatever you'd like, keeping in mind that your piece of art will need to be sturdy enough to survive a potentially harrowing journey through the mail system.

• On the back of the PC, write your partner's mailing information, as you would with any postcard, and include your swap information.

• Adhere the correct postage and send it on its way.

Additional Notes:

You can make your postcard as big as you'd like and whatever shape you'd like. Just remember, you will have to pay extra postage if you get too carried away.

You can use whatever paint you already have. Open paints give you more time to work before the paint dries. If the paint you're used to using dries quickly, you may have to work in smaller areas and pull the print more often.

As demonstrated in the video, you may choose to remove paint from the plate using other implements before pulling one or more of the print layers.

If you'd like to write something or draw a picture on the back, that's great! If you just want to get that baby done and in the mail without taking time to do anything except address the postcard and write the swap information, that's perfectly fine, as well. Please make sure the print itself, though, is your best work.

You can seal the print with a clear sealant if you'd like, but do not alter it in any other way.