That's Crafty!: Playing with Gelatos By Helen Pigott

Hello and a warm welcome back!

Today I am going to show you one of the ways I like to use Gelatos.

If you have heard of Gelatos but never used them or are not sure what

they are, I hope I can fill in any questions you may have.

Gelatos are a watercolour chalk with a smooth consistency which makes

them suitable for a variety of different surfaces. They look like a lipstick in

appearance and can be used wet or dry, are acid free & have no odour.

So onto this weeks projects!

I have developed a love of Artist Trading Coins (AT Coins) &

I now have quite a collection, so I decided it was time to make a box

to store them in. Below I will take you through the steps I used and

show you how I used the Gelatos to decorate the box. I have also

added 3 autumnal decorated coins and 3 coins I made using left over

bits and pieces from my stash.

What I did:

Firstly I drew a grid of 6 squares, 7cms x 7cms in greyboard. I then cut the board into 3 pieces and scored on the middle line.

I made a cube from the 3 pieces of board.

Using Washi tape, I stuck the cube together (leave one face open, this will be the lid)

I then cut an additional piece of greyboard for the shaped lid, this sticks directly onto the first lid. Having 2 lids weighs down the top helping to keep it closed.

The second lid I shaped as below.

I stuck the shaped lid onto the box with double sided tape and then covered the hinge with Washi tape. The Washi tape adds extra strength and is easily covered with paint or card.

Using a paper pad I covered the box, if you are using a patterned paper try and match up patterns if necessary.

I used a small magnet and covered it with a leftover piece of paper to help hold the lid closed.

For the rest of the box I covered each face with a different page from the pad. Using a pad rather than loose papers means all the papers will go with each other easily.

Once the box was covered I used some texture paste and a stencil and randomly added a bit to each face of the cube.

Once the paste was dry I used the Gelatos to colour it. When I use Gelatos (or paint) I start with 3 colours & the determination that I will only use those chosen 3. Unfortunately that never quite happens and I end up with 7 or 8 colours out and this is exactly what happened this time too.

Gelatos work best if they are damp (or over dry gesso), so I have a wet cloth nearby and dampen my finger before rubbing the Gelato stick with my finger. I then rub over the place I want it to go. The lovely thing about Gelatos is that it is easy to build up the colour gradually.

If you find you have added too much colour you can simply wipe it off with a damp cloth and start again.

To pull the look together I edged the box with dark blue.

To decorate the lid, I used chipboard that I painted and then attacked with shiny powders. As with Gelatos and paint I cannot stick to one pot and the finished colour above is a combination of several pots.

I backed the chipboard heart with some black card to make it stand out, used a sticky pad to give some height, added some micro beads and left it all to dry.

Onto the Coins!

Each coin is 2 1/2" in diameter. Although they can be made of any material, most swapping groups prefer MDF circles as they are sturdy and so tend not to get damaged when posted.

The photograph above and below show the steps I took to achieve the finished result. In the picture below I used a heart stencil and a baby wipe to remove the stamped script. I then finished off by adding some stencilled dots with paint.

It is useful to use a spray fixative once you have finished using the Gelatos.

In the coins below I used all sorts of bits and pieces. The leaves and ribbon were coloured using Distress Ink Pads, the trees were coloured using pencils and on the flowers I used pens.

The final 3 coins I used up odds and ends. I took some of the left over paper from the box decoration, various Fresco paints and stencils, a chipboard flower & word, a stamped pig image (this set is really funny) which I coloured using watercolour paints and finally I stamped tissue paper with musical themed stamps, added a chipboard word and a clip to complete my 'Note' coin. The eagle eyed of you will notice I then stuck the tissue paper on back to front, this was completely deliberate of course (yes ok that's a weeny fib!) You will also notice Art Stones, Glamour Dust, Micro Beads and the use of a white gel pen.