Hi guys, Heather here and I’m so excited to be back again to share one of my favorite mediums with you. I saw a thread in the FB community last week that someone had bought Gelatos and was wondering how she could use them in her Bible. I have LOVED Faber-Castell Gelatos since I first heard of them and bought my first set.
They have been a favorite for scrapbooking, art journaling and now Bible journaling. There are so many ways you can use them and they are probably one of the most versatile mediums. If I shared them all this post would get really long.
What are Gelatos? I like to call them “watercolors in lipstick form”, but they are so much more. While they work very similar to watercolors and react similar, they are permanent when dry. That’s my favorite part of the Gelatos. You don’t have to worry about them reconstituting if they get wet again.
Today I’m going to share with you just a few of my favorite basics and how I use them most in my Journaling Bible. I’m also going to share some important tips and cautions when using them, specifically in your Bible.
JUST RUB IT IN
The easiest and my favorite way to highlight scripture is to just rub the Gelatos in. It’s super easy and the results are YUMMY! You just take your Gelato stick and color it like you would a crayon. Once you have the area covered, you just rub gently to blend it all together and make it smooth.
TIP: If the paper gets wet, do NOT rub! You will rip the delicate paper if you rub it while wet. This is a dry technique, so rubbing is easy to do without wetting it. If it does get wet, grab a paint brush and use that instead to blend it in before it dries.
JUST ADD WATER
I like to describe Gelatos as “a solid watercolor”. It basically works just like watercolor. The added benefit is that once it’s dry, it’s permanent. That means that it will never reconstitute if it gets wet again after it’s dried. The benefit of this that you can layer and it won’t get muddy. This is easy too, just load up your brush and brush it over the area you want to paint. This is great for coloring in your favorite stamps or for highlighting like I’m doing here.
TIP: It is really important to control the water amount used. If it gets too wet, it will bleed to the other side. I actually got it too wet at the bottom. I quickly grabbed two paper towel pieces and put one behind the page and then pressed the one over the top to pick up all the extra wetness. Do not wipe/rub off the water, just press straight down and let it soak up. If you rub or wipe you run the risk of tearing your page.
JUST STAMP IT
Here’s where the fun begins for me. My favorite style of stamps for this technique is foam. Second favorite is red rubber. Where this really shines is in solid stamps without lots of details. Just start drawing on your stamp, and have fun mixing and blending in several colors. I used three shades of blue/turquoise. Fill up your stamp and don’t be afraid to use a lot.
Next, take a spray bottle and spray it 2-3 times, get it nice and wet and let those colors blend together. Because it’s so wet the first time I make my first stamp on a scratch piece of paper. There is still lots of Gelatos left on the stamp, especially if you’re using a foam stamp. You can get several stamps out of it before you have to re-load it with more Gelatos.
Each time I stamp, I spray just once to make it wet but not soaking like the first time. Even after stamping three times, I still had tons of Gelatos left on the stamp.
TIP: watch the water, just like before, too much water and it will bleed through, too little and you won’t get a good impression. The beauty of Gelatos is the imperfection and how each stamp looks different. This is why I recommend the foam or red rubber stamps for this technique and something without a lot of detail.
Can you use clear stamps and/or highly detailed stamps with them? Yes, but they take lots of practice and trials. It also requires you to embrace the imperfection. It takes a lot less water. I recommend only one spray or completely dry. Don’t rub the Gelato on too hard either, just really lightly so it doesn’t get into the dips of the stamp where you lose the detail of the stamp. It took me three tries and several off stamping trials before I got this impression. The nice thing about Gelatos is that they are water-soluble before dry, so if you don’t like it, you can just take a water brush and brush it off… again, don’t rub with a wipe or finger, otherwise you’ll tear the delicate paper. Just brush lightly with your brush and press straight down a paper towel to soak it up.
HAVE FUN! I can’t wait to see what you guys do with your Gelatos! You’re going to love them in your Bible!
– Heather
