A Gel Press is a fun tool to use to create beautiful backgrounds for your cards. Learn how to use one to make a lovely silhouette card.

Just a precautionary word, working with a gel press can be addictive. Once you get started and see the beautiful artwork you are creating you want to do more and more.

Gel Press Backgrounds

The first step is to get our gel press out and put it on our work surface. Next, we’ll add ink to the gel press directly from our ink pads. It’s helpful to start with the lightest color and when the ink is there then we’ll use the brayer to spread it out. And then we’ll roll the brayer on a piece of watercolor cardstock.

Follow the same process for each of the colors. Once we’re done adding the color to the gel press we can take another piece of cardstock and place it directly on top of the ink. We’ll rub it a little to ensure that the ink transfers. And then we’ll carefully lift the cardstock and set it aside to dry.

As a result, we end up with two beautiful backgrounds to use; the one that we rolled the brayer on after spreading the ink on the gel press. And the other is the one where we laid the cardstock on the gel press directly. We’re going to use the one that we rolled the ink off on.

Stamping for our Card

To prepare for our stamping, we’ll rip a piece from the horizontal edges of an A2 (4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ piece of cardstock. Hint: Hold the edge of the cardstock that goes on your card with one hand and rip it with the other. Thi results in keeping the “good” pieces distorting while ripping them. You should have two 5 1/2″ pieces of cardstock with three straight edges and one torn one along the long edge.

Using the torn pieces as guides, decide where you want your stamped silhouette to be on the background. Once you’ve done so, go ahead and stamp the image onto the background with black ink.

And then we’ll stamp the sentiment centered onto one of the ripped pieces.

Gel Press Card Assembly

All that is left now is to assemble the card. First, we’ll trim down the accent layer to 3 7/8″ x 5 1/8″. And then we’ll trim the card panel to 3 3/4″ x 5 1/8″. We do this with dies because we want to make sure that the cuts are square.

Next, we’ll attach the torn pieces to the top and bottom of the card panel with liquid glue. And then we’ll trim them to the edges of the card panel.

Then we’ll use a glue runner to add adhesive to the back of the card panel and then attach it to the center of the accent layer. And finally, we’ll attach the card panel to the card base, also with the glue runner.

Supplies

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• Cardstock: Card base -Neenah Classic Crest 110lb Solar White; Card panel: Canson XL: Accent layer – Gina K Designs Black Onyx
• Stamp: Silhouette – Gina K Designs Friendly Silhouettes Stamp; Sentiment – Gina K Designs Natural Silhouettes
• Gel Press
• Brayer: Tim Holtz Distress Brayer
• Die: Gina K Designs Master Layouts 1
• Ink: Distress Oxide – Cracked Pistachio Weathered Wood, Peacock Feathers; Amalgam Ink – Gina K Designs Obsidian
• Adhesive: Gina K Designs Connect Glue, Dot Adhesive Runner

Do You Want More Silhouette Card Ideas?

Check out How to Make 2 Rainbow Cards in Minutes.