Making rainbows with Gelatos

A few weeks ago I was having a bit of a mixed media play day. I experimented with my Pearl-Ex powders for the first time in ages, and I had a great time making rainbows with my set of brights Gelatos. I turned those rainbows into several cards, and I swear I loved each one more than the last.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Sentimental Birthday (Winnie & Walter)
Paper: Basic Black, thick Whisper White card stock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Brights Gelatos (Faber-Castell), sequins (Hand Made Modern), Small Stitched Rectangles Stackables (Lawn Fawn), Scribble Happy Birthday die (Poppy Stamps), Glue Dots, foam tape (3M)

Isn't that fun and festive? I just love the bold colors, and I was so excited to discover that I had a set of sequins that included all the matching colors. But first things first: How did I make the rainbow?

There are several different ways you can use Gelatos, but for all of the cards I'm sharing today, I rubbed the Gelatos sticks directly on white card stock and then blended the colors with my finger. I found, though, that when my finger was dry, I had to press really hard to blend the Gelatos, and even then I wasn't getting quite the look I wanted. So I added a tiny bit of water to my finger -- I just barely dipped it in a cup of water, or I pressed it on a wet washcloth -- and voila! The colors spread like butter. I wanted to keep the bold, distinct colors, though, so I didn't go crazy here. I spread out each color to soften it and then lightly blended the edge between each pair of colors so there wasn't any white space between them.

I wanted to continue the color inside the card, so I added one more of each color sequin. And I didn't plan it, but I love how the font of the sentiment stamp is so similar to the die cut on the front of the card. They're even from different companies, so it's a little serendipitous.

For the rainbow on the first card, I used seven of the twelve Gelatos in my set. For the next two cards, I used all twelve colors to make a more subtle, blended rainbow on a piece of white card stock, and then I die cut elements out of that card stock. I didn't think to take a picture before I started die cutting, but here is the piece with the shapes cut out, so you can get a better look at all the colors. At the bottom of the card stock I cut out a wavy element, which I used on my next card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Choose Joy (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Whisper White, thick Whisper White, Basic Black card stock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Brights Gelatos (Faber-Castell), Swirly Scribbles Thinlits dies, sequins (Lawn Fawn), Glue Dots

I think I need to send this card to myself, because I like to worry. About everything. But I'm not worried about how this card turned out; I love it!

I think everything here is pretty self-explanatory, so I won't go into a lot of detail. But I did have one boo-boo. If you look closely at the picture above (with the die-cut rainbow card stock), you can see that the S and the U on the bottom "sunshine" aren't connected. That's because after I cut those, I positioned the wavy die on the card stock and didn't place it low enough. So the top of my waves between the red and the orange has a little chunk missing. Luckily I had the perfect sequin to cover it up. You gotta' love those opportunities for embellishment!

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Sunshine Sayings
Paper: Thick Whisper White, Whisper White card stock; Shine on Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP); gold foil paper
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Brights Gelatos (Faber-Castell), Large Stitched Rectangles Stackables dies and Hello Sunshine dies (Lawn Fawn), Sunshine Wishes Thinlits dies, sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Dimensionals

I was so excited when I remembered that I had this kraft card stock with the foil clouds. I actually said out loud, "I have an idea!" and it worked. These clouds are the perfect backdrop for the rainbow sentiment. And to finish the scene, I added a gold die-cut sun and some clear sequin "raindrops." Since I had two die-cut "sunshine" pieces, I went ahead and made two of this same card. I don't typically make multiples of the same card (unless it's for Christmas or a card set), but this one was too cute.

One other detail about my Gelatos rainbows: I did not use anything to set the color at all. The lighter rainbows seem perfectly fine because those colors were blended out quite a bit. With the first card, if I rub my finger over the Gelatos, sometimes a faint bit of color comes off. I think that's because I applied the Gelatos more firmly so the color was really bold, and then I didn't blend the colors as much. I'm not too worried about it, but I'm sure you could apply a fixative if that was a concern for you.

Thanks for stopping by!