Kitti Scibelli Designs: The Art of Well Being

EVERY LEAF SPEAKS BLISS TO ME

Two things bring me calmness, peace of mind and a feeling of being one with the Universe: Communing with Nature and Creating. I have been very fortunate to be able to be close to Nature

my entire life. So, Nature is very important to me and obviously very inspiring as it shows up

in my Art all the time!

The very first thing I did when I received my Gel Press ® plate, was make lots of prints with

real leaves I had collected from the woods. From that moment on, every time I walked in the

woods my mind was automatically searching for cool natural textures - and I realized when

I got home from these walks, I was completely relaxed and full of creative ideas!

It was a wonderfully meditative exercise.

For today's blog hop, I'm going to relive my wonderful walks in the woods by making a pillow

with the help of my 12" x 14" Gel Press ® plate and bring Nature inside my home!

Supplies you will need:

12" x 14" Gel Press ® Plate

•REAL leaves

•brayer

•acrylic inks (in Fall colors)

•2 oz. spray bottle

•acrylic paint (I used green and copper)

•piece of white cotton bigger than 12" x 14" (I used an old white pillowcase)

•iridescent bronze fluid paint

•fine tip applicator

•scissors

•sewing machine

•piece of material (bigger than 12" x 14") for back of pillow

•polyfil

I sprayed yellow, orange, green and red acrylic ink right onto Gel Press ® plate. I prefer spraying onto the plate because it allows me more control....if I see an area I don't like, I can wipe it off.

Here is what the white piece of pillowcase looks as it soaks up the the acrylic inks.

I repeated the process a second time to fill in the white gaps and add more color.

Here is the pillowcase - dried - after second application.

I used a brayer to spread green and a little copper acrylic paint on the 12" x 14" Gel Press ® plate. Then I placed the real leaves (using them as masks) onto my plate, leaving space for a poem.

This is what the pillowcase (front of pillow) looks like after pressing onto above plate and dried.

I found a piece of material that went with my gel printed fabric and cut both of them to 12" x 14". The pillow will be smaller as I used up a 1/2" on all sides for a seam allowance.

I placed both fabrics face to face, pinned and machine-sewed on all sides, leaving some room for stuffing. I stuffed with polyfil and machine-sewed it closed. I put Iridescent Bronze Fluid Acrylics in a fine tip applicator and wrote the poem onto the pillow.