Spring 2026: Gel Monoprinting Workshop on Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Hello everyone, 

Hope you are all doing well.

Below is a quick recap of the cards we made in our first class. Next class meeting will be on Wednesday, May 13, 2026. Please email me if you have any questions. See you in the next class.

Connie

Lily Pads: Brayer some yellow, light and dark green acrylic paints across gel plate and lift 1st print. Next, brayer 3 shades of blue acrylic paints across gel plate and place lily pads masks on top. Place the 1st print w/ green background on top and rub well before pulling the final print. Die cut rectangular frame and use green, pink & yellow acrylic pens to draw veins and lotus flowers on lily pads. Use white and blue acrylic pens to draw lines on water background. Use green and blue chalk pencils to add vines on top and bottom. Add yellow gems to finish.

Hybiscus Birthday: Brayer Distress Oxide inks onto gel plate and place swirls stencil on top. Place paper over and rub well to transfer pattern. Lift paper just enough to remove stencil and place paper back down and rub to transfer remaining design onto paper before lifting final print. Stamp and heat emboss hybiscus with gold embossing powder. Die cut frame and adhere onto black mate before adhering onto pink card base. Add gems and sticker sentiment to finish card.

Sunset Palm Trees: Brayer Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade & Peeled Paint Distress inks evenly onto gel plate. Use cotton balls to dab off some inks to add some clouds. Place paper over and rub well to lift print. Stamp palm trees scene with black ink. Die cut frame and adhere onto black mate before adhering onto ivory card base.

Alcohol Inks Butterflies-Front: Squirt some rubbing alcohol onto gel plate follows by pink, blue and purple alcohol inks. Use blower to spread alcohol inks around to cover gel plate and place flower stencil on top. Next place scratch paper on top to press down stencil and absorb excess inks. Remove stencil and let inks dry on gel plate before brayering a thin layer of white iridescent acrylic paint all over gel plate. Place paper on top, rub well and pull print. Stamp butterflies with black ink onto print and use coordinate dies to cut out butterflies.

Alcohol Inks Butterflies-Open: Fold and glue lavender and white card panels together as shown. Adhere die cut butterflies to front and inside as shown. Stamp sentiment with black ink onto white card stock and use punch to cut out sentiment. Adhere sentiment to the bottom front of the lavender panel  and add gems to butterfly body in the front of the card.

 

Spring 2026: Handmade Greeting Cards Workshops on Saturday, April 18 and Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Hello everyone,

Hope you are doing well. 

Below is a quick recap of the cards we made in our first class. Next class meetings will be on Wednesday, May 6 and Saturday, May 9, 2026.

Tropical Birthday: Stamp various leaves using different colors of Memento Dye inks all over white card panel. Adhere onto black mat, wrap green ribbon around panel and adhere onto cyan card base. Add green gems and stamp sentiment in the middle to finish.

De-bossed Floral: Adhere small square white card panel onto large white panel using temporary adhesive tape. Place panels into 3D floral embossing folder and run through machine. Using the de-bossing side of the small square panel, rub Cantaloupe Memento ink to cover the entire panel. Adhere both de-bossed panels onto their respective green mats before mounting onto white card base. Add gold gems, bow and stamp sentiment to finish.

Stamp Hydrangeas: Apply color inks from Versafine Clair inks onto hydrangea stamp using sponge daubers and stamp image onto white card panel. Adhere panel onto dark green mat before mounting onto light green card base. Tear one edge of the large purple pattern paper and adhere to the top of white card panel. Adhere the smaller pattern paper onto the bottom edge of the white card panel. Add lavender gems and stamp sentiment to finish card.

Polished Stone Floral: Stamp floral print onto glossy white card panel using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink. Heat emboss with clear embossing powder. Soak two cotton balls with rubbing alcohol and add a drop of yellow ink onto 1st cotton ball and a drop of pink ink onto the 2nd cotton ball. Dab the colors onto the glossy card panel to color the entire panel. Adhere panel onto black mat before mounting onto ivory card base. Add gems and die cut birthday sentiment to finish card.

 

Winter 2026: Last Gel Monoprinting Workshop on Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Hello everyone,

Hope you are enjoying the nice weather we have. Registration for the Spring 2026 Adult Education Classes is now available online at www.pvpusd.net. 

Handmade Greeting Cards:

- 3 Saturdays (4/18, 5/9 & 5/23) at Rancho Del Mar Campus from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM

- 3 Wednesdays (4/22, 5/6 & 5/20) at Malaga Cove Campus from 12:00 PM to 2:30 PM

Gel Monoprinting Cards:

- 3 Wednesdays (4/29, 5/13 & 5/27) at Malaga Cove Campus from 12:00 PM to 2:30 PM

Below is a recap of the cards we made in our last class. Have a great Spring break and Happy Easter. See you in the Spring session.

Take care,

Connie

3D Emboss Florals: Brayer a thin layer of burgundy acrylic paint onto gel plate. Press 3D-Emboss Floral cardboard lightly to transfer design onto gel plate. Remove cardboard and let the paint dry completely. Brayer a thin layer of gold acrylic paint over the dried burgundy paint layer on the gel plate. Place paper on top and rub well before lifting print. Cut out frame using rectangle scallop die. Place die cut panel into 3D embossing folder to match up pattern before running through machine. Adhere to cream card base, adhere bithday sentiment and butterfly on top and add glitter Stickles as desired.

Vellum Dragonflies: Apply Picked Raspberry Distress ink across gel plate diagonally and Wilted Violet on top and bottom corners of gel plate. Brayer diagonally in the same direction as the applied inks. Place flower stencil onto gel plate, place paper on top and rub well before lifting print. Cut out frame using rectangle curve die. Adhere frame to cream card base. Stamp dragonflies onto purple vellum and cut out using matching dies. Apply glue to the body of the dragonflies. Add gems and stamp bithday sentiment to finish.

Ocean Seahorse: Apply blue Distress Oxide ink across gel plate. Brayer in the same direction as the applied inks. Place flower stencil onto gel plate, place paper on top and rub well before lifting print. Cut out frame using rectangle curve die. Adhere frame to cream card base. Stamp dragonflies onto purple vellum and cut out using matching dies. Apply glue to the body of the dragonflies. Add gems and stamp bithday sentiment to finish.

Hot Air Balloon Perfect Pearl: Place cloud stencil onto gel plate and brush Perfect Pearl powder to cover all the clouds. Brush off all the excess powder and remove stencil. Brayer a light layer of dark & light blue acrylic paint on top. Place paper on top and rub well to make sure the paint absorb into paper before pulling print. Die cut frame with rectangular die and adhere onto black mat before adhering onto light blue card base. Using double-sided foam tape to tape die cut balloon & basket on top. Add sticker sentiment to finish card.

 

Winter 2026: Last Handmade Greeting Cards Workshops on Wednesday, March 4 and Saturday, March 7, 2026

Hello everyone,

Hope you are doing well and enjoying the nice weather. Registration for the Spring 2026 Adult Education Classes is now available online at www.pvpusd.net. 

Handmade Greeting Cards:

- 3 Saturdays (4/18, 5/9 & 5/23) at Rancho Del Mar Campus from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM

- 3 Wednesdays (4/22, 5/6 & 5/20) at Malaga Cove Campus from 12:00 PM to 2:30 PM

Gel Monoprinting Cards:

- 3 Wednesdays (4/29, 5/13 & 5/27) at Malaga Cove Campus from 12:00 PM to 2:30 PM

Below is a recap of the cards we made in our last class. Have a great Spring break and hope to see you all in the Spring session.

Take care, 

Connie

Mother's Day 2-Step Stamping: Fold vellum in half for card base, attach large white card panel (for writing your own sentiment) to the inside of the vellum card base. Adhere the back of the vellum card base onto yellow large card panel. Adhere two small yellow card panels onto the front and back of vellum front flap. Stamp small white card panel with flower outlines with Tangelo Memento ink and fill in the flowers with Cantaloupe and Dandelion Memento inks using the solid flower image stamp. Adhere onto the small yellow card panel on the card front. Add sticker sentiment, gems and bow to finish.

3D Emboss Roses: Adhere roses pattern paper onto the front flap and ivory card panel on the inside of the green card base. Emboss the white glossy card panel with the 3D rose embossing folder. Rub Rose Bud Memento ink directly onto the embossed rose panel and use a paper towel to rub and spread ink across the rose panel. Adhere the rose panel onto green card panel and mount it onto card front as shown. Assemble the triangular rose pattern paper and green card panel together and adhere to bottom of card base to create a pocket to tuck in the rose panel as shown.

Quilled Cupcake: Mount the stripe card panel onto green card panel with foam tape. Mount the blue cupcake liner with foam tape into the circle opening. Using the quilling tool, roll all five 4" ivory strips from both ends to create the scrolls as shown. Roll the 4" red strip into round coil and glue together leaving a short tip for the stem. Add little dabs of glue to the bottom of each scroll and coil to build the cupcake as shown. Add gems, stamp sentiment and mount the assembled green panel onto the gray card base. to finish.

Triple-Layer Stamped Lilacs: Use temporary tape to mount three white card layers together. Stamp leaves and flowers onto the three layers. Remove and adhere each layer onto each corresponding purple mat. Assemble the layers together onto purple card base as shown. Add sticker sentiment, gems and bow to finish.