Collagraphs for Christmas

I finally got my Christmas cards done!  I don't actually send them, but I make them for people who are about as behind with Christmas prepartations as I am.  Printmaking is definitely the way to go for handmade cards.  You can make a large quantity that are still handmade without having the process take over your entire life. 
This year I decided to try making a collograph.  It's easy, inexpensive and I think they turned out quite well.  To make the prints, I first made a plate.  I used an old piece of mat board, you could use any cardboard.  I used heavy gesso and a stencil to create the raised letters.  Remember to put your stencil backwards because when you print, your lettters will be reversed.  Then I used mat gel medium to attach a small cedar twig to the card.  You can really blob it on because you want it to stick well and the medium shrinks when it dries.  When everything is dry, cover your plate front and back with a couple of coats varnish.  This will keep it dry when you're printing.  I do the back of the plate too so that it won't warp.  When the varnish is dry, you're ready to print.  I rolled white speedball printers ink onto the plate with a brayer, put the paper on top and rubbed it well with the back of a spoon.  From time to time I had to wipe off the plate to get off the excess ink.  Experiment with different colours of ink and different papers!  I used red and green pineapple paper and brown craft paper.   Then I cut out some little stars because you have to decorate your tree!
Click on the pictures below to enlarge them : )