Computer Graphics Gelli Stencils

One of the 12 Days of Photoshop challenges in my Computer Graphics Class first semester was to use Photoshop to create a stencil or a mask for use in gelli printing. I have a class set of student gelli plates that are 5x5 inches and brought mine from home in several different sizes.
Most students found they could do this without using photoshop so they just printed their designs and used a blade to cut out the space they didn't want.
The volleyball at the top was created with a mask and a stencil. The student used a mask to block out the circle and a stencil to create the lines on the volleyball.

I really like the painterly look of the Google monoprint.

The love the bird print. The circles in the background are the ghost print of a stencil. She placed the bird mask over the plate to pull this print.

Laminate Scrap Monoprints

I love the laminator. It comes in so handy when preserving sample artwork, bulletin board elements, etc. for future use. But every time I laminated something, I found myself wishing there was a way to save those scraps of laminate from the trash can. I started stashing the bigger pieces until I could find a way to use them. It turns out that laminate scraps make a great matrix for monoprints!

My older students (4th grade) made monoprints in one class period. I explained that usually printmaking can yield several identical prints, a MONOprint means "one" print and. We rolled a piece of tape to hold the laminate down on the table to make painting and printing easier. We used tempera paint and it does dry rather quickly so painting fast enough was the biggest challenge for the students. To print, we flipped drawing paper over on top of the wet paint and rubbed gently with our fingers. I didn't have a template for making prints even since the laminate scraps were not all the same size, so we just chopped the dry prints on the paper cutter to even up the borders.

I gave my first class of 2nd grade students the chance to draw a plan on paper first, slide the paper underneath the laminate scrap for a guide, then paint. Problem: this confused the students and several painted on the paper instead of the laminate or printed on the ancient copy paper instead of the nicer drawing paper. After the first class, the students painted directly on the laminate scrap instead of drawing first. If the students messed up, they could wipe it off and start again. 

When I saw the dried monoprints made by 2nd grade students, some were, well, hard to define. To remedy this, students trimmed and mounted their monoprints on black construction paper, used color sticks to create lines, shapes, and patterns in the border, and then touched up their prints by filling in gaps with color.

When I was student teaching, my mentor teacher taught a lesson where students created pictures by fusing tissue paper pieces on top of laminate scraps with modpodge. The tissue paper peeled right off when finished and looked awesome hanging on windows. Do you have a clever way to reuse laminate scraps?