What a weekend!

The Kootenay Fibre Fest this past Saturday was a memorable event filled with incredible colour,

 cascades of fibre,

nuances in grey,

wonderful contrasts,

braided rainbows,

 cocoons,

and baskets of sunshine.

It was impossible to stay hands off!

The try-it station presented by the local quilting guild was luscious (and very busy),

and an indigo-dyed display by Anne Fetterly was rich with a range of soft blue to midnight sky.

I was endlessly fascinated  by the spinning that was going on behind me on the stage,

while at the table in front a needle felting try-me joint project by attendees was pure delight in its evolution.

The mono-printing station I occupied was busy enough that this is the only photo I have, taken just before the gates opened.

Even our local sasquatch got in on the act, getting dolled up for the occasion.

I believe this photo is by Mel Hadiken-Joy

All in all, it was an immensely successful day, compliments of Carmen Ditzler and her team.  Plan a road trip for the next year - you'll be so glad you did!

Things are flying...

...in the studio, and it's obvious there's something afoot.  Luckily, you get to hear about it first!

This coming Saturday is the Kootenay Fibre Arts Festival and I'll be there doing mono-print demos on the Gelli Plate.  Best  part?  If you attend, you get to try it too!

Creating a mono-print is great fun, whether on paper

Gelli-print on paper using masks, stencils and bubble wrap

or fabric, (sorry, we're not showing any printed body parts in this family-friendly post, no matter what the poster infers)

Gelli print on fabric using cheesecloth as stencil

and it starts to get really interesting when you add Inktense Pencils

Inktense pencil work on fabric Gelli-printed with fun foam template

and/or the incomparable Art Foamies  (created right here in Creston, BC!) to the mix.

ArtFoamie stamped on Gelli-printed fabric

Want some even better news about this Saturday and the Kootenay Fibre Arts Festival?  When you attend, and register for this upcoming playshop

you'll get your choice of an added bonus.  Choose from a selection of  hand-cut stencils (yes, that's yours truly slaving over a hot stencil burner and sheets of cold house wrap), or an ArtFoamie stamp (Remember above where I told you they're incomparable?  Truth!)

One of eight house-wrap stencils to be given away - each unique

Only on Saturday, April 22 and at the Kootenay Fibre Festival will you have this opportunity - unbelieveable (barely), not to be repeated (this year anyway), and truly totally amazing!  

The benefits are legion.  The playshop is highly entertaining whether you're a fibre freak, a creative looking for a place to play and learn, or an established artist in any medium.  After making some 800+ prints for my own entertainment, I can safely say that it's more fun than you can possibly imagine!  You say you don't have any experience in creating art?  You don't need it!  No skills? They come in the learning package - no extra charge - and heavily disguised as fun.

If you've taken any of my other playshops, you'll know they are stress-busters that promote a desire for more, more and more creative fun.  If you're a newbie, you're going to love it!  This Saturday - come and register.

Insanity runs...

...and truly, that's all I can say about my studio week.

Not only have I played with embroidery until I'm near blind, I've been burning, burning, burning, and while there's little smoke involved it's definitely been an inferno in here.

Free-hand stencil cutting is an easy thing to do, and a leather burner is just the tool for it.  And doesn't that bright red handle look great with the grey?

The setup

Amorphous

Gridacious

Patternonia

City gridlock

Just in case you want to join me in my current/ongoing mania, this video will give you a good start.

While you're there, feel free to subscribe to my channel - I'm not only amused by house wrap and stencil burning, I get a kick out of seeing the number of subscribers increase.  In case you're curious about these stencils and their uses, check out the Layers of Gelli video too.

I've got four more of these to burn to reach my limit - you'll know I'm done when you feel the earth crack and rumble against your feet from the shouts of 

Yippee!    

Yahoo!!      

Hooray!!! 

Hallelujah!!!! 

Zowie!!!!!   

Yabba-Dabba-Do !!!!!! 

I want to see what stencils you've created, whether they're burned, cut or still in the mental preparation stage.  Let me know where I can find them in your comments below.  In the meantime, have a silly, playful, and fun week.  

Oh how I love...

...Artist Trading Cards - the making, the shipping, and the receiving of them just give me such a sense of wonder.

These tiny little bits of art (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") slip so easily into an envelope and bring so much fun that sometimes I can't stop.  We had a trading session over at Creating & Sharing Mixed Media that got me totally jazzed.  That's a good thing, since the theme was all about songs.  The two trading cards could be based on a whole song, song title, line from a song or our favourite song, with a third one of any theme whatsoever.

I keep a healthy pile/stash/hoard of ATC 'blanks' for such opportunities, and I carefully chose three of them.

ATC Blanks

And then it got really tough, because I Could. Not. Stop.  

ATC fronts

ATC Backs

I enjoyed listening to hours of music so much that I've decided to go back to my original life plan of becoming a world-renowned vocalist.  Stay tuned (pun intended).  In the meantime, these cards have gone into an envelope carefully crafted from two colour-coorinated Gelli prints, stapled, glued and taped together so tightly that the recipient will have no chance of EVER getting into them.

Envelope front

Envelope back

So, here's the scoop - I want to make more.  Do you want to receive one?  If you're into trading with ATC's, here's your change to get an original Win Dinn Artist Trading Card.  Just email me  and I'll happily get into Make Mode just for you.  It's an open theme, so get creative!