As we wind down...

...the playtime and ramp up for Valentine's Day, it was obvious that we'd have to do a heart-filled morning of play.  Of course, I discovered that in my Purge to the Max I'd cleaned out most of my red/pink/purple paper (or did I use it all?!).  This necessitated a Gelli-printing session, always a fun way to lose a day.

With lace,

a plate, and my trusty brayer (along with a journal for cleaning it),

I made several sheets of paper and some tags to start the day off right.

With a supply of paper, tags and ephemera, the excitement was high.

Linda M was as colourful as the paper, 

and Deni dressed for the theme - gorgeous, right?

 Lynne was a whirlwind and had half a dozen pieces made before we could even blink!

I was drooling over the results from all of us.  Here they are, with Deni's first three (I may have missed two or three of hers),

a couple of beauties from Linda, 

 and a host from the ever-prolific Lynne.

These are mine, although I think I've misplaced my 'Quiet Colour Brush' somewhere in the madness.  The good part is that I've obviously retained the Wilfully Wonky look everywhere, right Linda?

The funny thing is that I don't see a piece of paper lace anywhere, nor any of that oh-so-carefully-created paper.  What's with that?  It just goes to show that you can't trust artists of any ilk!

Catch me up on your doings in the comments below...I'd love to hear about all of your Love Projects!

Playtime is not just for paintings...

...because when I get in the studio, time can involve bookish things as well.  This green book from the rainbow series was finally finished this week entirely due to the push from a journal playdate this past Friday.

Here are the back and front covers, followed by an even greener interior (if that's possible):

Now I have to tell you that the word of the day on Friday's play date was CROOKED...and you can see in the photos that I took it to heart, ran with it and scored half a dozen touchdowns.  As always, I'm slightly square-challenged when it comes to photos (oh, and also rectangular- and straight-on challenged), and have displayed that to the max here.  😃  I will point out that I wasn't the only one.  ☺

I hope you've managed your middle 'G' this week - greatness, gentility, gratitude, genius, grace or whatever word's your fancy. Catch me up on your doings in the comment section below, please...and add a link if you like. 

You know I love books, right?

And I'd be lost without our local library.  So spending some time making bookmarks with friends for the library to use promotionally is a match made in heaven.

Eileen brought some finished pieces for show and tell from our
alcohol ink play last week - gorgeous, no?

Laura and Lynne were right into the bookmarks.

Eileen and Gay - seriously intent.

Eileen was very motivated as she aimed for 10 finished bookmarks...there are 13 by my count!

I got a head start the day before, and I still can't quit.

Look at all the luscious colour and pattern on Gay's pieces.

Laura's are so organic!

Laura even brought some of her gorgeous
watercolour bookmarks to add to the pot.

Lynne's are stunning and oh, so intricate.

Now, this bookmark is not going to the library, because in my frenzy I forgot that alcohol inks will run when overlaid with acrylic medium.  But the quote had me in stitches, and I had to show you why regardless of the smeared text.

It is amazing to me how a group of artists can take a pile of 'discard' papers and create 50+ wonderful pieces.  Stamps, stencils, cheesecloth, ribbons, scissors and glue sticks are totally magic!

I am curious how you, as an artist, use your abilities in the community.  Do you volunteer to teach?  Donate works?  Lead projects?  I'm always looking for new ways to contribute, and would love to hear your ideas!