Fun to the max...

...and some great results are the two labels I'd put on last weekend's Gelli playshop.

These ladies really know how to party with paint!  Being such a colour nerd I was beyond impressed that Becca managed to not only colour-coordinate her shirt and scarf with the tablecloth, but then did a print to match!

Mel and Britney look totally engrossed as they wield their weapons.

Linda and Carol are equally intent, and you can tell by the array of prints surrounding them that they have been very busy!

I wonder what Gay is contemplating here - throwing paint at Becca, perhaps?

Britney is justifiably proud of this beauty!

Prints on paper, prints on fabric, prints on aprons and prints on hands!  It truly was kids' day at Fly in the Fibre!

The prints were amazing - so much lusciousness!  I'm going to zip it until the end so you can enjoy the variety, texture and pattern.

Whenever I do a class, my texture templates change colour, and I just had to show you this mouth-watering drywall compound template after Saturday's playshop - gorgeous, no?  It's absolutely frameable!

Thanks again to all you  adventurous women - you made my day!  Thanks, too, to Fly in the Fibre for such an awesome space!  We're quite likely to be reconnecting there in the fall, so keep your eyes open for playshop dates.

Studio time at Puffin...

...is always more fun when it's shared, and never better than when it's shared with a group.

This week was the Intro to Gelli playshop at Puffin Design, and we had a blast.  With eight ladies printing like they were on fire, the studio was ablaze with colour.

They drew and printed in the paint,

Michelle's stack

and they covered the tables and floor with print after print.

L to R Barb, Myrna, Therese, Anna, Michelle

They deliberated over paint colour, texturing tools, texture templates and stencils, or just tore into it.

L to R Therese, Sue, Michelle & Anna

Here Barb and Myrna had me smiling at their colour coordinated clothing - did they plan that?  I forgot to ask.

Barb and Myrna

Michelle and Sue went at it all evening in their corner,

Michelle & Sue

 as Therese made judicious choices in colour.

L to R Anna, Alison, Kris, Therese

 While I demoed the plastic tape lift to Kris, Therese worked double time with her colour choice.

Win, Kris, Therese - Alison is behind the camera on this one!

 The colour for the print that Myrna is pulling will make a great base for layer two.

Myrna pulls a print

Alison, co-owner at Puffin, got into the act too (she was supposed to be working the gallery floor, but Gelli printing is THAT addictive).

Alison goes to town at my demo station.

We had a ton of fun, and really, isn't that what creativity is all about?  I've a sneaking suspicion that there may be another Gelli-addicted creative or two in town as a result.

Art drool....

...is currently very deep in the studio, because I got a fabulous package this week, all the way from Zsuzsa Karoly-Smith in the UK.  We've been connected on Google+ for a while now, and I admire her wonderful style and colour sense so much.

 As you can see, both sides of the package were a feast for the eyes

 and the contents even more so.  Our 'tag exchange' for the month was themed Gelli prints  (yup, I LOVE 'em), and Zsuzsa sent me four full sheets of them!

I'm a great fan of paper napkins as well, and the ones that Zsuzsa included in her gift were a delight. I know that Alice Saltiel will love the bottom right one especially!

 The tags themselves were so rich and colourful (apt, too, I might add)!

I can't thank you enough, Zsuzsa - I could see that you'd had me in mind the whole time you were putting this together.  It had me even more excited to tear into the Gelli print playshop I'm doing at Puffin this week!

Speaking of learning, John and I both did some of that this week.  We took a 3 hour Illuminating workshop by Bart Bjorkman at Puffin  and I was stunned to actually complete a lamp in that time.  If I can do it, so can you, and Bart's running another one on November 25.  Do register (at Puffin) if you're free that evening.  John's lamp (below) is gorgeous, and mine, not shown, is pretty amazing too.  I'm thinking about making another for a Christmas gift.

Do tell me in your comments how you're gearing up for the holiday season.  Are you making your gifts this year?  Are you creating new things?  I'd love to hear about your forays - do feel free to add a link to your post about it!

A Change of Pace

With next week's guest post done and dusted (you'll find a link on my upcoming Tuesday post), it was time to play for a while in the studio.

I grabbed my Gelli plate and nine small canvasses, covering them with some interesting background texture.  Then the fun began, with a heart mania, scissors, a stack of Gelli printed paper fragments, ribbons, Andrea Revoy's ceramic buttons and more.

'I'm So Grapeful for You'  4 x 4 mixed media on canvas © Win Dinn

'Lemon-lime Love'  4 x 4 mixed media on canvas © Win Dinn

'I See You Through Rose-Coloured Love'  4 x 4 mixed media on canvas © Win Dinn

'Enviro-Love'  4 x 4 mixed media on canvas © Win Dinn

'Love is Tactile'  4 x 4 mixed media on canvas © Win Dinn

'You Hold the Key''  4 x 4 mixed media on canvas © Win Dinn

''You're My Star'  4 x 4 mixed media on canvas © Win Dinn

'Love Those Baby Blues''  4 x 4 mixed media on canvas © Win Dinn

'You're my Red-Hot Heart'  4 x 4 mixed media on canvas © Win Dinn

And while I've got my 'Have a Heart Series' well in hand, it doesn't mean that I neglected playtime with my students.  Last night's Gelli it Up! was a blast, with text stamps created (how could this one be more appropriate?),

Keiryn's love-ly stamp

and a check-out of the completed jean templates from last week.

Linda added some lovely bits to her template

The resulting print was gorgeous

We got a start on the wax crayon resist technique

and once the over-painted acrylic has been scraped off , they'll be stellar. The over-painting when it was supposed to be a Gelli printed top layer was a brain bleep by the teacher - nobody messes up as much as she does.

It was, as it has been for the past weeks, a frenzy of printing, playing and glorious colour!

Here's to a colourful day for you all!