Gelli Play Workshop

We had fun with our Gelli Play Workshop on Saturday. Working in small groups/teams made for a sharing atmosphere. Those who had brought everything but the kitchen sink were able to share their goodies and there was generally a nice atmosphere of give and take.

Thanks to Pat, who also provided tea and cakes, we have some photos as a memento.

Lots of intense concentration.

Excitement during the draw for a free gelli plate.

 People were reluctant to find space in their fridge for the home made plate, which had lasted well throughout the session, but one person volunteered to give it a home and I hope they have lots of extra fun with it.

Looks like that workshop leader went off for a slice of cake! 

Gelli Plate and Recycling

I have been saving some of this plastic packaging up since we had biscuits as a gift at Xmas, honestly we don't usually have biscuits, lots of homemade cake of course. I also started saving other forms of plastic packaging, the only downside being where to store it all. Really interesting patterns when you stop to look:

 I almost threw it away due to frustration with lack of space; planning for a gelli play workshop which I am leading at the end of April, I decided to have a go with it and am I pleased that I did not bin it. I think it gives some lovely free impressions.

 Looking for simple idea for using prints:this is a little book made with two gelli prints glued back to back  and acrylic wax on the cover. Pamphlet stitched with a paper bead added.

 I machined stitched two small envelopes made with scraps onto the back cover by sewing under the flap. 

I put mine into a book press to flatten it, but just use a few heavy books. Its much nicer when flattened.

Gelli Plate and letters.

I have a rather nice alphabet set of wooden type which I bought via Etsy, I had the idea of using them with the Gelli Plate and had some fun with them. I just used them to give a graffiti like impression and was pleased with the results.

Starting to print.

After adding layers of white and then a metallic.

I took photographs and then printed one onto two pieces of TAP paper prior to ironing onto fabric.

 I liked it enough to make it into a small banner hanging. The metallic paint came out as a sort of orangey colour, but I thought it looked Ok, rather like one of those faded posters or walls one sees.

I also printed crops from the photos as small cards and made envelopes with some of the prints.

Over on Sketchbook Challenge this months’ theme has been warm and cool; why not take a look or join in.

Gelli plate and stitch.

The idea here is finished I think, but not yet the stitching.

Lino print with gelli plate print background using acrylic paint; a piece of an old book ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’ pasted on top.

Photographed, taken into an ipad app and a selection made of the text, which I have then pasted and scaled.

 Next printed out onto fabric using a prepared cotton fabric.

Quilted onto wadding.

Starting to stitch using Bullion Knot and wool thread.

Lyric Kinard is a contributor to The Sketchbook Challenge and has shared this link:

Click through for info on how to watch Lyric Kinard's episode on The Quilt Show.com with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims for FREE!
http://lyrickinard.com/2013/12/the-quilt-show-its-your-turn/

Gelli,lino and Stitch

I had another go at linocut with a gelli plate background. I also cut out some pieces and added some stitch, easy to take it to the sewing machine as I was working on strong watercolour paper.

 I decided that rubbing with the back of a spoon works better for me than using the Speedball baren.

In the one below I added some bling, which is not usually my thing.I cut out the image and added it to

a piece of my handmade paper with machine stitch.

Gelli Plate and Linocuts

I had the idea of making some lino cuts and using these with the Gelli Plate, I am sure it is not a new idea but new to me. I think it has some potential, especially using some of the background ideas from Carla Sonheim.

 Some of these were made on pages taken out of my sketchbook and I need to proceed in a more thoughtful way and on better paper.

 One advantage I noticed is that the background using acrylic dries quickly and can then be layered with the printing inks (or vice versa), whereas when I made a linocut background and then put another print using water based printing inks on top it took a long time to be dry to the touch.

In the one above you can see that some of the ink transferred to the plate from a previous print to which I had added a background.

Bye the way 'hello' to new followers and thank for reading.

Gelli Prints

Thanks to Roberta Warshaw  I heard about Carla Sonheim's  gelli plate workshop and have enjoyed working through it this week.

 I learned a good deal and would certainly recommend it. Here is some of the work in progress and a few prints that have been worked on.

 She makes the point that only a few prints out of a batch will be ‘almost’ completely satisfying and stresses the fun part of the process.

For those of you interested in Needle Felting you may like to take a look at my article in the November/December issue of ‘Cloth Paper Scissors’.