Playing with Gelli printing

I've been wanting to take a morning to do some mono printing on fabric and decided  today was the day. I started by gathering supplies:

white cotton sateen
fabric paints,
the Gelli
Baby wipes
water
rags
foam brushes
lots of previously dried and pressed plant material
brayer

It's like being a kid again, rolling out and dabbing paints on the Gelli plate, laying on various plant materials, and taking the plunge by placing the piece of plain white fabric on top of it all, and rubbing well.

Pulling off the fabric and finding the print is so fun!

I think those were bits of Queen Anne's lace.

The one above had a spot where the paint wasn't transferring so I dampened the fabric slightly and rubbed it. I like the effect.

The one above was printed twice. I think the flowers in pink are astilbe.

I had a hard time to stop myself for lunch.

After I cleaned up a bit,( at least the brushes and paint stuff) I grabbed a quick lunch with leftover salad fixings --greens, Vietnamese pickled beans, tuna salad, sliced turkey. Then, I sat long enough to have a cup of tea while I had the hot bag on my back. I actually debated sitting with my knitting for a while but I really wanted to get the rest of the background painted on the birch trees and I knew it would only take a half hour.

Also, I needed to get the zucchini for the supper frittata grated to sit and drain a bit this afternoon.

This piece was done as a demo so I hadn't finished all the way across the scene.

The trees on the right are not in their permanent position. I laid them out to add the shading and grey areas to them.

I've accomplished what I wanted to today. I'm taking a break and getting ready for my little bike ride with my friend Alma. I'll have a glass of tomato juice my new go to snack.

If hubby wants to kayak to-night, I may be too tired, lol! It's beautiful out. Maybe he'll decide to go to the golf course. e do want to pick up our kayaks from the beach so we can have them here to go to Mt Carlton-- a beautiful wilderness park in central NB--for the day on the weekend.

Do you feel  there just aren't enough hours in the day, nor enough energy to do everything you want? I feel it, all the while keeping my 2015 word, focus, in mind. It's hard to reign in my creative mind sometimes. I try to jot things down which will allow me to continue on with what I'm doing in a more focused way. I often need to rest and I think it's good to sit quietly for part of the day, often with knitting in hands.

Exercise is important too. I've signed up to start a yoga class in two weeks. Now, I'm going to have my tomato juice with a few almonds and get ready to bicycle around the neighborhood.