Saturday Shenanigans

It never fails.  I always try to pack way too much into Saturdays.  This week was no different.

It was finally dry enough to mow my yard.  I was glad to see the roses were still in full bloom because I have plans for them once they are spent.

I still have no idea what these flowers are called, but I know they grow wild along the side of the road in Missouri.

I knew I needed some rusty bits for my eco-dyed bundles, so I decided to rust a few bottle caps, washers, and screws.  I know there are quicker ways, but this is the easy way for me.  I place about a tablespoon of salt in the bottom of the container, then I add the bits I want to rust.  After that, I add vinegar, this time about 3/4 cup as shown on the side of the jar.  Now I will let the vinegar and salt do its thing for a few days.

While in the basement, I decided to finally give my gelli plate a second chance.   I have seen how others set their work areas up, but I had a good idea how I wanted mine to look.  On the left of my gelli plate would be the pages I want to print.  They include some of my used file folders.  On the right are the pages I will use to wipe my brayer off.  On my ironing board turned fabric stamper, are my craft paints, acrylic paints, and glazes I will use for extenders.

I have a wide variety of acrylic paints, but have not used them for so long, I have no idea if they are still good or not.  I've often thought they were too good to be used for my daily art, so was saving them for better projects.

The ironing board acts as a nice shelf that holds the paint.

Then I remembered I have even more of the good paint.  And to be perfectly honest, I bought these back in the 80s before I knew anything about paint.  Seems I did pretty good, too.  But where was I going to put them?  This box has been through one move and two floods, so I can only hope these paints will be usable.

I managed to consolidate the acrylics 

and I found a place for everything on the ironing board.

Suddenly I realized I had not made room for my marking tools.  It was time to lift the other leaf. 

But wait.  I had completely forgotten my two brayers I intended to use.  The one on the right is for adding paint.  The one on the left is for rolling over the paper.  Now I realize most people would use their hands to do that, but my hands don't lie flat, so when I try to use my hands, I only get finger marks on the paper or substrate.  The wooden roller will take care of that problem.

Holy cow.  I had forgotten stencils, the main reason I was now willing to try the gelli again.

So I had to rearrange yet again in order to make room for the stencils I hoped to use.

It was about that time I realized two things.  First, I didn't have a bucket of water to wash the paint off.  Of course I remembered that Corrine told me to not clean the stencils because it would make them stronger, but I need to clean the other tool marking pieces I will use AND my brayer.  And second, I had no idea where I would put all these completed gelli prints once they were finished.  I looked at my concrete floor and decided I needed to mop it before I put any gelli prints on it.

Sadly, this is where the story ends.  Everything is set up, except water and deli paper.  I'll mop the floor tomorrow, because I know it didn't take you long at all to read this, but it took over FOUR HOURS to put this set-up together.

Thanks for looking and following my Saturday shenanigans.  Any gelli related suggestions will be greatly appreciated.