Time for a...

...messy play-day.

Although I have to say, the only one who got messy was Andy - we all had gloves LOL

The workshop was a chance to play with alcohol inks and as there were only a few of us we were able to spread out and enjoy a lovely day playing with colour.

This inspirational piece was done by Andy (Pearson) and he said that it had been a very happy accident...

 ...my photo doesn't do it justice as it was difficult getting an angle where the light didn't cause a problem. The effect created is of a lovely bluebell dell with a view out to a stream/lake and hills in the distance - it looks stunning in real life.

Andy's picture was created using alcohol inks swirled on a textured 12x12 floor tile. A sheet of 12x12 acetate was laid onto the ink and then the ink was moved out to the edges using finger pressure and a bit of wiggling of the acetate. How the acetate is removed from the tile creates more texture and Andy then 'double dipped' areas of the acetate to create even more colour and interest.

We started off with some sheets of A5 acetate cut in half and the aim was to create a background that we would then stamp over. We used alcohol inks for some...

 ...but also used Promarkers on others...

 ...just to show the different in colour intensity...

 ...because, despite using some of the deepest coloured Promarkers...

 ...the results were very pastel in nature...

 ...giving a very soft effect compared to the inks...

 ...which tend to retain a lot more of their vibrant nature...

 ...I decided to go with one of the Promarker pieces that looked like a cloudy sky...

 ...and this was the card that I ended up with.

After lunch we came back to some more play - this time on the 12x12 sheets.

I will have to try and get some photos without the light reflection...

...because, depending on which way round you look at these pieces, you can see all sorts of images within the colour mix.

A fabulous day having the chance to play with colours that would normally be outside of our individual comfort zones.

The smaller pieces will be great for backgrounds on cards or even to punch out some petals and create flowers and the larger pieces will make very colourful scrapbook layout backgrounds...I'm sure I have some photos of daffodils that would look great against the green piece.

Next week's workshop is texture & colour and Andy wasn't letting on about what we would be doing but said it would be another messy one - better remember the pinny & gloves then.............................