Getting Back To Normal...

Well, after the hottest summer I've ever experienced in this country, temperatures have finally dropped to normal levels for this time of year and I can get back to doing some arts and crafts without dripping in sweat or the paint drying on my brush.  It has been a struggle keeping the garden alive, carting watering cans up and down due to the hosepipe ban, and I have lost a few plants - no cucumbers this year, although the tomatoes have been OK and the runner beans are just about starting now, with help from copious bowls of washing up water!

I saw a funny crocheted coaster on the net last week and decided to have a go at creating my own version.  It works by using the yarn double and making a dome using the amigurumi method of increases.  The coaster sits with the body concave and when you put your mug on it...

 

...tadah!  The head and legs spring up to clasp the mug!  Well, it made me laugh...

 I've also been painting another wooden box - no photos just yet, I still have to put a lining in it. That was a chore as well - hard to paint when the paint dries on your brush before you even get it on the work!

I am also working on a large watercolour - good to be painting again after a difficult summer where my enthusiasm was at an all time low.

It's Too Hot Out There...

 I am definitely not enjoying this summer.  For one thing, it is far too hot for me - I lived in Greece for 13 years and coped OK with the summer heat, but here in the UK it is something else. The humidity makes it stifling, our houses are built to keep heat in and that's definitely what mine is doing!  There is no prospect of any decent rain coming and we now have a hosepipe ban, so a lot of time is spent hauling watering cans around the garden in an attempt to keep everything I have worked so hard to grow alive.  I know in the winter I'll probably be bemoaning the constant rain and grey skies, but hey, I'm British, I have to complain about the weather, it's the law!

So that, combined with a difficult time at home, means I have not really felt  in the mood to paint.  Painting is my escape from the world, so I miss it.  I did attempt this painting of some nasturtiums in my garden - the blue is supposed to represent the pot they are in.  I enjoyed the process but hate the result - not my best work!

 Last week I bought myself a cyanotype kit - I'd seen an article in a magazine about using it on stones and shells so I wanted to give it a go.  The stone was my first experiment - it's OK, but the stone itself is grey so the design did not come out as clear as I would have wanted.  The paper prints were very much experimental - I did not have  sheet of glass with which to hold the leaves down which resulted in them being a bit fuzzy - the plastic I did use also caused considerable condensation which might have affected the print too.  Now I have seen what went wrong, I am keep to give this another go - perhaps even try it on fabric.

Last week I took my daughter and granddaughter to a local place to have a go at painting on pottery. We had a lot of fun but we won't see the results for a few weeks as our works of art have to be glazed and fired and they do it in big batches, plus they were rather busy due to the school summer holidays.  I can't wait to see how they turn out, especially my daughter's mug as she spent most of the 2 hours painting the inside of it rather than the outside...