LOVE CAN TRANSFORM ANY OLD THING

I was having tea with my friend Maureen  last week and she was jubilant over the brilliant weather.
'I must be outdoors when there is sunshine' she said. Then looking at me with a wink in her eye, she added, 'and you I suppose don't mind staying indoors and doing some crafts?'

Absolutely true.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't want to go to the beach. It is between those hours when I am at the beach and at the computer and in the garden and everything else, that I do my crafts. I love to make full use of every hour and every minute.

So these are my summer projects so far:

1. TEA CUP FEEDER

Reminds me of Mary Poppins' Feed the Birds...Tuppence a bag.....

2.  WATERING CAN BLING

An old trinklet creates a faux spray of water.....

3. BLUE BICYCLE

Theresa gave me a cherished bicycle and I thought it could do with a new coat of paint.

4. A SEWER JOINT PLANTER

I got this sewer pipe joint from Wasted Junkyard on the way to Scariff. You just don't know what you can find there!!!

5. WHEELBARROW Planter

6. LOG HOUSES

My friend Catherine gave me some logs and even if I wasn't trained to be an architect, I decided to create some log houses to test out a recently acquired chop/mitre saw.

7. SIGN POSTS

What is a garden without signposts?

                                      A friend gave me some golf balls for the peas

                                                   
8. A CHAIR PLANTER

9. A TERRARIUM

This was quite a challenge as it was my first time creating a terrarium but I enjoyed it tremendously and have written an article about it.
(https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blogger.g?blogID=8690240085782286672#editor/target=post;postID=5195160046881279273;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=1;src=postname)

A bird's eye view of our garden

10. SWEATSHIRT PAINTING/DECOUPAGE

I won some fabric paints in a craft competition and never got around to using them, so I thought I'd try them on some sweatshirts. Truth be told, random strangers did stop me to ask me how it was done.

11. DECOUPAGED GLASS PLATES

And I made these for some good friends...............

Well, summer is still not over yet, so when the Muse strikes, I will craft again......

SUMMER PROJECTS 2018

Summer is almost over and boy, have I been busy.upcycling stuff , painting, sewing and doing all the things I love to do. So I'll divide this blog post into categories.

1. Seamus the Scarecrow

I want to scare away the pesky birds from attacking my vegetables and fruit so what better way than to make a traditional scarecrow? Seamus is bigger than life and since this was my first time trying to make a scarecrow, I had great fun. The best part is I made a little vest for him from fabric that my sister gave me from the States about 20 years ago!

I also made new markers for my crops.

2. Fish and shell mural

I love shellfish so instead of discarding the shells after a meal, I decided to create a wall mural. First I made the fish out of clay. After firing, I painted them with fluorescent acrylics. Sticking them to the wall required loads of patience.

3. Water Barrels

Planters created out of water barrels are rather fetching. Due to adverse weather conditions last year, the 2 barrels that I painted were a sorry sight so I gave them a makeover.

Then I got another barrel and painted a new one for this year, inspired by Vincent Van Gogh's sunflowers.

free hand painting with acrylics.

4. Milk Churns

I purchased 2 vintage milk churns that didn't come cheap. For the one below I used stenciling and free hand painting.

Then I used grout for the poppies on the second milk churn to give a 3 - D effect.

And this was the original milk churn

5. Love the Birds

I made 3 bird boxes for nesting next Spring. They can also keep the birds warm during winter.

Then for the existing bird house, I gave it a summery feel. Notice that Mrs. is wearing a red bikini.

6. Ceramic mural

I did the abstract ceramic tiles last year and decided to paint them this year and mount them on wood.

7. Denim season

Apparently denim jeans and tops are back in fashion. I thought they'd look great in the garden too as planters! So I made a whole family: daddy, mummy and junior.

8. Gifts for friends

For their ordination as full time ministers in church, I made my friends memory boxes.

And for a lovely friend who called for tea, I made her a cactus pin cushion.

I'm back to painting with chalk paints and am in the midst of creating some new stuff so watch this space!