Conker Craft part 3

Here is the last part of the conker-y craft season till next year, when I may have all sorts of new ideas (I hope!). They are such gorgeous shiny little treasures, and such a lovely long wait for them, that it makes my heart glad (ooh, I've gone all Pollyanna!!).

Yesterday had the aliens and the dog, on which I had used the gold pen. I enjoyed the effect of gold on shiny brown so much that I carried on drawing and here are the results...

The possibilities for patterns are endless... but I stopped here.

Full of Autumn-y goodness.

They remind me of the posh chocolates you can get in shops these days, such a pity they're not edible.

And this way, Conker Alien gets a pet   = )

Conker Craft part 2

Yesterday's blog was conker furniture. Today's is conker-y people and creatures in their home.

This one is a conker dog. I made holes in it with a bradawl (or the weird pointy thing you get in a set of small screwdrivers that doesn't screw 'cos its just pointy on the end). If you have little people who want to make these and you don't want them wielding pins, then this is the safer alternative: make the holes for them with the tool, cut cocktail sticks in half and they can safely push them into the holes. You may need to even up the legs so it doesn't fall over!

Acorn Bill is the traditional owner of the conker furniture and the little acorn cups work as a natty hat or as drinking cups for him.

Here he is in his half-shoebox house. I did this craft at the weekend with a bunch of kids (aged 5 to... I'm guessing...65?) so everyone had to have half a shoebox so that there was enough to go round. You could probably treat yourself to a whole one, or just place the furniture outside for the garden fairies to use.

These two alien creatures were made with wire rather than pins and the holes made to go right through so the wire could follow: one for each leg up through the centre and out as feelers on top, another straight across for the arms.

Faces were drawn on with gold pen... more of that tomorrow!

Conker Craft part 1

Ever wondered what to do with that lovely pile of conkers you have (or a small member of your family has) collected?

Well the next few blogs will show you a variety of temporary conker-y fun to be enjoyed while the season of mellow fruitfulness is upon us.

Conker furniture with pins and wool is a childhood favourite.

4 pins pushed into the bottom of the conker make the legs. Two more pushed into the top with wool wound around them make the back of the chair.

Gorgeous leaves make the perfect carpet to display them.

More Lego

For those of you interested in more Lego stuff from the exhibition, here it is,
No more words, just Lego

= )

Lego Statues and Paintings

Let's take a craft break and go on a Lego Excursion!

This was an exhibition that was on in the earlier part of this year. If you saw it, the pictures will be familiar, if not, then enjoy the creative fun of Lego!

Famous sculptures from throughout history, realised in Lego.

Similarly paintings, mostly flat but with small 3d elements that are hard to photograph but fascinating to see. Lego being both 2d and 3d at the same time was odd.

There are many more pics to come from this exhibition, so stand by for more posts!

Marmite Daisy Chain

It was the Summer of Love and, although we never managed to find the legendary jar (despite various hunts in towns near and on holiday!!), I did craft Marmitey-ness to make up for our loss.

I can't go on holiday without packing a few crafty bits so in my box of goodies this year were: green cord, a mini sewing kit, buttons and felt in Marmite colours (yellow, green, black, brown, white, red and orange).

In spare moments I would sew a Marmite-y flower and add it to the garland until it was full.

This is the garland on the sofa arm at the caravan as it grew...

And here is the finished article in all its Marmite-y goodness: a daisy chain for the summer of love...

... draped  above the Marmite Shrine...

... and  providing camouflage for the rare Marmite bird (last seen nesting in the pages of the Marmarati competition entries the year before last.

Painting on Stones

Lulworth Cove in Dorset is a lovely place to be. We found it quite late in the evening as the sun was setting so it was empty of crowds and we could have it all to ourselves.

My husband sat and drew in his sketchpad across two pages to get a more panoramic view of the circular cove.

I chose one of the large white stones that litter the beach and drew in black pen all the way round it, back and front, painting it in later when I got home.

 

 

That is truly panoramic.

Now here are some of the photos of the cove.

 

 

Very full during the day, lovely and quiet in the evening, and fair warning that the beach contains lumps of clay that can make a real mess of your shoes and make the rocks slippery to climb. Well worth a visit, as the overflowing car park will tell you by the sheer number of cars. Good food nearby too!

Ninja Octopus

Last time's blog, I showed you an Amigurumi octopus I made on holiday...

Well, that one was about 12cms tall and 18cms across.
But while I was on holiday I was browsing in a wool shop (because I DEFINITELY DIDN'T need any more wool!!!) and I found tiny Amigurumi crochet thread. Being flush with birthday money, I just had to buy a pack.

These pics show you the size it is compared to usual-sized wool (so cute!!).

So naturally, the next octopus had to be a mini Ninja.

It is only 3cms tall.  I really should have pictured them together, but it was a present and has left the house now.

An Octopus on Holiday: more Amigurumi

I saw an Amigurumi Octopus on the front cover of a craft magazine at the very start of the summer and bought the magazine with the intention of having a go. However, I am rubbish at following a pattern so in the end, I just bought some wool I fancied and had a go at it myself, using the picture as a guide to my crochet experimentation.

I am very happy with him and, as I took the wool, hook and picture on holiday with me to do, he was born on holiday and got to pose on beaches!

Here he is at Lulworth Cove (more on that another day).

And, in case you wondered what his underbelly looked like...

it looks rather like a blue sun.
That's part of the fun of Amigurumi for me: you never know exactly what you're going to get in the end, especially if you can't  follow a pattern!!

Daleks vs Weeping Angels

From cigar box to board game!

If you read yesterday's blog, you'd know that I'd had this cigar box for years , waiting for the right idea to come along. At last this was it!

Turn the cigar box into a Tardis...

Find all the little plastic Dalek and Weeping Angel figures I'd had from either the front of a Dr Who comic or inside the Advent Calendar...

Make a chequered board game base...

And Voila!

A Daleks versus Weeping Angels board game, where they can face each other across space and time.

I wonder if a Weeping Angel's eye contact and touch work on a Dalek's eye and metal casing?

I wonder if Daleks could use Angels' teleportation powers to send procreative Daleks to lots of different times in Earth's history, to mount an attack from many points in time , for total Earth-history domination?

I wonder if I should be up at five in the morning doing this?