Teacup Tuesday... new projects

Anna's a few steps ahead of me with her new project. It's simple, beautiful and unique. She's the arty one and making beautiful things comes naturally to her. I'm more logical, IT, nerdy... and while I love to paint, draw and craft like the next person inspiration doesn't come to me naturally.

This is because my projects need to fulfil a purpose, my crafting usually comes from finding that I can't purchase the exact type of thing I am looking for! My frustration leads me to trying things out, making a mess until I have a product I am happy with.

Currently I have 2 projects in 'design' or 'doodle' phase, both of which are born out of necessity!

Motor Skills
Watching my little one try to throw a ball in our garden caused me much humour this Summer. In variably it went behind her, and in showing her what to do throwing became a ballet move rather than something that helped her with her hand eye co-ordination. Which proved even more hilarious than the original attempts to throw. So I bought her a small bucket (to concentrate throwing something into) and tried to find some balls small enough for her to hold properly... so that we could practice throwing something into the bucket.

Small balls, malleable enough for her toddler hands? Impossible. So I made some throwing bags:


These worked really well until she dunked them in the water tub bucket. Red lentil filling went musty and I had to throw them out.

So work in progress but I think the benefits of toddler throwing game eye co-ordination, beginning of being interested in sport, helping to understand accuracy between action and seeing - writing, concentration, and enjoyment of team activities (everyone can have one bag to throw, two teams etc) means that I'll probably take this on to a second phase once I have worked out a filling that suits me. Then it's on to shapes, characters, material, suitable alternative to the bucket (perhaps with a backboard to stop any wild accidents should this be played indoors)...Hmmmmmmm Work In Progress Indeed.

Mushrooms

I'm a big fan of fungi, it's fascinating stuff. The UK used to lead the world in fungal research but it's fallen out of favour in the past few decades. Which is sad, because there's so much and so many types of these plants that we really just don't know enough about. Mushrooms come in interesting organic shapes, very useful interesting organic shapes.
I'd love to make a mushroom shaped play box; it could double up as a stool when not being used as a play box. You could have several colour designs - chestnut mushrooms for a neutral decor playroom / child's bedroom, a toadstall colour, a natural wood colour....
While I don't have the wood carving skills to make this myself, I still see something that could be beautiful and practical at the same time.

I may try and sketch my design for a talented woodmaker I know. ;o)