Guests for 'Afternoon Tea'

Hi everyone
Another slightly 'dodgy looking' sky this morning ! It's warm again and every now and again the sun shines brightly - good for me.

Here we are again and it's Wednesday already ! Last week, I had a great idea when washing some crates for The ORDER. These crates have been rescued from our garden shed - I love the recycling bit, they almost went to the tip earlier in the week. Anyway, the sun was shining and I was cleaning the crates with a big bucket of mild soapy water on the patio and hosing down to rinse with the hose pipe (collecting the water for the garden). To dry the crates, I sat them on some plastic garden chairs - there happened to be a little table in the middle and it did look like the crates had come to 'afternoon tea'.This bizarre, little view gave me a creative idea - I will take the idea of the crates as a body and develop some 'crate characters', having afternoon tea. My characters will be slightly different depending on the colour and style of the crate - all the crates are similar but have minor characteristics which are different eg cracked edge or different moulded side. Ideas about faces and limbs, hair etc came flooding in. The more I think about this idea - the more inspired I become. Most of yesterday's thoughts (while sorting The Order) were concerned with this new painting idea. I love the whole idea and am now playing around with different types of little cakes etc. I'd like to make the food/other details from polymer clay and attach to the painting. So, that (neatly)gives me, my link to the usual Wednesday Doll Day feature. Lots more thinking to be done and I will spend a little time later (after my allotted two jobs for the day) doing some initial sketches.

I've also spent some quality time making pretty labels for the crates - this is in line with my policy of making all the jobs in this project important. Here are some photos to get familiar with these VERY important crates !!!!



The label in the centre is for completed shop items (other than prints) - I have another idea for storing this. I think it's going to be a large flat box with a lid - yet to be decorated.








The crates are now in use and I will spend more time today - filling and chucking. I plan to spend 30 mins sorting as job one and job two will be organising paper - Im thinking, I need a specific storage idea for papers. I will only know when I have it all separated and can see the quantity. The paper is currently all mixed (on virtually every surface).
Here are the crates having 'afternoon tea' (imagination is required here ) -



I need to do some work on my presentation of afternoon tea (not sure I would be excited about afternoon tea on this image) however, you get the message. I still think its a brilliant idea and Im sticking to it ! You will agree when the painting is complete.

That's it for today, Im feeling optimistic. Progress is slow and everything looks worse at the moment. I will take some more photos of the current 'disorder' to share.

Bye for now.