Setting myself a challenge.

I don't know why but I have had a lot of trouble getting things done on the Orchid. Every time I get it out I end up staring at it for ages but not getting much at all done. I know what I want it to look like, I have everything I need to get it done but I can't seem to get my butt into gear and do it. So time to walk away, at least for now. Try something a little different.

Rather than start another full size project I needed to come up with something else, something  To get me into my craft area creating daily. Then it hit me! A way to challenge myself on a daily basis, to have a new finished product every day. I'm going to make a different meal every day for a year!

The "dish a day" challenge starts on Saturday. It's New Year's Day in the Pagan calender, as good a day as any to get started. That gives me a couple of days to create a scene to photograph the finished pieces in. I have promised myself that even if the scene isn't completely done, the food will be served daily as of Saturday.

All of this hit me yesterday and This is what I've done so far....

 I dug out some kitchen furniture and started playing on the coffee table to see how it would look best. I really liked this arrangement but realised that it would't fit into the space I want to store it in. I have 3 other cube shelf thingys, like the one in the background here, in my craft area.  

 So I settled for this arrangement and started measuring out on the foam core, I chose foam core because it's light but fairly strong and because it's easy to cut, I don't have a lot of tools. (Walking Dead marathon on the tv. Minis and monsters, such a great combination for me.)

 I cut out 2 panels for each of the walls and the floor and glued them together using pva glue.

 One wall is slightly longer than the other so that I didn't end up with a gap in the corner. The measurements are: floor - 31x31cm.  wall 1- 22x31cm.  wall 2- 22x32cm. The foam core is 5mm thick.

 Lots of glue and lots of tape to hold it all together. Of course it was at the very beginning of this process that my dog, Piper, decided she really needed me to go outside and play with her. So while I am single handedly trying to fit it all together, keep it all square and hold it all together with bits of tape this is what I can see out of the corner of my eye......

 "I'll just keep staring at Mum until she can't take it any more. Any minute now she'll give in and take me outside and throw the ball for me. I call the technique Passive Nagging. It's very effective"

After the glue dried and the game of fetch was over I cut one more piece of foam core for the base for a bit of extra strength. (no I didn't use the scissors for this, they just happened to be there)

I want terracotta tiles so I chose a piece of card stock as close to the base colour as I could find in my stash and placed it in for a look.

 Hmmm???..

 Yep I think that will do it. 

I picked out a selection of browns, creams and gold. I also used acrylic medium to give a bit of texture to the finish.

 I used a stiff brush to dab all of the colours onto the card. I didn't use the word stipple because I tried a stippling brush last time I did this and it didn't work at all well. I found it better to use and old "shaggy" brush with stiff bristles. Did that make sense?

 Once the paint was dry I turned the sheet over and marked out 1" squares on the 

back and cut them out.

 Do they look like terracotta? 

 I used some strips of egg carton to cover the raw edges and covered the back with grey card. Even though I know this bit will never show in photos, a job worth doing etc..

All glued into place. At this stage I thought once the glue has dried I'll give it a couple of coats of mod podge and call it a night. Feeling quite pleased at the amount I had done. 

A glance at the clock....  3.30am!! The rest can wait till tomorrow, time to get some sleep.

Time flies when you're having fun. Think I got my mojo back. :)