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Friday 17 August 2018

Rocking the Town on IHSW


It's the third weekend of the month which means it's International Hermit and Stitch Weekend!  I kicked off the weekend stitching with my fellow Hermit Sarah and her daughter, catching up with my Temperature SAL and some more stitches on my latest Just Nan small.

stitched on 22 count hardanger

You can find the details of the Temperature SAL on Hetti's blog - Stitches in Blue

I also found time to do some more scrapbooking of previous Just Nan finishes.

Floral Sunshine

Dragonfly Summer AKA Butterfly Summer

Butterfly Rose

It's so much fun finding the right papers and cards for the mounting.  I think the last one needs some ribbon or lace added.


There's a clue in the title of this post as to what else I have been up to - rock painting!  This is this year's Loom Bands but so much better and more fun.  Basically - get some rocks, paint or draw on them, hide them and wait for someone to find them and post them on the local Facebook group.  Fun for adults and children alike.

The shop where I work has to put on Summer Activities to attract families into the shop but it's difficult when you only have 2 staff on duty each day.  So we hit on the idea of me painting some rocks and hiding them around the shop for children to find.  We also hosted an afternoon of rock painting which was a great success.  Here is my tray of rocks:


The rocks come from a DIY shop (it's illegal to take them off the beach) and as they are white cobbles I was able to draw straight on to them using Sharpies.  Apparently Posco pens are the tool of choice for the elite rock painter but Sharpies are the next best.  Coat of varnish and they are good to go.

Here's a few close-ups, obviously all book characters:






Can you identify them all?  Which one is your favourite?

These have all been hidden in the shop, found by children and taken home to re-hide or keep.  I have a feeling they will be kept judging by the way the children were clutching them!

If you want to learn more or join in, here's a link to the national page - Love on the Rocks UK

Or you just type your town/county/state in the search bar on FB and add the word "rocks" and find out if there is a rocking scene near you!


Finally, I was asked about the Blogger of the Week blog this week.  I've taken a short break from posting there.  I have three interviews ready to go but I need to chase a few requests up and invite a few more people to be interviewed.  So don't worry, it will return!







26 comments:

Vickie said...

Oh Jo! You are so talented my friend!! Your artwork on the rocks is fantastic. I love it. Beautiful. My favorite is Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar! :)

RJ said...

Hi Jo! I love your stitches and paper projects. They make such beautiful cards and the papers are so pretty and perfect backgrounds for such pretty stitches. I can't pick a favorite because I love them all.

What a clever idea with the rocks. Ok I'll pick the caterpillar as my favorite. He is so cute! Have a great week. RJ

Pamela said...

I love your temperature project! I might try it starting in January.

Sandy said...

Love your Just Nan small. Are you using 1 or 2 strands? It looks like 2 and I do love it.

Barb said...

I love the way you combine scrapbooking and stitching! The temperature project has such pretty colors. Our little county here in Washington state had the same rock painting activity going on except the rocks were nothing special and you could keep any you found. My neighbor children had quite the collection.

beadgirl said...

Hide and Seek with the painted rocks is an adorable idea.

MartinaM said...

I like your temperatures SAL very well, and you can see the hot days well.
A great idea with the stones, the children certainly had a lot of fun. My favorite is Paddington Bear.
Greetings Martina

butterfly said...

Love your Just Nan stitching Jo.

We also used the painted stones at our Garden and craft show the children painted them and on the day they hid them around the show it was fun for all the children .

Mary said...

I first saw the rock project in FLorida when I found one, you don't keep the rock but register it on facebook and put it in a new location, this way people can track where they travel.
I'm so impressed with your drawing skills!!! Winnie is my favorite! Looking forward to future Blogger of the Weeks.Mary

rosey175 said...

Cute idea for the rocks! Someone likes Roald Dahl~ I love Matilda. And I spy the luggage! I actually recognize all of them from children's books except the robots. Your dark witchy one is great. :D/

Mini said...

Lovely Just Nan finishes. Oh I never knew you like drawing and sketching. Lovely idea of rock painting. Hope children have lots of fun finding them.

Christine said...

I love the way the temperature SAL is stitching up.
The rock painting thing has really taken off in our village too. Of course all our rocks are pieces of slate...
The Rainbow Fish is my favourite - did you stick a little bit of holographic tape on him?

Rhona said...

Your SAL is looking wonderful....what a fun project. Those Just Nan designs are just amazing and so pretty.
Love the rock painting too, that's something that's on my never ending craft to-do list!!!

Linda said...

Your scrap book pages look great Jo. But, I absolutely love your rocks. I want one. I can't even draw a stick figure. LOL

Linda

FlashinScissors said...

Your temperature chart is looking great, thank you for the link ..... I might try one next year!
Oh, the rock painting is such a good idea! Loved all those rocks on Facebook too! Sounds very popular too!
You are very arty ..... I’m afraid the only one I can name is Paddington bear! 😊
Barbara x

Preeti said...

Beautiful stitching! I liked the idea of hiding painted rocks with book characters. Must have been fun game for all:) And you are good at drawing as well!

Brigitte said...

Your temperature square looks very impressive. I think it's because of the colours you chose for the different temperatures. And some great new scrap book pages. You are right, I can imagine some lace matching well Butterfly Rose.
Such a lovely idea to paint little rocks for the children to find in the shop. And so many children books characters that you draw. You have so many talents, Jo. I could identify most of them and my favourite would be the caterpillar, one of my children's favourite books, and mine as well :))

Mii Stitch said...

Great stitching work!
I have heard about the stone craze going on at the moment. I must admit my favourite has to be your Very Hungry Caterpillar!!! I remember reading the book to my son at bedtime :)

DJ said...

You are quite a talented lady! I love those little painted rocks!! I could name a few of the books (now that my son is 23 I don't have a reason to read children's books as much) I think my favorite is the picture of the tiger and the little girl. I'm wondering if I have read the book...what one was that from? Your stitching, as always, is lovely but my favorite are the Just Nan pieces.

Tiffstitch said...

Great idea! BFG is my favourite and has been since I first read it when I was 10? You did an amazing job on the rocks, those will be well-loved for sure. There is something similar to that here and DD and I found a couple this weekend for the first time.

Katie said...

Love all your beautiful stitching and scrapbook finishes. But I have to say your rocks are gorgeous! You are a beautiful artist. I have found one in the wild while on vacation. It was a cute ladybug. I love all the ones you did but that monster treasure chest is my favorite. Too cool!

Rachel said...

Your stitching's great, but those rocks are fantastic! If you drew them all freehand then I'm super-impressed! Working as an infant school librarian I was able to name most of them, but I definitely can't pick a favourite; they're all so good! :)

Bethan said...

Your temperature SAL looks great - I wonder if there will be many more reds this year? I love the rock idea! Did you draw the designs yourself? Your art is stunning! I will now have to keep my eyes peeled for fun rocks in the area x

Julie said...

Love your stones.
A local little girl recently passed away, people were hiding stones for Isla in the most remarkable places.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-leicestershire-44011275/stone-legacy-for-terminally-ill-girl-isla-tansey

Leonore Winterer said...

Great stitching, but even more awesome rocks! I love the idea and love your rocks especially. I don't quite recognize all of them (obviously I need to do a little more reading) but I think the tiger one and the rainbow fish are my favourites.

Astrids dragon said...

Your Temp SAL looks great, I love the colours. So much fun scrapbooking.
Your rocks look fantastic! I can colour, but as for drawing? Not so much!
I think the Rainbow Fish is my favourite.