A Wonky Monkey

A quick update on frogs and monkeys

You know I had to try it- so here is a folded paper monkey! Mark 1 !

I wish I could say this first one was a complete and instant success- but just after this photo he, rather gracefully, pitched forwards! So…

C+

Not bad but needs work.

However, card may improve things as it was a flimsy scrap of paper (I had been making a list on the rest of it)! Then frog caught my eye and I remembered a monkey was on my list. Still a bit of tea in the cup to qualify as a tea break not time wasting… ( no, tea breaks are not time wasting if you put them to some other use at the same time. Like typing this for example).

Also despite all the sock and amigurumi monkeys around I just couldn’t think how to draw a monkey face. I came up with this effort- hmm. Could be a monkey- or a bear- or anything really. LOL..

As usual it was one of my “strike while the iron’s” hot moments; too much of an interruption of “flow” to go looking for one to remind me what they looked like. I‘d get distracted reading a history of sock monkeys or a blog…
and never get back to it.

So I just winged it, bearing in mind the frog was the original start point for him. I had a pretty clear idea about the body modifications to make, and did them in one cut! (OK – I doodled the hands and tail a bit beforehand – but then altered the cut shape as I went).

Here he is after he tipped over !

Anyhow that’s monkeys sorted enough to move on for now, so its bye bye from monkey, and from frog, who was saying hello.

Love at first sight 🙂

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Frog Blog

I am trying to make a paper frog today, as you do..!
I took the “hare” (made over as a bunny) to another event recently.

One little boy didn’t want a bunny but asked for a frog instead; so I made a quick adaptation, gave him some “pond” stuff to sit it on… and ( this is one of the creative joys when working with children ) off he went and carried out his idea, to make something fabulous like this…

I really liked the frog idea; so I kept my rough negative off-cut that I chopped out quickly for him,

and this morning decided to have a go at making a frog template.

It is strange, but the more I attempt to frogify the cut, the less it looks like the ‘really quite frog like’ initial one.

Ribbit, ribbit is turning into rip it, rip it around here.

Plus the casual bottom fold (that makes him sit but without tipping) is actually quite crucial- I was just lucky with it first time.

As there are only 2 folds they have to be right- but mega easy for children to get right too.

Start again?

It is hard to put the genie back in the bottle and be spontaneous again once you have already made a series of steps trying to work something out. I always work better with just the scissors rather than drawing and then cutting out.

So here I am starting again, step by step, cut by cut.

This survivor is putting a brave smile on it.

However you can just see that bin-full of frog bits!

By the way – the bright oilcloth is also a survivor – of the eighties; not my current taste – but blooming good at protecting the good oak table under it!
That is as far as this day went – life happened!
So here is the next go at it; in much brighter weather; with some rather more literary frogs. I still can’t bring myself to make prototypes in “the good stuff”- hence the rather endearingly appropriate word “small” in his tummy!

I thought I’d upload these photos as they do look such cheerful chaps. Even unfinished and wonky.

Well that is my motto: Wonky is a good thing!

Basking in the sunshine. ( Not sure if frogs do that actually – but this one does.)

Next stop ‘publisher’ for the “how to” and he can go into the “Frogs and Ponds” art activity PDF set.

Hey this one looks quite like a monkey now he is photographed!
hmm..
Oh no!
I started it again! Now I have to try out a monkey.
Later.

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Catching up with events

This post is the update on the last event of 2010, all about getting ready for winter; hibernation and food storing etc.

(As an aside; I am SO over winter… I cannot see to make anything much after 2:30 in the afternoon, it gets so dark because we are in a north-south valley.)

It was a cold day- a bit grim to be honest, but there was a very good turnout and the log burner was great so we were all cosy in the barn! We made frog homes, night and day door hangers, clay and twig hedgehogs, and used a lot of shredded paper in dormouse nests and hedgehogs sticky pictures. Here they are (well some of them).

The frog homes were just flower pots to put in the garden- but they were suitably embellished as appealing homes – with info on what frogs might like! Very popular!

This one already has an occupant! (you have to look closely)

We had a heap of old gardening periodicals (not valuable – don’t worry) with lovely mellow aged print. They looked fab shredded (along the font lines) as hedgehog spines and for dormouse nests on the ‘sticky pictures’. The idea was to put the spines on in layers… but this sweet little one looks like he has literally been “through a hedge, backwards”. Hope his creator doesn’t want to be a hairdresser.

The door hangers were very simple, and again popular with the younger visitors. They were actually reversible, the two cards stuck together with “day” one side and “night” the other, and suitable woodland creatures in fluffy fabric added.

For older children we had clay hedgehogs and dormouse nest. Much concentrated effort involved!

Colouring mice

this little girl likes pink- see his little nose.

Then winding nests for them- ranging from minimal, neat and ‘sartorially enhanced’ to ‘everything on’!

Some quite natural looking.

some less so!

and some very well housed indeed , LOL!

The nests were shredded paper and odd bits of wool etc, glued on, wound around, and in, plastic globes. These were mainly Activia yogurt containers, and some laundry soap measure balls. Not that it mattered because you couldn’t tell what was inside once they had been enhanced!
However they all turned out to be really cute.

As did the twiggy clay hedgehogs.

some of whom had a very piratical air!!

this one is actually called Sidney Black Eye!

At the end of the day we were very pleased to hear that is was a good way to educate children about hibernation.

Result! Thank you that daddy 🙂

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