Rocking again this summer...

Nope, I didn't manage a single festival this year but I did find some pretty cool rocks and stones this summer. That's Zac and I at Burgh Island picking out some lovely flat slatey stones...

I have also found some fantastic pens which have opened up another world of rock related crafts to me! I could barely contain my excitement about these pens and having been telling everyone I meet about them...

The pens are called Posca by Uni and I got them from my local craft shop Creative Crafts.

There was a choice of pens and I went for these bullet tip, fine line, permanent pens. They are great for the kids as mine are a bit too young for effective stone painting...although they are permanent so watch out for that! If you want them shiny use Mod Podge or watered down PVA to protect your art!

Other ideas for these brilliant pens...

• You could add some googly eyes and make them into pets.
• We made some noughts and crosses stones which can be left in the garden - you can make the grid out of sticks. 
• Apparently they also write well on wellies, so personalising some cheap supermarket wellies could be good fun. 
• I also tried these pens on glass and they worked really well although would eventually come off something that was being used a lot and washed up. Excellent for making jars into tea light holders though. We'll be getting some spooky colours out and making some for Halloween no doubt about it.
• Mary's idea was to find enough flatish stones and write people names to use as place markers at the table.
• I just love the thought of bringing a few stones home from your holidays and writing where and when they were from on the back or the front.

Have you got any good ideas for these pens?

Nix :)

Boys & Boats

When I was little I used to make these all the time but I had forgotten about them until the other day.  The boys really enjoyed finding the best leaves for the job and watching them float or sink.  It's so easy to do.

You need: 1 cork, 1 sharp knife, 1 cocktail stick, 1 penny and a leaf or piece of paper.
Just cut the cork in half.

Make a slit down it's curved edge to hold the ballast (penny) and a tiny slit on the flat edge to put the cocktail stick in.

Then find a leaf and stick it on. If the boats keep sinking try a lighter leaf or dry the one you had if it floated originally.

You could also use pretty paper, fabric, ribbon etc but what I like about this is that if you are out camping, chances are you'd have everything to make this (you can use a small stick instead of a cocktail stick) and the kids just love that you can make it from the things all around you that they have found.