As you know, in addition to quilting, knitting, cross stitching, and gardening, I also have other crafty hobbies like painting and drawing. And several of those projects have been accumulating in the dining room over summer.

With the garden put to bed (sort of – it’s still blooming, but I’m done tending to it), I finally had some time to tackle some of this.

Of course, someone had to come see what I was up to…

But eventually I was able to get him to settle down so I could get to work

First up…

Remember these guys? I had started painting them and then decided my cheap paints were crap and put them away until I could finally get better paints. I got better paints but they just languished.

But now they are finally done (The higher-quality paints made all the difference!) And if you’re wondering what happened to that snail planter… he’s in a time out. Even the better paints couldn’t make painting all his little details fun. Part of it is my hands aren’t as steady as they used to be, and my eye sight definitely isn’t as sharp. I gave up. Dave said he’d take a stab at it (he paints model ships regularly) but we’ll see if he actually does.

And while I was waiting for coats to dry on those, I painted up these three little birdhouses we got for sale at Michaels several weeks back.

I kept it simple with the decorations

And I think they turned out pretty good. The framing on the sun porch is exposed, and it means lots of little “shelves” for treasures.

Now with those done, I have to decide what this coming weekend’s project will be. I have some regular terra cotta pots to paint. But I also have a brand new set of Prismacolours I haven’t cracked into yet

And this paint by number kit.

Michael’s is a very dangerous place, and I probably shouldn’t be allowed back in there until I finish all the projects on my table.