Tuesday 24 June 2014

Another Giant Game finished for the Carlisle Country Craft and Old-Fashioned Market.

Good morning all!  I certainly hadn't intended to be gone for a whole month, but there we are.

Here's just one of the myriad projects I've been working on lately...a giant checkers game.
This one is for the Carlisle Country Craft and Old-Fashioned Market Mercantile in August (click here if you are on Facebook for this year's event), or here for pictures of last year's event if you aren't on Facebook.  I am sponsoring the games this year (as Remembrances Pottery).
The checker pieces are sliced from a large maple branch downed in some rather strong winds last year.  My husband cut them with a chain saw, and since a handful lost their bark in the process, N chipped the bark of the rest of them to match.  I painted both sides with some iridescent paint I had lying around, and there you have it.   They aren't quite finished yet because I think one side needs a crown (king me, king me) but S thinks I should draw on chess pieces instead.  Still debating.
The board itself is from an old wool blanket (I love re-using wool blankets and sweaters) that has been stored away for years.  I had fully intended on making it into a hooded cloak, but realistically it will get more use this way.  After all, it has been in the "to do" bin for about 5 years.  I painted it to look sort of like a quilt to match the theme of the show (Pioneer meets Victorian meets Steampunk).  Also, it was taking WAY more paint than I anticipated so I ended up mixing and matching.

I'm quite looking forward to the show.  With each project we finish up, N gets more and more excited to go.  He's the "Gamesmaster" in the Village Green so that if little ones show up with their parents and have no one to play the games with, he's on the scene to play along...and to get races going just generally to get everyone having a good time.  The perfect job for him.

Feel free to weigh in on the crown vs. chess piece debate...which would you vote for?

Linking up with:  Keep Calm Craft On over at Frontier Dreams
                         The Backyard Farming Connection Blog Hop
                         From the Farm Blog Hop
                         Fiber Arts Friday at Wisdom Begins in Wonder
                         Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia


7 comments:

  1. A lovely idea and it came out brilliantly.

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  2. I love this!

    You could put the chess pieces on one side and leave plane for checkers on the other, then it's two games in one.... but it seems like a lot of work. ;-)

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    1. I thought it sounded like a lot of work too, for how many people are likely to take the time to play a game. I'm trying to convince my son that if he thinks he would play, then he should draw the pieces on. Not working so far :)

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  3. love it and love it's all repurposed. I bet he will have fun as gamesmaster. I vote King me!! :) But there are two sides, you could do both!

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  4. what a great idea for an outdoor game, I may have to pinch it. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. I love this idea! As we spend more time outside I can really appreciate the need for this to be added to my own 'to-do' list!

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  6. Ooh, fun! I think ... checkers might get more games? Chess games take longer, to my mind.

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