I love the magazine, cloth paper scissors.  This week their online newsletter encourage readers to take advantage of the last weeks of summer to do five things.  Well, of course I thought this was a brilliant list and as I looked outside at the sunshine I immediately challenged a few friends to join me in trying to accomplish each of the items. 

Yesterday and today it has rained like, well, like Seattle in the stormy season.  The papers wrote about how we’ve skipped September and October and gone right to November.  ha ha.  sun printing.  ha ha.

But I will not be dissuaded from my quest.  Here’s the list:

Five Creative Things to Do Before Summer Ends

1. Paint outside. C’mon, you know you’ve always wanted to be one of those plein air artists who set up an easel in the middle of the park or on the beach, attracting a crowd. So do it!

2. Dye. The best place to dye–whether you use chemical or natural dyes–is outside. That way, you avoid both potentially harmful fumes and getting dye all over your floors and furniture. This is a perfect time for sun printing, too.

3. Press leaves and flowers. You don’t need a fancy press: put the plant material between pages of an old phone book and place a heavy book on top of that until it dries in a few days or a week. Can’t wait? Make prints from plant parts using ink or paint.

4. Organize your summer photos and back them up. You’ll thank yourself in the middle of the winter when you’re searching for that perfect hermit crab photo you took on the beach.

5. Sketch wildlife. You’ll not only improve your drawing skills, you’ll collect a host of images you can use all winter long.