Super Swopsies

You may remember that I and the Equally Lovely Denise (The Lovely Laura’s Mum) had agreed to do a swop …… I had a overwhelming desire for some bright crocheted cushion covers, as I had decided to embrace colour to add a certain je ne sais pas to my largely magnolia rooms……. and Denise rather fancied a FiddleFart work of art!!!!!!……

Well,  just before Christmas we arranged the “grand hand over” …. oh my goodness, WHAT a swop! as I opened Denise’s parcel the whoops of delight just got louder and louder, not only from me but also from My Lucy ….. as each cover was revealed in all it’s glory, 

I just can’t tell you how thrilled I am ……

…… or how jealous Lucy was …..

…. and the backs are just as beautiful, made from a variety of cotton floral prints.

What a brilliant, brilliant swop, and I sigh every time I go into my lounge, because it looks so beautiful and bright!

Denise gets her Planet Penny cotton yarn from

http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PlanetPennyUK?ref=l2-shopheader-name

https://www.facebook.com/PlanetPenny?fref=ts

The Facebook page is always well worth a look for brilliant ideas and crafty links.

How I Spent The First Day of 2014 ….. Fiddle Farting Per Chance?

Lucy and I ended 2013 by going for an Indian meal just up the road with my Father and Brother-In-Law as we have for the past four/five years. I would say it was 9 noms out of 10….. but for me the best bit will ALWAYS be the poppadums and nibbles at the start of the meal …………. I could eat them forever!

We then came home, I fiddle farted a little bit putting together the first page of my 2014 scrapbook/notebook.

When Lu and I were in Vegas I religiously kept a daily scrapbook diary (above)  …. something I haven’t had a chance to share with you yet …. throughout this year I thought I would try and do something similar ….. not every day, I just don’t have the time, and I don’t lead that exciting sort of life ….. but just days when I do something special or where something catches my fancy.But I digress …….. Then we opened a bottle of Asti while we watched the fireworks (we know how to live!!!), and then both slipped off to bed.

I slept in till 10.00 …. pretty unheard of these days …. I am usually always up with the lark, only to be greeted with yet another very blustery day and yet more rain.

The house needed tidying (quite desperately)  ….. but instead, I decided to prepare what will be my bathroom mirror for bejewelling ….

It’s not going to be as easy as I first thought because on closer inspection there’s a lot of bevelling and curved surfaces going on which in my excitement of discovering a  “good” find I had not considered ….. but not to be deterred, I masked over the mirror, took it down to the garage and spray painted it white …. so farewell lovely background pattern that I thought would show through any small gaps.

I needed the sides to be sprayed white as they will be visible when the mirror hung and also the very inside bevel next to the mirror which would have looked odd left with a wood finish …… I might go all round it with flat back gems or pearls (I need thousands of them), or a couple of intact beaded necklaces to save time, perhaps a string of pearls would look good, but they will still need a white background to show through any gaps. I think two coats should do, and while it was all drying I sorted through the “jewels” I have left from previous mirrors!

It’s obvious that I am going to need quite a few more …. but I will use what I have first to build up the foundations and then pay a visit to Primark/e-bay/and the local charity shops to see what they have got.

So that was my first day of 2014 ….. riveting,  but at least  I spared you from the little bit of cleaning I did do!!! 

Happy New Year - 2014

Oh my life where did 2013 go? ….. and now here we are at the very beginning of 2014, another year spread out in front of us, and I never thought I would still be here .... again, still blogging  ….. and for that, you and I have Marc to thank ……. 3 cheers for Marc …. hip, hip ……hooray!!!

So ….. what does 2014 have in store  …… a couple of things are already planned, like lots and lots of London Lounging and the swigging of mahoooosive vodka and cokes with Marc!

Then a trip to Iceland in April with the A Level Geography girls at work, when I will finally get to swim in the Blue Lagoon ….. something I have dreamed about doing for as long as I can remember. I know I am going to see so many wonderful and amazing sights that will just take my breath away.

 Then there are other things on my list like ………

Surprise, surprise ….. losing a bit of weight ……  like half a ton!!  Marc has been on the 5:2 Diet with AMAZING results ...... so it would be rude to not follow in his footsteps!

Then there's the bottom of my garden ....which hopefully by Easter will be my special peaceful oasis and oft-time party area!!!!! 

I …… at the end of the summer I decided that I just couldn’t do it on my own and so I now have a lovely gentleman and his wife who over the coming months are sorting it all out for me, very slowly, bit by bit, ….. nothing fancy …

……. but in the end I hope it will be a very different area, with a place for a table and chairs, a barbeque, and a duck egg blue shed, fitted inside with a bit of carpet, an old arm chair and my faithful radio ……. and flower beds that I can keep in control and a few quirky ornamental  bits and pieces.

Lucy and I both fancy a proper beach holiday in the summer, perhaps Greece. It seems such a long time since we last saw and smelt the sea, let alone swam in it, I am pining!

On the really ambitious side I wouldn’t mind having a go at demo-ing, goodness knows what, but I think my confidence is high enough to give it a bash ….. so I am open to all offers!!!!!!

As for blogging …. well, let’s just see how it goes, a post every other day seems manageable at the moment ….. it is hard work, especially as I write two!!! But I am so grateful that I seem to have got my old mojo back and now get cross and frustrated especially when I can’t craft fast enough because ideas keep flooding into my brain……

It’s a year, I hope, we can all continue to share ….. all FiddleFarting together.

HERE’S TO 2014 … BRING IT ON!!!!

My Last Refurb Bastion …… My Bathroom

In the past eighteen months I have sorted out much of the house, it has given me something to concentrate on, a continual focus, as well giving me a bit of a thrill as everything has come to fruition.  Nothing has been that major, just a freshen up, a lot of painting,  new soft furnishings and the rearranging of my bits and pieces.  At first everything was very neutral in white and magnolia but as my confidence has grown, colour, mainly turquoise, lime green, fuchsia pink and purple has crept into almost every room, making things interchangeable!

My bedroom has been my favourite project so far …… it has become my “boudoir” … but February will see the start of the last bastion of my refurb,  to wit the bathroom …. at the moment it is sooooo urggggh I am ashamed, and is the room that no one sees (until now) …..

…. see I told you it was urggggh!  The plan is that it will all be retiled in white (again!), with a new loo and sink, flooring and a cupboard for storage.  I want it to be a girlie spa for me and Lu and so my bit is going to be making a patchwork effect bath panel, front and side!  I have Googled extensively for fancy bath panels but have drawn a blank …. so I just have a picture in my head …. heaven help me if it doesn’t work.  I am going to use squares of my prettiest, flowery craft papers and then coat with lots and lots of layers of matt varnish to make it waterproof. 

 

At the side of the sink I am going to make another one of my bejewelled mirrors, I am hoping that Primark will have plenty of bits that I can disassemble after Christmas and I still have quite a few bits and pieces still to be used.

The old mirror is very plain …. so I am hoping to find something like the mirror below to replace it, it’s from Argos, and is the perfect size, but unfortunately is cream …… so I need to do a bit more searching, and will hopefully find a bargain in the sales.

I have already bought two sets of glass shelves from Argos to go on the bath wall, which I am hoping to fill with lots of coloured glass charity shop finds that I can put tea lights in for ambient relaxing bath times, I am are hoping not to use the main light very often.

And finally, I found these picture frames in Poundland that are just perfect for the ideas I have in my head ….

…… measuring 10” x 8”, 7” x 5” and 6” x 4”, I am planning on filling them with more patterned papers and pieces of “dramatic” jewellery from Marc ….. and then arranging them on wall next to the loo.

Well, that’s the plan anyway ….. so it a watch this space situation as I start doing my bits towards a completion date at the end of February when hopefully everything will come together.

W E Interiors

557-561 Battersea Park Road, SW11 3BL London, United Kingdom

Poor Marc was up to his eye balls at the end of November making goodie bags for the “Grand Launch” of W E Interiors, in Battersea  run by his partner Rick with Rick’s sister Lynn.

The Worshipful Mayor of Wandsworth was there to cut the ribbon and the shop was jammed packed with guests and potential customers.  I wish I could have been there, especially to see all of Rick and Lynn’s hard work and attention to detail come to fruition,  it would have been so exciting!

……. but at least I can say that I expertly priced some of the vases and candlesticks on my last visit that were on show and for sale !!!

Since I was there I can see from the pictures that Rick and Lynn have added a lot more beautiful stock …..

…… including several pictures by “The Artist to the Stars”, John Lee Bird, who sent me a portrait of my monkey Darrell on his birthday …… and you’ll never know how rare and fantastic that honour was!

Hopefully I will be able to have another mooch around on my next visit, hopefully in February, especially as I have my eye on a pair of glass jars and a couple of cushions

Oh …… I almost forgot ….. Marc’s goodie bags!

Marc doesn’t do anything by halves …… I just hope he saved me one! Everything was carefully put together to reflect the “corporate” colours of W E Interiors, with Marc’s unique flair ……

…… including his beading and pins ….. and flair for using Spellbinder dies.

….. and Elizabeth Shaw mints!!!  The little stockings (Primark) contained more goodies, including W E Interior key rings and more sweeties!

As I said,  it won’t be long before I am back …. I just need to persuade Rick that perhaps having an attractive Brummie sales assistant who is prepared to drape herself (discretely) over some of the glamorous pieces of furniture is just what W E Interiors needs to welcome and make it’s showbiz clientele feel at ease and at home !!!!!

Fame ….. In Dubai – On ExpatWoman

Oh my goodness I was doing a little bit of Googling and found this link to my blog ……
http://www.expatwoman.com/dubai/monthly_shopping_deals_crafts_crafters.aspx

It seems that ExpatWoman.com is a community website for all the information you need about living in Dubai and I’m on there ……………. I am totally, totally blown away!!

What Is Marc Like? A Ranger Melting Pot Of My Own!

What is Marc like ?…… Look what I unwrapped on Christmas morning!

A Melting Pot of my very own ……oooooooooooooooo, just seeing it bought back such happy memories of my last two visits to Marc when we tried faux soldering in the summer and Movember Moustaches in October, memories that I will treasure forever of Marc’s infectious enthusiasm, our laughter and the horrendous mess we created in his lounge ……..

But Marc, being Marc didn’t just leave it at giving me the melting pot of my crafting dreams did he? ……Can you imagine how I felt when I found all these at the bottom of the box, hidden under the melting pot’s packaging …… Marc what are you like?  LOL ….. I know what you are like ….. and I love you soooooooooo much it hurts!!!

Well, it would have looked extremely rude not to have had the teeniest, tiniest play on Christmas morning while the turkey was cooking wouldn’t it?……..

So I quickly melted down a small quantity of Cosmic Shimmer Lapis Sapphire embossing crystals and poured it into a heart shaped cookie cutter, adding a few Beadazzles and making a hole very, very quickly before the heart set …. et voila!!  My Christmas heart tied with ribbon left over from The Wedding of the Year!

What a wonderful present, what can I say?  There is much watching of You Tube ahead for me to learn all the techniques, Googling for inspiration and much experimenting to be done, my mind is buzzing, and I am planning on using 27th December to go through and tidy as I go along my craft cupboards finding and putting aside all the bits I think I can "Melt Pot" with …… so expect a post almost every other day for the next year or so while I get to grips with my new “toy”.

Thank you sooooo much Marc

IT'S CHRISTMAS

There’s nothing left for me to say …… all our festive crafting should be done (heads up – it’s Valentines Day next!!!!!), all the fussing and fretting about what to get for who is over, and your turkey should be stuffed to high heaven and at this point probably in the oven ……..  so it’s finally here, as Slade are oft heard to sing every year, very, very  loudly ………….IT’S CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

I hope you have a WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL day ……. lots of presents, good food, but most of all lots of good memories in the making, that will long out last most of the presents, to stay with you for always. 

xxxxxxx With much love …. Helen xxxxxxx