Spring Is In The Air ….. At Last ….

There is nothing like a bit of spring sunshine and days that are beginning to feel a touch warmer to bring a re-newed vigour to your spirits,  and so my enthusiasm to breathe more life, colour and interest into my newly decorated but very plain and unadorned magnolia craft room continues to gather apace – mostly due to the efforts of my brother Andrew for doing all the complicated bits that I can’t ….. and my sister Jan who has done all the fetching and carrying ……

…. so I have gone from having a bare window with dodgy handles that I dare not open to a window that I can now open and close as the fancy takes me with a dead posh blind,  and from a single, bare bulb to a fitting with lots of lights that can be set at any angle…..

….. and walls from which now hang my what-not shelves,  that make the room say “me”.  I,  in turn have been busy sealing all the Decopatched cupboard doors etc. that I started at the beginning of the Easter holiday with quick drying varnish ….. so it’s all coming together.

The next items on the improvement agenda are a couple of shelves for over the computer for my craft books and speakers,  and then …… another painting for over the radiator to give me something to look at while I am ironing …… I might be tempted to embellish this one with a few gems and small mirrors ….. but I’m not sure yet…… 

…… So,  with this in mind I have ordered a pack of two Loxley standard depth 48" x 36" canvas’s from http://www.canvas-store.co.uk/ – (a little smaller than my original),  which worked out at roughly £20 each inc. P & P,  saving me an awful lot of money, when compared to other sites I looked at.  Admittedly I had to buy two for the price ….. but, as I had already decided to paint my mum something for her 80th birthday …. it was a no brainer! Watch this space …….

Home Sweet Home – Scrabble Letter Shadow Box Frame

I love the very simple effect you can get from scrabble letters.

I’ve had this 4.75ins x 4.75ins shadow box frame for years now, which most probably was a charity shop find, squirrelled away,  just waiting for the right project.

I have also had these self adhesive mini scrabble tiles - by Jolees/EK Success for years too, and I count them as one of my all time crafting treasures. There was a time when I would buy them whenever I saw them on e-bay and if I remember rightly,  quite a few came from the US.  However,  I am not sure they if they are still readily available anymore, I have done a quick Google search and I have found them on Amazon (US) and they were priced at $24.99 a packet (plus P & P) !!!!  Oh my life!!!! But I have also seen them on Etsy for between $4.99 and $6.99 , which isn’t quite so bad. Each tile measure 1cm x 1cm and you as you can see it’s their depth that make them so realistic and unbelievably cute!

I started by mat and layering the background on ivory linen effect and Kraft card first and then began to place the letters, getting the first “e” in “sweet”  centred first, with the rest following, but it was sooooooo fiddly getting them spaced equally and square on …… but all the fiddle farting was worth it in the end.

I have a few more small shadow boxes waiting to be used …. I just need some more ideas for words or phases I could use….. I’d rather like to put “Oh Bum” in one!!

Purple Doodled Flower Card

This card measures 5.5ins x 5.5ins and is made using a hand cut blank in a black coloured card and all the doodling is mine, drawn free hand and then coloured in.

The sentiment circle comes from Craftwork Cards.

http://www.craftworkcards.co.uk/products/by-category/2/20/sentiments.html

Doodled Flower Card

This card measures 5.5ins x 5.5ins and is a hand cut blank made using white linen effect card.

Flushed with the success of my canvas paintings, I wondered if I could create something similar to put on a card(s) using Promarker and other pens.

I started by cutting out a small 4ins x 4ins “canvas” and then just went for it. Like I did when I was painting, my large canvas, I just couldn’t help going over the rough flower shapes after only drawing a few with a black fine liner pen to see if I was going along the right line …. and if it would look like the idea in my head …. it did!

From then on I did a little at a time, doing a couple of basic flowers and leaves and then doodling over them , building the design up  until all the spaces were more or less filled in.

When it was finally finished I mat and layer the design on black card …. after which I decided to play some more ….. praying that I wasn’t going to ruin something that I was already really happy with.  I added a little Rangers Glossy Accents to the design first in small blobs to add texture and dimension and then, while it was still wet ……(this is when I closed my eyes)  ….. I went the whole hog and sprinkled it all over with a light dusting of Hunkydory Angel Whispers …….

Phew ….. as you can see, it turned out beautifully, if I say so myself, I am so chuffed! In the right light the design so sooooooo subtly twinkly, the photos just don't do it justice.

Little Bird Card

This card measures 3.75ins x 3.75ins and is made using a hand cut, white linen effect card.
The little bird on this card is a silver bead given me amongst many others by Marc, it is so cute and perfect for a very small card like this.

The background is coloured with a Powder Blue Promarker, my very favourite shade of blue.  I’ve then doodled the branches and leaves and added very tiny punched flowers with equally tiny clear flat backed gems to finish the whole effect. I am so chuffed with how it’s come out!

Another Arboscello Tree Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using a hand cut, white linen effect card blank.

I don’t use dies half as much as I should, I am just too lazy to get my Big Shot out, but perhaps Marc lending me his Memory Box Arboscello Tree die has been the sharp shove I needed….. as this die has finally ended in my Amazon shopping basket otherwise he wouldn’t have got it back!

You know me …. I am a less is more type girl …..(except where chocolate is concerned) ….. but you’ve only got to Google “Arboscello Tree” to see the wonderful things other people have done with the die and its possibilities.

Birdcage Charm And Blossom Card

This card measures 6ins x 4ins and is made using a hand cut, white linen effect card.

Marc gave me a whole pile of these little bird cage charms and to my shame, until now, I haven’t really done much with them ….. they needed something else to set them off ….. and then I remembered the packs of blossom branch embellishments Dianne sent me from Michaels in the US ….. why didn’t I think of them before?

I coloured a scrap piece of Papermania book print paper with a powder blue Promarker for the background ……

…. and then simply added the two embellishments …. drawing a small thread  from which to hang the cage. Done and dusted!

Ahhhh

This picture of my friend Sarah with one of the many monkeys we have around school makes me smile and go ahhhhh every time I look at it!

FiddleFarting On A Mahooooosive Scale – My Decopatch Cupboards And Computer Work Area.

With two weeks off for Easter, and one week gone already,  I decided that yesterday I should really pull my thumb out and tackle one of the “big” jobs that I’ve had in my head since Christmas,  but as of yet not got round to ……

I’d had my craftroom papered and painted back in January  and I had rearranged the desks/worktops, but I hated it …. I felt very enclosed and never comfortable or “at home”  so last Friday I decided to rearrange it all again! ….. To be honest I could have cried ….. nothing went right ….. partly because the legs on my Ikea desks decided that they no longer wanted to stay screwed securely to the tops ……. and as I failed to clear the room properly …… it all became a terrible car crash …… if the Duke had been here he’d have sorted it all out for me …… but as he wasn’t,  I knew I HAD to sort it out come what may !!!!! 

After several hours I managed it …. and love the way it’s now set up…. the biggest change was moving my computer and printers into the corner, where my shelves used to be ….. the worktop was just an “empty” space, where I would pile things up when I couldn’t be bothered to put them away.

The cupboard doors were old and tired, and well past their best but I really don’t want to replace them just yet, as they now store all the boxes that used to be on the shelves …….

….. so I decided ….. aghhhh, to Decopatch them, I must have been out of my tiny mind! As you can see from the first couple of pictures the room was devoid of any colour other than magnolia  and it really didn’t look like anything creative ever went on in there, there was no personality … The die was cast and I started by dividing  the cupboard doors into sections for different colour combinations ….. trying, in a way,  to copy the Kars furniture I love so much.

Once both doors were covered, they needed something to define each section ….. and I remembered some old Letraset Letralines, that my sister gave me years ago …

…… which gave me just the definition I wanted. I am now wondering if I should add some faux gold handles to give the impression of drawers,  I probably will, when I see the right sort of thing.  Looking at it the whole effect looks rather Chinesey.

…. But I couldn’t leave it there could I? ……I then decided that the side of the cupboard needed the same treatment ……..

….. and now I am about to start the side of the wardrobe/computer area as it’s also in a pretty dire state ……. and then I am thinking that if I Decopatch the bottom 9ins of the wardrobe doors (stuffed with crafting stuff) it will not only hid all the scuff marks, it will also draw the eye across the room and balance it …….. and then I could just do something with the worktops and then, and then …. oh dear what have I started?? The next big job in the next few days really ought to be several good coats of varnish …………….. so watch this space!

Having A Shuffty Around And An Object Of Desire …..

Bored,  one lunch time, my mate Luci and I took the opportunity to go for a wander and visit the new luxury “Footballers” Show Home just up the drive from where we work, near the Wolves training ground …..

….. never have I seen so many en-suite facilities ….. or wet rooms, and concluded that when making decisions of a £730,000 commitment type nature it would have been very remiss of me not to try out one of the aforementioned wet rooms for its spaciousness, suitability of purpose, comfort and visibility!

Oh … and to check out what a woman living in a house such as this would have hanging in her walk-in wardrobe ……. all pretty beige and short I am afraid …… OH MY LIFE!!!

However, it is heartening to know, that amongst all the excess I do have the taste to become a “potential” Footballer’s Wife, because hanging in one of the guest rooms was exactly the same (Homebase) chandelier that I have in my newly fashioned boudoir!!!!!

The house was very lovely, but all the marble floors, glass wet room panels and shiny surfaces just spelt out housework to me …. something I prefer to be a stranger too …..

But my one “object of desire” was the light fitting coming down from the galleried landing ……. which I don’t think was from Homebase (but I could be wrong) …. it was stunning …… with the bonus that if/when I hypothetically got bored of it ….. I could easily cut it up and use the thousands of little glass droplets for something crafty instead!!!!!!!

Punched Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using a teal coloured card from papermilldirect.co.uk

This card was a bit of an experiment, it started off with whole flower and leaf punch outs and no butterflies,  but it just didn’t come together…. so I halved the flowers and leaves and then layered them round bottom and sides of the card, adding a little doodling and a small clear flat backed gems.

I also ermed and ahhed over adding the Martha Stewart butterflies. punched in Kraft paper …. but in the end went for them as they added a weird sort of contrast that sort of went, if you know what I mean????  The final quirky touch was to have the top butterfly angled in such a way that, when unfolded, it stood proud over the top of the card.  It’s a look I think I would like to experiment more with and incorporates ALL my favourite colours at the moment.

I Don’t Think Van Gogh Need Worry ……

Taaaaa dahhhhhh …….

Oh my life …… last time your saw my “first ever” painting since I was about 14 at secondary school,  it looked like this (below)  ……. and then I wondered what the hell I had started!

When I asked Tom for a large canvas for Christmas  I imagined he would get me something measuring about 3ft x 2ft, not 4ft 9ins x 3ft 2ins!!!!

However, with two weeks of Easter holiday in front of me, I decided that,  after staring at what I started back in February for long enough,  ….. it was about time I tackled it some more …. although I am sure “tackled” is not a very artistic or creative term …..

…. I also decided to take photos along the way of my progress,  for the purposes of prosperity!

I admit that I was a very random in the way I “tackled” it …. flitting about all over the shop with the paint and then outlining and filling in the gaps with a black marker pen as the mood took me, hoping that I was on track with what I had in my head,  although to be honest that was pretty random too!

It was filling in the last few little gaps that seemed to take an age …. and seeing bits I hadn’t outlined or needed just to add an extra flourish or curl  to  ……

I was also mindful that I only had two sets of very small pots of Reeves acrylic paint to do it with, and didn’t want to “almost” finish it and then need to order another set … but having said that …….

…… I can’t believe how far the paint actually went with very little watering down, especially as I didn’t use any of the duller colours like the browns, beiges and mustards.

So there you have it, all done and dusted and now hanging on my dining room wall ready as a conversation piece for when I appear on Come Dine With Me!  Would I do it again ….. ask me this time next year ….. I think I went about the project as a “crafter” rather than an “artiste” if that makes sense ….. and am not really sure if I felt the “ebb and the flow”!!!!!!!!!!!!!