If Only I Dared ….

If I had a house that was a blank canvas  I could/would paint something        like this …

And as for this ……………

……. stunning! It’s in San Francisco ….. I need to go!!!!

http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/16th-avenue-tiled-steps-san-francisco

Oppppps – Altered Mirror Disaster ……… But, A Work In Progress ….

I got this 20ins x 20ins mirror from a charity shop a few weeks ago for £2.95, it was quite battered, but as I knew I was going to cover it more or less completely, it’s overall finish really didn’t matter.

However, when I removed the mirror from the frame ….. I only went and dropped it, shattering it, arrghhh ……. but fortuitously, I live next door to a glass shop, so a replacement piece shouldn’t be a problem.

I gave the frame two coats of cream emulsion to make a base on which to build my colours on,  using a match pot type sample that I got for 10 for a £1 ages ago from a resource centre.

I planned to use Promarkers and other pens for the design, the Promarkers took to the painted base instantly and kept the colour …… but then,  I made a mistake ….. when I used an ordinary thick Berol marker pen to outline the leaves, the effect was decidedly shonky …. and I admit to wondering what had I done …. my idea ruined before I had barely got started, slightly crestfallen so I abandoned the project for an hour or so before going back. I decided to put a sample of both types of pen on the back of the frame to see if they would hold when varnished, as I suspected the Promarker held, but the Berol just “disappeared” ….. doh, doh, doh, doh, DOH!!! 

However ….. I found that the Berol on the front of the frame could almost all be removed with a damp cloth ….. so we are on target again. When I am next in town I plan to buy a couple of permanent black Sharpie pens, which also have a finer nib than the Berol which means that the outlines will be more accurate when I tackle them again ….. phew, good thinking Batman!

Oh,  I forget to say at the beginning that my overall plan for the mirror,  once  coloured and outlined is to embellish it with lots of assorted flat backed gems …… but for now it’s a case of watch this space ….

Limited Edition FiddleFart Mugs!

Well ……  I have some exciting news today ….  (well exciting for me, anyway)  …. I downloaded all six of my doodled flower designs to Asda Photo and am now the proud owner of a set of six very limited edition FiddleFart mugs!

At the moment there is only one of each, but I think I will order more over the next few months as birthdays etc. arise.  They cost £5 each from http://asda-photo.co.uk/category/7-mugs

My “Oh Bum” Scrabble Shadow Box

I made my “Oh Bum” shadow box …….

….. after  discovering that I already had the perfect shadow box frame for it squirrelled away in a box at the back of one of my craft room cupboards.

The frame measures just a shade under 4ins x 4ins.  There wasn’t a lot to putting it all together,  it was only centring of the letters that proved to be the fiddliest bit, I must have done it about six times before I was completely happy. 

…. And happy I am,  as it now sits on my desk ….. a reminder for me to refrain from using words of a stronger type nature when really …. “Oh Bum” is amply sufficient!!!!!!

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!