Tuesday 3 March 2015

Love is? A many splendoured thing.................

Pretty Little Things.
 
Thought I would share this with you today.  I love this cute little stamp holder given to me for my birthday one year by a friend.  Its sterling silver and could do with a bit of a clean at the moment.  I think its adorable.  And is just one of the many treasures I hold dear.  I'm not sure the giver is aware just how much I love it.
 
 
 
 


Tuesday 10 February 2015

'THAT' Project.......

 
 
Remember a while back I said I had something in mind for the lamp I bought for the bargain price of £1.00.    I thought it might be time to give you a little update.   The base has been transformed, and the shade is currently in progress, no sneak peaks yet.  Watch this space to see the finished item.  When I started this I thought what a mess, but I have played around with the finish and now have it where I want it.  Need to do a bit of cleaning up where I have paint on parts I don't want it other than that. Base has its base coat.
I have used Annie Sloane paint in Antoinette, and waxed in dark and light.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday 4 February 2015

Pretty Things...

 
Don't you just love pretty things.   Back in October I very much enjoyed a class doing Chinese Brush Painting at a GOGO event.   When I saw this beautiful glass ink pot I just couldn't resist buying it.  I absolutely adore it.   All I need now is a lovely antique bureau to sit it on.   That may have to wait a while though as I have nowhere in my house that I could site one of those at the moment.   This also brings back memories of school, we had handwriting lessons every week using pen and ink.  The desks had the ink wells set in them.  Think I might be giving too much away about my age here.  So many traditions and crafts are disappearing with the need to do everything quickly, easily and without much thought or effort.  Generalising here as I know some people do still love older traditional things.   Take books.....I love reading.   For me the reading is just not about the words its about the feel and the smell of the books.   No e-readers for me.  No thank you.   And when I make notes, I use pen and paper. 
 
So here I sit dreaming of my antique bureau filled with paper, pens and displaying my gorgeous ink well.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday 3 February 2015

Cakes, cakes and more cakes.

 
 
This week I have had the privilege of making a christening and birthday cake for my friends daughter.   As both were on the same day, some sort of merging of the two was needed, hence the flowers on both cakes are the same.   This was just two of the cakes I made last week along with a huge lot of cupcakes.  I am self taught, and don't usually make cakes for other people.  I do love to try to master new things though, and I think I can say I have mastered cake baking and decorating.  I may share a few I have made prior to these somewhere along the way.    Now I am off to Crochet club, to see if I can get anywhere near finished with the throw which I started some weeks ago, and shown in an earlier post.  Hope to share the finished item soon.
 
 
 
 
 
 


Tuesday 20 January 2015

Bargain - New Project.

Say Hello to my new project.  I purchased this oriental design Lamp for £1.00.  How could I resist.  Now to transform it into something unrecognisable, and completely over the top.   One of my Christmas gifts was a cordless glue gun, cant wait to put it to good use, think I might need to stock up on glue sticks.   I have several projects awaiting attention, and shall be working my way through them systematically over the coming weeks/months.  I warn you  they will all be experimental, as although I love craft, I am no expert, I like to cut corners and am a lazy crafter.    I will however, share both the successes and failures along the way.  
 
 
 
 
 
Oriental Design Lamp Bought for £1.00
awaiting transformation.
 
On the look our for interesting haberdashery now, although I am sure that in the abyss I call a craft room I can probably uncover a vast hoard.  But any excuse for a new purchase is a good one right? 
 I am a craft hoarder - there I have said it.  I do believe there is little help for this condition, but who wants help anyway - not me that's for sure.
 
Today, I am off to meet the ladies that lunch, so this little project is on hold for now.
Have a good day whatever you choose to do. xx.

Monday 19 January 2015

Anyone for Crochet..


Received this gorgeous gift for Christmas, all the ingredients to make a throw.  Along with a pledge to teach me to crochet no matter how many lessons or how long it took.    Although this only required the knowledge of 2 stitches, I think I picked it up pretty well.  I started this 2 weeks ago, I am progressing well, enjoying this new craft I am learning.   I thought I might find it slightly stressful taking on such a large project for my first attempt at crochet, it is in fact very relaxing.







2015 is looking like a good year to learn new things. 

Sunday 18 January 2015

Workshops.

Loved doing this Make and Take from a recent craft show I attended.  It should be weather proof, and live happily outside.  Surprising what you can do with some plaster and a bit of old lace.   As yet I have to find the perfect place to hang it in the garden.  Winter is not the time to make these decisions with everything bare and stagnant.

I have attended a few workshops recently and hope to share them with you over the coming days/weeks.   I have a renewed zest for crafting, with so many new ideas and inspiration.