MORE MAT OPTIONS

Once the mat design is done any wording can be added to make them individual 

Loving the butterfly ones the best

EASTER MATS TABLE SETTING

Did the design on Polyvore added the script on Picasa3 printed them out on the home printer and laminated them...works a treat for drinks mats too...oooh next printing project?

But going to do a more long lasting version with thin MDF and a couple of coats of clear varnish..been using a clear matt quick drying varnish from Wilkinson's..fabulous stuff then giving a final polish with very fine wet and dry......for that ooooh aaaaah silky feeling

Think they go well with my charity shop finds last week...definitely must use the table more..looks pretty all laid out for it's photo shoot hehe

Think they work ok.....but l'm ashamed to say we don't use the table as much as we should hoping Bakewell will be different after all this painting and sanding effort!!

Yes it is the middle of the night and l can't sleep l'm just so excited about the move and we are

off to Bakewell at 10.30 this morning to take some measurements and have a last look around before we take possession in...wow!! 14days time

Am l setting myself up for DEEP DEPRESSION if anything goes wrong and we can't complete on the 12th or am l just being a POSITIVE THINKER here? hehehe

l will be 58 (how the hell did that happen?) in June and l feel like a 3 year old in a sweetie shop l'm so excited No hope for me ever growing up now!

EASTER TABLE

LAMINATED TABLE MATS

PLACE MATS

EASTER TABLE MATS AND CARDS

Table Mat playtime for Easter

OPTION 1

OPTION 2

Easter card option 1

Easter card option 2

OR OPTION 3 

An Easter Card that will let friends and relatives know we are moving soon and the new address

What do you all think would love to hear which you like the best?

HAIR!!..easy to dry

Thanks for all the hair comments girls..MUCH APPRECIATED....thanks xx

Things warming up here with the Bakewell move and getting a bit busy so my apologies for not answering each individual comment as l usually do 

Normal service will resume asap..did l say l was excited hehehehe

HAPPY CRAFTING GIRLS XX

PAINT FUN OF A DIFFERENT KIND

Another repaired photo for my friend Alison......doing her family tree 

complete with lots of Photographs some of which are damaged

WHITE PAINT FABULOUS CUSHIONS UNUSUAL RUGS AND A NEW HAIR CUT

Painted furniture coming along nicely getting a better picture of how Bakewell will look now

CUSHLAB

Love these pebble cushions and rugs

VIVA TERRA

New me hair glasses and outfit lol

WHAT YOU CAN FIND FOR £10

Two little birds for Easter decorations and 2 cans of enamel paint an undercoat and a gloss from Wilkinsons were extra

CHARITY SHOP FINDS

An hour of fun and £10 to play with what a great time l had this lunch time......

Pair of lidded pots to paint

one small glass bowl

2 cut glass candle sticks

a gorgeous carved box

a small white decorative pot

a green glass jug to go with a similar vase of my Mums

one blue glass bowl

and all for pence over £10

These little finds are giving me inspiration mixed with the things l own and the wallpapers l've collected

LOUNGE INSPIRATION

Pottery Barn cushions and plates

bottom left pic are crocheted cushions made of paper twist!!

may need to find a American friend to get those plates for me hehe do you think they would survive the trip to UK?

RED KITCHEN!

Love the large red 'EAT' l can make something similar and mix it with the red and green l have

Furniture really coming together and looking fab 

CHAIRS

3 x 1st coat paint

2 x sanded awaiting paint

3 still in the attic l think!!

POTTERY BARN USA...no shipping to UK though...BUM!

Keep hearing our USA bloggers talking about POTTERY BARN great sadness over came me though
they only ship in the USA......BUM!!

Worth taking a look though lots of fabulous ideas and inspiration like these.....

Fabulous news

My friend of puppy fame...Kathryn will be caravanning about 5 minutes away from me for a whole week at Easter and l will get to meet her OH and one of the puppies too and the other beloved pooches

so excited REALLY looking forward to the Easter hols now

 The Sun is shining brightly here again today

hope it's shining on all my blogger friends this weekend

hugs to you all xx

WHITE WITH PALE BLUE AND PINK SILVER AND GOLD?

White Blue and pink in the kitchen does the red have more umph?

The beginnings of the Bakewell Bench

Next door neighbours contribution....

within 2 hours we had rescued it taken it apart stripped it and the 1st coat of paint was drying

Can we make a bench out of this??? watch this space lol

OOOOOH! AAAAAAARH!! FEEL THAT SILKY PAINT FINISH

Been busy this last couple of days......

sanding painting varnishing and polishing with wet and dry x 3!

I did a marbling/paint finishes course a long time ago.......wet and dry is the secret 

brings your paint and varnish finishes into the fabulous silky feel category 

Driven OH mad with oooooh's and aaaaaah's and come feel this it's sooooooooo silky every 5 minutes hehe

The table and butchers trolly feel gorgeous to touch and look just how l want them to look ready for Bakewell Need some baskets to go on the butchers trolly shelves to complete the look

OH did the rough sanding removing all the old scratched varnish then l did the finish.....painting and clear matt varnishing and the wet and dry inbetween

A slightly paler look top and a slightly distress white bottom ready for the move which looks like it's on for Monday12th April...only 2weeks and 5days off

yeeeeeeeeeeesssssssss!!!

        RED GREEN AND WHITE OR SOMETHING DIFFERENT?

Liking this red green and white look but may do a aqua/blue and white look or a pastel frenzy of beautiful colours?
A different look each day this week......really not sure and depends on what we can afford to do straight away

 I really want an all white kitchen with splashes of colour here and there....but can we afford to re-do the kitchen units? 

Paint would be the cheapest....replacement cabinet doors the next......with around 30 kitchen cupboards might have to wait a while...complete new kitchen definitely out of the question

Next project....

Still need to sand and paint all the chairs but rain put a stop to the out door sanding 

New seating will wait untill we can move in and l can finally decide on the fabric..blue and white stripes or red and white spots or black and white with a little more drama?????

Porch bench....

Our next door neighbours are doing a little remodelling too and  have thrown out something that would make the perfect back to the bench l want for the porch.....next project watch this space lol

AN EASY MUST HAVE PRODUCT.'.BEADBOARD WALLPAPER'

Doing a bit of blogging this morning l came across a couple of new blogs
  'A Beach Cottage'

  'The Lettered Cottage' and 'Southern Hospitality' 

and a fabulous Tutorial 

GOOGLE tracked down the product in B&Q for just over £8 a roll......l had to see if it was as good as the tutorial said it was and looked?....WOW!

BEADBOARD WALLPAPER

tried a small sample on the wall with the Mummy portrait and the wallpaper l fancy for the bedroom

Just so l can show you a picture

 It's not painted or even pasted to the wall only taped up but l can see it will be fabulous in the new house and far easier than tongue and groove boards AND less permanent if l change my mind in 12months time and want a different look!! hehe

BEDROOM MAYBE?

Really want to hang this portrait of my Mum drawn by my Dad in 1946 when Mum was 21

The original is only a small drawing about 8" square so l had it blown up and framed for their 

50th Wedding Anniversary love the picture and frame

 Found a couple of wallpapers in Focus today that l love too that go with it really well along with a few other things l already own......

like the Chandelier in my shed

a wreath l get out at Christmas but would be good all year

the cushion and the jugs of roses and the lanterns.....

Just need to find a gorgeous cream and gold chair like the collage

Show was ok but nothing really stood out as new or exciting this year

FREE TICKETS TO SHOW

HOUSE BUILDING AND RENOVATION SHOW
At the NEC Birmingham today so l'll catch up tonight hopefully with lots of tips and some great helpful info

cya later all xx

SUNSHINE SANDER AND T SHIRTS TODAY

Split the table top from the base and carried into the sun filled garden ready for sanding a painting.....been a gorgeous day here

Found fungus growing from a crack in the garden furniture..ooops

Today's fun.....

Distressed and decorated my laptop board 

Lettuce isn't keen on lots of people and activity so he snook off to bed!

We almost finished the table couldn't find the replacement belts for the big sander so not quite finished the top seemed to need so much more sanding than the legs

need to do 4 chairs next

CAN'T WAIT FOR THEM TO MOVE OUT!!!

So we can move in...so l move their things out with Paint..fun but takes ages to do hehehe

Kathryn..thanks for a fabulous day and glad you stayed and were pleased with you goodies you went home with wait till l can get to everything we will have a wonderful time hehe

Thanks everyone for the kind words..Kathryn was well chuffed with her bag and l found her a hat and she had a big bag of felt balls to play with
Another crafter in the making!!

Sanding and painting the dining room table and chairs today at last getting round to finishing it off!!

Hoping it will  match the console tables we made before Christmas ready for the move!

KATHRYN'S FELTED BAG

HAPPY BIRTHDAY..hehehehe now Kathryn has seen it l can show you what it looks like

K chose the colours and asked that l line it and add a phone pocket too..anything for my best friend

Glad you had a wonderful nights sleep after weeks of getting up to feed those cute little puppies

and before you ask Kathryn's OH Andy is looking after the babies lol

Thanks again James love the gorgeous colour Tulips and that perfect card will be hung on my new bedroom wall....love you lots 

He couldn't have chosen a more perfect card a favourite period of design and just the right colours for the new bedroom

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

To all Mums out there....miss mine a lot

THANKS JAMES

Received my huge bunch of tulips a favourite flower and a perfect card from my wonderful son James yesterday l'll be framing it for the new house he couldn't have picked a more perfect card xx

He will be travelling back to camp today so we had the day together yesterday and l made him his favourite Shepherds pie for lunch then he went to a Birthday party last night 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIE

Real excited my friend KATHRYN is here for the day seem ages since we last got together what with lots of puppies and house hunting etc the day has finally arrived

cya later K xx

SPRING BUDS NEW BOOKS AND DISTRESSED BLOCKS

Growing fast..now l know you shouldn't cut the stick like stems off...'because the new buds will appear sooner or later....lost 4 plants because l didn't know this

WOOD FROM LEFT OVER DINING ROOM TABLE 

We made the fireplace shelf/mantle before Christmas from the leaf of the dining room table some left so

Phil cut it up and sanded the varnish off for me to paint and distress with sand paper and gold paste 

ooops!!..my Amazon account is far to easy to use just a click and exciting new books are on the door step hehehe

2 for the price of one compared to the book shop........got to be good and 2 wonderful inspirational books

The small canvas of the Fornasetti circles

 Thinking of using these circle to make a wallpaper for Bakewell.....would love some of these plates but so expensive l'll never own one l'm sure lol

But like this low cost version

STARTED THE EASTER DECORATIONS

From recycled cardboard scrap Silvered Wallpaper and gold gilding paste....made a start on the Easter Decorations...

It made a great game too how many words can you make from EASTER!! lol

simple things hey? hehehehe

Not done much today but Splodge woke me up several time last night and the night before and now l feel totally wiped out.....a full nights sleep would be a dream

IKUVA CHAIR AND SOFA COVER FOR IKEA FURNITURE

this cover is £42

IKUVA .....click the link

Covers for chair's and sofa's from Ikea....at a reasonable price too if you can't sew that is and want new covers

these are more expensive 

Black and grey...mmmmm nice fabric....... l like

SUPPORT A NEW YOUNG CRAFTER

My friend Kaz has a lovely daughter who has been making Easter baskets and deserves some encouragement so if you have a minute pop buy and show your support for this lovely little crafter

Moo's Easter Basket

SUPPORT A YOUNG NEW CRAFTER IF YOU HAVE A MINUTE

My friend Kaz has a lovely daughter called Moo....and has been busy with an Easter project and if you have a few minute drop by and give your support for a new young crafter...she is so proud of her Easter egg basket and would love to hear a few words from you all

Find Moo's Easter basket here

REMOVING CREASES FROM OLD PHOTO'S

Paint playtime last Friday with my friend Alison....this is an old and badly damaged photo of her Dad when he was a little boy l think she estimated it to be about 1937

A simple but time consuming way of removing creases from old photos using Paint always looks good if you put the before and after's next to each other

Not yet perfect but we ran out of time.....Alison was impressed with my effort so far and sent me another photo to play with while she suns herself on a Lanzarote beach this next week..lol

Hope you have a fab holiday Alison and Dave...back in time to help us move house!!! heehee

Thanks Kaz and Barbara for the support over the house move worry...xx

A WORRY KNICKERS!!

Been trying to distract myself from worrying...silly me!

Cut 4 complete sets of letters in different sizes upper and lower case all sorts of projects come to mind for these little gems and the worry was about the new house!

Free alphabet site

Woke up with a not so nice gut feeling that all was not well!!!...Seems l was wrong so everyone is telling me 

Impatient l am and thing weren't moving as fast as l thought they should be so a few phone calls and everyone assures me we are still looking at about the 11th April for taking possession of Bakewell!!

fingers crossed!!! lol