TV, Rocking Chairs & Squashes

Hello my lovely darlings,

I haven't posted any craft projects on here I know. I've gone a bit quiet. Only because I haven't created anything of note to post about. Whether it's the summery days or the humid, muggy weather, I'm not sure but I just haven't felt like sitting down and creating.

I've been drawing, sketching and designing vectors for work but in my free time, nothing! I know that we're supposed to give the impression that when, as bloggers, we aren't blogging, it's because we're off doing worthy pursuits. But I haven't. Not this time. Instead, I've been enjoying pop culture. Which is a fancy way to say, I've been watching T.V. Programmes such as the devine, RuPaul's Drag Race.

I know, I know. I'm supposed to switch it off and do something better with my time but sometimes, just giving the old brain a rest and filling it with trashy pop culture is as good as it gets. Sometimes you need to stop and fill the well folks.

Anyway, I've not been completely lazy. I've been making progress on my goal to add more colour to our humble home. So be warned...this is going to be one of those before and after transformation posts.

A while back, Nick brought home a family heirloom. A rocking chair. I have to say, I wasn't overly impressed with it on first sight. But oh, when I sat in it, it was love. Only problem was that it was in need of some repair and a complete overhaul on the upholstery. In fact you may recall me mentioning it in a post a few weeks back.

So here we go...the before shot (after the seat & back had been ripped out).

I shredded my hands sanding the chair down, what with all those awkward curves. I gave it a couple of coats of undercoat and then the exciting part. I took it out into the garden and let loose with around three cans of spray paint.

The upholstery required a professional, so the painted chair was left in the capable hands of a chap whose shop is just across the road. I chose the fabric & trim and left him to it.

A few days later and looked what arrived back...

Isn't that so much better? I squealed and nearly wet myself when it was brought into the house. I'm still giddy with excitement at how fabulous it now looks. It's my pride and joy. It's now sitting proudly in the bedroom where it is perfectly positioned for me to sit and read in the evenings, rocking away like a modern day grandpa.

And finally, an update...

My little seeds are growing up. Yes, my Spaghetti Squashes are finally bearing fruit. In a month or two we should have a crop of fully grown, ready to eat veggies. I'm intrigued to see their resemblance to spaghetti strands once cooked. My carb-free spagbol is nearly here.

It All Began With a Scrap of Fun Fur

Hello My Sweet Friends

Hope all is well in your world. Over here in the UK, the weather has been delightfully sunny and I've been making the most of it, grabbing as much time outdoors as I can. There's not been a lot of papercrafting going on but I've not been idle. There is a reason. And it all started with a scrap of fun fur. But first, a little history.

When Nick & I first got together, we weren't adverse to having splashes of colour in our home. Then, many years later, just before the recession kicked in, we decided we'd try and sell our house. We did what all budding sellers did, and redecorated with a neutral palette. The recession, as you may have noticed, has gone on for a tad longer than previous ones. We are still in the same house and well, we haven't put our own mark back into the home.

That is until we walked past our local fabric store and in the bargain bin outside was a bundle of bright pink fun fur. To my surprise, and we're talking jaw to the floor, I joked around and teased Nick that we must have it and instead of telling me to go boil my head, he grabbed it, went into the shop and paid for it.

Next thing I knew, he'd draped it over a recently acquired heirloom. A fusty but very comfortable, rocking chair. It's in need of a reupholster and fresh paint but in the meantime, this is the sight that meets our eyes when we enter the bedroom

And you know what, it's probably not going to stay that way. It's just a bit of kitsch fun. But it's kickstarted something in us. A desire to bring colour back. If I lived on my own, I'd be straight down the DIY store and covering every room in a rainbow of bright paint. But I live with Nick and I know that it's best to make small changes first. I love big dramatic changes, taking impulsive, radical steps. But this would bring on an anxiety attack in my beloved. He copes better if I reign myself in and make a few small changes first. Do this and I know he'll soon catch up with me and there'll be no stopping us.

And so it is that I've been down to the charity shop and come away with some small items to throw paint at and dot around the house.

First up are these candlesticks. This is the before photo.

Brown, drab and in need of Brasso around the rim. Here's the after photo.

And then there was this vase

One pot of textured paint  later...

One vibrant vase!

Okay, on their own they probably don't look much. But I have plans. I see the bigger picture. Piece by piece, I'll add something colourful and inexpensive and before we know it, we'll be rushing out to buy rugs, bedspreads, curtains and yes, LARGE pots of paint to go on the walls. Oh yes, I'm already picturing which are going to be the statement walls.

Watch this space! We'll be going from drab to fab in no time at all.

Wall Decoration

I've had these papier mache punctuation marks hanging around my craft room for donkey's years gathering dust. They were on sale at a craft show along with letters of the alphabet. I couldn't think of a word I wanted to make but I loved the abstract nature of just having the punctuations.

I've kept them very simple, no fancy embellishments, just patterned paper, gleaned from Graphic 45's Olde Curiosity Shoppe and Tropical Travelogue collections.

I simply laid the symbols onto the back of the paper and drew around their shapes in black pen. I cut a rough outline out and glued the symbols to the paper. I frilled the border with scissors and glued it to the sides before adding the side strips.

And now they adorn my craft room wall.