sea breezes

More classes

I have been playing in my new craft nook at home over the weekend, the weather has been pants and I haven't been very well so it was lovely to have supplies at home and somewhere to craft. I have a couple of new workshops on the go but still to finish and one planned for this Saturday. It's a junk journal, like a home made smash book but with book rings instead of spiral binding. That way you can add to it withough having to glue everything in. There is a file folder in the back and a pocket for glue and a pen. If you would like to come you can book HERE

This a photo of one I made earlier but the next one is made with Prima Doodle Deux papers

Altering door knobs - instructions

After painting my dresser I wanted to replace the knobs with some of the 7 Gypsies ones but they are £4 each and I needed ten. I just couldn't justify another £40 on top of the cost of the paint I used. I found some cream porcelain knobs at The Range for £1 each and they looked fine. I was going to decorate them somehow, I tried to stamp them but the stamp slipped and smudged. I managed to get a clear image but it just didn't look right.

After an internet search I found some transfer paper to make decals but it seemed a lot of faffing around, spraying the printed image three times and a lot of waiting in between. I'm fed up with waiting this week after all of that painting and I didn't want to wait for the post. I thought about gel medium transfer but decided just to try and stick images straight onto the knobs. It worked really well, I'm over the moon with the results, it was so quick and easy.

I found some images on the internet and resized them to the same size of the knobs. I just used my inkjet printer on some ordinary printer paper. Once printed I cut them out carefully

I used some Glue and Seal, I always use matte finish for my art journals, it dries very quickly and gives a protective coat. I brished some directly onto each knob

I then placed the image straight onto the knob, making sure it was centered. I found it easier doing this while they were in situ, it's difficult to get the images in the right place when the knobs are screwed back on.

Using the brush I coated the paper with more Glue & Seal which made it more pliable. Using the brish I smoothed the paper over the curve of the knob.

I smoothed the wrinkles out with my finger (well, most of them anyway) and left it to dry. 

Because the knobs are porcelain, the images can be scraped off and new ones added to change the look of the furniture. Once dry the tiny wrinkles are barely noticeable.

 

Sorting and arranging....

I finally finished painting on Friday and waited as long as I could for the paint to dry. It's still a bit soft but I decided to go ahead and start putting everything away, the pile of boxes in the ajoining living room were driving me mad.

I had a couple of vintage suitcases in the loft so I used them to store quilt wadding, toy stuffing etc

I used the plate rack to store papers and cardstock, they just fit in, the folder has some stamps. There are a few sewing books and my most recent Somerset Studio magazines. The hat box has my wool and crocheting hooks, I don't have much because I am learning and I am quite rubbish at it.

There are buttons, odd embellishments, glue sticks etc in my tins but as yet most of them are empty, they will fill up over time no doubt

The old box in the next photograph is full of hand made tatting, a gift from one of the older WI ladies, she thought I would be able to use it in a project. It was a gift to her from the husband of a friend who died. There is quite a lot of it and I love the old box it was kept in.

New craft room storage

I have a little craft room at home, it was the front porch on the house but the door was bricked up and so I use it as a little craft nook. Most of my supplies are down at my studio but I like to keep some bits at home. I had boxes and bags stacked in a corner and an office desk that I was given free. I thought about an Expedit unit from Ikea but I really wanted something more feminine and vintage looking, my own little girlie corner of the house.

I saw this dresser on Ebay, only four miles away from home, it didn't sell so I emailed and offered less money and bought it! It will fit along most of one wall, I thought it would look lovely painted and decided it would take a day to paint, it would dry overnight and be done. Wrong.

I bought some off white paint and thought I had stirred it properly but it was thin and runny then too thick. I had to wait two days for it to dry, rub it down and start again. The colour was too blue so I bought another pot called vintage calico which was a lot warmer looking. It wasn't enough.

There is an ugly electricity meter in the corner, I will probably frost the glass on that side leaving a little gap so that it can still be read for our bills without having to move the unit. I had to go back into town for another pot of paint (at £17 a tin it is not cheap!) and was so fed up but I have nearly finished. I am waiting for it to dry now, there are a couple of small drawers to put back and the glass to clean and replace.

I was dreading trying to paint the knobs so I was delighted when I found these cream porcelain knobs in The Range for £1 each. I have plans to alter them soon.

While I was there I was tempted by some tins, they will look lovely on the shelves.

I can't wait to get rid of the piles of boxes in the living room and put everything away in my new storage.

 

Class layouts

I taught my regular monthly scrapbook class yesterday at Pickleberry using some of the gorgeous new papers from Prima. At the moment my printer is stored in a cupboard so I had to dig through old photographs to match the papers, these ones taken by Cheryl were exactly right for the colour combination. The class was to show how to make embelishments, colour and stamp them to coordinate and then how to group them on a page. It was a lovely class, all of my ladies enjoyed it even though a few were beginners. All they needed was some encouragement to cut up their Prima London Market papers! I'm not really happy with the title but life's too short to change it and it's another one for my album.

As I had already made the layout before class I chose different papers from the Prima Doodle Deux line and made a variation using some photos taken last year

I'll certainly be using these papers again, I love them!

A new art journal

It's over a year since I did any art journaling, I hate cleaning all of the mess up afterwards but Helen asked me to show her how to get started so we went down to my studio for the day.

I always start a thick album but get bored and never finish, I have a huge journal that was a gift, I have painted the pages with gesso but I am scared to start it and then spoil it as I can't replace it. It's waiting for something 'special' whenever that will be. Today I used an A5 book of watercolour paper thinking I can finish the whole book fairly quickly and actually have something completed to show.

We didn't really get started until lunch time but I covered every side in gesso, stuck in some chipboard shapes and managed to paint a few backgrounds. I half finished a couple of pages and was quite pleased with how much I achieved in one afternoon. 

These pages have some small envelopes ready for tags to go inside

I'll have to have another day soon to paint some more before I go off onto something else and forget about it.

A Blast From The Past!

I was browsing through Facebook and followed a link to The Making Spot where I found some of my old projects from my days with Future magazines! It was really weird looking through them, I had forgotten about most of them, it all seems so long ago!

I spent Saturday down at Kate's shop, I was torn, it was so sunny outside but I loved playing with the new papers she had stocked. I made this layout for tomorrow's scrapbook design class, I think there are a couple of places left. I had a lot of photographs of our fireplace being built so there are a few in pockets, along with details of how we designed it and how much it cost. The papers are Prima Almanac.

This is the left page

and the right

I'm going to make the same layout for class but using different papers for myself, I just need to print out some photographs tonight. It's just a morning class so I'll ne done in plenty of time to enjoy the sun afterwards.

 

 

and for my next project...

I bought this old deck chair last autumn for £9, I thought it would be lovely to take to the beach or use in the garden. It's very tatty so I am going to revamp it.

I think I will paint the frame a chalky vintage white and maybe distress it a bit. I'll replace the fabric with something from Cath Kidston, I'm not sure if I should use a small pattern like one of these:

 

or a large pattern like this:

or something stripey

What do you think?

Of course, when it is finished I shall need this to wear when I sit on it

finishing off

I finally got round to finishing the WI layout I started a couple of weeks ago, I was poorly for nearly a week with a heavy cold and didn't really feel like doing much at all. I have been busy driving our school mini bus for school trips and prepping for classes.

I taught a class to decorate a cigar box at the weekend, I have made a couple before so changed the colours a little. The flower was a die cut dipped in UTEE a few times until it looked like china (actually, it looked more like shiny plastic but it was still better than plain paper)

I coloured the wood box sides with distress stain, it was a lot easier than painting it and a lot less mess

I added some photographs and pieces of doily to my pop up cupcake layout and finished the journaling

Friday's WI craft night is Make Do and Mend, we are making an apron from an old pair of jeans. It doesn't seem a month since the last night, time is flying and it will be spring sunshine soon, I can't wait.

demo day

Today was spent at Pickleberry, demonstrating new products, most were delivered this week so we had lots to play with. I had some silk kits to make necklaces and some undyed to colour and use for a collage.

This is one necklace, made from tubular ribbon and silk cocoons with silk rods opened and rolled up inside

This one is rolled silk rods threaded onto ribbon with bead spacers

I made a canvas with some driftwood and beachcombing finds using an undeyed silk kit, I dyed some pieces using spray inks and tied some rope to hang it up but forgot to take a photograph of the full piece.

It was a really busy day but great to see all of the customers who came to see what we were doing.