VACATION!

As many of you know we have been pretty busy with builders and decorators so hubby and I decided to draw a line under all this and take a short break!

I will be gone for a week during which time my shops will be open but NO items will be dispatched until next week.

Don’t go away…. I will be back!

PQ

As promised…… our new kitchen!

TADA!!!! Yes, at last I am in the throws of the last cleaning up operation and can now reveal our kitchen.  Some of the operations were painful, but hey!  No pain - no gain, as they say.

Here is a picture to show you how it originally looked.  This we inherited when we bought our house about 4 years ago.  All the houses around here that were built by the same builder and at the same time all had a job lot of kitchens installed.

The built in oven was right next to the door into the kitchen.  If ever the door had to be lowered to place dishes in it you either had to hold the kitchen door shut with your foot and balance or have the door wide open so that everyone could see what was happening.  Great planning!

You can see the gas hob in the centre of the picture.  All a wee bit cluttered!

In the next picture you can see from the kitchen into the utility area which houses the washing machine and tumble drier.  See the bare light bulb?  Oh, those are not real onions hanging on the wall!

Now we are starting to remove the appliances such as the washing machine.  In this picture you can see the new boiler we had fitted which makes for a more efficient means of heating the water and the central heating system.

That gaping hole is where the oven used to be housed!  It amazing to see how things look once they start to be dismantled.

 

 

As items were delivered they were stored in the garage.  It did get quite cosy at one point!

 

Now things were starting to take shape.  The tiles had been ripped off the wall leaving huge gaping holes in the plaster.  As promised our man installed my new cooker and some cabinets.  Although there were not tops on yet, the cooker was totally useable.   The promise was that in two days I would have a ‘working’ kitchen and that is exactly what happened!

 

See, even the utility room was shaping up!

 

 

 

The cooker hood and further cabinets were installed!

And now, the floor has been tiled.  We decided to go with advise about using some of the floor tiles as a feature behind the range.  This made it easier to hide the huge gaping hole in the plastering!

 

Our utility room with cabinets and one of On a Whimsey’s paintings on the wall!

 

 

Another view taken from our kitchen door into the kitchen looking towards the garden window.

Over the windows we have placed bright red blinds which offsets the black, brown and chrome.

It might not look like much trouble, but believe me it is a luxury to now have the house/kitchen back for ourselves!  The guys who worked on it were brilliant apart from the plasterer but we move on swiftly.

So, I guess I have no excuse to delay making those chocolate brownies!!!  Brownies anyone???

Slightly altered…..

If you remember in my last post I described a boutonnière that as to be offered in a swap? Well, I am still doing that but I have embellished it with some gold coloured seed beads.

I just thought it gave it another dimension, don’t you?

Boutonnières

Precious Quilts’ shop has been rather neglected for some time and I decided to remedy that today. You know how you search in your mind to find something that will be a little different or special that you think might sell? Well, of all the places I should be, it did as I was in the shower this morning.

Actually, a good friend of mine pushed me into this area… no, not the shower!!

She runs a group where all we do is swapping. Mostly fibre arts or mixed media quilties and the like. However, this month some of us opted for a change and voted on making a brooch. So, I said to myself, OK clever clogs! Now what are you going to make? I just didn’t have a clue until I went browsing on the internet, looked at the stash I have garnered over time like fabrics, lace etc. Then it came to me; in the shower! Boutonnières!

These could be created using different types of lace I have stashed away. Much of the lace I inherited from my late mother who was also a hoarder. She used to cut off any lace from blouses, underwear etc before throwing them away. And so, she managed to collect a wide variety into her collection. I didn’t really appreciate the lace until recently. It’s not until you compare some of the modern machined lace to the antique lace that you realise the world of difference between the two. Nothing wrong with modern lace but antique or vintage lace does have that ‘something’ about it.

I digress. I thought about the style I would use to make best use of the designs. Simplicity seemed the order of the day.

Here is a taster of what I have created for the swap group.

Two different antique lace designs were used with a vintage ecru button for the centre. A pin bar was sewn on the reverse.

Now there was no going back! I made another couple which I have listed in my Etsy shop, Precious Quilts.

Pricing was my next nightmare! Again, I researched the internet (what did we do before computers?) and came across all sorts of products. Some boutonnières were beautiful, some very pricey, some? Well, let’s just say, were not to my taste!

Anyway, back to my boutonnières. I have now listed them on Etsy.com and priced them, after chatting to my buddies, on a basis that I think might be fair. After all, they are all handmade, hand sewn.

Here is a boutonnières (don’t you love that word, I do!) that I created with antique lace loops which were sewn together with a mother of pearl look alike button on top. On the reverse I placed a bar pin to make it easier to pin to a lapel, sweater or the like.

The second one used ‘modern’ lace, is off white and gathered behind a vintage metal button. Again I placed a pin bar on the reverse.

Now to sit back and see what happens. Whatever the outcome, I have enjoyed making them. That to me is the most important aspect.

What do you think?

PQ

What the postman put through our letterbox today!

A couple of weeks ago I began a dialogue with someone I had met through one of the groups I belong to (BBEST) whose shop is called Clingingimages.  Here you are able to purchase designer window clings with stained glass effects.  This seller has many in her shop but also enjoys custom designing.  This is exactly what I wanted.

We have a window half way up our stairs in which the previous occupants of the house had placed some clings.  These over the years had faded and, although still attractive, I wanted something more akin to our own taste with a design with our stamp on, so to speak.  After several communications to describe what I wanted, giving the dimensions etc I received an email with a selection of clings from which I could choose.  How cool was that?

My husband and I decided which one was our favourite and placed the order.  Without further ado the clings were produced to exactly the size I wanted and followed the description beautifully.  So, when they arrived today I just couldn’t wait to open up the envelope.

There, beautifully packaged with full instructions on how to apply, remove and care for the clings, were our new clings!  Straightaway, I cleaned the window panes so that they would be squeaky clean and allow me to place the clings carefully where I wanted them. 

I so enjoyed working on the ideas for these clings and this was made all the more enjoyable an experience with the great communications prior to settling on the final version.

Now to stand back and admire!

PQ

The wonder of swaps!

Still on the subject of the ‘Spring’ swap the ACEO created under my OAW banner was created in the encaustic medium or painting in wax.  Using my trusty travel iron and hot stylus for detail I imagined this stream running through some rocky crags with plants rearing their heads gingerly as Spring approached.

Firstly from Hemlock came this beauty.  She even used rocks (pebbles!) from her creek.  Very pretty!

I think this was a ‘first’ and hopefully, not the last.

Personally, I thought it was a wonderful way to introduce ACEOs to creators new to this format.  To some ACEOs can be very daunting; to have to work in such a small piece of art can be challenging when you are not used to it.  However, these two folk had never attempted this before and there were many who have realised what a fun and interesting size it is to work on!

PQ