A little something I have decorated....

A few months ago I bought a rather nice letter rack off the Internet hoping to do something with it, when it arrived it had been quite heavily varnished so it needed to be sanded down before I could do anything with it well now its finished

The reason I liked it so much is that it has a secret drawer

The drawer can be filled with pens, stamps etc.

I painted the whole thing with Matt blackboard paint and used some of my Laura Ashley papers to cover the shelves both back and front, it took 3 full 12" x 12" sheets. I traced the shelves out by holding a scrap sheet of paper to the back and traced the outline carefully then just trimmed it slightly to get it to the right size. I stuck the papers down with PVA glue, front and back first then the bottom piece. I had used all of the papers in this design so I had to use a piece of Bazzill to line the drawer but it blends nicely with the colours of the papers so it looks OK.

I think it looks quite stylish now just got to decide do I keep it or sell it, what do you think?

As promised pictures of the Jewellrey box

The Jewellery box I made has been collected today and Donna has given me the OK to post the pictures of it.

My brief was it has to have Teal on it, the box has too be pretty and it has to have her name on it

Here is the finished box - be warned there are a few pictures!

I wanted a touch of a vintage look to it and that's something I don't do too well

The top

Once the box was painted I added a length of pale grey braid to the front edge, a small rose was adhered to each end to complete

Close up of the flowers

The stamp is one of my personal favourites from a set by Rhonna Farrer, I have added a swirl of lace topped off with the layered flowers, I used both crochet and paper flowers with  the small roses in the centre, more Roses and flat backed pearls highlight the stamping

The front









Both colours of paint I have used are from Laura Ashley, Ivory and Pale Teal, the large paper flowers were cream but to make them match the box I painted them in Teal, they turned out great and no problems painting them in emulsion paint either. The ribbon around the box was a perfect match so once I had added the glued that one I finished it with another layered flower and a tassle.

I used my Cricut to cut the name using the Winter Woodland cartridge, I love that one the font is so pretty, I cut it from SU card but I don't know the colour, sorry! and finished it with more pearls.

That's it finished and Donna loved it so what do you think?

I had an unexpected visitor today

It was Tracey who came along to 'Make Something' and after looking through the shop Tracey decided to make a Canvas for one of her daughters.

Now tracey did have a head start as she is a very tallented card maker and SU demonstrator so this should have been easy, peasy for her and as you can see she made a great job of it without much help from me at all.

Tracey with finished canvas

sorry about the photo quality!

And a close up of the canvas

I personally get great pleasure when I see the joy that my ladies get when they complete a project for the first time. 

Tracey will be back to do more and as she progresses she will look back at this one and remember it was the first thing like this she has ever made and hopefully will always be special to her

Looking forward to seeing you again soon Tracey

What I am working on today!

Well its Wednesday and that means Craft Club night, where do the days go? Its hard to believe we are in August. Time I started to think seriously about Christmas especially as I have about 6 orders already. The problem with running a business like mine and others I suppose is that you have to be thinking so far ahead of these events, my mind doesn't normally think Christmas until at least September/ October but this year I should have been thinking months ago but still cant do Christmas before my summer holiday and I don't go away yet!

So that brings me to what I am working on today, well its this

Chest

It is an order for Donna, not sure if it will be for her friends 40th Birthday or for Christmas but my brief  is it has to be Teal and it has to be pretty so what shall I do with it? I think I shall paint it Ivory and paint the detail trim in Teal, I want to give it a vintage type look even though I think of Teal as a modern colour, maybe stamp the top, add flowers and a bit of lace, Donna wants her friends name on it but after that she leaves it to me to decide the design.

I also have another jewellery box to do and that one is for my Niece, its the same shape as this one that Karen made but slightly larger, this has to be pink with butterfly's.

Hopefully I will have these finished today so pictures will follow later.

After these I shall make a start on my Christmas stock, I already have quite a long list of items I want to make with wood, felt, paper and paint but what would you like to see in my Christmas stock?

Today we have another 'Make and Take' session

We have one of our customers arriving at 10am this morning for the first of maybe 2 or 3 craft sessions with her Daughter and her friend.

A few weeks ago we had our first 'Make and Take' session for a birthday, Donna ( Lauryns Mum) came in and booked a session for Lauryn's birthday.
The original booking was for 4 girls, Lauryn, Ella, Lydia and Casey? with Mum Donna but unfortunately Ella couldn't make it so Donna made a plaque for her.

Here are the Girls with their finished items, sorry about the picture quality, the photo was taken on a phone.

A great afternoon was had by all, the girls were so good and enjoyed making their own pieces, Donna enjoyed making a plaque for Ella even though she had plans to make something for a Teachers present.

Hopefully today will go as smoothly as last time!

For those of you who were wondering what make my stamp is that I created my set with. Well It's Stampendous Agagpanthus. I think they do a smaller 1 too, but not sure. It's one of my favourites and I've used it alot in the past.
Can't wait to do my clock and revamp my bedside lamp. Roll on craft time.

I would like to show you a few things

made recently by a couple of our ladies at Craft Club

Susan

This is one of the first ladies who came to Craft Club, Susan had never painted anything before she started. I keep a record of the items my Ladies have completed and Susan's list is the longest.

Susan's pen Pots

Susan loves Pink, Susan painted the pen pots; one for herself and one as a leaving gift for someone she works with, she is currently working on a Jewellery box.

Then there is Karen, now if I had to describe Karen in a crafting sense I would say she is a card maker who sometimes scrapbooks but a definite card maker, she DOES NOT paint!

But look at these....

Jewellery box

Karen painted this box at Craft Club a few weeks ago using Laura Ashley Ivory paint, she then sponged LA French Grey around the edges and highlighted this with lines using a black pen. Karen has stamped the Agapanthus onto the top with black Stazon, the stamp is her own so I dont know who made it.  We cut a monogram letter using the Cricut and Winter woodland cartridge in SU card which she has embellished using pearls, beautiful isnt it?

Plaque to hang her long necklaces

Karen decided she wanted a few things to match her box to go in her bedroom so has made a plaque to hold her long necklaces and a pot to hold her brushes.

matching pen pot to hold her brushes

She is now planning a clock, a bin and other things, see karen I told you painting was addictive!