"Playing" With Paint & Transfers

Greetings lovely friends & readers

 Valentine's Day flowers picked from my garden last weekend ... dahlias, cosmos, alstroemeria & some early chrysanths 💗

I saw this verse on Instagram & loved it ... it's okay to give yourself the day off !

For our craft group get together last week we were decorating bottles.  I'd visited Gail to get some bottles as she had a large stash of all shapes & sizes - these are the three I chose.

  Many of the girls were going for a slightly Gothic theme - hence Gail had already painted the medium sized bottle black.  I decided to go for a pastel theme - you can see me deciding on a green shade with the larger bottle. 

My assistant in the background, was having a wee nap  ❤

On our recent trip to Paint Me Vintage both Gail & I had purchased this Redesign with Prima transfer above.  It was a new release for Easter/spring & I adored it.  I decided to use it on my bottles.  

Our get-together didn't actually go ahead due to Liz's husband being rushed to hospital with chest pain .. so Gail & I got together several days later & decorated some of our already-painted bottles. 

 

I first used a paper serviette on the medium blue bottle, but after a couple of days I decided I no longer liked it ... this is the beauty of mod-podge .. I just sat the bottle in a basin of warm water & the serviette peeled off no problem & I wiped the bottle down.  I added this bunny transfer & also an old frame I had with a missing back.  

The smallest bottle I'd painted cream & Gail gave me this wooden frame piece.  It fit perfectly over my bunny & I painted it, waxed it, then wiped it over with a darker wax.  I'm now thinking I may add some gold to the edges of it.  

Here is the frame I painted for my medium sized bottle - sorry my photos are all over the place today  😶

I painted this with Robins Egg chalk paint & then lightly wiped the edges with Antique Gold Rub-n-buff.

My favorite of them all is the tallest bottle which I painted with chalk paint in the colour Country Green.  I added this rubber decal, painted it & then popped a small transfer in the middle.  I glued some thickish lace to the base & painted this the same green.  I then white waxed over the details to make them pop.  I think this is an old Gin bottle as it has Pierre Smirnoff engraved on the back of it.

I painted some wooden tags & attached transfers to these ... the smallest one is an old broken key ring that had a buzzy bee in the centre.   I prized it open, removed the photo, removed the glue, added a white piece of paper & a tiny transfer & glued it all back together again.  Also an old broken brooch has been glued to the rim.  Never throw away those broken bits & pieces dear friends 😉😉

Here are my bottles so far ... I love them all but my favorite is the green one.  

Let me know if you have a favorite dear friends.

The day we visited Paint me Vintage the Owner Carla, was standing at her counter painting plastic eggs to do an Easter display.  

Both Gail & I very were interested as we both had plastic eggs at home in our stashes.  

I painted 6 eggs ... 2 pink, 2 blue & 2 green.  I added transfers to these & then glued thin ribbon to the hole in the top.  I wanted to make an Easter tree.  

Remember the trees that fell down in * this post * ? ... well we are still waiting on the tree men to come & clean them up so off I go with my loppers & cut myself some branches from them to make my Easter tree.  

Hard to get a good photo on this dull overcast day.  

My little display ... Yes I agree, it's far too early to be thinking anything Easter-ish but this can just sit & wait a few weeks until I put my Easter decor out.  I found some crochet hearts in a bag of lace so I painted them with watered down PVA glue & strung these from my branches also.  

(This next part is especially for You Ellie)

Last week I gave my deck table & surrounding areas a good scrub.  I had a new length of hessian to use & wanted to do a late summer/autumnal display.

As you can see dear friends, a certain Little Cat thought this was the most wonderful fun & Mum must've put this here just especially for my entertainment.  

After nearly half an hour of this carry-on I managed to get the table runner down & he just curled up & went to sleep (!!)

I think it was about this point that I gave up & walked away!!!

Nothing is ever easy around here with the assistance of one or other of the furry family members.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend dear friends - remember to be kind to yourselves & to each other,

Thank you as always, for your welcome visits here today,

Sending much love & friendship to you all,

A Houseful of Bugs . . . . . . . . & A January Recap

Greetings lovely friends & readers & 

Welcome to February  💗

I did not mean to be gone for so long but we have had a houseful of bugs these past weeks  (the 🤮🤢 kind & not the 🐜🐞 kind)   In the midst of this The Mr came down with Covid !!  But we are all well again now.   

I decided to do a short January recap ... school has returned here in New Zealand after more than 6 weeks break & I, along with the parents, breathed a sigh of relief.  As Alec went back earlier than Sid I drove to Taupo during the last week to spend a bit more time with him.

 Our flowers today are a bunch that I took to my daughter in law, picked from my garden, mainly dahlias & hydrangeas.

As I had no potatoes left I made mashed kumara for the Cottage Pie topping.

Alec & my son requested my homemade Cottage Pie so I made two, one for The Mr while I was away.  I also made fruity chocolate cereal bars which makes up in a large meat dish so you get a good quantity out of it.  You can find the recipe at the bottom of * this * post. (its an old recipe of my Mums)

Alec requested we go mini putt golfing again as he enjoyed it so much last time & I was happy to oblige.  It is such a gorgeous Putting Green with stunning lake views at every angle.  Alec beat me by 9 points but I am sure there was cheating score adjustment going on 😉

We went to our favorite cafe for lunch, Baked With Love.  We even had the same food we ate last time & now we call this cafe "our regular".

Right next door is a huge wonderful kitchen store & I wanted to hunt for a new mug as mine had cracked.  I found this lovely Jamie Oliver mug which I really love & it's so nice to drink out of. 

 I took Alec for a haircut & parked right outside the Salvation Army Op-shop.  I told him I had a moral obligation to go inside - he chose to wait in the car.  My only purchase was this heavy crystal bud vase for $5.  It's just perfect for a few rose buds & I'm delighted with it.

Two days after I got home the craft girls invited me to go with them to Tauranga to Paint Me Vintage.  It's many years since I've visited this gorgeous store & it was just as impressive as I remembered.  So much loveliness in every nook & cranny.

I'll share my purchases in my next post as I have (hopefully) done something with them by then. We had a wonderful day out & stopped in at the huge Tauranga Crossing Shopping Centre for lunch & a wander.  This was the first time I had been here & it was most impressive.  

The lights have 8 different settings but I prefer them just On, not flickering.

I purchased (from Temu) some plug in fairy lights - I'd wanted some for my kitchen for a very long time but could only get a 12 metre length so I ended up affixing them a lot further around my kitchen than I'd anticipated.

  I just LoVe them - as my kitchen can be on the darker side, I turn them on frequently.  I purchased the proper clips to attach them & then ended up giving all my enamel-ware, shelves etc a full on clean, which took me two entire days but everything just sparkled afterwards.  It's funny how this simple $14 purchase can bring me so much Joy.  

I'd left two baskets on my sewing room floor when I went to Taupo & upon my return The Mr had lifted them onto my bench for a certain two furry beings to sleep in.  They started out in separate baskets but after Day 1 Miss Pippi climbed in with Blackie.  

Also note they have both moved to the square shaped basket which is slightly larger

Day two was a nasty-weather-day & they were still in the same basket even though there was very little room (!!)

Day 3 they'd both moved back to the round shaped basket

Day Three she had managed to secure herself a bit more room.  Willie this might be a good one for your Cat Folder.  By Day 4 the Mother here (Yours Truly) had removed both baskets, cleaned the bench & banned furry beings from sewing room (they are taking no notice) 😉

Thank you so much for your visits today dear friends & for listening to my waffle,

Wishing you a wonderful rest-of-the-week,

Sending much love & friendship to you all,

January Crafting & Creativity

Greetings lovely friends & readers

 On my table this week, a sweet enamel kettle filled with flowers from my Garden ... hydrangeas, alstroemerias. lavender, zinnias & pompom dahlias.  

Using some Christmas money I treated myself to a new length of Oilcloth for my table ... this one is so pretty.  

If you look at the right hand photo, you can see by my arrow that I still have "my display piece" from last weeks 

post  🐈‍⬛😮 !!

On this dull rainy day it is hard to photograph & do it justice - it is the softest dusky pink - called Elise Pink Blush. 

I have made a determined effort these school holidays to restrict Sid's screen time.  Some days I succeed & others not so - we have crafted lots!!  He was gifted some Gem Art kitsets & these have been a LOT of fun to create with.

One of the kitsets made up 3 bookmarks, we finished the 2 on the left & the right hand one is still to complete.  Granny especially enjoyed these crafts 😉

Although it feels like I have done very little crafting myself, looking back through my photos shows otherwise. 

 I found this tray in my sleepout & decided to chalk paint it for my bedside table.  I wanted to be able to pick up the tray with everything on it, not individually.  

Lightly sanding it showed up the detail in the handles 

Using pale duck egg chalk-paint, I am thrilled with how it turned out & lightly sanded it once dry.  A couple of coats of wax & it was complete.  

Since the New Year I have been on a sorting/decluttering mission, slowly going through cupboards & drawers.  This cross stitch was attached to a card & I kept it because it really appealed to me.  I made it up into a simple pillow backing it with some Tilda scraps & then stitched a fluffy yarn around the edges.

 

I filled it with crushed walnut shells so it sits plumply, also added an old broken earing of Mums to the bow.  

I am waiting on my 2026 charms to attach to the back - they are currently in-the-post.

In another cupboard I found this broken Angel, which I still loved. Her dress, wings & body parts were badly fly marked so I removed the dress & very gently washed her body before glueing her back together again.  

I sewed her a new skirt & gave her new feather wings ... I thought she looked so much better.  I have yet to find just the right spot to hang her. 

 I found * this blog post * from 2013 which was when I first purchased her (!!)  

My Hoop measures 33 cms across in diameter

I have long admired the hoop art that you see on Pinterest & often purchase hoops when I see them in the Op-shops.  I decided it was finally time to try & use them up!  I found a piece of old linen to fit my hoop & then sewed lengths of vintage lace across it, leaving little openings to act as "pockets".  I had lots of fun adding bits & bobs, some broken jewellery of Mums & buttons from Theodora Cleave tucking in tags & postcards here & there.  I gave mine a Sewing Theme as I plan to hang it in my sewing room.

This has sat on my sewing desk for the past two weeks while I added bits as I had the time or sat & studied it, changed my mind, removed things.   Once I was happy I sewed all my bits on & then backed it with a piece of wool felt.  Once again, hard to photograph on this rainy day, hence I've taken it to the deck table.  

I love projects like this that just sort of evolve.

So it seemed timely when I saw this Verse on Instagram yesterday & saved it ... I thought it was very true indeed, although I imagine you could say this about any year.

This little collage is titled A Day in the Life Of Pippi ... she moves from my potted Rhodohypoxis, to the suns rays in the lounge, to a drawer in my sewing room ... all in the course of a day (!!)  What a stressful life she leads  😉

Thank you dear friends, for your ever-welcome visits here today,

Wishing you a wonderful rest-of-the-week,

Sending much love & friendship out to you all,

Lake Taupo, A Rope Bowl, Dishcloths & A New Display

Greetings lovely friends & readers

I picked the arrangement of flowers above for my daughter-in-law Sarah, who had a birthday recently.  A mixture of dahlias, alstroemeria & perennial phlox, all from my garden.  I wish I knew how to arrange flowers properly ... I am more of "a plonker" when it comes to flowers in vases. 

 

Sid was here last week & we made two banana breads, one for him to take home.

  He is such a delight when baking.  I am always in a hurry & toss everything in - he reminds me to find Joy in the process ... "look Granny, 3 of the egg yolks are still whole but one is broken & it's running into the others" ... how precious this is. 

After he went home I made Caramel Anzac Slice as I was heading to Kinloch, Lake Taupo & this is my daughter in laws favorite slice.

In the days after Christmas I sewed Sarah a Rope Bowl as I wanted to fill it with lovely body products to gift for her recent birthday.  Sarah is a minimalist girl so I struggle at times with what to give her.  I used a soft palette of grey fabrics as she has these tones in her decor.

  

I placed body products,  Gourmet choccies & packets of seeds in the basket & cellophaned it all up ready to take down with me. 

The next day I drove down to Kinloch, Lake Taupo, to visit eldest Grandson Alec & his family.

We had a picnic lunch on the Lake edge - it was very busy as it is holiday season & the weather was nice.  The Lake is always so crystal clear - Sarah swam but Alec & I both just paddled.

Sarah told me about a walk to a waterwheel not far from their home so we headed off there in the afternoon.

It was such a pretty spot with a stream running right through it, crystal clear - & often the trout swim down the stream but you are not allowed to fish in here.  

(This is part of the Whangamata Stream Trail, Kinloch for anyone wanting to google it) 

A short walk from the water wheel is a fairy grove.  I just found it so delightful & could've stayed there for several hours.  It is a large clearing beside the stream, where people have been allowed to put fairy houses in the trees or on the ground & create a little village.

Sarah told me that nothing gets removed but there are rules about what you are allowed to put there, no plastic etc.  Also children have painted rocks & stones & used these to border the area - it was just so sweet & made my heart feel full.  

And you know what I want to do now don't you dear friends .  .  .  .  make my own fairy house & put it there 😃!!

There were a few of these hut-like structures built from the fallen tree branches. 

Alec & Granny & Alec & his Mum Sarah.  The wee dog belongs to the neighbors. 

At Christmas I was gifted a very nice bundle of new tea-towels which excited me immensely because mine were ready for the rag bag. 

 I decided I now needed some new dishcloths as these too, were ragbag material.  

I've used up all my ends of bamboo/cotton yarn & knitted 6 new ones ... they are an eclectic mix of colours but will be wonderful to replace the tatty old ones.  I can now knit * this pattern * off by heart so it's great to sit & do at nights.  

After I pack the Christmas decor away the house always feels large & airy & I like to give everything a good clean, move furniture & vacuum.  Often I wish I had new-to-me decor to do some different displays with, but this is not the case - we use what we already have.  I saw this on Instagram & it reminded me, we surely do need to love & care for the home we already have.

Longtime readers of my blog will know I have a vintage Singer Sewing table in the corner of my dining area & like to change out the displays on this for the different seasons.  

I've done a wonderful new display here for the summer season .  .  .  would you like to see it friends ???  😖😠😬

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😖😖😖 I think it may be called Fat Black Cat in Slumberland .  .  .

Thank you as always dear friends, for your welcome visits here today,

Wishing you a wonderful rest-of-the-week,

Sending much love & friendship to you all,