A Snippet Roll ...... 🖤 " Things I Love "

Greetings lovely friends & readers

A fresh new length of oilcloth arrived to start the week off - ordered online from * Here *.  I also picked the first vase of freesia's from my garden - I just adore their fragrance 💛

When I placed the Oilcloth on my dining table I just loved it ... I asked The Mr what he thought of it & his reply was 

"it just looks like something you dragged out of Grandma's attic".

Little does he realise that to me ...... this is The Perfect compliment!

It was my dear friend Shirley who first introduced me to " Snippet Rolls " - I had never heard of them before.

  Then I saw them on the lovely Michelle's blog & drooled all over my computer screen when I saw her exquisite work.

  I emailed & asked Michelle about them & she very kindly shared some tips to get me started.  Out of the blue a package arrived from her filled with some bits & bobs from her own collection - how special & wonderful. 

Though I had very little idea of what I was doing, I cut a metre length of linen & began embellishing.  I decided my Roll would be themed on "Things I Love"  💗

It must be well over a year ago that I first started this - I got as far as Friends & Family ... then kind of ran out of puff with it, tossed it all in a basket & shoved it under the spare bed. 

There were two things that happened to re-inspire me, & help me to complete it.

The first thing was (in July) when my friend Sally gifted me this beautiful book above for my birthday.  I drooled over the pages, took it to Mums with me & read it from cover to cover. Upon my return home I pulled the Snippet Roll basket out again.

 I decided I needed to set up a special table to work on, & not have to clear everything away all the time which was hindering my progress.  I dragged in the drop leaf table that I revamped in * this post * along with a sturdy chair & set up a small corner of my lounge where I had good lighting & it didn't matter if I made a mess (which I did!!) 😉

This was a great decision & this mess table stayed like this until I finished my Snippet roll.

And Yes ... in case you were wondering ... I had the usual "help & assistance of the furry variety" 😐

A couple of weeks ago, I put the final stitch in my Snippet Roll ... would you like to see inside it?? 

I started the first section with "Friends & Family" ... you can just see the word family embroidered in pale blue, where the arrow is pointing (bottom right)

My next section in Things I Love was crafting & creativity.  I've forgotten to move my charms to the side before taking a pic, but the heart reads "Love to Sew"  💕

You can click on the photos to enlarge them if you wish

The next section was my Garden ... once again I've forgotten to arrange the charms nicely.  These are off a broken pair of earings that I had years ago ... a tiny trowel & fork. 

The next section is Home.  I really love my Home & being at Home - it is one of the places I feel safest.  I could hardly do Home without adding Cats now could I??  Remember these are all the things I love.

I happened to find a wooden black cat button in my stash & on further investigation, a pottery ginger cat button.  Miss Pippi is Not impressed with this - she feels she should be Fine Bone China & not just old pottery !!!

My final section was Christmas.  I was going to do Tilda but I think that might take an entire Snippet Roll all on its own.  So I found some lovely Christmas buttons from Theodora Cleave - remember when I won the giveaway in * this post *. I ended it with a piece of treasured Liberty Christmas fabric.  It's all looking like it needs a good iron in my pics, but that is just from rolling it up tightly.  

I backed the entire piece using this lovely cotton print that I had in my stash - I wanted something subtle & pretty.

  I hand stitched this on ... like Michelle does in her work, I didn't want any raw edges that might fray.

And how did I display my Snippet Roll ?  I just unwound a section of it & sat it on my mantle piece so I can look at it & enjoy it as I walk past.  

This gorgeous tag was included in Michelle's parcel & I have this leaning against the wound-up bobbin.

I'm really pleased with my Snippet Roll & would love to make another one sometime. I should add here that apart from Michelle's gifted trims, I just used items entirely from my stash & purchased nothing.  I should also add that my embroidery & applique skills are entirely self taught & probably Not that wonderful to be honest 😉

As I type this rain is setting in again ... the furry two are on my sweatshirt, on my bed, curled up together. I can hear Blackie snoring rather loudly. 

Thank you dear friends, for staying with me through this marathon post,

I hope the week is treating you well - remember to be kind to yourselves & to each other,

With much love & friendship to you all,

Love Julie & the furry two x0x0x

Hydrangea Love 💙💙

Greetings lovely friends & readers

My friend Gail gifted me this beautiful Hydrangea transfer for my birthday in June ... I absolutely LoVed it & wanted to use it on something special.   I especially love Hydrangeas & just adored the pastel colours in this.

                     Seeing the black decorated lampshade on the packet gave me an idea . . . . . .

I have this large plain table lamp in a corner of my Lounge.  The Lady that owns the Farm gifted it to me many years ago & I use it as I really love lamplight, but always wanted to give it a bit of a lift or an injection of colour.

 

I carefully dismantled the lamp & then painted the base with 2 coats of chalk paint in the colour Old Linen. I dried it by the fire ... Miss Pippi takes her "watching-paint-dry duties" very seriously but after all - a girl does get tired !! 😉

I also painted the lamp shade in chalk paint "Antique White" as it was showing some age spots & discoloration - it came up great!

  Next it was time to affix the transfers to the shade. This was tricky (to put it mildly) as I had to pack thick bath towels inside the frame of the shade, to stop it cracking while I applied the transfers. I carefully worked my way around managing to cover nearly all the circumference of the shade. I was really happy with how the lamp turned out & found some old faded hydrangea heads that I spray painted with some colours I had on hand - just a quick whiff across the flower head to bring them to life.

The frame had a price sticker on it from when I thrifted it ... $8.00

I still had some transfers left over so I found this oval frame in my sleep-out.  It was actually pressed flowers inside glass - very old & faded so I decided to just paint right over the glass as it was secure inside the frame.  Once again - two coats of Old Linen chalk paint & a light sanding/distressing of the frame.

While I was working out the placement for my hydrangeas I felt I needed some wording in the background.  Like my fabric scraps, I keep every single offcut of my transfers & I was able to find some vintage French wording in my offcuts envelope.  I love how this turned out 💙

I hung it over the Gothic Mirror that I have in my lounge & just love my new Hydrangea corner so much. 💙

Incidentally the cabinet that I dragged in had a brightly coloured transfer on the door which looked so gaudy.  I was able to wet this & scrape it off, & then give it a quick coat of the same chalk paint (Old Linen).  I love it much more with the door left blank.

A string of fairy lights & it all looks complete. 💙 Each evening when I turn the lamp on it just makes me feel so happy with my little refreshed corner.

After a couple of really nice spring days it has turned wet & icy cold here today - typical Waikato Spring weather.  I baked this morning ... a Weetbix Slice for The Mr, & a Raspberry & White Chocolate Shortcake as I have eldest son & family coming tomorrow.  

I have some freshly dehydrated orange slices by the fire as I have more potpourri orders to fill.

A certain ginger Miss has curled up on my sewing chair dreaming happily with her little tongue poking out. 

Yesterday * this special book * arrived in the post ... a treat (to me from me) using the last of my birthday money.  I have many jobs awaiting but for now I am going to sit down with a cuppa & maybe probably a slice of that Raspberry Shortcake & drool my way through my new book.  Wishing you a wonderful weekend dearest friends.

Thank you as always for your welcome visits here today,

With much love & friendship to you all,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0

Painting, Planting & The Daffodil Farm

Greetings lovely friends & readers

Welcome to the first day of  Spring - my absolute favorite Season 💗

 We have had a week of blue skies, sunshine & chilly-but-glorious days where you can just about see the garden waking up from it's winter sleep.

Down the end of my lounge by the French Doors, I have what I call My Hospital Corner.  It's where I put plants that need reviving or some extra care. It's warm, filtered light with no draughts & plants seem to really come back to life here.  I often wish I could just lie down there awhile & rejuvenate myself !! It's also where I start my cuttings off & so I decided it was time to pot up some of the plants that I had grown from cuttings over winter.

A rustle around under my house & I came across some old pots that had been tossed under there.  I painted them with left over chalk paint & applied oddments of transfers to cheery them up a bit. 

After I've applied the transfers I like to spray them with two coats of clear matt varnish just to seal & protect them & I find this works really well & also makes them scrubable if need be.

This plant was grown from a leaf off my friend Joyce's plant

I forgot to take a "before" of this one but it was a dark almost black colour.  I loved the fluted edge of it.

This pink paint I have used is actually a Resene Testpot in the Colour Pale Rose - it's the perfect shade of pink 💗

This was a tin bucket with rope handles that I found in my sleep out. It was the perfect size for my poor pot-bound ladder fern.

(I can cut 3 plants labels from one length of Dowel)

Pretty plant labels are expensive to buy but I enjoy making my own from these round wooden discs that you can buy from the Variety Stores ($2.99 for a packet of 4).  I buy a length of dowel from Mitre 10, hot glue it to the back & then paint the entire piece before adding the transfers.  These are great if you need to stake a plant too.

I decided to use this old tin trunk as a plant display area as the large picture window provides good light for my plants.  These ones are all newly repotted in larger (upcycled) containers.

Just beside the tin trunk is a selection of thrifted plant stands that I have painted over the years. I seem to have a bit of A Pink Theme going on down here.

While I was outside re-potting I gave my deck table a good scrub & potted up these sweet little viola's.  The purple in them almost reminds me of velvet.  The potted white hyacinth was pulled out from under a garden shrub - its fragrance is divine.

The other week I had to deliver some fresh bags of my citrus pot-pourri to The Farm Shop at Gordonton.  I had not supplied them for over a year due to Lockdowns etc & I wanted to deliver it & remove any old stock I had there.  My car smelt beautiful on the drive over!

I had arranged to meet up with my lovely friend Sue out there & have lunch together.  Sue took me to the cafe out at Woodlands Estate on the other side of Gordonton.  I had not been here before & it was just stunning.  

We had a lovely lunch & a wander around the gardens but could not go in the main house due to a private function being held there.

Sue & I both wanted to go to Clandon Daffodil Farm.  It has been a couple of years since I was last here & it is one of my favourite places to visit.  Just seeing those rows & rows of happy yellow faces as you drive up is so uplifting.  Even though it was a wet rainy day it was still such a pleasant & enjoyable outing.  

The shop is self service & they have a huge selection of daffodils for you to choose from & very reasonably priced.  Sue & I both bought a big bunch of Seconds.  They also sell a selection of bulbs here & have a display garden where you can see the different varieties of daffs available to grow now ... even a pink shade.

When I got home I divided all my daffs up into different vases as I wanted to share them with my daughter in laws.  Sue has begun learning pottery & is doing such amazing work - I was delighted when she presented me with one of her bowls in a lovely dusky blue glaze.  

I put a large vase of Early Cheer Daffs in my lounge so I could enjoy them each night & Oh the fragrance was amazing.  They always make me feel happy because I know when they appear each year ... spring is not too far away.

Interestingly I took a photo of this notice at the Daffodil Farm & decided to do exactly as they suggested.  I often find daffs don't last long in my home as it gets hot here due to our fire.  But I did what they suggested (putting them outside on the deck each night), changing the water every 2nd day ...& they did Not begin to wilt until day 6 or 7, so I was really pleased.

Thank you so very much dear friends, for staying through this lengthy post,

I am off to fill the wood basket as it feels like another frost tonight,

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

With much love & friendship to you all,

Julie & the furry ones x0x0x