so easily distracted

 

I was meant to be stripping the beds on my day off

but when I discovered one of the sheets

was looking a bit tatty

I stripped it instead.

 

I have visions of a lovely oval rug

and I have started a few times ~ got it wrong

and had to start again.

 

I think I'm getting there now.

 

Well I hope so.

 

The sheet was just ripped to make the lengths

and the many stray strands of cotton

were spread around the yard.

 

I then watched the birds collecting the cotton for

their nests for ages.

 

Told you I was easily distracted.

 

PS The first Creative Challenge for the year

is up on Sunday and although we only had two

challengers sign up I know these creations

will be just amazing!

yarn box makeover

 

I've been going crazy decluttering.

 

Anything that I don't really love or is not useful

or beautiful just has to go.

 

 

I have a couple of old yarn boxes that store my

 Christmas decorations but one is sure not beautiful.

 

 

So I painted the rims white.

 

I found some fabric I already had and sort of liked

 (because nothing new is coming into my house)

I made up a cornflour paste ~ recipe here ~

and glued the fabric on.

 

 

I love the lid more than the base but it does the trick

and it definitely looks better than it used to.

 

moving on

 

There may be a house move for me soon

and I'm trying to get organised.

 

My next place will be much, much smaller

so I have been culling as much as I can.

 

My old suitcase stores all my family tree notes

so it's practical and it can stay with me

but I felt it needed a little zing!

 

My new rule is not to bring any more stuff in to

the house and use what I already have so

I found an old tin of paint in the shed

called Fiesta which I seem

to remember buying as a vibrant orange.

 

A few quick coats of so called Fiesta later

but I thought the Fiesta was a fizzer.

 

I had some background paint from my

decorative painting days and set to with a couple 

of coats of Tigerlily (Jo Sonja)

 

Aaah now that's better!

 

 

Maybe having such a bright case will remind me

to work on my family tree more often.

 

Do you do Family Tree stuff?

Got any tips for me?

 

on my bucket list

 

Not long to go now people!

As with everyone else I have been very busy,

mainly working at the paying job but

trying to squeeze a bit of craft in too.

 

On my list for this week is to make a few of my buckets.

They are great to give as gifts filled with treats.

These are so easy to make I thought I'd link

back to my old tutorial in case you have time to make some too.

 

Bucket tutorial here.

 

Enjoy the rest of your week , I hope you're having fun!

 

yes I see you

 

Hello there I see you!

I'm making up some sunglasses cases for Christmas presents

and hopefully a few extra for my shop so I thought I'd pop

in and ask you a few questions about The Creative Challenge.

 

Did you know about it?

Did you play?

Would you like to play next time?

Would you like there to be a next time?

 

 

The creative challenge is not a competition

it is just for fun!

Follow the links in the post below I know you'll

 be amazed at the creativity.

 

If you have any questions please just ask

because the crafters that played had a great time.

 

 

In other very important news my son finished

the first stage of his training in the Navy.

The whole family went to see him marching at his graduation

and there was not a dry eye in the place.

 

When the heck did he get so much taller than me?

 

when is a craft blogger not really a craft blogger?

 

Well I think it may be when a certain so called blogger

firstly loses the camera cable and then loses her camera!

 

So yes I am still crafting away but unless you

find me on instagram where I use my phone camera

you probably wouldn't believe me.

 

Back to the search.

give me a sign

 

I love the cheerful signs that people have in their homes.

Sometimes though I feel they may be a bit twee for our home.

 

 

Also considering this newspaper clipping

that has been hanging on our lounge room wall

for years and has become a bit of a favourite

may show just what sort of loopy family we are. 

 

So I think we may just go with our new favourite.

After all we do have teenagers.

show us your crafty bits

 

I'm so easily distracted.

I got side tracked for a bit doing the

Blog a Day with Claire

and I'm going to get back to that.

Then of course paid employment always

 gets in the way of crafting.

 

 

But then I came across this stool at Vinnies for 10c

and there was no way I was leaving that behind.

 

So I taped over the tears in the vinyl

 

covered it in some pretty fabric

 

added a bit of pom pom trim

(I painted the plain silver upholstery tacks

in glittery green nail polish)

and now the cat and I are both happy.

 

Well mostly happy as I know the tacks are not all straight.

Anyway .....

 

Don't forget if you look to the right you can see my Instagram

link and I'd love it if you found me there.

 

while the cat's away

 

Before my husband went away recently

I asked him very nicely to paint over the mustard and blue

in the lounge room with white.

Oh and while he's at it why not those daggy brown bookshelves!

After all my husband is a housepainter I'm not just a nag.

 

He was not out the door ten minutes before I'd

mixed up some cornflour with a bit of tap water to make a paste.

 

I then boiled the kettle and mixed the boiling water

into the paste until it looked like this.

Thick but not too thick.

 

I trimmed one of my favourite vintage sheets.

 

Then I painted the back of the shelves with the cornflour mix

and put the cut pieces of sheet on the wet mix.

 

It turned out a treat!

 

I am so very happy with the result and

because it was so simple I'll be doing it again.

 

Now I just have to sort the books and load them back on.

 

But I think I'll take my time with that because I just like

looking at my new shelves just the way they are.

when life gives you scraps

 

If you sew you have scraps.

 

Some keep them all organised in colour

or size and sometimes range.

 

Some sort them and iron them.

 

Some make beautiful strippy quilts from them.

 

Me?

 

I just tied thousands onto a coat hanger

and bent it into the shape of a heart.

 

I'm crazy like that.

now it's even cooler

 

In a bid to be a little more organised this year

I thought I'd make myself a business card/note holder.

 

I began with a daggy cooling tray

 

gave it a quick spray with paint that was

 left over from another project

 

added a few bits of broken bling and

 

ta da! new card holder!

jingle bells

 

jingle bells

 

jingle bells

 

jingle all the way

 

oh what fun to have a jingly jangly tree hey!

it's the little things

 

Slowly , slowly on the mend.

 

I'm still not able to do too much

 

 

but I did manage to gather all the old bits of necklaces

and ear rings that the teen girl and I had no use for

 

 

and connected them to an old fan cover.

 

They sparkle and shine as they hang

and looking at all the different things makes me so happy.

 

It's the little things.