bird lamp

I want to try and source more vintage/customised lamp bases as a way to display and complement my screen printed shades. This was one recent find, a sweet but dated bird lamp which I had ideas for! As usual, I just got stuck in without taking any before/during after photos except for a couple of rubbishy iphone snaps... I will get my blog looking nice one day, promise. Anyway, here is it before minus dated shade and with a little tester paint that I initially tried:

 ...and here is after, once it had been masked, primed and sprayed with high gloss enamel in a turquoise shade. I specifically wanted a shiny clean look and not a distressed, hand painted effect so I opted for this enamel. It took several even fine coats for a smooth finish, but it is worth doing it in stages to avoid any drips or gloopy bits. The finish is a lovely high shine and the turquoise shade works well with my lampshades that are printed with teal ink.

re-discovering sewing for fun

I haven't done an April-Easter catch-up type post as intended, as it's now May I can't see much point!
So instead, here's a quick sewing post. I feel like I haven't done any sewing-for-fun for ages now and I haven't made anything for Hesper for about a year, I think? Probably because I did make her loads of clothes that she never wears and when I do sew now its for selling, so I decided to try sewing for fun again. I made Hesper a smock dress (more like a top with her betty spaghetti legs).

This was in a mustard coloured knit with black circles - a remnant I picked up for 50p aged ago. She wore it once in  a flurry of excitement and I fear it is now discarded with my other makes as it is not PINK or shiny or associated with anything Disney or Princess. sigh.

My second make is this toy cat, which I made from my trusted "Wee Wonderfuls" book by Hilary Lang.

I followed the Katie Kitty pattern, but made it in organic brown linen instead of felt and I substituted the dress for a ballet skirt+ stripy top combo. I also made her ballet shoes and gave her a little bell around her neck. I couldn't get the face right - I think she looks a bit evil but Hesper is happy enough with her, just the thing for a poorly girl! I really enjoy sewing toys, especially at the last stage when you are free to add any personal details or embellishments. I have lots of ideas for things to make Hesper,  like turning a vintage suitcase into a portable dolls wardrobe complete with dress-up doll and outfits...not sure this will happen but its a nice idea! I'd forgotten how much I love sewing for pleasure, rather than sewing to sell - which can be a bit stressy as I constantly question whether my work is good enough. But I love turning scraps of fabric and trimmings into a new toy, making something personal and unique, especially when it hasn't cost a penny. Free toys...hooray!

Provence painted candle holder

 I need to catch up with my blogging now the Easter Holidays are at an end. But just a quick post with a recent project. This iron candle holder was given to me by somebody who had bought it years ago on holiday. It was made by a blacksmith from wrought iron, it is quite heavy and well made. But it was looking a bit tired in rusted old black. I painted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (no surprises!) in "Provence", a lovely pale blue-green, very French. I then applied a wash of  Dark Wax diluted with White Spirit and applied with a brush. Excess wash is then wiped off with a cloth. This is the first time I've used this method of applying Dark Wax and it is so much easier, especially in the warmer weather as the wax does not dry as quickly and it requires a lot less elbow grease to get the desired effect. I lightly rubbed the entire piece with coarse wire wool to smooth out and distress in some places.  Apparently, its previous owner used it to serve cakes at parties, decorated with candles... perfect for a summer garden party!

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This is to available to buy for £28, please contact me if you are interested. 

Collection is from Northamptonshire, thank you!

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buy, keep, sell

A couple of recent purchases... one sold before I had got around to blogging about it!
Excuse the dismal photos of the first one, taken on a grey day in my dark little house, but if I hadn't taken these, I would have no pics at all:

I found this outside a charity shop, with a pile of manky old plant pots all collecting rain. This caught my eye, it was covered in soil but there was just something about it... and I was right! It has the name "Vetter" underneath and the mark of West German pottery.  I'm used to seeing West German pottery with rich coloured glazes - browns, reds oranges. This had a stone base with a mottled white glaze on top, so it still has the texture of the "Fat Lava" pottery but in clean, neutral colours. It has a lovely, contemporary shape too. It was a good spot, because it sold within days!

This one's the keeper:

I found this in the same shop for £5. I think the frame is plastic and I thought it might look a bit too Disney-ish, but once on the wall I think I get away with it. 

I was thinking about antiquing the glass... will I ruin it? we shall see....

green chippy stool

I managed to get this stool finished just in time for the MLV fair on Saturday. It didn't sell, but this at least gives me the chance to photograph & blog about it! 

The pictures below show it in its original state - old yellowed pine with faded varnish and paint splatters on it. I found it in a charity shop,  hidden away at the back out of shame.

 First I applied a layer of Annie Sloan's "Florence" chalk paint - a rich emerald green also used here, once dry this was painted over with a layer of "Provence" - also here.

I did not have to prepare the stool at all - just wiped it with a dry cloth quickly to ged rid of any dust. 

Once the coat of Provence was dry, I applied a layer of clear wax. I then used different grades of sandpaper to distress the stool, revealing the "Florence" undercoat in parts and stripping right back to the wood in some places.  I also worked some dark wax into some areas and into the grooves on the legs. 

Clear wax was applied for a final durable coat and the whole piece was buffed with a clean cloth to bring out a smooth, shiny surface. It has just the right "chippy" paint effect - as if the paint has been added and worn away over the years. 

This stool is available to buy for £20. Please see my Facebook page, message, comment or email me for more info, thank you! 

screen printed furniture

I have wanted to screen print my designs onto furniture for ages, to create more cohesion between my printed textiles and my painted furniture. I don't want everything to be plastered in co parsleys but the odd element here and there would be nice...so today I tried this for the first time. I wasn't sure how the inks would work on wood although I've read online that it is possible. I have just printed this one image onto a small foldable table that I picked up reently (with the intention of doing up a bit)... 

...it seems to have printed ok, I just need to let it dry and see how best to seal the ink to make it durable. I will also add other painted elements to the table. But if this is a success, it will be something that I do more of.

Florence painted table

I recently bought a tin of Annie Sloan's Chalkpaint in "Florence", to paint a candelabra with. That project has been put on hold for a bit, so I needed another project to use for the paint. I found this side table in a charity shop. I thought it would be a perfect match for the rich emerald green of Florence!

The table didn't need much preparation, just a light wipe to remove any dust etc. I painted over the table with the chalk paint, painting fairly quickly and liberally. The great thing about this paint is that you can pretty much just "slap it on". I knew I wanted to work dark wax into it for an aged, textured look and so the paint needed to be quite textured to achieve this. Once dried I applied another layer of paint (as some of the dark brown was showing through). Again, I didn't paint too evenly and made sure that there were visible brush strokes for the dark wax to sit in.

Once the paint was completely dry, I sanded some of the paint back for a worn look, then I wiped a layer of Annie Sloan's clear wax all over the table. You can this with a brush (I am coveting one from her own range), but I am using a cloth at the moment - which works fine. With a different cloth, I worked in small amounts of dark wax. I concentrated on a small area at a time so that I could work the wax before it dries. I applied the dark wax in a circular movement, pushing it into the textures of the paint. I then quickly wiped off any excess with a cloth. I did this all over the table, building up the layers of dark wax until I was happy with it.

A final coat of clear wax was applied all over for protection. This was all buffed with a clean cloth to give it a smooth, shiny surface, with none of the "chalkiness" of the paint. It does have the look and feel of an old piece which has accumulated marks and texture over time, which is exactly what I wanted.

I'm really pleased with how it looks and love this colour paint, especially when combined with the dark wax.

This table is available to buy, email me or message me through my Facebook page if you are interested...thank you!


Products used:
Annie Sloan Chalkpaint in "Florence"
Annie Sloan Dark Wax
Annie Sloan Clear Wax
Annie Sloan website here

Chalk Paint Chair

This is a little bit of a "before" and "after" using Annie Sloan Chalk paint. I am a relative new beginner to this little joy, which has many enthusiastic users and now I understand why. I have painted a fair bit of furniture before but this chalk paint means no preparation and can be used in different ways to achieve different techniques. In this example, I used a chair from a charity shop which had thick layers of old gloss paint on it. With other paints, I would have sanded the white paint first to prepare a painting surface, but with this chalk paint there is no need!

So, above is the charity shop chair with its not-very-attractive thick gloss paint. The only prep I did was to wipe the chair with a clean cloth and then I just started painting. I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in "English Yellow'. I'm a bit obsessed with yellow at the moment. I painted a couple of layers of this stuff all over the chair, as Annie Sloan says in one of her YouTube demos the trick is to "just get on with it", so that's what I did!

This is the chair with its good coating of yellow paint - as you can see, there are brush strokes and texture in the paint. I painted quickly and in different directions to intentionally leave brush strokes in the paint. This is where the dark wax will sit to give a distressed effect.

Next, I applied Annie Sloan Clear Wax all over the chair, I used a lint-free cloth (my budget hasn't stretched to a £35 wax brush just yet) and again applied this fairly quickly, rubbing a layer of the wax all over. Next, I brushed in the Dark Wax, using circular movements and only working on a small section of the chair at a time. Excess dark wax was then wiped off with a cloth leaving it sitting in the textures of paint. Once completed, I used sandpaper in some areas to distress further and the whole chair was given a final layer of clear wax, to give it a smoother feel and durable finish. 

cynthia & tig

I posted before about the wonderful Wee Wonderfuls book by Hillary Lang. I have made three dolls using the Tag Along Doll pattern - which is a joy to make, but I also attempted a couple of others when I first bought the book. I dug them out of Hesper's toy box as I thought they deserved a show and tell. This little lady (I call her Cynthia) was made following the Sleepover Pals pattern - the actual pattern is for three of these little dolls who all fit nicely into a roll-up sleeping bag. My idea was to make them with small magnets in their arms so that they can all "hold hands"... well, I made one back in October and she  remains a billy-no-mates. Her magnet arms are quite useful for holding onto H's hair clips that she discards throughout the day...

 

Next is "Tig", made from the "I Heart You" pattern. I used red corduroy for the heart-shaped head, blue gingham for the body, legs and skirt back. I made the front of the skirt from a section of vintage embroidered linen that I picked up from a charity shop. The linen and lace were small scraps that I had stashed away and the rest of the fabrics are all recycled from charity shops. In the book, she is made from a printed, folksy fabric but I wanted to experiment with making a doll from these embroidered linens as they are too pretty to be kept hidden away.