Memory Cushions

Spent a couple of days deep into sewing cushions. 

All the materials hold very special memories as they were my Mum's favourite jumpers & 2 of her pyjama sets. I can share these with family members so we call all enjoy them. I didn’t really want to part with any of her clothes so I’ve saved a large amount for upcycling for the future. Patchwork projects galore :-)

For the jumper cushions I mostly used my overlocker (serger) it’s an absolute joy to work with once getting the knack of threading. It really is as complex as it looks!

Here's some cushion close ups

I think my Mum would have loved these very much.

A week of paint

Hi readers 😀 

The bedroom makeover is coming together, just a few finishing touches to do. Here’s the results so far. 

The stencils were double sprayed for the shadow effect, I can’t decide whether they look like roses or fancy paw prints!

I made these curtains over 10 years ago when I first shabby chic’d the room, but never got round to actually hemming them and the pins had actually rusted!  A final sew , wash and freshen up worked wonders. 

Feels very peaceful & relaxing. I’ve  just got 2 bedside cupboards to updo & a LOT of stuff to find new homes for as a major de clutter took place along with the decorating! 

It's all white really

Hubby & I have been prepping the room & started the many coats of paint, half the floor has had 3! just rest of paintwork & walls to crack on with now. I'm thinking of a subtle stencil design here and there on the floor just to break up the whiteness of it all. So looking forward to the freshness of a newly painted bedroom

A few weeks ago I made a flower press and got some fab results today, off to buy a new laminator soon

(as i foolishly put paint in my old one!) & i will make bookmarks. The flowers have a special significance for me so preserving them into something lovely & functional is great.

I'm really enjoying the greenhouse, some mornings I've had my breakfast in there! Rescuing this rather neglected Aloe Vera, so divided it up & hoping a spell in the greenhouse will revive it all :-)

Last night we sat under the apple tree picnic area and had a beer flavoured with mint that's bolting up from this cute teapot i found. Must have some mint tea with style eh!

Time to relax for a bit now, knowing me that will last all of 5 minutes ;-)

Sew Happy

Making some progress with my bedroom makeover but pictures of sanded floorboards are not that exciting.

So I’m sharing an upcycled coat I made a few weeks ago from a felted shawl I got from a charity shop quite some time ago. I took in the side seams to achieve a more flattering shape. I cut up an old jumper and sewed in the sleeves. Attached 2 gorgeous boucle style fasteners and wonderful buttons. Hey presto a fun new coat which cost me absolutely nothing and was a joy to make and wear 😊

Living & Crafting

Had an awesome weekend  trip out in Suffolk at the gorgeous town of Orford and a quick nip to Aldeburgh beach

Yesterday enjoyed some time to potter in the greenhouse finding bigger pots for chilies & tomatoes that friends had gifted me, plus a cucumber bought from the Orford trip

The potting bench was another freebie via a FB group which I sanded an stenciled

Finally the sun returned opening up my  fave daisies

Quite a big indoor project I've started is redecorating my bedroom .This mornings job was refreshing a pelmet my son made me many years ago which was now looking more shabby than Chic!

  A quick sand down and coat of magic white cheered it up no end. Just the other one to do now, then 4 walls, all the skirting, oh and the entire floorboards to repaint (could take me a while!)

This afternoon I indulged in a river swim, I'm not that used to cooler temps it was 16 degrees C so a friend very kindly lent me a wet suit. The massive faux fur coat was brilliant as dry robe for getting changed after the swim and warming me up.

Closed the day by the fire pit and then cosying up indoors with my makeshift lamp made from marbles and led battery lights ( i do love a bit of mood lighting)

Watching paint dry

In the spirit of slowing down, I literally spent quite a bit of yesterday watching paint drip & dry!

A few years ago i bought some Pebeo mixed media paints   I hadn't done anything with them so decided to experiment on the greenhouse glass panels. Having sketched out yesterday a relief design i set about pouring the paints on randomly ( they are not designed to paint with in the usual way)

As you can see they interact with each other causing a multitude of marbled effects. I did pour them on rather thick! Soon realising the relief barrier was not going to contain that amount of paint, i just went with the flow and started tipping the glass in different directions to see what would happen.

All sorts of amazing effects were revealing! So almost 24 hours later left to harden I've ended up with a rather unique textured marble mash of colour.

So.... overall I'm happy with the experiment. Next panel i will do a few things differently, create small sections and not have the paint quite so thick. I've just got to await delivery of more paint.

How does my garden Slow?

Thank you all for visiting my first blog post yesterday, there is an option to subscribe at the bottom of the page if you want to stay updated.

Today was a much needed slower pace. I  planted 2 butternut squashes in an old veg patch which I covered in bark mulch that was left over. I took some time to just enjoy noticing the growth process going on around the gardens and smell the fresh rain. Mmmmm love the rain :-)

Lettuce Eat soon!

Bramley apples appearing

Great crop of victoria plums this year

Sketched out and relief drew design for greenhouse glass panel

Made a Carrot Celery & Corriander soup

Lockdown Craft Project Frenzy

This Lockdown time has been a bit of a creative frenzy for me. So my first blog post here is a bit of a catch up. The last 12 weeks I've been sewing, upcycling furniture, making garden furniture from old tree logs, creating a no dig veg garden, put up a greenhouse, made a chandelier from a wagon wheel, a fire pit, decorated a garden gate, painted, stenciled, flower pressed, started a bug palace, walked and walked and cooked a lot and probably more that i've forgotten (see what i mean by frenzy!)

So I'll begin with a garden project and blog about updates to the other projects as they occur.

Below is montage from start to current of the no dig veg bed  inspired by 2 amazing permaculture heroes of mine Charles Dowding  and Geoff Lawton

First things first..grow some stuff!

Step 1 create an edge

Step 2 lay down & soak cardboard

Step 3 fill with compost

Step 4 Plant it (yes you really can start right away!)

I recently added a bark path for an extra bit of slug protection ( been lucky so far though) & After just a few weeks of planting my seedlings actually began to produce edible produce

The greenhouse was totally free via facebook freebie group. I've been gifted and gifting a lot during lockdown via Nextdoor App I'ts an enormous buzz for me and good for the planet too.

I have some creative plans for the greenhouse so watch out for that ;-)

Til next time!