Restyled Drawers

Hello everyone.  I have not posted for some time and, I must be honest, have thought about discontinuing my blog altogether.  I’m just not “feelin’ it” y’know?  But I will hang on to it for now and think about what I can do to make it better.

The last couple of months have been very busy and I’ve had a nasty bout of bronchitis which left me with a horrible sprained rib and zero energy.  The fortnight preceding that I had been very busy, redecorating my house and organising my stuff so that my living space looked somewhat more livable (and like a grown up lives there).  I was doing so well and getting HEAPS done and then I got sick and everything went to Hell.

One thing I managed to finish and be reasonably happy with was my little bedside drawers.  Old, daggy, chipped and a bit grotty, the drawers were purchased a million years ago at a garage sale for $25.  They’ve done their job and travelled from house to house with me and so there was really no reason to get rid of them, other than I felt like a change.  At first, I thought I would just give them a fresh coat of white paint and that would do.  Then I thought I would paint the individual drawers different colours, or maybe in an ombre style, and put new drawer pulls on.

In the end, I went for a rather dramatic glossy black (not my usual style at all) and covered the fronts of the drawers in a peacock feather pattered paper, before varnishing the whole thing in a satin finish spray varnish.  I re-coated the drawer pulls in gold paint (they were a bit chipped and cruddy looking) and, overall, I am pleased with the result.  The darker colour goes well with my newly painted bedroom wall (Dulux Ocean Trapeze) and has helped me to figure out what direction I’m going in, decorating-wise.  I don’t normally do dark colours and definitely don’t do gold but I feel that this combination looks good and gives the whole room an opulent feel.

I’ve still got heaps to do.  There are pictures to be hung and window treatments to be bought and eventually I want to replace the revolting carpet.  But these things take time and money and I am a bit short on both.

But, this little project was simple to do, very effective and didn’t take any special skills.  Which is basically the perfect project for me!  I am nothing if not lazy.

I will update as I go along.  Hopefully I won’t stall for too long and will get stuck back in to changing things and finishing the rooms and then starting on other areas.

Thank you for stopping in.  Sorry for tardy blog-posting 🙂

Feline Pretty

Hello hello!  A quickie post today…

One of my collaging efforts from the weekend, this pretty little kitty in her fabulous blue dress.  I must admit I have been hammering that brick stencil quite a lot lately – it just gets me out of a fix when I can’t decide on a suitable background.  It always works and always looks good.  I should have positioned “Maddie” a little better, because she looks like she’s floating in mid-air.  But then, in that lovely dress, who wouldn’t be?  I also love her ruby t-bar shoes.  She’s so caught up in how fetching she looks, she isn’t even bothered by that wee mousey by her feet.  I added the little heart brooch to give the outfit some more colour and detail – can’t have a girl looking unaccessorised! 🙂

Thanks for stopping by x

Brave Day (Collage)

Hello everyone.  Another work week begins and I would much rather be at home in the warm, in my craft room, making a mess and creating some new “art”.  I say “art” (in quotation marks) because I’m not yet ready to call what I do Art.  Which is weird, because I follow lots of other artists who make collages and mixed-media pieces and I call their work Art.  But then, I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t a bit insecure about everything I do.  And that’s why you love me, right?  Right? *looks insecure and nervous*

This weekend I played hermit and stayed at home and crafted.  It was lovely.
I made quite a few pieces, one after the other, which was so satisfying – normally I faff about for ages on one thing, not even finishing it, and getting very frustrated at my lack of creative oomph (ie talent).  But this weekend I was on a bit of a roll.  If something wasn’t working, I moved on to the next idea, and tried not to get bogged down in any piece that refused to cooperate. Sometimes you just need to put things aside and start fresh on something else so your brain has time to fire up again.  This also stops you from swearing too much or throwing things in the bin (or at the wall, or down the stairs) in anger and disgust.

So, this piece came together relatively easily and with minimal crankiness on my part.  I have used this little bird often, on other projects, and he is a bit of a muse for me.  He just always works.  Maybe it’s because he’s blue (my favourite colour), or because he looks so darn sensible and down-to-earth.  He has a calming influence on me, bless him.  I do curse a bit whilst cutting out those tiny little toes and claws, but he is otherwise an easy guy to work with and never fails me.

He needed a crown or, rather, deserved a crown, so I added a fetching royal number (which I might add some bling to later…) and I think the red adds a nice contrast and detail.  It took me forever to decide on a word or quote – I have so many books that I cut up for text, but it is hard to find exactly the right phrase or word in the right sized font. I have HEAPS already pre-cut, but do I ever find one that is just right?  No, I do not.  However, I felt that “‘Tis a Brave Day” suited this little fellow, and hoped it would encourage me to be a bit more courageous myself.  Maybe.  Basically, I just needed some words and these ones fit 🙂

Anyway, I was pleased with him.  It was a good start to a crafty weekend because it encouraged me to do more and keep up the momentum.  I am enjoying working on canvases instead of cards for change and finding the simple, one-dimensional form (rather than many layers and embellishments as on a card) to be a lot less labour-intensive and time-consuming.  There is great joy in not having to trawl through boxes of ribbon, lace and buttons in order to finish something.

So, ’tis a brave day indeed.  Less is more.  More or less 🙂

Thank you for dropping by x