Take a peek into my hallway

Whilst my paper crafting is still very much on the back burner I love the creative feeling from completely revamping a room and so I thought I’d share with you our latest revamp.  The hall, stairs and landing were long overdue some tlc and so whilst we were away on holiday we took the plunge. Half a wall was removed on the landing, giving us a much more open balcony landing. The whole kit and kaboodle was then re plastered from top to toe. Next came the decorating and we chose two paints from B&Q colours range, Grey Hints for most of the walls and Grey Slate to act as a feature wall.

It’s not completely finished yet but most of it is done. I busied myself with the Annie Sloan paint again on a purchase from eBay for the landing and, although it didn’t turn out quite as good as the chest of drawers in the hall, that’s more down to the style of furniture than anything else I think. The wooden flooring carries on through from the lounge and there’s a rug made from the leftover carpet. As you can see, Mad dog has already taken a liking to that particular spot.

I’ve added a couple of hooks to the one side of the chest of drawers so that my handbag and the occasional jacket can be neatly stowed and, when the flowers have keeled over, there’s a wire ‘in’ tray that stores our daily post quite nicely. Just lately I can often be found sitting on the stairs in one place or another. I love the feel of the wool carpet and the padding of the underlay makes it feel really rather luxurious. This is also the best place to view my anniversary present from T’hubby, it’s a painting by the very talented Kerry Darlington and although this particular painting wouldn't have been my first choice (and yes there is a tale to tell there) it is growing on me all the time.

I’m also loving the old school map of the British Isles that’s actually a sheet of wrapping paper from the British Museum fitting perfectly into an Ikea frame. The globe, lamp, deer head and the little key dish are finds from one of my favourite stores – Tk Maxx, and I think that pretty much rounds it up.

So, I’ve a few more bits to do (we still need new radiators and lights) but I’m really pleased with how it now feels and I hope you’ve enjoyed taking a peek. Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave me a comment.

Wendy xx

Last to jump on the bandwagon …….

The Annie Sloan paint wagon that is. I’ve lurked in the background for a while now, wondering if it really was as good as it claimed to be. When I recently searched again and couldn’t find a bad word said about it, I took the plunge.

Our hall stairs and landing are long overdue a revamp. First up the artex and pine had to go and so the whole space was re-plastered.  Then came the decorating which has now thankfully been finished. Which just leaves the hall floor (wood to be laid) the stair carpet (a runner to be found) and carpet for the landing. We’re also still in need of new lights and window dressing but hey we’re heading in the right direction.

An old pine chest of drawers has stood in the hall forever, but it is useful for housing all manner of things from warm scarves and mittens to lost and found knick knacks that we seem to have a constant supply of. I’d found something in Ikea that I quite liked the look of but at £250 I thought it might be worth my while to attempt a revamp instead. True to form (well my form anyway) I forgot to take complete ‘before’ photo so its a sort of half way through but I think you’ll get the picture.

This paint is wonderful. I did zero prep and it really went on like a dream and dried quickly. I applied one straight from the tin coat of ‘Florence’ followed by a watered down coat when that was dry. I then applied clear wax all over, removing the excess with a cloth and ta da …. the finished product.

I so enjoyed it and its so easy and quick to achieve a nice result that I’m itching to do more.

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave me a comment.

Wendy xx

Crate expectations

Over on Pinterest I have a wonderful little collection of ideas for recycling pallets and crates, at one point I think it was becoming an obsession! Until recently that's all its been, an obsession - oops I mean a collection of ideas. And then I found Matey in Welshpool. You must forgive me, they all get called Matey by t'hubby and it can be rather confusing but that's off topic - Matey in Welshpool is a wood craftsman who has just made us some new windows for The Hovel but who also has a shed load of crates, quite literally. Ta da, oh how I drooled when I spotted them, oh the ideas that flew around my mind tumbling over each other in their haste to land uppermost. Somehow I managed to convince t'hubby that buying three was a good idea, my intention being to create some wall storage in the kitchen. Two were to be hung on the wall and the third would provide the wood needed for shelves inside the other two.  At £15 for the three of them I was well pleased. These were no ordinary crates, they're  bigger than your usual fruit crates and I did secretly suspect that they'd be too big for their stated purpose. I wasn't worried about that though, I knew I had a mountain of ideas.

Back at The Hovel they were indeed too large to be hung on the wall, they were actually rather heavy, but they were also the perfect height to act as benches around the kitchen table. Voila it would seem. Whilst moving around, giving them a quick spruce up etc, I had them stacked for a little while and of course I remembered that they looked fantastic as bookcases too. Sucker. In all I made two further trips and bought four more crates. I used two in the bedroom in my little corner to create a bookcase/display stand and the rest make up the new kitchen benches. I'm not intending to paint them, I may later on make some cushion pads for them but for now they're actually quite comfortable as they are (we did have to remove a few nails first).

I am so very pleased that I have finally acted upon at least one of these ideas that whizz around my head. And the downside? Oh dear, I did have to buy a new table as the old round one didn't quite cut it but hey, at least my benches were cheap!

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave me a comment.

PS, breaking news, I’ve spotted yet another fab idea and will be buying one more crate next visit, I’m on a roll see.

Wendy xx

And we’re off

Hmm, well we’re possibly off. Long time no blog – no excuses, just life. I’m back because I do get the urge to capture ‘stuff’ and just writing into a journal doesn’t feel quite enough, I like to add photos at the very least. Although that said I did try out another method recently whilst we were away for a long weekend. I bought myself a Pogo on eBay and took it off on our little trip with me. It worked really well, apart from the fact it ran out of battery and I didn't have the charger with me, but lesson learnt there. Each evening I wrote up the day in my holiday journal and added my choice of photo printed straight from my phone. Fab, bit of a grungy/instamatic type thing going on but that suits me just fine.

Been at The Hovel a lot lately, gradually starting to get things updated and the way we want them. We’ve just had it completely re-wired and with that comes the inevitable patching up afterwards. We needed to hide the new consumer unit and the cupboard that had been there previously just wasn’t up to the job. We found a man fairly local to build us one to match the floor standing units we inherited. I chose a range of paints, china blue, to use for the kitchen/downstairs from the Little Greene paint and wallpaper company.  These have some lovely colours and fabulous wallpaper too, I’ll have to share some wall art made with samples from them at some point.

Using the lightest colour I managed to get it finished last weekend. I’d decided to do something a little different on the inside and so when I’d visited B&Q recently I raided their bargain paint shelf. I bought three pots that folk had had mixed as testers then not liked, all for 50p each – I think they’re 200 or 250ml each so there’s plenty there too.

         

The first has been used on the inside of our new wall cupboard and as we paint the old units I’ll use the others on the interior of those. I like the fact that all is serene and grown up on the outside and then as you open the cupboard there’s this loud injection of colour. At the very least it will detract from any untidy jumble one finds inside lol.  Last, but not least, I added a couple of pretty little knobs I had in my collection for the finishing touch. Voila, all done.

I think that’ll be all for now, lets see if I can visit again and report on the update to our stairs shall we – now who won’t be holding their breath lol. Just before I go though I’ll think I’ll share the tune that is currently blasting out as I type.

I hope it doesn’t play unless you want it to–Enjoy xx

Thanks to anyone that does drop by and please feel free to leave me a comment if you’d like.

Wendy xx

Answers on a postcard please.

I bought this little item a couple of weeks back from TK Maxx but now I am unsure what to do with it. Oh, I’m happy that I want to to display something, be it practical or not, I don’t mind. I’m happy to ‘decorate’ it further – perhaps line the boxes with patterned paper to display treasure in front of. I’m happy to wall mount it or leave it as a table top item. I’m happy to leave or remove the ‘First Aid’ label, I’m really easy going about the whole thing. But here’s the rub  …

I don’t have the foggiest idea what to display in it.

Answers on a postcard please and thank for dropping by, please feel free to leave me a comment with or without a suggestion.

Wendy xx

Techno Scrabble & the CAT

I have to say that technology continues to stalk me a little.  Just when I thought I had it sussed, something jumps and bites me! It’s the syncing of my calendar that is todays frustration – yesterday it worked, today it doesn’t. My blog still doesn't want to show the older shots either and Link Within support have not replied to my email requesting advice. I hereby give up on this particular endeavour for now and have removed the offending titbit of code. It’s not all bad though and I can thoroughly recommend a little free app called ‘Word Feud’. It’s scrabble by any other name with the added benefit of being able to play over a distance. The Boy B and I started a game Friday morning whilst I was loading the car to drive to The Hovel, we finished the game Saturday evening with himself still up in Manchester whilst I was safely ensconced in amongst the green, green valleys of Wales. I must also report that I beat him by a very clear 90 points. He may be on his way to being able to call himself Dr but I am still ‘The Mommy’ it would seem lol.

 

Whilst away, I did manage to re-vamp the barometer – but I don’t like it! I quite like the effect I’ve achieved on it but I don’t like the overall look of it, if that makes any sense? It’s the gold trim and edging on the dials and thermometer you see. I’m not a yellow gold person, I much prefer the metals that are silver in colour be they white gold, platinum or good old silver itself. I did contemplate buying silver paint of some description but the lettering behind the glass etc would remain gold so I don’t think that will work either. At the moment it has been found a home on the hovel kitchen wall and I will leave it a while see if it grows on me, I suspect though that it will be winging its way to a charity shop in the near future.

The hovel, I am pleased to report, had undergone its treatment for woodworm; phase 1 of the water improvement scheme has been completed (remember bad egg smell?) and we’ve agreed upon the work to replace the very wonky cottage door. The only downside is that I forgot to take a photo of the door as it is currently and it will be all changed by the time we next visit. Even though the weather was pretty bad (and believe me, it rained a lot) we still had a lovely long weekend. We also visited CAT – Centre for Alternative Technology, for the first time too. We spent a lovely day, T’hubby, Grumpy, Tattyhead and myself wandering around and debating just how viable solar water heating might be for The Hovel. I loved the demo on the working horses but I don’t think I’ll get away with suggesting we invest in one somehow, do you?

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave me a comment

Wendy xx

The final whistle

I can’t ever recall such a close thing at the end of a football season. I’m not an avid fan, I haven’t been to an actual game for quite a few years but I do keep an eye on my team and especially when they are this close to relegation. We started the afternoon just outside the bottom three, then we were well in the bottom three as we conceded a goal, then we were clear again as other matches went against other teams fighting for survival. Then we conceded another two goals and were once against well stumped. And after all of this it was still only half time! The main man must have given a stirring speech at half time because they came out fighting and pulled a goal back quite quickly – clear again. Then the other teams equalised or went into the lead and we were going down. Again we scored but another team scored also and so we were still on tender hooks as we were neck a neck with a local team on points AND goal difference – we were just edging ahead due to goals scored. In the last minute of extra time of our rivals match they conceded a goal and we were safe. Phew, what a draining, emotional roller coaster ride, so many twists and turns right up to the final, final whistle. But I do feel a little sad for our local team who are now relegated.

The Boy B had come home for the weekend as he had an invite to the match. It’s not long since we’ve seen him to be fair but it is still nice to have him home for a wee while even though, as I type, he’s already back up north again. I must admit I love having all three under the same roof even if it tends to be manic whilst The Boy B is around winding the girls up and encouraging impish behaviour as he does.

Grumpy’s GCSE’s are in full swing and Tattyhead seems to have an envious social calendar at the moment. I’ve a list as long as my arm of things I need to get done (and nice things I want to do) but my one aim for this week is to do up this little item here.

We picked this up from T’hubby’s Dad’s flat when it was emptied last year and has lived at The Hovel for the last few months but it doesn’t really ‘go’ so I’m hoping to transform it somehow, give it a look that I’ll be happy to have gracing my wall. Watch this space.

Thanks for dropping by and please feel free to leave me a comment.

Wendy xx

Roundup

Where is the time going, all of a sudden we’re nearing the end of 2010 and that means Christmas can’t be far away!  We seem to have had lots going on and that’s the scene for the next few weeks and probably through to the end of the year.  We’re hopeful that we’ll have the wood burner installed at the cottage before Christmas and that I am really looking forward to.  We took Giselle and Mark to meet the cottage last weekend and had a wonderful time including a massive shop at the yearly Laura Ashley sale held at the old abandoned factory at Carno. We fully intend going next year too, this time armed with measurements! We managed a trip to the beach for Maisy and a fab evening of copious amounts of food, drink and Mexican train along with lots of laughs. I need to get cracking on Christmas presents and all that stuff. I must sort out a new tree for the cottage and now I feel we need to decorate the conservatory (above) as we spend so much time in there. Of course, Pete doesn’t quite agree but hey ho! on a sadder note, I decided to cancel my GoGo subscription. I haven’t done any real scrapping since June and I have about 6 kits that just haven’t been touched. I’m not giving up on scrapping but just don’t seem to have the space for it at the moment. And so I made the decision – now perhaps i can justify that new tree, hmmmmm.

Stressed

Life feels so extraordinarily hectic at the moment, and yes I know that in actual fact it is mostly self inflicted and I also know that we are far, far luckier than a good many people locally let around in the world as a whole – but still I am frazzled with everything that we have going on and everything that needs decisions on! As a consequence no crafty stuff seems to be happening at the moment and as I sit here on my tod with a little time to indulge, the big ‘mental’ list that’s sitting on my shoulder just won’t let me play lol.

Rather than bore you (or indeed myself) with any of the detail I’ll just leave you with the latest shot of where we’re at with the conservatory. This coming week should see work completed (plastering, electrics etc), we then have a few days respite before the kitchen is ripped out, the kitchen half of the room plastered, floor ripped up - all ready for work to start on the new kitchen on the 5th July. Still a way to go me thinks!

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

Locked in the kitchen

Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhh – The kitchen door has now seized up on me and I cannot open it at all, poor Maisy desperately keeps trying to pull it open so she can get outside but it just won’t budge. I don’t suppose it’s that surprising really. The door and frame have sat in a temporary wall that’s been knocked about for 2 weeks now and we’ve had to really slam it to get it to close for most of that time. It was always going to give up the ghost at some point. But it is so frustrating to not be able to open up your back door and get outside.

Rant over, just posting a set of self portraits of Bex that I persuaded her to send to me so that I can scrap them. She’s really very good at setting up shots and creating montages and shorts videos (set to music) out of them. Rock on girl!.

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

ETA 10:00 Ok I’m back in, or out rather in this case :-) All is well with the world again lol

The frame is up

Yesterday saw the fitters complete the frame on the conservatory. It still looks like a building site but we are getting there. Not sure if today will see glass being fitted or not. I’m hoping that it will move on at a pace now. I’ve arranged for the very patient Adam to pop round next Thursday and re-measure for the kitchen – his latest design really hits the spot though.

It will be interesting to see what Maisy makes of the new doors that are now on the side of the room. At the minute she just jumps in and out where the glass should be but when finished I’m not sure she’s going to be able to let herself in and out like she used to.

I’ve managed to get up to date with my new little project and just need June’s kit to arrive now for the whole of the first side to be completed.

One of the things I came across, way back at the beginning of the year, was a site that pointed you to freebies – mainly cinema tickets but others as well. That’s how come in February we ended up at one of the Birmingham auditions for ‘Britain's got Talent’, which of course has just concluded. Sad to say we didn’t see any outstanding acts but it was good fun none the less. Will post the other months over the next couple of days.

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

Come rain or shine

The finished product. I did change it a little from the sneak as I found the tickets in the bedroom bin and with a little altering I was able to include them. There’s lots of glaze used to imply ‘wet’ surfaces and, as posted previously, the photo had been given the hipstamatic treatment.

The fitters finally arrived late this morning, after the rain abated a little, but its not going to be a straight forward fitting – now there’s a surprise! The electrician arrived and fixed the kitchen light, so that was good, plus we had a good old natter. And now the plumber’s going to have to turn up tomorrow to move the soil pipe – deep joy!

Clothed in the hollow and ‘well they’ve gone’

So, the literal translation for Pant Y Crwyni is ‘Hollow the we clothed’ and as it is situated in a valley not visible from the road I guess you could say that it is ‘clothed in the hollow’. Quite sweet I thought. Nothing to report on the cottage front as we need get the forms completed for the solicitor now we have the last piece of info.

I’ve been hunting around for just the right sofa for the extension and yesterday I came across this one. How gorgeous is this? The colour is perfect for what I have in mind and the size is spot on too. I don’t think I can justify it though, it’s a Lloyd Loom with corresponding price tag and it is, after all, mainly just for me to use during the day when there’s only Maisy and I at home (picture sad face here). Pete and I did pop to DFS of all places the other evening to have a look at a couple of contenders – they pale in comparison though.

‘Well they’ve gone’ – the builders that is. They spent the morning here finishing off their part of the work. Monday will see the fitters start then the week after will see the plumber, electrician and plaster all doing their bits. We’ll then have a gap until the 7th July before the kitchen fitting can commence. Our old kitchen is mainly still in place so it’s not too bad but I would like to see it finished now lol. I’m so impatient!

And last but not least, my England tee has finally seen the light of day. I thought it about time i started wearing it in readiness for next weekend. I love the World Cup and can’t wait for England’s first match a week today. Come On England…………

Thanks for dropping by.
  Wendy x

Trials and Tribulations

This week is just flying by in a haze of ’stuff’. Because it rained all day on Tuesday the builders concentrated on erecting the temporary kitchen wall that is doubling as the back of the house until the fitters are done and the conservatory is secure.

The builders are very good but still I am getting fed-up of it now, its dusty and noisy, cramped and limiting for Maisy plus there’s just no time to be crafty!! I did, however, have to get crafty yesterday morning. I was asked to do a reader challenge for ATDML and I had a deadline. I’ve submitted my layout today, well in advance of the deadline so can only share a sneak peek for now.

It felt good to do the challenge, which is to only use the ingredients you’re sent (apart from certain allowed items) and I did make full use of one of the extras allowed. Once it goes live on their blog I’ll post the full layout. There is a prize for the one with the most votes – I’ll not hold my breath through lol

Pete took some time off yesterday afternoon and we visited our kitchen man. Bless him, Adam has been very patient with us – I think we’re on design no. 6 and still not finally sorted. It will all be worth it in the end though – or so I keep on telling myself, and Adam! A little later we set off for a flying visit to Wales to meet the its current owner at Pant y Crwyni (I must look up what that means). We spent a very pleasant couple of hours there and it was nice to sit and spend that time in the property. There are some issues, well one quite big one regarding access but we’re hopeful that it will all turn out well. The evening was lovely though and the cottage was in full sun until it set behind the distant mountains – pure bliss.

Back in this world, the work on the conservatory continues. I think they are on schedule for the fitters next Monday, although I suspect I may be seeing them on Saturday too. Today’s excitement occurred when they hit a pipe feeding the radiator!! It was sorted quite quickly though and no real harm done, all adds to the spice of life doesn’t it.

Catch Up – could be a long one!

Friday saw work stop on the extension for the long weekend and we were left with a good idea of how it’s going to look. At various stages I’ve thought that it just didn’t look big enough but now I think it will be spot on. Thankfully the weather held for them and so there were no hold-ups. Not so the weather on Saturday or, indeed, today.

Saturday dawned grey, miserable and wet – just right for a trip to Alton Towers. Not to be put off we just got on with it and I have to say we had a pretty good day. I think it was the quietest I’ve seen it for a while and so the queues weren’t too bad (apart from Sonic Pinball). We managed to get on most of what we wanted without getting very wet at all and so it was a good day all round.

I decided yesterday that I really needed to get this layout finished, it’s been hanging around for a couple of weeks and as I have a deadline to meet on the next one, I needed to clear the space. The layout tells the story of our recent trip to France which should have been Ibiza but the ash cloud put paid to that. It focuses on the last place we stayed – Chateau Monhoudou near Mamers and the gorgeous Blue Room that we chose. Our room key had the most enormous tassel attached to it and so I used the thread in ScrapaGoGo’s April kit to re-create one for the page. Not liking to throw anything away I used up some scraps to create the swirls you can see below.

Last but not least, I’ll leave you with one photo from Alton Towers, it’s had a bit of a Hipstamatic treatment in Photoshop and I just love the effect.

Thanks for dropping by.

  Wendy x

Busy Busy Work Work

So yesterday, amongst other things, I appointed a solicitor. So that’s it now, we are set on the path that culminates in us owning the little gem above. I have had my ups and downs as I’ve pondered what we’re doing, why we’re doing it etc etc. Now I’ve put all of that to bed and am starting to get really excited about the prospect.

Yesterday was rather busy, I’m in the middle of finishing off our accounts for the year ending March 2010 as well as making phone calls about the cottage at the same time as making cups of tea for the builders. Work started on our extension on Monday and it’s progressing quite well, although as I type I’ve just overheard the one say that they’ve been pulled off the job next week so I need to get to the bottom of that in a little while. Tonight Anthony arrives home for a brief visit, we’ve a meal out with Mum planned, the cars have to be swapped over for Sue and Mom to go on holiday in ours!! And then tomorrow Pete, Anthony, The Girls and I are off to Alton Towers for the day woopee – Can’t wait.

Thanks for dropping by.
  Wendy x

I bathed

Well we have a working bathroom again but to say it's been a fraught few days would be an understatement. Back on Friday this is how the room looked. Everything had been stripped out the weekend before and freshly plastered. A blank canvas to start with.

The room is only small and so we'd not really been able to alter the design drastically, although we chose to put the sanitary ware into units to streamline the room rather than the stand alone items they were previously. Steve and Pete hit one problem after another and it took them a lot longer than any of us expected. There was lots of swearing, shouts of 'oh no' and at least one strop from me lol. But eventually, at 22:30 last night, they stopped work on it. Enough had been done to enable the tiler to do his bit today. There are still bits to do, including the flooring and painting the non tiled walls, but it is now usable. And so this afternoon I celebrated with a bath - pure bliss.

Oh yes, and the bath panel still has to be placed correctly lol

There's good and there's bad news

The good news is that I have made my little album for Mothers Day already! The bad news is, we still don't have the bathroom fitted. They have tried valiantly, but they hit one problem after another. It is getting there but as I type they are still working, we've not eaten yet this evening and Steve goes home mid-day tomorrow. Oh and the tiler is due first thing on Tuesday morning, but other than that you know - all is well lol.

Not GoGo stuff this time but made with bits from my stash. I've also used up some small left over pieces of patterned paper from my favours boxes.

And gorgeous pearls echo the pearls in my jewellery.

The boy done good

And so the boy Bukowski did good. This morning he had his interview for the KTP (Knowledge Transfer Partnership) he's been working on and was successful. He now has a 'job' for three years with a brilliant salary for his age, time for further non degree related development and his PhD at the end of it. I am proud of my little lad, Well Done Ant xxx

Meanwhile, work is starting on the bathroom. I think the day has gotten off to a slower start that envisaged due to Steve (Pete's brother) being a tad ill !! Ten minutes ago they set off to B&Q with a big shopping list that was the result of this morning's 'planning phase'! Five minutes ago they called to ask me to read the list (that was still on the kitchen table) out to them - Doesn't bode well does it?

Two or Three on the go

Layouts that is.  I've actually got three on the go but two of them are 6x12's which together form a double lo. I don't seem to be able to get on with the finishing touches though, and I don't stick anything on mine down until I've gone through that bit.  The 6x12's are part of a little challenge to myself that started on a UKS thread (although the thread seems to have gone quiet) to record 'My Life in Lists'. I'm working on the list of Rules that I'm giving myself for the challenge and my first list 'Things I (might) avoid doing' The colour scheme (green & brown) was chosen because I thought I'd get them done and submit for inclusion in an on-line magazine ReadySetCreate but as is often the case with me, I'd missed the deadline pretty much before I'd even started lol. The second (and very pink) layout came about from playing with a free photo template from Jessica Sprague here. I only really threw in some photos to test it but loved the look, ended up printing it, and threw together a quick layout, only that's where it went wrong because I just came to a halt after choosing the background pp.  Today's not been a good day for getting stuck in and on with things!  My last item to share is a little snapshot of our new yummy cutlery. It is truly scrumptious, even if I do say so myself. I was hoping the steak knives and soup spoons (which I ordered separately) would arrive today but they haven't, I also need to decide whether to order the dessert spoons as well or not.  Oh and we've ordered all the elements for our new bathroom, maybe post a photo of it next time.