ASCP and shopping !

I finally bought some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.
I needed some. I needed some because everyone talks about it in blogland and I was feeling left out and frankly, a bit behind the times.
The nearest shop is in a town I am working in, so I paid them a visit.

The shop is in Hove which is full of cafe's and great restaurants and a couple of minutes walk from the beach. They paint furniture and sell these alongside giftware and soft furnishings. They also do classes in different techniques.

Sorry about the quality of the stripy photos - This happened onetime in a TK Maxx as well, I think it's got something to do with the lights.

There is a gorgeous filing cabinet in the corner, with a crackle effect and stencilling.

A great driftwood look ladder.

Love this chest of drawers in the window with Latin script painted diagonally across.

So - what did I buy.

Well I was pretty gobsmacked at the cost,  £18.95 for 1 litre - goodness knows what it costs in the States. This is worrying, because if I love it, then it's going to get very expensive.

So, being a bit of a tight-wad, I bought these.

For £5.95 each at least I could try it out.

I recently watched a video that Danielle of Silver Pennies posted of Annie Sloan painting a piece of furniture, and the random brush-strokes intrigued me, because I usually try and paint with the grain. So I painted a small table using this technique and I'm not convinced. The paint felt really nice, but brushing in every direction was hard. I'm going to do another piece with the second pot and when they're done, I'll post the verdict.

I also went to a great flea market in Brighton, which just runs straight on from Hove. I used to live nearby and love the area and all the amazing Regency architecture.

Loads of forms, and mounted horns and antlers.

Love this old chippy shabby pedestal basin and mirror.

As you can see, they have stuff from all periods - there is a whole room devoted to 50's kitsch.

I didn't come away with anything as I'm actually just checking out places where I could perhaps have a booth myself. I need to get together a whole load of stuff before I approach somewhere.

So, it's back to work and painting murals now, have a good day.

Fiona x

eclectic gallery wall

So finally, I've finished the gallery wall. I didn't mind what I had before, but I really wanted to get rid of the red in the room, so I needed to add things and mix up the photos that were at the far end.

I'm not going to go through everything today (it would drag on too long), but I'll just show you the basics.

So this was the before.

And this is the after, with a mix of photos, prints, beach junk, my butterfly and blossom canvas, and wooden block creation .

That's not the corner of a new sofa you might have spied, it's just a throw (the sofa I want is still in a shop down the road - unfortunately it might have to wait a while before it comes home with me).

I wanted to have a break in the middle of the pictures, and a gap around my little hatch which I posted about here. It took me forever because I needed the balance just right. I wanted to have something of each type on both sides ie. white frames, photos, ornate frames, prints etc. I've made loads of holes in the walls, because it just didn't work laying it out on the floor, but I'm finally happy with the result, and the room is due for a lick of paint anyway.

The large photo is one that the old geezer took in New York years ago, and the one saying Madison Avenue was given to us, because that's what we called our cafe. The frames for these two pieces were from a charity shop, just painted white and distressed.

There are another two of his photos on this side, and the botanical prints which I talked about here. The piece of beach junk I found just as it was and the gold ampersand I have had for years.

I wasn't actually going to have any gold in this room, but the whole wall started with this print of Mont St. Michel, which I originally posted about here.

And when I found the perfect sized frame for only £10, everything just worked out so well. This is it, with a landscape print, not my cup of tea at all.

And now with the mount painted white, and gold leaf added along the inside edge, I'm really pleased with the result.

I used the same technique on the tiny little print. This was it before.

And after with a bit of white paint and gold leaf.

It's sitting on a piece that was originally part of the wooden block thing-a-me-jig, but it didn't work, so I just turned it into a shelf.

So I'll show you some more another day, I'm all posted out ! I shall just sit and look at my gallery wall in the mirror.

linking up with -

Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
Cowgirl Up @ The Farmhouse Porch

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays @ Coastal Charm

Show me what ya got @ Not Just a Housewife

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style

Primp Your Stuff Wednesdays @ {Primp}

Open House Party @ No Minimalist Here

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Inspiration Friday @ At the Picket Fence
Fridays Unfolded @ Stuff and Nonsense
Pot Pourri Friday @ 2805

Weekend wrapup Party @ Tatertots & Jello

Saturday Showoff @ Nutmeg Place

Spotlight Saturday @ Classy Clutter
Sunday's Best @ My 1929 Charmer

gone guest hosting !

Yep folks, I'm not here, I've gone guest hosting. I'm over at Jen's lovely blog A Place 2 Call Home doing a little guest post. It really was extremely sweet of her to ask me, so I hope you'll pop over there and take a House Tour and generally have a good look round and follow her, if you aren't already !

Actually I'm really, really not here, because if you live in the US, when I post this you will be asleep (probably) and when you get up I will be at work !
Finally, after 3 months out of work, I have a commission in a penthouse flat in Hove, just along the coast. I'm doing a few murals for a client with a love for contemporary furnishings and very bright colours. I'll post some photos when I'm done.

So GO, go now, go to Jen's and you will see a couple of things I haven't shown you before.

Have a nice day !

one man and his dog !

That's what I named this little print I found in a charity shop - 'One man and his dog'.

There is actually a tv show over here about shepherding called

'One man and his dog'.

I am not at home, I am at Pandy's house for a couple of days and I miss MY little dog

terribly !

 One girl and her dog haven't been to the beach today.

Nor will they go tomorrow.

Not till Saturday - sob, sob...........

(enough self-indulgence)

The little man and his dog are taking a walk round Chepstow Castle,

at Monmouthshire in Wales.

It was a little dirty when I found it.

It just needed a little clean up.

How anyone could give this away, is beyond me.

It's not worth anything as it is out of copyright, but it is an original

tinted etching, taken from a drawing by H.Gastineau.

I bought it for £3 !

And I think it's adorable.

One man and his dog - I can't stop looking at it.

On a different note, I had a revelation last night. I have now decided,

contrary to my last post,

that

I AM NOT A HOARDER.

I was flicking through the channels about 11pm and found an American show

called Truth Be Told - I AM a Hoarder !

Wow, what an eye opener. Some people had whole rooms they couldn't get into.

One guy couldn't have a shower or a bath because it was full of stuff,

so he used the local gym.

Well, I keep stuff, and I have a few things to sort out, but nothing like the people on this show.

But I would dearly love to go and help them out.

I think it would be very rewarding, and I would try to teach them my mantra -

Have NOTHING in your home that you do not KNOW to be useful

or BELIEVE to be beautiful.

Well not mine, William Morris', but it has enabled me to get rid of stuff.

(Btw, we have a similar show over here - where the homes are much, much worse!)

maps and geography and quiz questions

This is a bit of a ramble, you may want to come back when you have more time !!!

In school, my favourite subjects were Art, Maths and Geography - in that order. I still do the first, I much prefer suduko to scrabble and I like to look up places in my Atlas (I've still got my school Atlas, but they never account for your fading eyesight when they give you these books, so I use a bigger one now !!).

Some of my blogger friends know this already, but my dear old geezer is the Quizmaster. He loves it - infact, he loves anything where he is out front, entertaining people.
My team are called The Hopefuls - because we always are !

When a Geography question comes up, they always turn to me. Not because I know everything, but because I have travelled a bit, and I do just love it. My worst area is actually UK Geography, which is shameful - but there is a great big world out there and I always wish I could see more of it.

So when I was sorting out all the books recently for the 'Impossibility' challenge, I was so happy to 'find' the maps above. I knew they were somewhere, but I had stashed them behind some books and had forgotten they were there.
There is no better way to live, than being a hoarder - it's like Christmas every time you sort something out !!!

The maps actually came out of National Geographic magazines, that were given to my father, and then to me.  Most of them have gorgeous pictures on the back and historical details.

And the map I really wanted was here too -

My knowledge of US states is pretty rubbish. I know where California is of course (not least because my Uncle lives there), and Washington (Frasier), and New York (been there), and Conneticut (big crush on an American guy when I was 19), and Florida (always wanted to go to the Keys). I have a vague idea about the southern states, and some Eastern States, because of reading Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, but the rest - well, I feel the need for more knowledge because just about everyone who follows lives in the US.

Quiz Question

If you drove along the US/Canadian border from Washington, through Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota, what State would you come to next ?

Well, I knew the answer, because only a couple of days before, I had looked up where some blogging friends happened to live and my friend Bliss lives in Minnesota, and I had just made a mental note -   'left of the Great lakes and on the border with Canada'.

It was a lucky guess, I hadn't memorised any - but now, NOW I'm going to make a pin board, and pin this map wherever a blogging friend lives.

Don't worry, I'm not a crazy stalker - I won't be knocking on your door !

It's all in the interest of my thirst for Geographical knowledge.

And alongside this map will be the other side of the one below - because I really should know more English Counties.

No doubt in the future, you will see alot of projects here, using some maps. I have found a few inspiring pieces in blogland already. And I would dearly love a map wall, and got really excited when I found these in the pile.

Unfortunately, not a whole set - and ofcourse they are not scaled the same, so they wouldn't join together anyway.

But I might use some of the pictures from the old calendars, because the colours are amazing.

And to my dear European friends - YOU may want to be a little bit concerned, because you are much, much closer, and I don't need a map to pin your whereabouts, so I may be stalking you instead !!!

canvas knock-off

Ok, so I saw this in a local shop. It's not expensive at £9.99, but I didn't lurve it so much that I had to have it, I just like the style. I like the touch of gold on the butterflies, and the blossom. So I thought I would have a go at making one myself.

I have some spare canvas's at home, paint, metal leaf (in a gold colour) and acrylic size (the water based glue that's easy to use) AND something I found when I did my bookshelves in the 'Impossibility Challenge'.

Really, because I hadn't been 'crafting' for a while, I'd forgotten I had this. In fact I have 3 decoupage books, but this is the best because of all the motifs.

My memory tells me that Jocasta Innes was on tv a lot more than Annie Sloan when I was young, but I could be wrong ! 

There are pages and pages inside and I will gladly post them separately (over a period of time of course) if someone would kindly tell me if I should be changing them to a pgf or a abc or a btw sort of a thing - if you know what I mean  (technically challenged and unschooled in the art of all things abbreviated to letters) LOL !!!

And of course - butterflies. The book suggests CUTTING OUT the motifs to use - CRAZY. I won't be doing that. I couldn't bring myself to cut up a book OR waste them by using them only once.

Back to my canvas. I painted two base coats of white, then used the glaze from my stencilling. I  just paint it on and rub it around with a cloth, till I'm happy.

I found a picture of a blossom stencil on the internet and just used it as reference to draw straight onto the canvas. Then I used an old small brush and painted the blossom white. I didn't need it to be accurate, as I just wanted the feel of blossom, not the detail.

I was really happy, it only took 10 minutes and I think that maybe I should have left it like that, because the butterflies didn't go so well.

I copied four from the book, and then traced them onto the canvas and then added some more glaze.

Added some grey.

Then the gold.

I kept playing with them and added a darker grey because I wasn't so happy with them (I have been playing with them for a week or so). Now it's ok.

Straight on like this it works, but I like the way that the butterflies catch the light from certain directions.

It's on the still unfinished 'gallery wall'. And now I look at the shop canvas and I do like it, but mine cost me absolutely nothing and that's the kind of project I like !

Just two more pieces to finish and then I can show you my new gallery wall.

linking up with

Debbiedoos Newbie Party @ Debbiedoos

Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Terrific under ten Tuesdays @ At Home With K

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays @ Coastal Charm

Show me what ya got @ Not Just a Housewife

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style

Primp Your Stuff Wednesdays @ {Primp}

Open House Party @ No Minimalist Here

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Inspiration Friday @ At the Picket Fence
Fridays Unfolded @ Stuff and Nonsense
Pot Pourri Friday @ 2805

Weekend wrapup Party @ Tatertots & Jello

Saturday Showoff @ Nutmeg Place

Spotlight Saturday @ Classy Clutter
Sunday's Best @ My 1929 Charmer