WOYWW #516: Grungy Village Dwelling and Garden Furniture Makeover

Oh my, didn't we have a glorious double bank holiday weekend? I was back at work yesterday and will be again tomorrow but I'm off today to join in the weekly desk hop on Julia's Stamping Ground. So, here's a photo of my desk as it was over the Easter weekend.

I'd been wanting that Tim Holtz Village Dwelling die for so long - it had been on my price alerts for ages, so when the price dropped, I snapped it up. Still, way too expensive to justify buying it, but hey, some things you just gotta have! And when I'm tired of it, I'm sure I can sell it for a good price. 

I decided to decorate the dwelling with crackle paste and simply paint it with acrylics. I also bought the fixer-upper thinlits set for the window frames, which I heat embossed with Seth Apter's Chunky Rust Baked Textures. Here's the end result - my little grungy village dwelling:

Another crafty project accomplished over the weekend was the make-over of our old garden furniture, four wooden chairs and a table. We almost threw them away when we moved but I'm glad we didn't. It was a tricky job painting them with a small brush to get into all the nooks and crannies, but it was manageable and quite enjoyable sitting outside in the lovely weather. Some of the chairs still need a top coat - I'll unveil the whole set when it's finished. For now, here's a photo for comparison: 

We've also had our newly acquired rhododendron come into bloom just in time for Easter... 

... and of course the Easter bunny visited as well.

We had a lovely Easter, apart from Oreo requiring a visit to the vets. He's been scratching himself on the back of his neck and lost quite a lot of fur. He's now sporting a very unsightly bald patch (I'll spare you the visuals). I was hoping to pick up something over the counter from Vets4Pets, but they wanted to  see him. I only took him because I was concerned that he might have ringworm, but apparently he doesn't, which is a relief as it would be very difficult to get rid of. Guess how much they charged for a 5-minute consultation and a small tube of ointment that's available over the internet for under ten pounds? £63.59! I didn't have a choice but grit my teeth and pay up. Daylight robbery, bordering on unethical. Well, what can I say, they now have yet another 1-star review on Trustpilot, ha! I'm just hoping the treatment will work and Oreo's fur will grow back soon. 

One more thing to shout about: Marit (of Marit's Paperworld) has kindly asked me to take part in her Quirky Dutch Summer initiative as a guest blogger, which I'm very excited about. Thank you for thinking of me, Marit! I'm looking forward to being part of this creative event this Summer! 

Happy #516 everyone! If I can't get to everyone today, I'll do so over the course of the week! 

WOYWW #514: Playing with scraps

I'm such a skiver! Three weeks have gone by again without me blogging. Truth be told, I've just been plain lazy because I could have found plenty of opportunities to be creative, but I always opted for something else, like surfing or reading. While I was surfing the other day, I bumped into this video by Martha Lapowska, whom I'm sure some of you know quite well. Sometimes all I need is just a little spark to get my creative bum into gear.

In this video, Marta shows you how to use scrap bits and pieces to create texture on retail packaging backing cards. I just happened to have two of those Prima packaging cards she was using, and of course my desk is always full of scraps, so I was able to swing into action without any preparation.

This is the point where I show you a shot of my desk, so I can link up with fellow deskers on WOYWW.  I'd just laid down the first few layers when I took this photo.

The evolution of the pieces was as follows: I added a few more scraps, including corrugated card, tea bag, cheese cloth, fabric, etc. Then I applied some acrylic ink to colour the background. I really do not like sprays - they get everywhere - so I tend to just use a brush and lots of water to move the ink around.

Marta used a ready made collage as her focal point - which seems so simple, yet I always seem to forget that we can actually do that! It takes the dilemma of "what's now?" out of the equation. I chose some Stamperia images for this. I didn't use the original paper, but instead I scanned it and printed it just the size I needed and stuck it on a die-cut ATC, making an instant focal point without any hassle.

I finished it off by adding a title (from my Prima win a few weeks back) and some old postage stamps (which I really do hope were not valuable)  Here's is the final look:

I've also "tidied" my desk, so you get a bonus desk shot this week. I thought I'd better take a photo of it as it will not stay "tidy" for long. I'm afraid this is as tidy as I can get. 

In other news, Oreo is growing out his new antennae (in lack of a better word) - you can just about make out his two single eyebrow whiskers in this photo. He loses them every 5-6 months or so and not always at the same time. Luckily, they always seem to grow back in unison. 

We've had some lovely sunsets these past few weeks. I always grab my camera whenever I see one. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the sky changes at sunset - blink and you miss it - so I like to capture them as often as possible! 

Thanks for visiting today! I'll be popping in sometime within the next few days, if not today, to catch up with everyone! xx