Day 131 - fabric covered notice boards

I'm taking a little break from the stationary mostly because this project distracted me.  I used an old Cork board and cut it into circles, then in the same fabrics as my pen pots I covered each circle using mod podge to stick it down.  They are cute and dinky and much better than the giant board it used to be. 

Day 130 - the long stationary sort

I'm moving around my studio step by step trying to focus on the little things. At the moment its another set of mini drawers for all those tiny stationary bits. For now I've just made some little cardboard boxes to hold all the staples.  It's been a very long time since I've made any net boxes.  This keeps the different sizes separate and easily accessible.

Day 129 - pen pots all done

Well this had been a very satisfying project, I now have a nice space for all my pens and pencils brushes and tools.  I think I need a few more for some of my other craft materials but this has definitely improved.  My studio is really coming together slowly but surely.

Day 128 - pen pots the beginning

Reusing pringles tubes is great they have so many uses, today I have begun an epic set of Pen and brush pots.  This is my first ever project using mod podge its fantastic and satisfyingly easy.  Anyway this is the start of my patchwork pen pots.

Day 127 - Dying patterns with Bleach

I've wanted to try this for ages, I think I may have a bug now, so expect to see many experiments with bleach dying. I initially cut out a stencil of a fairy wing, and cut out a few shapes for detail, but as you can see the template didn't hold the bleach back particularly. Infact, I used plain white paper which absorbed the bleach. So I ended up with a random pattern which I don't mind at all. I plan to alter this long-sleeved shirt as well, there are holes running up one entire sleeve.

Day 126 - from leggings to shrug

I have finally finished this project, definitely more than a days worth of work but I'm pretty happy with it. 

Day 125 - DIY weaving and beading...

It's take a few days to put this together, things would have gone a lot smoother if I didn't have to drill each bead so it would thread on, but there is something satisfying about this process. Anyway, I started this project with a pair of leggings, I cut a neck hole and cut strips to thread onto beads. Obviously it is particularly see through but I have designed it to go over the top of something plain and simple, like a black dress. I need to finish off the ends in some way so they are neat but I'm nearly there. I thought I'd just share my progress rather than keeping another day of silence.

Day 124 - DIY important documents storage

I've so far only made one of these, there is another box waiting to be transformed and a fresh box of cereal waiting to be eaten and then transformed. This is a very easy project and is far better than wasting money in Ikea on wooden ones. I marked my lines on the box and just folded the excess in to give it a bit of extra strength. After taping the flaps in place I began to wrap my box in paper. To get the inside neat I cut out panels the same shape, wrapped them first then stuck them in with double sided tape, this adds even more strength to the walls and has a finished look. I may try to line the polka dots up next time, but that seems rather unnecessary.

Day 123 - the chaos in the garden

I have been battling with this garden for the past three years.  It spends most of the time in shadow, a haven for creatures of the dark (snails and spiders) and constantly under attack from this killer vine that seeps in through the back and quickly takes over. Yesterday the sun was shining so we spent some out there and soon found ourselves hacking back the vine which was tangled in our lovely blossom tree, and had uprooted the washing line among other destructive things. Just a start. Even the cat is joining in.

Day 122 - fabric storage

I'm on a roll this week, fabric is something that just magically multiplies.  I got rid of a lot of my fabric last year and made more into patches, bur it is still teething to take over.  I had it all rolled up neatly but it was too easy to mess up and hard to find. This is a very simple solution, I cut card inserts to fit a specific box and rolled my fabric around the inserts to store visibly and neatly.

Day 121 - Curtains!!!

Wow, this is one of those projects I could have put off for ever and ever. My mum bought me a lovely pair of curtains for Christmas, chosen specifically to complement the paint job as well as my personality. The problem was I have two windows in my room, both very different size and shape, and they have completely different fittings. One has a pole the other a hook rail. So Tuesday I made a start, I salvaged some of that curtain hook strip stuff from an old pair of curtains, measured everything up and figured I could get two sets, one for the large bay window and one for the little one. The little ones just needed a hem on one side and they were ready to go up. The others took a bit more time, and were infuriating because the lining was not sewn in well in the first place. Nevertheless, I won! Now I have beautiful matching curtains that keep the morning sun out and trap some of the warmth in.

Day 120 - studio storage

Sorting out my studio is one of my missions this year (actually for the past three years) its just one of the things I have actually been conquering with this project. Today has been a huge step forward, I have been using this old dvd rack as cubbies to store all my tools, but it was big, bulky and disorganised.  So I took a saw to it and made it more compact and useful. I also finally made use of the pin board I found a while ago for easy access. 

Day 119 - Making Birds nest with kids

At school today we made little birds nest using clay, twigs, cardboard strips, hessian scraps and cotton balls, (among other random things.) While the kids were settling in and writing their names I made up a prototype nest to show them. I used a bowl to mould the shape, working onto tissue so that I could remove the nest once it was done. I had quite alot of fun making this and even more watching them try. It was messy mayhem, especially after we ran out of clay, the kids decided to make nest using a paste of flour and water and tissue after that. Very sticky!