a different kind of painting

October half term has been and gone and as usual my list of jobs was far too long for the time available!  Unfortunately, decorating the lounge took far longer than I'd anticipated so I didn't have time for any journaling etc or catching up with arty friends.

It was worth it though. You can't see them on the photo but the coving is really deep and took an hour to paint for each side of the room!  I had to have the paint mixed for the woodwork so it would match the new windows - the guy in the shop told me the quantity I'd bought would do four rooms, it did this one!!!

 I love how the wallpaper is reflected in the mirror.  I decorated the chimney breast by laying the paper horizontally so the grey lines ran horizontally, echoing those in the Sanderson 'Dandelion Clocks'

And of course decorating gives a great excuse to buy new cushions!!

My next creative task is to turn an IKEA circus tent into a 'mud hunt' for my classroom - we're learning about Tanzania in Africa!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sorry for the missing blog posts over the last month.  Work kindof took over, but it's half term this week so I'm planning on some playing, in between decorating (that's what teachers do in the holidays you know!).

This is the card I made for my daughter for Valentine's Day.  I used to make all three of my children cards and heart related gifts but the boys, at 15 years and 17 years, aren't too impressed with the "Valentine from Mum" anymore ;)

I've already got some decorating under my belt this week.  This wall in my craft room was pink (the room was my daughter's bedroom for a few years) but now boasts this bargain wallpaper I found in John Lewis.  I LoVe house images and this paper also features two of my favourite colours (and I managed to make the one roll cover the whole wall :) )

Hopefully my next blog post won't be so long coming!  Enjoy the rest of your day of lurrrrrrrrrrrrrve :)

Pay it forward and spread a little happiness!

Oh the wonders of the internet :)  Whilst hopping around some wonderful work spaces on a Wednesday afternoon in January, I spotted this on Twiglet's blog and thought I would join....I'm always up for spreading a little happiness around.

Its a brilliant way of making the world  a better place without expectation of anything in return...just giving for the sake of giving, to make the planet a bit more cheerier.  Always remember if you smile at someone you get one back.
If you would like to take part, then you need to be one of the first three people to leave me a comment on this post letting me know that you want to join in pay it forward. I will get in touch to ask you to send me your address, and in due course I will post a little something out to you!

The first three people then in turn, will send out a little goodness to three others and so the love and the happiness continues to spread around our little globe!

So - how about it ? Do you fancy joining in and spreading some love in the world?  Look what the wonderful 'Twiglet' sent me:

A gorgeous felted brooch in my favourite colours :)  and one of her stunning, stunning felted seascape pictures.  It is so, so gorgeous :) [sorry no pic of that just yet]

I've been crocheting again so you may receive a flower brooch from me, or crocheted hearts, or I may go back to papercrafts and make little books - or I may do both, who knows!

This photo doesn't do the colours of this cotton any justice.  I fell in love with these colours last week on a visit to John Lewis with the lovely Sarah from PebbleBlossom.  I purchased my Embellisher from her on ebay just before Christmas and we got on really well within a few minutes and stayed in touch.  VeRY conveniently John Lewis is situated about half way between our two houses ;)  Sarah is very clever and does real sewing, like roman blinds and curtains!  We had a lot of fun stroking fabric, oohing over colours of wools, and generally having a great time shopping and nattering, and even stopping to give colour advice to a lovely lady who was crocheting some bunting for a baby's party lol