Upcycled garden table.

Hello all - just popping in with a quick post of something different from my usual card posts.  I recently finished a makeover on a cable drum that my hubby rescued from his workplace for me - he understands me so well to know how excited I would be to have him bring home a large wooden reel!!

Anyway I had seen several inspiration pictures on Pinterest (my biggest time waster and indulgence) and knew what I wanted to do with it - a table that would fit onto my very small patio here in the US and would also fit in with my country garden when we move back to our home in the UK.  I made the roman numeral and clock hands stencils from vinyl using my Silhouette and painted it with regular latex paint, following that with a couple of coats of exterior varnish.  I'm hoping it will become a bit more distressed as the seasons go by......

The more observant amongst you may have spotted the herb planter - another one of my makeovers using a pallet.  I wanted something to hide the ugly air-con unit!  I know both pieces are a bit rough and ready but I love them and they have given me a lovely little reading nook in my backyard :)

The hole in the middle of the reel can also be used to hold a sunshade umbrella - dual purpose!

I am linking this up to the under $100 linky party at Beyond the Picket Fence - a great blog to follow and get a truckload of inspiration :)

As is this one - http://www.jenniferrizzo.com/2012/08/its-another-fabulously-creative-friday.html 

 

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!



Fab fun Friday at The Outlawz!

This is another scheduled post as I'm still in Chicago - recovering from CHA and hoping to get in a day of sightseeing!!

It's Friday so that means another great challenge over at the Copics/Promarker group at The Outlawz and with the 2012 Olympics fast approaching, our theme this week is sports.  You can do any project - it doesn't have to be a card - but you must use alcohol markers (the challenge group name should have given you the hint!!).

I used one of the TeddyBo digi's, which I merged with a digital ticket for the background and then placed this on a football (soccer ball for those of you Stateside!), cut using my Silhouette SD.

Perfect for any Man Utd or Arsenal fans out there...............................

Our sponsor for the month at the Outlawz is Dilly Beans so why not join in the challenge and you could win some fabulous digis?

Thanks for popping in!



And now for something a bit different....

Not completely different as it's still crafting but not a card this time.  Before we moved across the ocean to the States, I liked nothing better than DIY-ing, be it painting the rooms of our cottage or recycling and doing up small bits and pieces such as old chairs, boxes or anything that took my fancy.  When we moved here, we made the decision to rent (we are planning to return to the UK at some point) and so the decorating option was off the table BUT we have discovered that we both love to go junking at weekends and so the "do-it-up" bug has bitten again!!

      I've been busy collecting a number of items to play with and I've actually managed to finish off a few - one of my 'pins' on Pinterest was a window frame that had been used as a photo frame and I loved it!  I found two great frames whilst out junking - one was $12 and the other $10 and when you look at the price of large photo frames, what a bargain!!

After several of hours of sanding, painting and distressing, I then added my photos (the latest ones of my gorgeous nieces) and added a sentiment and some butterflies with some Silhouette Vinyl.  The frame then ended up leaning against the wall in my craft room until I found some thin rope to hang it with.  Today I finally got around to hanging in our entrance hallway -

The hallway is so narrow that it was extremely difficult to get any decent photos of it so apologies for that.  I should prop it against a wall and take a head on shot but we have guests arriving soon so no time for that today.

The sentiment reads "sweet childish days of summer that were as long as twenty days are now" .

I have another window frame waiting in my garage for some tlc so expect another posting at some time in the future.

Thanks for popping in to take a look :)

Spring greens!

Well, Spring has definitely sprung now April is here - that's the first quarter of the year flown by!  It doesn't feel that spring-like today (a very grey and dreary day) but my card should brighten things up a touch.  This is done using one of my few Stampotique rubber stamps - I do a lot of digital stamping but still have time for the "other ones" :)  The challenge at Stampotique is to use spring colours and I hope I've achieved that here.

The large flower was cut with my Silhouette and I curled the edges of the petal up to give a bit more interest.  Had to add a bit of dictionary paper in the background (I love text!) - I recently bought an old Websters dictionary on one of our junking trips so I now have a huge stash of pages to use :)

I would also like to enter this into the following challenges -

http://www.comeandgetitchallenges.blogspot.com/ - Spring

http://thatcraftplaceblog.blogspot.com/ - It's all about Spring

http://scrapbitzcopics.ning.com/group/cmccopicchallengegroup - Spring Pretties

Thanks for stopping by - hope you're getting some Spring sunshine where you are !

You rock!!

Back again with a rockin' card done with a Tickled Pink digi called Lil Greek Gods Lolita Aphrodite Willow .  I just wanted to use her face so enlarged it and close cropped it to the size I wanted.  I wanted a clean grungy look (if that makes any sense at all!) so I kept it fairly simple with just a bit of stamping on the background and a few bits cut out with my Silhouette, along with some bling!

I am entering this for the TP challenge which, unfortunately is the last one :(

I would also like to put it in for the following -

http://www.pollycraftchallengeblog.blogspot.com/ - teenage dream
http://justsomelinesblog.blogspot.com/ - girly girls

This also fits in with the colour challenge over at The Outlawz today which is to use black, white and your favourite colour - why not wander over to check out the fantastic projects from the brilliant design team?

I do love these digis, so nice to colour and such lovely eyes :)  Thanks again for popping in today and hope your day goes fantastically well!!