Birds & Bees

 Spring is here!
Time to give this old stool a new coat of paint.

 All white with a black pattern on the top. I just used painter's masking tape to make the design.

Hand painted a leopard print with some coloured spots onto the legs.

 Found a tutorial for the leopard print at Tracey's Fancy.

Tracey has lots of really great furniture painting tutorials.  

 Used the same colours for the trims on the legs.
 Stenciled little spots around the edge of the top.

Pretty little bird stickers complete this makeover. 

The stool will be used as a bedside table.

(raylee).

Summer Is Here!

 some favourite flowers......hydrangea......

 a spiky sweet smelling flower of mother-in-laws-tongue.....

 white hibiscus, grown from a cutting......

 an oldy but always have geraniums in my garden.

 & now for a bit of magic......my hard working husband transformed this ugly overgrown corner of our backyard, with a bit of help from me.....

 cleared all the weeds, levelled the ground....started the fence.....

 rocks for the bottom of the fence & garden edges.....

 put in new  steps up to the existing deck....

 built a new bar table from scrap timber.....

when all the construction work was done i planted the garden.
i think my husband could change from sales to landscaping.
(raylee).

Makeover, Almost New Again......

hello all , nice to see you here.

 spring has sprung , birds are singing, flowers blooming, sun shining & the sky is blue, i do love a blue sky. thought i would share this kerbside find with you. the after photo.

the chair was a bit sad looking but was only missing the back rest.

gave it a scrub with soapy water, some pretty tropical fabric ( a great find from the op shop, brand new fabric)

 & a lick of paint did the trick!

  i painted the canvas  seat  & made a tie on cushion. 

 the before photo.

 finished it with a new back rest.

now a nice cuppa tea!
(raylee).

Colour in my winter garden.......

 ......no words needed......

(raylee).

From the Lake to the Garden.....

 we live close to a lake where a lot of leisure time is spent.

 we go out in an old boat that husband has restored.

 he likes to go fishing, i just like being on the water.

 sometimes he brings home fish or mud crabs.......
but this one time he brought home a chair that he found in the lake almost submerged. being the inquisitive type he had to investigate what was sticking up out of the water!
it was muddy & yukky, but after a good scrubbing & some new cushions made from fabrics that i had unpicked from a couch cover, a piece of floral curtain fabric(found in my art tutor's rag box for cleaning oily paint brushes) much too pretty for that!, & trimmed with some piping i found at the op shop.

 the chair now  looks quite comfortable in the garden.

 i had to save this floral piece from being destroyed by oil paint. it just happened to be the right size for the chair seat cushion.

(raylee).

Garden and storage

we recently had a need to move some old furniture out...

it should go off to a new home at the tip...

but we had an issue with the how?!....

so...

it's become a sculpture in the blank bit of the garden...

anyone for a cuppa and a bit of telly??..

 

only one has noticed with a hiccup of a laugh...

and a - what is that??...

Raylee often asks what's on your work table?...

well she sent me some lovely jars she decorated...

and now they are waiting to be filled with stuff...

on my work table...

and this lot is holding some more stuff...

I cut the tops off the 3 litre milk bottles...

they make lovely containers for little bits and pieces...

and sit nicely in a wire basket...

or the pretty cane one...

on my work table!!...

Red & Green & Blue in the Garden

 we are having the best autumn weather, sunny warm days, mostly blue skies, cooler nights & a few showers which have been regular enough that i only have to water the garden occasionally.

i have not had much time for creating/recycling in the last couple of weeks. gets a bit busy around holiday time. spend more time with kids & visitors.

 but have been taking lots of photos, katie from randomnest has inspired me to take photos around the garden.

growing "kale" in pots experiment.

 this one just appeared a few months ago & last week flowered......i don't know what it is, anyone know it's name?

my herb garden is still going strong.........thyme & sage are my favourites at the moment.
 i have  had to make  a lot of changes to my diet. so food preparation has become something i have to put more thought into........gluten free & lactose free cooking was a challenge to begin with , but i'm getting used to it after four months of trial & error.
 this was my first chocolate free Easter! i didn't miss it much at all. i didn't feel the need to look for an alternative.
so far this year i have made some other positive changes......i started a new art class, have been doing more painting & recently started posting my art on facebook, & made some boards on pinterest. but still have a lot to learn, have not worked out how to link to these yet......all in good time i guess.
(raylee).

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

our backyard is surrounded by greenery so i thought i would show you some......as it is St. Patricks Day .
there are lots of trees so there are lots of birds. rainbow lorikeets are the most colourful.
a couple of recycled projects, the tablecloth i made from a  hand painted cloth that had seen better days, added some pieces of of old patchwork from bed covers & stitched embroidered doilies over the holes.
a work in progress on a used canvas.......creating a  textured surface with moulding paste, stencils & stamps, buttons, & acrylic paint.
enjoy your day whatever you are doing!
(raylee).