My little library….

For anyone who knows me well you will know I read a lot. I mean a lot, as in a book a day and more if I am on holidays or sitting out in the garden for the day. My dream home will have a two story library in it and lots of comfy cozy nooks for sitting down with a good book. For the moment my little library will have to do! We have an alcove in our front room that is an arch shape and no piece of furniture will fit perfectly. So we put in built in shelves to make the most of the space.

I had a black chair that I got in the bargain corner of Ikea for €7. It was chipped and scratched but I liked the shape and we needed more chairs we could use for at the dinner table when guests were over, and we had a small budget. I put it in the corner by the mini library. But it didnt quite work in the black. So it was whisked up to the craft room and got a few coats of paint. Again anyone that knows me may recognise that it was painted my favourite colour. It was painted to match the wall in the alcove behind the shelves

The chair was a little bare when done so I printed of a fabulous graphic from the Graphics Fairy and used the modge podge transfer technique to get it onto the back of the chair. It didnt work perfectly but I guess it just adds to the vintage look! Right enough talking, on to the photos….

Back of the chair with the Graphics fairy image:

The chair in the mini library:

Oh and then I added a seat cushion for a bit more comfort:

Thanks for stopping by!

PS: This is only a fraction of my books, there are bookshelves all over my house, one in nearly every room. Some day my dream of a giant library will come through!!

Live and love life….

This is my entry for the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show – this week they want us to show some love! I decided there is only a certain amount of Valentines cards a gal can make before she goes insane, so I went with a canvas instead. I painted it with a fantastic shimmer paint, the colour was Frosted Mint. I then crackle glazed it and topped it with cream paint.

I got the fantastic Paris image from the Graphics Fairy. I used the Mod Podge transfer technique  to get the image on the canvas – my first time trying it out – and I love the effect it gives! The Live word and the two large L’s were cut from a sizzix die and painted with the Frosted Mint paint. I used scrabble tiles to make up the rest of the words. The butterflies were cut from a friends die.

I love how the canvas turned out, it has a fantastic shimmer to it from the paint, that was unfortunately hard to capture in the photo. Thanks for stopping by

No cards today, much too tired last night to finish any. I did spend some time trying to figure out storage for my increasing supply of die cuts (thanks ladies – you know who you all are!). This was one of the best I came up with scrounging around my office. Hard case large cd wallet. Because its a tall one the longer die cuts fit in. I am happy enough with it for the moment, especially since it cost E2!!

Also for any of you crafty ladies out there that are stuck for crafting space I got these very clever shelf brackets in ikea. They clamp onto your table top, giving you a extra level of space at your desk. You then just pop a shelf on it. You can see it in the image below, its the one with the red mini chest on it, and the black box (ikea) and the wooden tray(ikea also!). Could you tell I live near an ikea?! The shelf is great though as the stuff on it used to be on my desk, but now I have more desk space yet things are still within arm reach!

Ye old Irish bridge….

Red roof

We came across this little “cottage” on our hike in Kerry. It had a thatch roof covered over by the red corrugated metal, and it was propped up from every angle. It looked like if you moved just one stone or piece of wood the whole thing would collapse. It reminded me of a jenga tower!!

Nearly there….

Bloody kitchen is nearly done, phew!

Work from home

How cool would it be to live like this? Just floating from place to place, different scenery every day if you wanted. What a life!

A good day in the sun!!

Nothing better than sitting in the sunshine in the back garden, a comfy sun lounger and a nice cool drink. Flopsy agrees!

Men at work

My husband doing some plumbing. Naturally Binky feels he has to be there to help. That bunny gets into everything!

For sale….

You would have to wonder if you went to buy a house on this street in Belfast city. What is making everyone else want to move? It would worry me!