Card and Lily Pie

As yesterdays #photoadayaug word was card, I thought I'd share with you a photo of a badly battered and bruised credit card courtesy of yesterdays day out (I shouldn't be let out!) 

But it was fun!

Firstly I met up and spent a wonderful few hours with Julie at Lily Pie Paints etc. which will be her fabulous new home where she'll be teaching, creating and selling arty crafty goodness!!!

Her website (which is still under construction) is www.queenofarts.co.uk (bookmark it now gals!) Pop on over in a few weeks to see her, the place is amazing. 

There's a gorgeous tearoom, furniture room, vintage room, paint room, workshop room etc etc etc all the Annie Sloan and Farrow and Ball paints have been painted on these wonderful old drawer units, aren't they amazing! So much Inspiration! 

I bought an old mirror and a couple of small pots of paint to enable a makeover (I know I said I wouldn't buy any, but, but, but the mirror neeeeds it!)

Can't wait to start on this project which I'll share very soon...

On my way home through Maidstone I just happened to be passing TK Maxx and well it just would have been rude not to (Kieran was at a sleepover and I was able to mooch and wander to my hearts content!)

Now as you may know sometimes you can visit the aforementioned store and nothing catches your eye, today though everything caught my eye. All I can say is it was a good job I hadn't taken a trolley upstairs, my hands could only carry 3 items. Here are two of them, the other shelfy type thing is in the boot of the car with the mirror which I will probably take to the Midlands with me next week, so watch this space.

First is a wrought iron/storm/bell/candle type lantern - because we need another lantern

and the next is a burlap stenciled lantern - because we need another lantern

please ignore the ring mark created by someones OJ yesterday....

 Have a great Weekend!

Kate x

Down and down and Frozen!

No not me! I'm feeling "up, up, up" at the moment and it's 15C so not too chilly!

"Down" was (yes, you guessed it!) yesterday's #photooftheday and I have two entries to share

The first is a shot looking down our stairs. I'll miss these stairs

The second is of one of our cats (Twix - don't ask!) who followed and tripped me up for a good hour yesterday afternoon whilst waiting for his afternoon biscuits. Having me home all day is confusing their body clocks I think!

Yesterday I was a good wifey and made a batch of freezer meals for Jim, as we're away from Monday. Complete with cooking instructions as requested :)

I'd best get on and make some more. I think he might not want Penne Bolognese 4 nights in a row! Some sort of curry concoction today.

Later I'm off to see Julie! Looking forward to seeing her and her new crafty home. Whilst she hasn't quite moved in yet I can't wait for a nosey! LilyPie Paints etc can be found in Chart Sutton, nr Maidstone, Kent. I'm so gonna have to put blinkers on when I walk past the Annie Sloan Paints!

Have a great day!

Kate x

Prinstagram cuteness!

So I just got the cutest delivery from Prinstagram to my door!

Remember I posted 2 weeks ago that I'd ordered three tiny books?

They're here!

Superbly packaged with a sticker too :)

24 pics in each book and with the rate I'm instagramming I'm gonna need more soon!

Insert Happy smiley face here!

Clock and Back to School

Yesterdays #photoadayaug prompt word was "Clock"

Now, I could have gone mad with this one as I have a slight Clock thing, love 'em!

I settled on this one which is in our conservatory (note to self: take it down before we move!)

We purchased this station like clock in a cute shop in France, sighhhhh!

Any hoo, here it is!

Our dear son starts a new school next Tuesday up in the Midlands.

Even though we haven't moved yet, we felt it only right he started a new school from the start of the school year instead of changing a month down the line. So the next few weeks will be different to say the least!

Kieran and I will be bunking at my Mum and Dads whilst Jim will be back in Kent with the cats... not ideal but it won't be for long :)

To add to that, a week this Saturday Kieran will be sitting his 11+ exam at Southam College so the last few weeks we have been having a wee practice each morning.

Phew! I don't mind telling you this Maths book is testing my memory too!

Heads down, off we go!

Dream and Tap

#photoadayaug

Day 26 - Dream

(of a bright future for you)

Day 27 - Tap

Yesterday was a Bank Holiday for us in the UK

It always rains so we had a chilled out day at home with the exception of a quick food shop.

I mostly slept and worked on my tapestry.

Jim & Kieran worked on fixing some (oh so cool) stunt pegs to his bike

This weeks going to be busy, it's the last week of the school holiday and we've oodles to do!

Have a great week!

Kate x

Path & Fresh!

Just a quick post from my Mum and Dads house :)

Fridays #photoadayaug was "path"

Mum and Dads garden path

and Saturdays prompt word was "fresh"

I was showing off my new Olloclip to Dad around the garden just after we'd had a short rain shower so I chose one of the photos from the shoot for my shot.

No photos of me or any other members of my family on the bronco from Friday night!!!

Indoor shots aren't my forte but here's one of Kieran showing his sweet buffet haul to Grandma and Grandpa!

and one of the table Candelabra. The marquee looked amazing in Black & Lime Green

We're heading home today, only a week until we're back and Kieran starts school!

Better get those name tapes out!!!

Take care

Kate x

Coffee and Coffee

Yesterday was a coffee day!

I snagged this Bright Red cafetiere in Asda's sale for £5.00 the day before, then grabbed some coffee and looked forward to the morning!

Deeelish!

Then yesterday evening we drove 2.5 hours from Kent to Warwickshire to stay with my folks.

En route we stopped off for another coffee treat @Starbucks on the M1

Mine a Caramel Frapp with extra cream, his a Skinny Latte :)

(no guesses for who is being good in our family!)

The above photo also doubled as my #photoadayaug which was "pair" as in a pair of coffees, weak interpretation I know but hey, it's a small pictorial documentation of our lives.

We're partying tonight. It's my college friends 15th Wedding Anniversary and I understand a Bucking Bronco will be in attendance - oh my!

Have a great weekend everyone

Kate x



Home & Garden

Morning all!

Starting up as usual with my #photoadayaug from yesterday, the prompt being "home"

Here is mine :)

A cute decor piece which I *think* I purchased from this even cuter shop Live, Laugh, Love

It was a good while back, so they may not stock it still, but I tell you "I could live in that shop!"

Next up is a project I've been working on for the last two days.

When I spotted these cuties on Pinterest I knew I had to give it a try!

The original entry is here on this gorgeous Blog "A Shabby Moment in Time" where rub-ons were used to embellish the painted pots.

Alas I have no rub-ons so I ordered myself some Mod-Podge and started stalking the Graphics Fairy Blog (again!)

I did have paint (albeit a smidge of Homebase Driftwood leftovers) so I set to work on a few pots in a haphazard shabby fashion

                                                Before                                   After     

Select some images, re-size and arrange them in photoshop or similar and print with a regular ink-jet printer onto regular printer paper. Remember to reverse any text first.

Cut around each image

Brush the printed side with some Mod-Podge

and place it on your painted pot smoothing out any bubbles

Now the hard bit, leave it - overnight!

Go and have a glass of wine and scour your home for any more items that could be transformed ;)

The next day take a wet sponge to your paper image, soak it and start to gently rub the paper away.

See how easy it comes away!

If you rub some of the image away it'll be because it didn't adhere sufficiently, don't worry it's meant to look worn. If it really bothers you just whip out your Sharpie pen!

Finally I had fun creating a mini table display in the garden incorporating a few creamy/white treasures including the napkins I made last week :)

Take care for now

Kate x

Sharing with:

Mrs Olsen's Share Your Cup Thursday

The 36th Avenue's Link Party

BNOTP Tablescape Thursday

Shabby Creek Cottages Transformation Thursday

Graphics Fairy Brag Monday

Coastal Charm's Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Trendy Treehouse's Create and Share

Cool

Cool was yesterdays #photadayaug and here is my current interpretation of this word :)

The coolest gadget ever! It's an Olloclip, made for the iphone4 and iphone4s.

It has a wide angle lens, a fish eye and a macro.

Clip on, clip off, keep in your pocket or the ditsy bag it comes with :)

I purchased mine from Amazon and it's around the £60 mark and it arrived yesterday.

Of course I took a couple of shots to check it out!

Also to add, none of these shots have been manipulated/cropped/altered in any way, just the lenses doing their thing!

Fish Eye Lens

(reminds me of those wonky mirrors at the fair!)

Without Wide Angle (before)

With Wide Angle (after)

and finally Macro

(think this is gonna be my fave!)

Lobelia

Jasmin

Sea Pink

Marigold

Dandelion Seed Head

Poppy Seed Head

Scabious

Hollyhock Seed Head

I'm in heaven!

Thank you Olloclip, you clever people :)

edited to add another cool:

Yay!

Join in this weeks fun with me here :)