Woohoo!!!

....what a great time we had at the MK Handmade and Vintage Fair over the weekend. It was a total riot with Suzy keeping us all laughing, Sharon looking after us all and the lovely Di and Katie joining in the fun! It was perfectly organised by Jacqui and, although the sunshine kept some people away, we all enjoyed ourselves and look forward to next time - see you there.......

Save the Date!!!.....

.....don't forget Milton Keynes Handmade and Vintage Fair is on this weekend, 26th/27th May, just outside John Lewis. Bigger than ever I believe with 106 stands at the last count! And it's being covered by BBC Homes and Antiques magazine - fame at last! It really is the best place for unique and affordable gifts and homewares.

I will be there with lots of gorgeous furniture including many of the things featured here on the blog. You might like to check out the I Love My Home page on Facebook too - go to the 'Current Stock' photo album for lots of images.

So, be there if you can, these events always have a lovely atmosphere and Milton Keynes has never been so busy - the figures were off the chart in March! I'll be in front of the Mothercare store - do come and say hello!

'Birds' letter rack or wall pocket.....

...I painted this little letter rack or wall pocket (you could use it for all sorts of things, I guess) in ASCP Old White and used a combination of sweet bird images which I printed in an 'antiqued' tone. Then I made a small label for the top using a Graphics Fairy frame....

......the French motto: 'a chaque oiseau son nid est beau' means that to every bird his nest is beautiful, a sentiment that has echoes with I Love My Home. Our homes are our refuges from the rest of the world and it makes sense to me to create beautiful, comfortable and useable spaces in which to live.....

Laurel wreath box....

.....okay, sometimes things just don't go to plan and here's one of those things: 

I'd seen lots of examples of images transferred with ink markers and thought I'd try it. So I took this pretty little painted box and used one of my favourite Graphics Fairy images, the laurel wreath. I transferred the image by just taping the print to the top and rubbing over the back of the print so that the ink from the printing would give me guide on the surface and then got my new, specially purchased pen and started work....

...it all seemed to be going well but just wouldn't dry, two days later and it was still wet so I sprayed it with clear lacquer which dried perfectly....except over the image! In desperation I tried to wipe the whole surface clean and ended up with a slightly smudged and rather faded look which, all things considered, is a pretty good outcome - it could have been so much worse!

....so, what have I learned? Either the paint or the ink was wrong somehow. I'll try again using Annie Sloane chalk paint which should be much more absorbent and I'll go looking for a pen that is definitely permanent on all surfaces! 

People often ask me where I learned the techniques I use - did I go on courses or read books? No, I just make it up as I go along and make lots of mistakes - the best way to learn!

My walk to work....

......I recently started working in London part time, helping out my husband. This, of course, as well as being a therapist, counsellor, artist, furniture restorer, vintage dealer, housewife, mother to two very demanding furbabies etc. etc. In other words: typical woman. But I digress, if I get off the Tube one stop early I can walk though Green Park and St James's Park, past Buckingham Palace and the Guardsmen to the office. Not a bad walk to start the day eh?

On the way I sometimes bump into these guys....

.....now, if you're in the States maybe this may not seem very exciting, but this is very exotic in the UK. The pelicans have been a feature in St James's Park for years and are very beautiful. The funny thing is that squirrels are two-a-penny in the UK but all the tourists bypass the pelicans and are entranced by the squirrels! They are particularly bold in the park and will run up your leg or jump onto your hand or into your pocket for food (the squirrels, not the tourists....although some are very friendly...)

so I thought I'd share these pictures with you because I think the pelicans are lovely with the most delightful expressions. OK there is an urban myth (I think) that they occasionally snap up a pigeon or two in their beaks but I think we can afford to lose a pigeon here or there....ooh, contentious!

'Produits de la Ferme' storage crate.....

..... boy, I love a freebie! I asked a market trader if I could have a couple of his old wooden crates and he was grateful to get rid of them as he didn't want to take them home and dispose of them himself, so everyone was happy! I painted this one in a homemade mix of ASCP Old White with a dash of Chateau Grey and them printed some lettering (mirror image) in Caslon Antique font.......

 ....here you can see I'm halfway through the old Modpodge transfer technique..... 

 ......more of the same.....

......and here's the finished product! My Produits de la Ferme (Farm Produce) vegetable crate, shown here in some uncharacteristic sunshine, after the wettest April in years......

What do you think?

'Birdie Cabinet' re-do......

.......oops, I did it again. Apologies to Britney. I meant to take a 'before' shot of this little cabinet but I forgot, and if I'm honest, it was sooo horrible I wasn't sure I could rescue it. Now you know that means it was REALLY horrible because I'll take on most lost causes. The door was all dented and had been covered in some ghastly canvas type fabric and then varnished just to make it really hard to remove.

Anyway, just look at her now! I fixed as much of the damage on the door as I could and then decided to use this lovely vintage style graphic from Karen at the Graphics Fairy (of course) to camouflage the surface. (My husband said it was 'an inspired choice' - d'you think I've 'turned' him to the dark side of vintage?) I put a layer of matte Modpodge over the top to seal it and rubbed over some dilute paint to soften the details and make it a bit blurry. Then I waxed it with a mixture of clear wax all over and antique brown wax on the edges and distressed it slightly..... et voila!

So now I'm calling this my 'Birdie Cabinet' and hoping that other people like it too as I will put it into my retail space soon and then, if it's still around, it will go to the next Milton Keynes Handmade and Vintage Fair 26th/27th May - BTW, did I mention that the fair has been featured in BBC Homes and Antiques Magazine? We're all v excited!