Metal photo holder and a giveaway

Today I turned an un-used and forgotten metal sign into a little postcard/photo/memo holder for my craft room.

I had a few of these metal 'BABY' signs left over from my shop stock and I did take them along to one or two sales but ended up with 3 that didn't sell.

They've been in a cupboard waiting for me to do something with now for almost 2 years.

Today I decided, was the day, to revamp one into something useful.

This one started off in a cute little baby blue colour with raised lettering in burnished metal. 

I think the fact that babies grow gives this sign a relatively short lifespan in a childs room. 

Here it is after a couple of coats of Rustoleum spray primer.

And after two coats of Rustoleum Heirloom White.

I wanted to cover the letters but still show the cute little fleur de lys.

I used sand paper and a sanding sponge to rub the paint off on the raised areas and corners to reveal the old paint and the bare metal beneath.  Then I rubbed finishing wax in a dark oak shade all over to age it a little.

Et voila!

Some French postcards held on with cute little magnets, including some of my LOVE pebble ones.

~

GIVEAWAY TIME

I have two more of these BABY signs left - one in pink and one in blue.

If you want to win one just leave a comment below.  

For an extra chance become a follower, blog about the giveaway or add a link to your sidebar - leave an extra comment for each.

The winner can choose whether you want the sign left in it's original colour (that way you could use it in baby's room then revamp it yourself when you're baby is a big boy or girl!) or you can choose for me to spray it and distress it like mine.   

I'll also include some of my hand made magnets to hold your photos or memo's to the board.

Winner will be chosen at random a week today.

You have until midnight next Saturday to enter.

Good luck!

xoxox

I'm linking this up to Funky Junk Interiors SNS #74

Wooden walls (or are they?)

Well, my home PC has another virus so it's been left unplugged for the last week or so. 

My only chance of catching up on blog reading is at my office at lunch or on my son's laptop.

All my photos are on my PC so are inaccessible.

We've already paid 50 quid to get the first virus removed so I'm not willing to keep chucking money at something which is obviously on it's way out so we'll have to start saving.  However, I am in the middle of having root canal work on my teeth so the PC will have to wait until I've finished paying for that !

Anyway, while at the dentist this week whilst browsing through one of their home magazines (to calm my nerves) I came across the most amazing wallpaper.  Yes, these wooden walls are all wallpaper! 

I'm not normally a wallpaper person partly because I don't fancy ever having to remove something that's been stuck to walls and having to make that good before I can redecorate. 

I am however, a wood person so I can't see that I would ever want to cover this up.

It's pretty expensive at £145 a roll but one roll covers approx 4 m sq so one roll would be enough to bring a huge amount of character to a little corner of your home. 

I think this would look great on one wall in a teenage boys bedroom, especially if you're going for that surf shack look.

I think this one would look amazing on one wall in a beach house or holiday home.

The wallpaper is called Scrapwood Wallpaper and is by Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek

It comes in lots of designs including a very dark polished wood which would look great in a boutique hotel style of bedroom.  That style would obviously look completely out of place in my 'take us as you find us and step over the shoes' kind of house I have but I can still appreciate it's beauty.

I just love this wallpaper. 

What do you think?  Love it or hate it?

xoxox

My dream house (or one of them anyway)

Every now and then I see a house which stops me in my tracks.

This house is perfect.

Every picture makes me catch my breath. 

It's on Whidbey Island, which is somewhere I've always wanted to visit.

Very few words are necessary - the photos speak for themselves.

When I win the lottery I want to live in a house like this.

~

I came across this house on House of Turquoise

You can read the full article from Seattle Homes Magazine here

xoxox

Down on the farm

I've made a load of new pillows for my Etsy shop.

Here are some of my favourites.

The bunny is my favourite

xoxox

Wonderful blogging friends and some art for my craft room wall

I've had a rough week this week.

My computer had a virus and had to go away to be fixed - then Seth and I both had a virus and have been dosing up on cold and cough medicine, nose spray and painkillers.

My house needs cleaning from top to bottom and I have a ton of sewing to catch up on.  

Besides dozing and catching up on all that crap day time TV I've managed to scribble a few ideas into the little sketch book that my husband bought me for Christmas so when I feel back to normal I have plenty of ideas to keep me going for a while.

I've been on the search for the perfect old frame to turn into a notice board to go above my desk in the craft room but so far have had no luck.  On the same wall I wanted to put a large wooden letter S and a frame which my sister brought me back from South Africa where she got married 5 years ago.  The frame has been propped up all over the place for the last 5 years and has never had a picture in it until now.  This gorgeoue photo with the perfect shade of green background goes perfectly in the frame and in the room.  The photo was a lovely gift from Kat from Low Tide High Style.  I had no idea she was sending it to me and it was so exciting to receive something unexpected in the mail (especially as this month I am usually the one giving the presents, not receiving them).  Thank you again Kat - you made my day :)

I also wanted to include something inspirational on one wall in the room.  Something to keep me going, to remind me that the late nights are all worth it and that whatever I want is possible if I work at it - I can make things happen.  So tonight I had a go at making something on my Broderbund publishing package.  I'm not too hot on computers so you can probably all knock something up 100 times better but if you like it just click and save.  You are free to use it as you wish.

I also thought of ' you really can make it happen' and 'your dreams can be achieved' and so on. 

I think they all say the same thing and would serve to motivate me.

Now I need to find a nice frame to put it in - I hope it's easier to find than the one I need for my noticeboard!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend

xoxox