Sunday Update

Well it's Sunday late afternoon now and the sun is starting to go down, which means I wont get much more done today. Still have Monday though!

I managed to take some better photos of the console style table, and also finished the chunky white table that I added paper to the top of

I have also spent hours painting the small dresser, but I am not very happy with it, mainly due to the fact that it is not a very well made piece. It was sold to me as having leaded glass doors, but they are perspex with stick on leading. Just not up to the normally great standard of furniture you can buy on eBay. I have however put a lot of time into it, and it has cost me quite a lot in materials, so I will finish it off and list it for a fair price and see what happens.

Won a nice chunky pine bedside table on eBay yesterday so will pick that up on Tuesday after work. Might try out my new Old Violet on that one.

Shabby chic'd a couple of nice large pine photo frames too this weekend, and have just listed them on eBay. They still have the price tags of £12 on them, but I got them for £1 each at car boot sale ;-)

I am really enjoying this weekend as I have had full days to crack on with my projects! Will hopefully finish the small dresser tomorrow and I will put some pics on here. Also painting up a nice dressing table mirror which I had to repair first, so I really have got loads done so far. Going to go and tidy up now as light almost gone. Time to make dinner too, then I will have a nice soak in the bath as my arms are aching from all the painting and wax buffing!

We are going to Blackpool next weekend for an overnight trip, so really looking forward to fish and chips and a nice long walk along the sea front. Heading up to stay over Friday evening so I will still have lots of time on Sunday to work :-)

Nice Long Weekend !!

Writing this midweek as I didnt have time to blog last weekend ( so busy) and I am excited about this weekend coming! It's been hectic at work with a Health & Safety Audit last week, so asked for Friday and Monday off. So a nice long 4 day weekend ahead :-)

We had a Handyman in last Saturday putting tongue and groove panelling in our bathroom to freshen it up. Turned out really nice, but I had to get some paint on it before it got damaged with the water. So undercoated on Saturday evening, then put topcoat on on Sunday. 

Didnt get my furniture started till nearly 4pm. managed to get a table waxed but light faded so the pics I took are not great. will take some new ones on Friday when I am off.

Listed a nice bedside cabinet recently and sold it on eBay within a few hours. Got a good price for it too. Another small table I listed didn't go for much, but at least I made a small profit.

I really have to stop buying more furniture on eBay. I need to sell some of the stuff I have as the house is looking like a furniture store! Hope to get a lot done this weekend and get things listed on both eBay and Folksy. The pieces painted in Annie Sloan Old White seem to be the most popular. I never did sell that little black and red table I painted last year. I also have a new Annie Sloan colour to try out - Old Violet, just not sure which piece to try it on, and I bought myself a kit to try out "crackle glaze", so lots to look forward to :-)

This chunky table below I bought from a car boot sale a few weeks ago. It looked a bit plain all white so I chose a nice wallpaper that tones in well with the Old White. Just letting it dry, then I will give it a couple of coats of wax to seal it.

I will try to update again at the weekend once I have some new stuff to show you.

Hi Ho Hi Ho..............

Well this is a good weekend for getting on with my furniture.Had to stay in Saturday as we had a handyman in putting panelling up in our bathroom. The snow started around lunchtime, and we have around 5-6". Where we live at the bottom of a hill makes getting the cars out virtually impossible, thank goodness Russell has a Jeep! We should be ok for getting to work tomorrow, Russell will drive me in :-)

 Downside is my Sainsburys delivery couldn't get to us last night, and neither could the chinese take away! Thankfully we have the freezer well stocked. Anyway....got painting yesterday and painted a bedside cabinet, a console table, 2 side tables and made a start to a small dresser. Must admit by arms are aching this morning. Will try to get them waxed and buffed up today, arms permitting !

 Keeping an eye out for new stuff to buy on eBay but prices are not great just now, looking forward to the better weather when I can get round the car boot sales at the weekend for some bargains. I did buy a lovely little Edwardian? chair this week, but it is needing some work (one of the rungs is missing, and it is split at the top). Not sure I can mend it but will have a go.

Sales are steady too with my online jewellery stores, I seem to be getting most orders from the US on Etsy, but also had an order for a glass ring on Folksy this week.

Right, better get the heater on in the conservatory and get cracking. I have to make the most of my time at the weekend. Thanks for looking!


  

RedKittenCrafts: Bring on the lighter nights!

RedKittenCrafts: Bring on the lighter nights!: Just a quickie as I have not posted for ages! Put all my craft work on hold over Christmas, too cold to work outside doing my furniture, an...

Bring on the lighter nights!

Just a quickie as I have not posted for ages!

Put all my craft work on hold over Christmas, too cold to work outside doing my furniture, and too busy with work to do much else. I had to go into work between Christmas and New Year too so didn't get much of a break. I have a full time job working 9-5 Monday to Friday so only really have the weekend to work on crafts

I have not been idle though and have been busy scouring eBay and the occasional car boot sale for new projects to work on. So far I have lined up a small dresser, pine farmhouse style table with 4 chairs, dressing table with matching mirror,  and also 2 smaller tables to try new paint techniques out on. One of the tables I got for £1 at a car boot sale, and it has written on the underside "$83.50"  !! I love a bargain !

Hoping to get started with some painting on Sunday, I have also stocked up on Annie Sloan paint, and also some crackle glaze to experiment with. Really excited to get back into things again, and will keep a better track of what I am spending and earning from the furniture this year.

Here are a few pics of some of my recent purchases, and come back for another look soon to check out their transformations ;-)

See you soon!

Back to Work

Decided not to finish my holiday blog. Seems like ages ago now and I am back into the swing of things with work and hobbies. Have got lots of projects to tell you about. Finally finished decorating my bedroom. The two bedside cabinets in last blog turned out great, and I bought this chest of drawers to paint, as the other dressing table I bought just didn't have enough drawer space for me. Painted this one in Old White, and left the original handles on as they look really nice. I did add the same wallpaper I used on the tops of the bedside cabinets and this tied all the furniture together really nicely.

Chest of drawers before

I was also thinking of putting an oval mirror on the wall above but then remembered I had bought a swing mirror at a car boot sale for £5 months ago. I fished it out of the shed and painted it to match and it looks perfect

Chest of drawers after with added mirror

I left most of my room white but painted feature walls in a nice Homebase colour "Chartreuse". Russell bought me all the furniture  and bedding for my Christmas, and I love it!!  The framed pictures above the bed are photos from our holiday I had enlarged, mounted in £15 IKEA ribba frames. Also sold my old bedside cabinets from IKEA on ebay for £25!

Finished bedroom :-)

I had also been renovating a really nice Waring & Gillow dressing table, but wen I took it apart to paint it one of the clips on the swing mirror snapped. Luckily I have a very clever Father in Law, who repaired the piece for me. Listed it on ebay and Folksy yesterday afternoon and sold it the same day. Nice local gentleman came and picked it up this morning, and was very happy with it. Sold for £95. I will have to decide which piece of furniture to tackle next. I have a big sideboard, and also a really nice welsh dresser in the shed.

Waring & Gillow Dressing Table

Relisted a lot of jewellery on my Etsy site and have had 2 sales this weekend too. Sold a FLASH and a SUPERMAN necklace, so will gift wrap and package them up today for posting tomorrow. One is going to San Diego.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/redkittencrafts

Going to try and keep my blog up to date weekly now, things kind of slipped when I got back from holiday in September. Will let you know next week which piece of furniture I decided to renovate next!

OMG WHAT A TRIP!!! Part 1. San Francisco to LA

Well, back from our holiday, and what a holiday!!  

 San Francisco from the air

We have been home for 4 days now and are just getting over the jetlag, we were totally wiped all weekend and have been like zombies last 2 days at work. But it was all worth it :-)

Arrived in San Francisco on 1st Sept, stayed 3 nights at the Vertigo Hotel in Sutter St. Fresh modern boutique hotel, with an Alfred Hitchcock theme.

Lori's Diner, SF

 Did all the popular tourist stuff - boat trip under Golden Gate bridge and round Alcatraz Island, cable car ride down to Fishermans Wharf, Clam Chowder for lunch and shopping at Pier 39 and Union Square. We also visited an amazing museum called Musee Mechanique down at the pier, full of old working arcade machines. It was brilliant fun! Had 2 meals in Lori's Diner near Union Square, breakfasts and burgers were amazing. Great atmosphere too!

Picked up our  rental car on Sunday and decided to drive across Golden Gate bridge and back before heading south down Highway 1 to Santa Cruz for our 4th night at the Inn at Pasatiempo. Santa Cruz was so busy as it was Labor Day holiday weekend, had a nice walk along the front but it was spoiled a bit by the business.

The Inn at Pasatiempo

Next day was fantastic! Carried on down Highway 1 to the 17 mile drive ( 17-Mile Drive is widely recognized as one of the most scenic drives in the world. The famous coastal landmark runs through Pacific Grove to Pebble Beach, from the dramatic Pacific coastline to the majestic Del Monte Forest). took some stunning photos and ended up at Pebble Beach Golf Club where we had a delicious lunch in the sunshine on the terrace.

Next, we drove down to Morro Bay. we stayed 1 night at the Beach Bungalow Inn and Suites, a gem of a hotel with modern well equipped rooms, and even a working log fireplace, which we turned on as it was quite chilly in the morning. We had a light dinner down at the waterfront after watching the stunning sunset! next morning we were given a voucher for a free breakfast at a local diner down at the harbour (within walking distance). very traditional American called Frankie & Lola's and they made fantastic corned beef hash. It was pretty cool weatherwise when we headed south again to LA, but by the time we arrived at our hotel in Hollywood (The Dixie Hollywood) it was SO HOT

 More to follow. Too much for one blog!!

Still doing the furniture too, just finished and sold a beautiful dressing table. I am currently redecorating my own bedroon in shaby chic style. Picked up 2 bedside cabinets at car boot sale for £3 each!! I painted them in Annie Slaon old white and put some coordinating wallpaper on the top, which I am also going to use on a 6 drawer chest I am currently working on.