so if you’ve read my last couple of blog posts, you might think all i do is lie around being presented with gifts. probably while being fed grapes while being fanned with a palm leaf, but this is not true!
when i am not drawing and painting, i am usually sanding and painting. or, constructing and painting. come to think of it, pretty much everything i do involves some kind of painting or another.
though my favourite kind is watercolour painting.
but last week my medium of choice was B&Q own-brand timbercare.
because our fence fell over in some bad weather a while ago (ok, over a year ago) and had been propped up with some random bits of wood ever since. we eventually got round to replacing it with some new posts and panels earlier this year.
well, a mere 54763245876 coats later, and the new fence has come up a treat, i think!
please to admire it’s shiny new coat(s) of delightful forest green. i thank you.
with that finished, this week i have mostly been favouring wickes water-based primer and undercoat in brilliant white.
i know, i know, the fun just never stops, right?!
but, we finally, fiiiinally managed to finish construction of the cupboard from hell. this under stair cupboardular area has been a mathematical nightmare from start to finish and probably deserves a blog entry all of it’s own, i’m just not sure i can be arsed to write a blog entry all about a cupboard.
i am such a massive DIY nerd though, i may just have to write an entire blog entry all about the cupboard.
anyway, 3 coats of undercoat, half a tube of gripfill, the ubiquitous patching, filling and sanding completed, and it is about ready for the final couple of layers of topcoat!
i am so excited to get this finished so that i never have to deal with it again! and i am on the home stretch! whoo!
please excuse me for a sec while i highfive myself.
*highfive*
so anyway then i was thinking, you know what i really feel like making? another batch of my zombie rocks. because it will be nice, enjoyable - therapeutic even - to make a bunch of those.
do something a little bit different for a change, i thought!
only, i forgot…
the boxes need painting before i can start working on the rocks.
which of course…
…need painting.
hey. i think i might have just realised i don’t even like painting.
HELLO. can we just talk about ceramics and pottery really quickly? and how much i love it all?
smooth glazes…rough clay…the shapes..the textures…the beautiful hand-made-ness… and the colours! oh, the colours.
so when i spotted this little bowl, while pootling around folksy one evening, i knew i had to have it.
is it just me or is it simply divine?
made by the very lovely helen at h b ceramics
her shop is full of gorgeous, quirky, and very individual pieces.
as always with fabulous folksy purchases, it arrived quickly and i was soon holding it in my hands.
no really, i literally just sat and cuddled it for a little while. it’s so tactile!
and those beautiful colours! and the way the glazes have run and pooled together… they make me want to dive in.
my head is bursting with all the lovely descriptive words i want to say about this little dish but the only one that keeps popping out is:
YUM.
yum, yum, yum.
i’m definitely going to have to go back for more! because i’m pretty sure it’s not possible to own too many hand crafted pottery items.
helen has a website here and her folksy shop is here so why not pop over and check them out – i’m pretty sure you’ll find something that you just can’t do without either!
…just kidding!
i stayed in, obviously.
it was very lovely though.
the weather was glorious and spring like:
clear blue skies and relatively warm sunshine, too.
i was even able to potter around in the garden in flip flops for a while, which is a nice novelty for feet after a long winter wrapped in layers of socks and boots!
the snowdrops have been up for a couple of weeks now, but this is the first time i have felt like going over the doorstep to photograph them.
so glad i bothered, they looked gorgeous bobbing around in the gentle breeze and watery sunlight. they smelled delicious too – i never realised quite how strongly fragranced they were, until i shoved my face into them.
mostly i just love how they look so crisp and clean and fresh and white!
divine.
there were bulbs everywhere i looked actually, which is always a nice affirmation that yes, spring is definitely on it’s way. because sometimes, when winter draaaaags on, it doesn’t feel like it’s ever going to happen!
i love this time of year, with fresh new growth forcing it’s way up and out all over the place!
(i think these are going to be bluebells.)
a bit of sunshine does wonders for everything, including productivity; over the course of the weekend we were able to do an entire weeks worth of neglected housework in just an hour (me), make 3 cupboard doors (him) and have the in-laws over for lunch. (hence the frenzied housework session.)
i got caught up with a couple of custom orders:
(including the above, another zombie rock couple for a belated valentines gift)
…the next batch of zombie rocks is currently in production:
…and i also managed to make few new aceo’s…
…either for general purpose and/or specifically mothers day, which is approaching rapidly.
i’ve made 7 different ones for now and will be listing them in my shop this week.
it’s looking a little sad and empty at the moment so i need to get it stocked back up again!
we managed to get caught up on a few other random bits and pieces, and squeezed in 4 sandra bullock films too, so all in all it was a very productive and enjoyable weekend indeed.
…going out is so totally overrated, no?