Studio update

Hello!  I disappeared then... not that I've been very good about blogging consistently over the past year or so.  I went on holiday, I had intended to post before I went, but ran out of time and then didn't want to advertise that I was away.  I mean, I am THAT famous that surely everyone knows where I live and all the local criminals read my blog...

So, I showed you the floor I was laying in my craft room/studio.  You can see that post here. I've nearly finished...

The weekend before I went away, I laid the beading between the skirting and the floor.

I don't think I did too badly with my corner mitres!

I did the window wall last as it involved the 2 pipes and I thought it would be complicated.  It really wasn't!

The slight gaps are bigger in the photos than in real life, but I have already been round and pollyfilled them.

I had to cut a rebate for the plug sockets (3 of them!).  It wasn't really difficult, though I didn't have the right tools and had to use a big hacksaw.  I could have done with a jigsaw for this.

Bit of a mess by the door frame.  I wasn't sure what to do here.  After cutting and gluing it all, I showed my (engineer) friend at work on the Monday and she told me how I SHOULD have done it.  Ah well!  This will be behind the door anyway.

So, next up is sanding the filler and then a quick coat of paint.  I bought white beading to avoid painting but wasn't counting on my clumsiness and it's scrapped in many places.  Then the room arranging can begin!

Stencilling a floor

A couple of years ago, I came across a blog post by Mrs H about her new studio floor that she and her husband had created.  Then, last year, after the bag retreat, I had the pleasure of visiting Mrs H's home and seeing it in person.  It stuck in my mind.  I knew that one day, I too would create a floor like that.

So I am!

I read through the blog post, and Mrs H sent me some extra details to help me.  I then bought some MDF, cut it to size, screwed it down, filled the seam lines and screw heads, sanded and painted 3 coats of dark grey paint.  Then for the fun part.  I procrastinated this for ages as I was sure I'd mess it up.  Above is the stencil which I bought from Dizzy Duck Designs.

I painted over it using the same emulsion in pale grey I'd used for the walls in that room (it will be my new studio when I FINALLY finish it).  Then I was scared... the moment of truth...

Yay!!! Go me!!  Thanks Mrs H, thanks Dizzy Duck Designs, thanks Dulux!  I was sooooo chuffed.

I carried on, overlapping the stencil each time to line it up correctly.

Except where I didn't!  That line without dots was my mistake when doing the second row.  I will go back and fill it with dots later.  This is how far I got before I had to give up for the day.  I'd already painted an airing cupboard and a ceiling and I was tired!  It's quite slow going as it requires precision, also the stencil needs washing and thoroughly drying every 5 or 6 applications.  Hopefully I'll be able to show you the finished room soon...  Just got to finish stencilling, then varnish, then do the beading, then sort out the faulty window, get a radiator fitted, put up curtains, sort out the light fixtures, move my furniture in and set up my craft stuff...  so... end of summer maybe??

Garden bench

I recently explained I haven't done much crafting this summer as I've been working on my house.  I really hoped to have a bathroom update for you by now.  I had a new suite fitted, but painting the room is taking a lot longer than anticipated!  I generally have one or two hours a week during the evenings to work on the house, and often I have a few hours or even a whole day on the Sunday.  It doesn't add up to much!  I took last Monday off work to work on the bathroom, but was struck down with a horrible bug and ended up spending three days lying on the sofa.  I did put a few stitches in a cross stitch piece, but not much really!

Anyway, that was a long winded introduction to a post showing you my garden bench as I don't really have much else to show you!

I bought my house over 10 years ago and mum and dad bought me this bench not long after I moved in.  As you can see, I never varnished it!  I hate the look of varnished wood so I'm glad I didn't, but it was time for some TLC.

Sanding took ages, and made a right mess!  It became easier when I discovered the seat is removable.  Then it was on to painting.  I used a B&Q outdoor paint and it took three coats.

Much better!  I also got rid of Harry's old hutch and the spare hutch, creating loads more room in my tiny yard (UK version of yard - concrete area behind my house).

The paint was left over from painting my back door which I did a couple of months ago and which kick-started this whole renovation business in the first place!  I still have over a third of a can of paint left... garden gate is next up!