The Upcycle

Hello Lovelies!
As promised I'm back this week, feeling energized, crafty and ready to get back into my blog.
As mentioned in my last post, Dennis came home yesterday! I've been counting down the days until his return and couldn't believe he was waiting when I returned home from work yesterday afternoon. It took me a good half an hour to shake the feeling that I was dreaming and that he was really back. An odd sensation that I can't really describe. I'm VERY VERY happy he's home though!

So Dennis is back and I'm back also!!!
I have a rather pleasing project to share with you, one that I've been working on over the past week.
Early last week when cycling home from work, I passed a mound of rubbish that had been left out on the street to be taken away by the dustbin men the following morning. As I passed I glimpsed a dirty, dusty old chest of drawers amongst the bric a brac. I continued on my way home.
Once at home I kept thinking about the drawers. "Maybe I could do something with them?", "Oh no, where would I put them? "."There's no point collecting more rubbish!". I couldn't drop the idea that maybe I could make them beautiful and functional once again, just like I did with this chair.  Later that evening (probably way past midnight) I decided to go back down the road and have a look at them.
Once back at the mound of rubbish I knew that I had to give the used and battered drawers a chance of a second life. I picked them up and carried them back home. 

The next morning I had a good look at the drawers:

They were in a bad state. One of the legs had fallen off and the other legs were severely wobbly. Covered in dust and cobwebs, they appeared to be the graveyard of dozens of long deceased spiders. 

The insides of the drawers were also dusty. The linings of the drawers were torn and in need of some love and the drawers had no handles, just a metal keyhole to one of the larger drawers.

The plus side of the drawers was that they were made of solid wood and other than the legs, the main body of the drawers seemed extremely sturdy. 

 

I removed the metal key hole, and got to work sanding down the old and damaged drawers. Cleaning away the dust and cobwebs and getting rid of the weathered varnish. 

Already after sanding them down they were looking a little brighter.

All they needed now was a lick of paint:

I chose a rather soft and calming blue.  It wasn't quite a baby blue, a little deeper than that. A rather gorgeous colour I must say! 

I painted the exterior and all of the drawers. I was most happy with the results!!

Once the paint had dried, I gently sanded down some of the edges to add a weathered, distressed effect. 

Then I got to work fixing the legs, they seemed to be all different lengths. I trimmed them down with my saw, making sure the drawers stood sturdy and level. I added a generous helping of glue to each of the four legs to secure them in place.

Varnishing time! I varnished everything, making it that extra bit resistant to the wear and tear of daily use.

Finally I added the keyhole that I had removed, along with a new key and some knobs to open the drawers. 

It was pretty much finished!!! Quite a transformation, I must say!

From something that was way past its used by date, destined for the rubbish dump, to a rather happy and new looking piece of furniture. 

Not bad for under 30 euros, the most expensive part was the new knobs for the drawers. The paint cost me a mere 4 euros and the sand paper and varnish I already had down in the cellar. Not too bad, eh?!!!!

So the drawers were done and I absolutely adored them! I just wasn't sure where I was going to put them. I moved them into the apartment and tried them in the living room, but the living room felt a little cluttered with an extra piece of furniture. I tried them in the bedroom and it was a similar situation. 

So I decided I would put them down in the cellar and keep my tool and bits 'n bobs in them. A pretty sad fate for such gorgeous drawers, as nobody would really get to see them. 

Later that day I showed the drawers to a friend of mine, he thought they looked great! "Why not keep the on the balcony?". Not such a bad idea, as the blue looked lovely against the vibrant greens and dashes of colour that the flowers had to offer. 

So thats what I did....I left the drawers on my balcony. They will be the perfect place to store some tools (so that I don't always have to go down to the cellar to find them). Also, I can keep my gardening equipment in them, so that I don't keep cluttering up the balcony! 

So that was sorted! They're staying on my balcony!! With that in mind, I decided to add some extra nobs onto the side of the drawers so that I could hang a few extra things from them. 

I rearranged my plants so that the drawers could sit against the wall:

I must say..... I'm pretty chuffed with them!! They add a lovely spot of contrast to the other furniture I have on the balcony.

Sure they look nice they,  but I'm  most happy that  I could give them a new lease of life!

Hope you are all having a fantabulous weekend?!
Until next time....

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Almost a month

Hello there!
How have you all been?
Without meaning to, it turned out that I took a little break from my blog.
Early last month my head was swimming with blog and project ideas, but for some reason nothing took form. I stopped working on projects, I stopped taking photographs and therefore I stopped writing on my blog.

Honestly I've enjoyed having the break. Constantly making things, taking pictures and documenting have become routine for me. Waiting for photos to upload onto my laptop, updating Facebook, Instagram and twitter, answering emails and working towards deadlines are things I enjoy doing, but they sometimes make my days feel little hectic.

This month I've done non of that and I do hope you will forgive me if I haven't answered your questions or replied to your Facebook comments. I don't even have photographs to share, just my words.
Instead I've just been doing my own thing: going to work, going to the gym (if I feel like it), going to bed early (but waking up late) and pottering around on my balcony. I've been enjoying the development of my flowers and plants as they wake up and say hello to the glorious Spring weather that we've been having. Sounds silly but that's been a real highlight to my month.

I've had my Mum and Grandma come and visit me, they watched the show and then we spent the rest of the weekend eating good food and strolling around the city.

I've been counting down the days until Dennis comes home from the ship. 6 days left!!!! I can not wait to have him home. He's going to take a little break from the ships, at least until after Christmas. That means I'll be the working "man of the house" and he'll be focusing on a little something that we are both insanely excited about. I can't say what it is yet, but I promise to reveal all once it's a little more concrete.

That's been my month. A month of slow paced, easy breezy days. It's been leisurely and on reflection, rather calm.
That being said, I'm ready to pic up my camera, my crochet hook and get back on the blogging band wagon.
Thanks for letting me take a breather. I'll be back next week and hopefully get some routine back to my blogging.

Until then...

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Sun Hat

Hello there! How are you all doing? 

I don't know about you, but today I'm feeling rather spritely. The sun is shining, I woke up early (but not too early) without the help of my alarm clock, which is always a nice feeling,  and I'm getting in a quick bit of blogging before I had into work and play two shows.

Not to mention I'm sat on my balcony sipping on my coffee and enjoying the Spring blossom that has rather suddenly appeared everywhere.

Today I have a rather quick little post...

I wanted to share a cute little project that I have been working on, as requested by a very special person.

A few weeks ago I received an email from somebody that I haven't spoken to in many years, but have always had such fond memories of.

The message was from my primary school teacher, Mrs Pyman. 

I'm sure that when you look back through your life and you think about the key people that influenced you and touched your heart/soul there will be a list of parents, siblings, Grandparents, family, friends, teachers and people you've met along the way. Mrs Pyman is on my list. She was not only my teacher but also my Cub Scout Leader, something I loved. We'd go camping, rafting, hiking....such great memories. 

So when I received a message from Mrs Pyman after some years,  It brought back all sort of happy memories and stories that I had not thought about for quite some time. I was delighted to hear from her. 

Mrs Pyman had seen some of my crochet projects and knew that I was the guy to help her out with a gift that she wanted to give to a friend of hers. 

One of Mrs Pymans friends is going through a difficult time at the moment with some health issues and so as a way of helping to lift her spirits, Mrs Pyman asked if I would make a sun hat for her friend. In BRIGHT BOLD HAPPY COLOURS!

I got to work...picking out some nice shades of cotton. (rico baby cotton).

 

 Following a pattern by Kim Guzman, called the Elegant Hat, I worked round and round in spirals.

Creating what was to become a simple cloche hat.

 

Once done I made an assortment of flowers to add a spot of summary flare to the hat. 

I added some leaves (by Lucy at Attic24) and some slip stitch swirly detailing, some buttons and beads:

All done!! It's a rather happy looking hat!!

Already posted to Mrs Pyman so she can give it to her friend. 

Lets Hope that Mrs Pyman's, friend makes a speedy recovery and that this hat will shine some light on what I can only imagine is a difficult time.

Happy sunny Sunday my lovelies!!

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Sasha's Tunisian Cushions

Hello there! 

As mentioned in my recent post "Works In Progress" I've been working on some cushion covers (as well as other things) for my friend Sasha.

Well....On Tuesday I finally gave Sasha his completed cushions back.

Not only was I thrilled that he was happy with them, but a little relieved that I had actually finished them!

I don't know if you find this... but sometimes when people ask me to make them things, I cringe at the idea. Mainly because of the amount of work it takes (and they don't always realise), but also because of the responsibility of creating something that the recipient is going to like. 

Sasha asked me to make some covers for some old cushions that he had. Being the great friend that Sasha is to me,  I was more then happy. 

He wanted some simple yet fun cushions in a blue or grey. Sounded easy enough, so I got to work on them.

Now the reason I was so relieved to finally give these cushions to Sasha, was because this project could have been completed within a week or two. But alongside other commitments I had to work on, it turned out taking 4 months before I finally got around to finishing them!

Sasha asked about his pillows on a couple of occasions and I kept saying "they are almost ready". He waited another few weeks, then asked again...."they're almost done"  

Finally the week before last, they were actually "almost done".  I finally got them finished!!! "Phew!" (I say as I wipe my brow).

For Sasha's cushions I chose some deliciously soft Rico Baby classic dk. An acrylic blend that comes in some great shades. I was actually looking for a thicker yarn, but decided on this purely because of the colour. 

To make up for the yarn being a little thinner than I had wanted, I wound three balls together and made one luxuriously thick ball to work from. 

Isn't that a pretty sight. One perfectly wound ball of yarn, ready to be worked up into something special.

Yarn at the ready and a nice thick crochet hook (Size 9) with cable attached and I was ready to start this project. 

I needed the cable as I had decided to do (once agin) some Tunisian crochet. I decided to use the Tunisian simple stitch, as when worked up in rows this stitch creates a lovely dense fabric, that isn't as holey as your average crocheted material. 

I made four rectangular pieces. Two for each cushion, making up both sides of the case.

I single crocheted both pieces together, making sure to leave one end open. 

On the end that I had left open I sewed (by hand) a zip into the cushion cover, making it nice and easy for Sasha to remove the cushion inserts if he needed.

Once done, I settled upon some big shiny red buttons to add a little something special to the simple blue cushion covers. 

I sewed the buttons on, with nice chunky stitches.

All finished! I'm hoping they are masculine enough, as I can get a little carried away with my crochet work. I figured simple was the key to this project and I think that I succeeded in that.

Sasha was very pleased when I gave the to him. I was very happy to finally have something to show for his long and patient wait.

I may make myself a couple once I have a free minute. Not too sure when that will be though, as my brain is buzzing with other ideas and projects. I like it when I'm feeling like this.... feeling inspired!

Happy Easter weekend lovely people!

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My Week In Pictures

Hello Lovelies!

How are you all doing? 

I'm back to work today and settling back into my normal routine after a rather splendid time visiting Dennis. 

It was a much needed vacation for me and a chance for me to spend some time with Dennis. I miss him terribly when he's away working on the ship, so I jump at the chance to go and visit him.

It was a week of exploring ports, seeing Dennis perform in his shows and indulging in some me time. I managed to read three books in a week!! Thats almost unheard of for me :-)

I've taken so many pictures this week. I wish I could share them all, but that would be one hell of a post and no doubt a tad boring for each of you. 

So I've picked a selection, taken throughout my week as I stopped off in Madeira, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Tenerife and La Palma. Mainly nature shots, but I thought you'd enjoy the vibrancy and texture.

I'm rather pleased with the pictures, because of their beauty and because of the memories they stir up.
A lovely time. I'm feeling very grateful!

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Crocheted Candy

Hello there! How are you all doing? 

I'm typing this at the airport as I wait for my flight to start boarding. I'm off on holiday for the week, visiting Dennis on the cruise ship that he's working on. My flight takes me to Gran Canaria and I'll get on the ship tomorrow. A week of  sailing around the Canary Islands, not too shabby.

As I sit waiting for my flight to start boarding I'm feelings rather like a top class business executive.... Nobody needs to know that I'm working on my blog. I'll let everyone believe I'm typing urgent world changing emails. :-)

I wanted to share with you a little more information on this rather fun candy inspired project that I've been working on. As mentioned in my last post, this project was actually a commissioned project from the lovely people at Homespun magazine. A candy themed piece that will appear in a food inspired issue of the magazine later in the year (September, I believe). I don't usually do commissioned pieces, as it tends to stress me out working towards a deadline and trying to make it fit alongside my work schedule. However when the opportunity came up to work with this magazine, I really couldn't refuse. 

Here's a glimpse  at the January edition: 

It's such a great magazine, showcasing a huge range of different crafty projects. 

I was lucky enough to be interviewed for the January edition. There is a piece all about my crochet work in the section "Men who craft". It was a huge honor to be interviewed and placed alongside some extraordinary talented fellow male crafters. 

As you can imagine I can't reveal exactly what I've been working on, as this will appear later in the magazine along with a tutorial/ pattern of how to make a similar project.

Despite not being able to show you the whole project, I thought I could show you a few pictures of the candy I made (the candy forms the decoration to the main crochet project).

I had a great time coming up with crocheted versions of my favorite treats. I made sour cherries: 

Fried eggs! These were so simple to make and turned out rather nicely. I think they are rather cute, a similar size to the real sweets.

Of course I had to make some Licorice allsorts. These classic sweets worked up rather well as crocheted versions. I prefer my crocheted allsorts, as I'm not a big fan of licorice....yuck!

I had to make some chocolate. It's my absolute favorite thing (after ice cream). Chocolate truffles! 

Finally some lollipops. These were a joy to design and make. Not only because I was happy with the end result, but because of all of the crazy colour combinations I was able to use.

I made quite a collection of candy!

The great thing about this commission was that it made me work on a theme that I probably wouldn't have considered working on. It turned out to be a rather fun theme, colourful with endless possibilities!

Ok my flights, starting boarding....I must run! I'll be back in the week with some holiday snaps.

Have a lovely weekend!!

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