So I got out the sample paint I was using and got to work. This is the first time I have ever distressed anything.  Once the undercoat was dry, I found a candle and rubbed that around all the edges of the wooden frame. It left a film there which I was slightly worried about. However, I just got to work and painted the top coat of paint on it, then left it to dry once again.

Later I got out the trusty sand paper and just lightly scraped around the edges of the frame and sometimes on the actual frame. Where the candle wax had been the paint was just raw , down to the wood…just what I wanted. I wouldn’t say this was my best work, but as they say practice makes perfect. I will do it again soon. Excuse the crappy colored walls……they will soon be white too.

Today is my birthday and I am having a lovely day. Went out to lunch, with my hubbie, brother and Mum and it was wonderful. We went to a little place called “Melt”, in Waikanae and the food was “to die for”. It was just the best.

On the way home we stopped in at a  second hand place and bought a cute little side table with turned legs and flaps which makes it bigger. The flaps are not in good nick and I am not keen on them so they will come off. The other neat thing about the table is that it has a shelf………well its like a trolley really and it has a small drawer, its really cute. Can’t wait to get the white paint and it and shabby it up. OH and we got it for the HUGE sum of $10!

Came home and waiting for me was the Dec 11 issue of Somerset Studio I bought from ebay. Am going to sit down and devour that soon

WE are off to buy the paint tomorrow and start painting the lounge. I cant wait to get that done now, as I can imagine that it will look so much better. WOOHOO HAPPY HAPPY!!!

Hope you are all having a great day too.

Di

The next video shows the hearts I have just made and then what all the shapes look like once I have cut them, put them in groups and sewed on them.

I sat down and did another. The page didn’t turn out like I wanted it to, so that sucks a bit, but I am not one to give up so I have it loading now. Lets hope it works. I am a bit disappointed that I don’t have a fast forward button and right now I don’t have the hang of the zoom button. Anyway I will learn as I go along. At least the picture is good. I recorded without sound, as I find it hard to concentrate on talking about what I am doing and concentrating on what I am doing…if you know what I mean

I am watching the 2nd video I made and so sorry forgot to turn the sound off so you can hear my squeeky chair and all the banging. Oh and the worst part of the top of my arm is swinging around, I gotta change that angle next time. Thankfully this 2nd video wouldn’t load as it had an error So they say 3rd time lucky. I made a short video at a lower resolution and talked over it and it worked out OK. At least its watchable but its not really a tutorial, that I will do tomorrow.

While the first video was loading, I managed to get some plants in the garden, which is not at all like me as I love flowers, but usually leave the gardening to someone else LOL.It’s a gorgeous day here today and I couldn’t resist.

I see lots of arty people are at or going to CHA in LA right now………..wish I was there. I have never been to anything like that and think it would give you such a buzz. Maybe one day…sigh

Oh I wanted to tell you I got part of my birthday art supplies today, I bought 5 bottles of ranger color wash sprays and I love them. I also got a bottle of Tim Holtz crackle. I already have a couple colors  but I wanted one that would be a cream or white. I chose Antique Linen and was a bit sad that it is a pale green ???????? Not what I wanted at all. BUMMER! Looks like I will just have to send in another order. such a shame:-)

I’m on Pinterest and it is the most amazing thing to do, however its very addictive so you have to limit your time on there. I now have so many recipes to try and so many art tutorials to watch and also so many tips and ideas  and I love that they are altogether in one place. If anyone wants an Invite, just email me on di@dyzee.com and I will send you one.

I would love to have a conversation with anyone who is watching, sometimes you feel like no one is around, even though you know from the stats that you are getting lots of visits each day. Please leave me a comment.

Went to another place after that.but boy were the prices steep. However we did get a bargain at the first shop……….we got a fire guard to safeguard the cats from our wood burner…come winter. They were born in Queensland so have never seen a fire place in a house. It was so warm over there we didn’t need it. We have lit the fire here are Jesse was so curious and we were really scared she would get burnt, Now she will be safe.

I was fascinated by what was being delivered to the shop…………..the back of the truck was open so I took a photo. The had branding forks that looked like they might make good number stamps LOL I did manage to resist them though:-) However they did have a shabby looking farm gate which I wouldn’t have minded…………………oh I think I might have horder tendencies. I also saw a few of these trunks and wouldn’t mind one………..this was in quite good nic.

It was good to get out for a drive on a Sunday and I really enjoyed it. I’d love to hear from you if you’d like to comment.

Here’s a close up

The second page is next. I had nearly finished it when I decided I didn’t like it………….so I covered it with scrap paper and started again. I like the white space ..however there is this need to want to do more to the page until it is ruined …………..so I stopped !!

I like the new paper size and I love the new watercolor paper.  Any questions for me?????

All the best Di

I also bought some A3 sized watercolor paper pads that I can cut in half to make the size of paper I want. Sadly I couldn’t get them in a journal book. Because I want to journal on each page separately, I am going to try this and have them bound together later. I don’t know if this will be satisfactory, but will try it and see. Can always change my mind again LOL:-)

I have also ordered a few Adirondack Color Washes as I have never used it before. Here is a video of Tim Holtz using the color wash, just in case you don’t know about it.

I also bought a few paint samples to try out color on our walls. To start with  I painted some samples of the lounge wall and already , out of the 4 we have I dislike one of them. In fact I think I have already made up my mind which color I will use for that room. Mind you, its not some fancy color………..we have 4 shades of white:-) A couple are more creamy, one is beigey and the other one is more white. We will use one of the more creamy colors for the bathroom as I want to keep that warm.

OK I have plenty to do today and I want to get a couple art journaling pages finished. Please let me know if you are thinking about trying daily art journals, I would LOVE to hear from you.

All the best Di

She was enjoying doing something different as she really doesn’t bead much….however she is a great quilter. She is very different to me in that she works in a really traditional style while I am more comtemporary.

Its is great to be home and so close to Mum. She lives 10 minutes away by car. After all these years living in Australia it is great to be back with my family.

The journal page shown is painted on a SMALL watercolor page and I just wasn’t happy with it at all. However I did say that I was going to do journaling daily so here it is.:-)

Tomorrow I am going out and will buy the exact journal that I want. I have a list LOL…so I have a few other art things to find too. I love to use items I already have around the house, however, this will not work for paper.