A New Address....

Although I love this little blog, the time has come to move on.

I really hope that if you are reading this then you will hope over to my new blog:

www.feliciathomas.ie

There will still be coffee & cake, still lots of doggy photos, but just a more grown up    organised setting.

Lots of love xx

Lazy Sunday Afternoons...

Its Sunday, and actually it is not completely lazy.

I love Sunday mornings, my family are either up and out early for work or they sleep in. The house is quiet, even the dogs sleep in. I get up, stay in my P.J's (that is most important for maximum enjoyment), make coffee and then spend at least an hour on Pinterest or YouTube....

Oh, the absolute luxury!!

I have an obsession with home renovation shows, I have recently realised that although I can't get HGTV in Ireland I can watch 'Fixer Uppers' on YouTube to my hearts content!

 I love Chip & Joanna Gaines, I want to build a farmhouse like theirs, I want to make houses pretty and because its based in Texas there is the added bonus of cowboy boots. (Another love of mine, always, even when they aren't in fashion - much to the horror of my very stylish kids!)

If you look at my Pinterest boards you'll find a fair amount of house related content, grey painted rooms & bathrooms that are just yum, there are also boots (in 'My Style') lots of rings and bracelets (in 'It's a Bling Thing') and items of general gorgeousness. There is also a board named 'Yes, I like Cleaning' - buts that for another post.

Its easy to see how my Sunday mornings just vanish.

But, I did go out and do a bit of a walk / run at Cardiac Hill - its called that for a reason, its not easy but having climbed up you get to run down which makes it all worth while. I didn't take any photos today, I left the phone in the car and when I got back I was so sweaty and bright red that no one would want to see it!

Now its 3pm, Ireland are playing France and although I can hear it on TV I'm not really one for football, (i'm of the Guy Martin school of thought here)  so I'm in the art room and have just finished making a necklace. It has taken me ages (being the digitally challenged sort that I am) but here it is in the making:

And finished:

So, that is my Sunday so far. At some stage I will take the dogs out but nothing more energetic than that. Sunday dinner is usually omelettes - open the fridge and take all the left over veggies and make omelette, there could possibly a glass of wine too ( who am I kidding, of course there will be wine!)

I hope your Sunday is as nice as mine and that you get to enjoy whatever it is you like doing.

Felicia xx

Altered Household Item Swap :

Good morning,

I took part in another swap organised by Aideen, this time the theme was 'An altered household item'.

My swap partner was Kirsty, we messaged back and forth for a bit and got to know a bit about each others likes - she sounds really lovely and I hope our paths cross somewhere soon!

I thought i'd be so organised and I would video this project as I went along ( I blame all those home renovation shows i'm addicted to - I was going to be the Joanna Gaines of my own art room!) well, it started off OK....... then I just got into what I was doing and forgot to film it!

Here is the bit I did film : FEEL FREE TO SKIP OVER THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR ME WAFFLE A LOT!! 

(You should know that I am not even slightly technically minded. I got a fab little Flip camera for Christmas about four years ago and I have yet to even think about learning how to edit videos - I should because its a great little gadget.)

Right, so after I took it to pieces I painted the whole thing with metallic copper acrylic paint. (This is what gives it the shimmer Kirsty!)

Because I was painting onto metal you could really see the brush strokes, so to hide these a bit I covered it with a layer of Distress Collage Medium with a 'crazing' finish. Then I thought it was a bit too coppery so I add some Titanium Buff acrylic here and there just rubbed in with my finger.

I covered the outside with a strip of paper from the Prima Vintage Emporium collection and buffed some of the paints over it so it blended in.

Then glued the face of the clock to the back cover and added the hands which left a lovely big frame to fill.

Here it is filled with flowers, ephemera, leaves, butterflies and some fibres.  About half way back I used a 3x4" notecard from the same collection , I tore is up a bit , inked to edges and glued it in place- this provided a 'wall' to lean all the flowers against.

The hanging charm ( I think it was from 7 Gypsies, but I can't be sure) was hung from a ribbon and hot glued so it wouldn't move - I added the 'Memories' from the print on the papers.

The hot glue on top was disguised with more flowers, leaves and fibres. ( Didn't take a photo of the top...)

 I love swaps, it was fun to make and most importantly, Kirsty liked it - Happy days!

What's the next swap theme Aideen????

Have a lovely weekend,

Felicia xx

The Most Amazing Class Ever!

Last Saturday the alarm went off at 4am.

There was a very good reason for this, I had to be on the first flight to Birmingham to take part in a class given by Mr. Tim Holtz. Who? well this post won't be nearly as exciting as I had hoped if you just asked that question. If you are a paper crafter or mixed media artist I am pretty sure that amongst your stash there is something that he has designed (if it says 'Distress' on the label that's a big clue).

So, I arrived nice and early, met up with Kate and Julie and waited for the class to begin. Kate and Julie had both met Tim and Mario several times, (I had met Tim once many years ago and as it was the last day of a trade show he was tired and understandably so over smiling at the crazy woman who stood grinning like a Cheshire cat in front of him) so I was ridiculously excited when he came out and said hello to us!

The were several new products that we were working with, Collage medium, Opaque texture paste, brushes, the wooden frame and most exciting, the new Distress Crayons.

Mario made sure that we had everything we needed, he is just so lovely! Tim gave us direction and information about the products and then just let us have fun - the three hour class seemed to pass in about thirty minutes!

(Excuse the fuzzy photo, I took it with my phone - this man is ridiculously patient when it comes to having his photo taken!)

                                                                  Background layers

                 Embellishments ready - its so hard to think of a word, thank you Kate for giving me an extra 'D'!

                                                                    The finished project.

This is Julie and I pretending to be good!

with Tim and Mario

This is a terrible photo but its the only one that Kate got into!

Sadly, it was all over so quickly, we were back on the plane at 2.30pm.  I had to catch a train from Dublin  but missed it by about 5 minutes...... so I went to a nearby hotel, ordered a bowl of pasta and a glass of wine and thought about what a great day it had been.

p.s. The Distress Crayons are fab.... I don't say that about a lot if products but I will definitely be getting more of these - think Gelatos crossed with lipstick, love them!!

I hope you enjoyed your weekend too,

F xx

Valentines Swap.

The lovely Aideen from Aideen's swaps organised a swap for Valentines day and since I hadn't joined in since Halloween I was delighted to take part.

My partner was Kay and today my gift arrived - look!

The box is full of little love themed die- cuts, as well as a tag book, card and chocolate! this photo doesn't really do the metallic colours much justice - it really is gorgeous.

I had made a shadow box that held a heart and a valentine card which I sent with a bag of chocolates, I wish I had thought to send on some extra bits and pieces. I posted my gift on Monday and on Tuesday the post man knocked on the door and handed me back my own package...... An Post had delivered it to the senders address rather than the 'To' address..... sometimes the postal service is questionable!

This is what I made;

The heart is raised from the back of the box to give more dimension. The box is made from chipboard and covered with old book pages.

 

The card is super simple but I was pleased with it (in case you don't know, i'm not the worlds best card maker)

It is so lovely to have a pretty package delivered to you,to unwrap it and see what someone has put time and effort into making for you. So thank you Kay and thanks Aideen for organising the swaps, I look forward to the next one!

F xx

Stormy Weekends.

It has been a wild and stormy weekend here, perfect for making soup (Mary Berry's butternut squash soup, which was even nicer the next day*) and then locking myself away in the art room (that sounds very grand - its not, its a lovely 8x10ft room where we keep and do anything art related.)

Anyhoo, I did a couple of tiny 5x5" paintings with a 'Home' theme and then I did this.

 I haven't painted a new doll for ages, mainly because it takes forever since THAT FATEFUL DAY, but eventually this one appeared, again it is 5x5" but now i'm thinking she needs a sentiment. I think she should say something positive, something to remind anyone who sees this that they are enough just as they are.

                           I think I like this one, "Believe in you" because self doubt is a bitch.

I stamp them out on paper so I can move them around and make sure i'm happy with the positioning and then take a leap of faith and stamp permanent ink onto the picture - which is a pain if it goes wrong because then I have to try and paint it out.

Right, its still blowing a gale here, storm Imogen has a lot to say. I have to venture out to the Post Office (to post my Valentine swap, which I will show pictures of once Kay has received it) and to walk the dogs then I will be brave and add some lettering.

The * in the first sentence is a disclaimer....I didn't actually make the soup, Tim did, I just watched. Thank you Tim! x

Have a great week,
F xx

Afternoon Tea Anyone?

Last Sunday Ebony and I went to Cork for the #Cloggers Afternoon Tea event.

#Cloggers is a Cork based blogging group (who kindly let us go even though we're from Kerry) and they were holding this event in the Imperial Hotel (ver, ver nice hotel, gorgeous in fact!)

We set off early and magically got parking right outside the hotel. Now, this was when one of those strange little 'it happened for a reason' moments occurred. On the way up (we always say 'up' to Cork, when it is geographically down, I wonder why?)I had said that if we had time i'd like to go to Brown Thomas because I have a voucher to use and I had decided to spend it on skincare but didn't know which ones (hello anti- ageing products!)
BUT, as we pulled into our usual multi storey car park we found it closed, it should have been open but perhaps someone was late for work, so as I said we found a spot on the street right outside the hotel. This meant I wouldn't be passing Brown Thomas and decided to go after the event.

Once we got to the event we were surrounded by women who obviously knew what they were at. You didn't have to ask what their blogs were about it was because they were all very glamorous and beautifully dressed - Beauty and Fashion bloggers for sure!

I immediately decided I was here as an impostor and at any minute my jeans, boots and I would be asked to leave. But do you know what? they were really friendly and welcoming and didn't mind at all that I couldn't tell my designers from my elbow. I would like to give particular thanks to Erin , Stephanie, Joyce and Cliona who were great company. Look at this, how delicious!

There were guest speakers who were all really interesting and spoke about their businesses and lives, one of those was Niamh from Holos. She spoke about her skin care range that is essential oil based, I liked the sound of it and she had two spot prizes to give away, one for relaxation and one for anti ageing. I was delighted to win one and even more delighted when the first winner chose the relaxation package (she was beautiful and had no need of the other package!) I was really happy with the prize and thought I would be picking up fewer products from Brown Thomas later.... little did I know.

                                                             Niamh from Holos.

By the time we were leaving we could hardly carry the amount of goodies we had been given! I won't even try to list them as I will forget something but here is a small selection.....

Seriously, this doesn't even cover the skincare products!

I was honestly blown away by the generosity of the gifts, needless to say I didn't go shopping afterwards, and I won't be going for some time.

 Finally, these fabulous women  Marie and Richael made the day possible, thank you again!  I met lovely people, ate delicious treats and was inspired to continue blogging.

All in all it was a fantastic day!

F xx

Home made part 2...

Home is the nicest word there is....

I hope you had a lovely weekend,
Felicia xxx

Home made.....

If you had a left over piece of timber that measured 20" x 9" x 1" you'd obviously have to make it into a house wouldn't you?

That's what I thought too.

This is a work in progress, but this is what it looks like so far......

I drew a pointed roof and then cut off the angles. I saved the cut offs, they're useful for later on in the project.

The edges were sanded and then I painted the sides and edges with white acrylic. Next came Heavy Carvable Modelling Paste - I put a thick layer on with a palette knife and then drew wavy lines into it that will be roof tiles. (It might be a stretch to see them as roof tiles at the moment.....)

For the back I sorted through all my design papers and gathered everything with text on it, and then a few pieces just because I liked them. I stuck them on with Mod Podge (thank you for the loan Jacinta!)

I don't have a firm plan for the front of this house yet - it will be a bit of this and a bit of that until i'm happy with it. I will be back with more photos as soon as there is something to show.

Since we have a shed full of off cuts, I might end up with a whole town and not just a tall, skinny, very definitely quirky but loved house.

Felicia x

The 'After' photos.........

Oh dear......... once upon a time, a long time ago
(like two years) I started to show you my Mums new house.

I explained all about the reasons she had moved and the jobs that needed doing - you can catch up on that story here, I don't expect anyone to remember that far back!

Here is the sitting room photo from the estate agents blurb when she bought it....

and here is the finished result:

*Disclaimer - these photos were taken just after the Christmas decorations were taken down and it is not 'staged' as it should be!

The kitchen has also been totally revamped, I will add a 'before' photo if I can find one but just think large floral wallpaper and dark cream/ caramel coloured walls.
 Now she has white cupboards that were repositioned to make better use of the space, white furniture from Ikea, a re purposed mirror that was found on the inside of a wardrobe door and lots and lots of prettiness!

 This is the dining end of the room, as the room is small the mirror was hung horizontally (between the wall unit and the sideboard) to reflect the rest of the kitchen.

 The round table is perfect for the space and extends to an oval when company comes over.

 Some of the prettiness that lives on the sideboard.

 The 'business' end of the kitchen, there are some extremely good apple pies baked in that oven!

The wooden counter tops and the subway tiles add to the light finish.

So, that is it so far. There are more jobs planned, but for now it is a pretty and cosy home in the making.

xxx

Happy New Year!!

Well, its 2016 already, Christmas this year seemed to fly by which was odd when you consider that the build up seemed to start forever ago. We had a lovely time at home, we ate lots and often with family and friends, wine was poured, fun was had and many photos were taken.

I usually love the week between Christmas and New Year, I brim with ideas for projects and organising my home, but not this year. I think its the weather, Ireland (in case you don't know) is sinking under the rain that has fallen continually for weeks now. We are fortunate to live on a hill so we haven't had any flooding but my heart goes out to those people whose homes and businesses have been destroyed.

So, at the start of the new year I buy a new diary and a new notebook: the diary is essential, I am a list maker. I make lists of things I must do, phone calls I must make, shopping lists, menu plans, things the kids must do (which is ridiculous because the youngest is 19, but once a Mum....) every morning while i'm having my breakfast I look through it to see what must be done. I never use the phone for saving appointments, i'm strictly a paper and pen kinda girl (plus stationery shopping is one of my favourite things!)

This is a cheap as chips diary from Dealz that I prettied up!

The notebook is for my wish list. Each year for the last five years I have made this list, its for writing your biggest dreams, things that you want to happen, things that seem impossible but write them down anyway and send them out into the universe and see what happens! It is suprising when you read them back what has come into being, not necessarily in the way you thought it would but in an 'Everything happens for a reason , when one door closes another opens 'kind of way.

I realise that sounds totally airy fairy, but try and it and see.

Anyhoo, I haven't written this years one yet, but it will get done soon.

What have I done?.......

Well, Molly's goddaughter turned one on the 28th December and I have made her a rabbit. It is about half and half hand sewing and machine sewing and once I got the ears on the right way round (which took several attempts) it was finished quite quickly. The stitching isn't great, but she is one and won't care :)

My December Daily is finished! I only did up until the 26th but its finished. I had all the photos taken but only printed them out every few days so it was the 31st of December before I finally got it done. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Tomorrow is back to work for most people and a bit of normality will return, i'm going to start my lists now for the coming week, have one last glass of wine and ignore the chocolates that are still hanging around.

I wish anyone who reads this a very healthy, happy and prosperous 2016!!

Felicia xxx