Sunday, August 25, 2013

Painted furniture update

I blogged about painting furniture a couple of posts ago and thought I'd share the end results with you!
This chest of drawers was a freebie from my gran's neighbour (hurray!) and so I only paid for the paint and some new door knobs (which I'm yet to buy).
I painted the inside of the drawers duck egg blue:
I also painted this old mahogany side table and I think it looks adorable painted up!
After painting these two pieces of furniture I still have half a tin of paint left! Annie Sloan is expensive but it definitely lasts.
I wasn't too impressed with the finish on the chest of drawers, you can see brush marks when you look closely. When I painted the side table I watered it down slightly and the finish is much better. If you're going to paint furniture I would water it down first.
All in all I am very impressed with my furniture painting skills!

Would you consider painting furniture?
Amy x
 

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Summer 2013

I had an amazing week off with Gary!
We went camping just outside of York. We then spent the day in York and I visited cath kidston bought some much needed new scales and my gorgeous rug (£20!). 
We had a chilled out few days but also went to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, explored Hardcastle Crags and shopped until we dropped in meadowhall! Had an amazing time with him, was so nice to spend more than 2 days together.

Hardcastle Crags
The giraffes at the Wildlife park
Sunset over Huddersfield
Pinched the picture Gary took from his instagram
Last summer we flew to Canada to visit my parents, who emigrated there, and then we went on a road trip down to San Francisco. It was incredible! This summer has been relatively boring in comparison, but it was just what I needed. I got a lot of crafts done and even decided to learn how to crochet! Very excited for my hooks and yarn to arrive. 

What do you like to do with your time off?
Amy x




Saturday, August 10, 2013

Tips for scrapbooking

Once you have an idea for the scrapbook you want to make start collecting! Keep old train tickets, receipts, leaflets, anything that will add to your collection. When we went to San Francisco last summer I knew I'd be making a scrapbook so I collected loads of extras to make it more than just photos.

I bought the pop-up card from the Golden Gate bridge and it works really well
I always try and make my scrapbook pages slightly different, so one page will be full of photos and another will just have one photo and embellishments. Be spontaneous! Don't try to make it too uniform. Wonky pictures are cute!

Collect stickers from everywhere! Hobbycraft and paperchase can work out to be really expensive so pick stickers where you can - small children, supermarkets, pound shops... I get a lot of my stickers from Canada where they're a lot cheaper. Stickers and embellishments really make a scrapbook, as do little pops of colour.

There are loads of websites that will print your pictures, if you want the polaroid vintage look check out Polargram.com who print 48 photos for £10, they come as you see above. The only problem is you can only print photos which have been uploaded to Instagram. This isn't a problem for me because I upload most of the things we do to keep a record, however check out other photography places like snapfish who do good deals on prints.

Me and Gary made our scrapbook in 2 hours and I cannot stop looking at it! It's such a great way of storing your photos and making something special with your partner.

Have you made a scrapbook before?

Amy x

Friday, August 2, 2013

Wishlist

I am always, always, always searching the internet for things I want to buy (it's such an unhealthy obsession) BUT I rarely actually buy anything straight away, I save the link or put it on my amazon wishlist and buy it when I know I still want it.
Things I am currently lusting after:
I've really been getting into skincare lately. I watched the Caroline Hiron's skincare video and read through her blog and decided I wanted to buy a cleanser. Then after picking a freebie of Balance Me cleanser in Glamour I am amazed! I've never had 'bad' skin in terms of spots or patchiness, the only problems I really have are that my nose is red and I look ill when I don't wear foundation. I've been reducing foundation down to BB creams and powder because I hate the feeling of liquid foundation on my skin. If I could get away without wearing foundation I would. Using a cleanser really helps my skin to glow and I don't need much foundation now to cover my flaws. I am going to buy the Liz Earle cleanser when my freebie runs out.

Since bleaching my hair blonde and dying it back brown the ends of my hair are dry and go frizzy, I've been using argan oil which really helped but I've now run out! Tempted to buy the moroccan oil pictured because bbloggers rave about it, however I bought pure argan oil which I used as a moisturiser too. I'm hoping the moroccan oil will be more moisturising than the argan oil because it's mixed with other ingredients. I'm also going to try the Tre Semme conditioner to try repair my hair further.

Last thing on my wishlist is a lace slip, I saw this on an instagram feed and fell in love. Desperately want something similar to this, it will be perfect to wear under dresses for work, and feels sexy but practical too. I've seen a few gorgeous ones on eBay so I'll be purchasing on of those soon.

Gary is off work next week so we're going camping, to Blackpool and then the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. We're also going to redesign my blog so that it looks a bit more professional! Also watch out for a painted furniture/Annie Sloan review coming up.

Amy x