Time to Build an Ark Perchance?

It's raining.... bet you didn't know that... it's like totally unheard of isn't it... rain in England! OMG!

I keep hearing people saying things like "How can we be in a drought when it hasn't stopped raining for a month?"  or "How can there be a a hosepipe ban when it's raining?"

I guess the truth is a lot of people don't understand things like water tables and saturation points.  OMG!!! Something actually did soak into my brain during those endlessly tedious geography lessons, my old teacher would be so proud. 

Anyway the lovely hubby and myself went out for a drive around our town "flood watching" in between downpours, it was obviously quite late and getting dark by the time we got out but I thought you never know so I took my camera and am I ever glad I did.  I snapped this picture of a mill (pure fluke and a good camera can do wonders). 

I love the way it almost looks as though it is floating on the water.  My hubby would be terrified living in that house, he as a mortal fear of flooding. 

I can see further trips flood watching... it was good fun, strangely!

Big Girls Paper Dolls

How much fun is this site??? Ohhhh so much fun.

When I was a girl... all them years ago one of my favourite things to do was design dresses, I would spend hours and hours drawing figures and designing clothes, quite often I would make them for my Sindy's,  never had a Barbie,  only ever a Sindy and Pippa's but every spare moment found me drawing, cutting and sewing.

So coming across this site was such a delight. Looklet is a big girls paper doll where you can pick your doll (model)  background, outfits, accessories... give it a try you'll see. 

 

You can create your own lookbooks and share them with your friends.

Have a go yourself, check out Looklet

Dream Office - Part Four

Finally my art room is finished, after several days hard graft painting the walls and the ceiling, it has to be said the ceiling was the worst bit, specially when my husband got a bit of an electric shock from the lights when he took them down to let the ceiling be painted... lesson learned... turn off the electricity even for the simplest of jobs, it's not worth the panic attack. Several days later his fingers were still slightly numb and covered in odd white spots!

I am loving the white walls, I was worried it would look really clinical but the addition of a cream roller blind and touches of colour, like the bright hanging pots on the wall, from Ikea stop the cold feeling and the brightness of the walls really does take advantage of the daylight available in the room, making it a pleasant working environment even late into the evening.

I'm trying to be careful and not rushing to bring every bit of craft stuff I own into the room, it's so tempting but if I do that I will just be surrounded by "stuff" and then it will be too difficult to sort it out. We've put in two white Billy bookcases from Ikea and a sofabed and I can see where I will be putting my filing cabinet, which will one day be modgepodged... it's on the list of "to do's".. once I finish the rest of the house that is!

And I think there is going to be one more bookcase in the room... trust me, every shelf will be filled, I have so many art and craft books it's untrue and I can't wait to unleash my creativity, however that is going to have to wait until the practical stuff gets done... oh the trials of the frustrated crafter!

Dream Office - Part Three

The builders have gone and the art room is done, I had the lino put down and the plaster is thoroughly dried out and waiting for painting, I am planning on bright white paint all over just so that the light bounces around the room. If you are going to be doing lots of work that involves close work light is the most valuable thing you can have.

I've chosen a really pale linoleum for the floor, I wanted something that had the look of wood but obviously laminate flooring and paint doesn't always go well together, specially oil paints, so after weighing up the options I thought linoleum would be the best bet, easily clean, not terribly expensive and easily replaced if it all goes horribly wrong and I drop a pot of paint that can't be wiped up.

On the whole theme of light I chose these eye shaped lights with four separate lights all of which are independantly positionable. All in all that gives eight spots that I can position in different corners of the room or directly onto the work table.

I couldn't believe how difficult it was to choose lights, I knew what I wanted when I went into B&Q but wow the light section was so confusing, every set of lights I liked was either horrendously and unnecessarily expensive or they didn't have them in stock... they had them on the display, twinkling down... but reach into the numbered spot where said lights were supposed to be resting and.... no not there, just an empty space. Very very frustrating.


But now the lights are up on the ceiling I am really pleased with the choice I made and because the room is so well insulated the heat rom the lights actually seems to warm up the room... bonus!