Painting Pebbles

My little grandson has ( like myself )  a passion for seashells and pebbles. He always likes to play with my collection of them which are dotted around in various places inside the house, in the garden and in our Summerhouse. So I decided to paint one for him as a keepsake that perhaps when older he can even use as a paperweight.  Below is the finished result. I coated it with a varnish to keep in the colours last night.

The painting isn't terribly good, so keeping the picture childlike is a good excuse for not trying harder. It is actually quite hard to paint on such a small scale, although the pebble isn't that small, but it's still difficult, (for me anyway)  On the back I wrote a little message which is a family joke now ! as whenever I ask Bertie how much he loves me his answer was always £15,( it's gone up a bit now !!!)  ha ha,  and I would reply well I love you millions AND £15.  In case you are wondering who MoMa is it's me ! that's how he said it when he was smaller (he's 3 now) he couldn't say Grandma, so we left it at that as it saves complications with his other Grandma, as neither of us wanted to be called Nanny or Nana.

Now I have to paint one for his little sister Florence, can't do one without the other.  I thought perhaps a little house with a picket fence and a few flowers and of course the bunting and maybe some stars. It's quite addictive !
M xx

Covered Boxes and Christmas Hearts

Yesterday I spent a couple of pleasant hours covering a nest of boxes that I bought from a craft shop. I covered them  with some 'Orla Kiely' paper that I bought recently.  I had also bought a box that was already covered with another of Orla's designs. I love her small designs. The box already covered was rather expensive, but I HAD to have it.   Then I spotted that the shop sold small rolls of paper in different Orla Kiely designs, so I bought a sheet with covering my own boxes in mind. When I got it home I was delighted to find that the paper had a small design on one side and a larger different design on the other. So here are the finished boxes which will look very smart on some shelves in my study/craft room.

My Friend Pam over at 'Hortensia' has also been covering a Pringle carton with some lovely paper from 'Paperchase' and it look good.



The little box on the top is the one I bought covered, I love the design




Christmas Heart's

 I thought I should start adding a little bit of festive bling around the house seeing as we are now into December.  I decide to string these little glass hearts along the mantelpiece, I bought them a few weeks ago, I just loved the colours as they remind me of Indian decorations, so colourful.  They glitter and shine when the candles are lit in the hearth beneath them and look stunning.

 

I haven't had a Christmas tree for some years now as I only like real ones and they are so expensive and then get thrown out after a few weeks, so I have had willow twigs in a large pot and decorated with fairy lights and a collection of 'little folk' that I have been adding to over the years.  Unfortunately my willow twig tree was past it's best after being in the house for a number of years all year, with the fairy lights on, so it became very brittle and was thrown out a few months ago.  I now have to source some more willow twigs for my 'little folk'. Here's a couple of photo's from last year.