Tins- Old and New

Almost another month over and the kids are on holidays again, the year's hurtling by and l guess before we know it the Christmas posts will be going up. 
As l was finding the tins for todays' post l was thinking about the many tins we had in our house as l was growing up, and how they held the stuff of life. 
The tins we had were mostly inherited down through the family, however if we ever recieved a tin of biccies or choccies, the tins were never thrown away, but absorbed into cupboards and filled in no time....generally with some foodstuff or other.

Our kitchen mantle held a set of 70's floral tin canisters, (before then they were bakelite), they held the flour, sugar, rice and tea and were used daily. Though my Mum has moved house since then, the canisters still remain in use on her mantle. Another of these old tins we called the junk tin which held all the items that no-one knew what to do with, but didn't want to throw out. About a year ago Mum and l were looking for something and she pulled out this old tin. l was amazed to see many of the things still there from when us kids were in Primary school. There were keys from our old bike locks, or school lockers, knucklebones, assorted broken jewellery... including an old anodised kissin' cousins locket, my brothers marbles (l knew he lost them somewhere... haha!!), and many other bits and bobs, it was a real blast from the past.

My favourite tin of all was the OLD photo tin, (there were a few photo tins) but this one contained all the photos from my Mums childhood... Her Uncles in their army gear heading off to the first world war, her Grandmothers' and her Mum (who'd died) and her Sisters, there were pictures of horse and carts, the farmdogs whose names Mum could reel off for us, but the best pics were her wedding photos which were sepia negatives wrapped in black paper still waiting to be developed, we were NEVER allowed to open that packet... but once in a (long) while she would open it and give us a quick peek inside, it was wonderful to get a look at how young and swish her and dad looked on their big day. To this day she's only ever had the one taken off as by the time finances were flush enough to do them, all but one had faded into oblivion. 

l used to have quite a large collection of tins, but sold off or gave away all but my favourites, a few of which you may have seen in previous posts. Most of them arn't vintage but have beautiful pictures on them, and are so useful for buttons,biros, cards and beads and the like.

On a recent opshop visit l found this acrylic necklace which was part of a selection of new jewellery on the counter. Since l love plastic jewellery l couldn't pass up this necklace even though it cost a pretty steep $15.00. The kinda matching bangle in the background was a recent (fantastic) gift from a friend. They are shown with a couple of my vintage moulded plastic bangles.

At trash a few weeks ago there was a lady selling off her old jewellery, she had quite a few pairs of earrings in her tins and these are the ones l picked out. They are fifties with the exception of the coloured diamentes in the background which judging by the clips... may be older. There are a couple of stones missing in one pair but meh...

Beautiful play of light through these lace lightshades. moredesignplease via the theparisapartment



Gorgeous product packaging so neatly organised its cabinet.

heirloomsbysusan via the paris apartment.

Who'd have thought mismatched bedlinen could look so good. wakeupfrankie. via pinterest.

VERY creative chandeliers. hearts-of-glass. via pinterest.

Now that's what l call a garden bed. sweethomestyle. via pinterest.

Dreamy magical image from. fairytalesbynature. via pinterest.

Hope you've enjoyed the trip down memory lane today. Thanks for stopping by.

Til next time,
Bron.

Spring- Florally Friday.

Until yesterday it would've been about 7 weeks since l had a free for me day. With hubby in and out between jobs (distracting me, {which isn't hard}) ...as well as working and painting at sons' place...well what can l say... l had the place to myself and was like a dog off the chain, l raided the garden for blooms, and "borrowed blossoms" that were hanging over the fence from next door. l took stacks of photos and l really hope you enjoy my bit of "artistic" editing. 

You may remember a few weeks ago l did a 2 hour photo editing course at my local TAFE..

They used the free Picasa program that you can get off the net ...which l didn't have, but l ALSO got to spend a happy couple of hours downloading and playing around with the program yesterday.

It's fantastically user friendly which is great for people like me who only have the most basic of computer skills.

Above pic.- A while ago my Sister lent me her Tricia Guild book to read, and l loved almost every page so l photographed some of the pics and put them away in my files. It was great to be able to collage them.  (Thanks Sis for letting me share).

The program allows you to manipulate the pics in almost any size, direction or combination.

Above pic. Next doors blossoms in old apothacary jar. l wonder if you can spy the old and broken (but still pretty) moonstone necklace around the jars' neck.

l bought this old silver plated rose bowl at the opshop...mostly cos it came with it's frogger (the mesh that holds all the flowers) It was fantastic for arranging these camelias as they're notoriously contrary. Their large heads and short, weightless stems are a nightmare for the wannabe florist.



The latest countrystyle magazine has these florally Spring pics which were part of the inpiration for todays' post.

 rachelashwellshabbychic  Doin' it her way... Spring table setting.

 

NEAT girly pink workroom. andreasingarella via pinterest.

Fabulous faux... would love to know how to make a bouquet like this.rocknrollbride via pinterest.

Thank you so much for dropping by...have a wonderful weekend.

Til next time.
Bron.

Dining Table Update

Hi there....l'm wondering if you're all as sick of seeing makeover in the title as l am, so today it's an "update" instead. l've been back on the paintbrush at son's place (he owes me BIGtime). This early eighties dining setting was a right mess before l began,  but of course l went gung ho into the job as l always do.... and didn't have the camera with me, so there's no REALLY bad before pics, but no matter... What you see below is the table scrubbed clean and sanded, the glass taken off, as well as the seats stripped of two layers of yuck fabric back to the original, which was the worst of all. 



It took forever to get the seats unscrewed.....if only l'd had a cordless drill instead of the old hand screwdriver.



The fabric l've used is a printed hessian from Spotlight, and was the only fabric in aqua and white l could find that l thought my son would put up with (definitely no florals allowed). Hessian is very cost effective but not very durable because of it's large open weave (though this printed one is better than the plain). l sprayed all the undersides of the fabric (after cutting out) with clear spray paint which will hopefully make it a bit stronger. After the fabric was stapled in place l painted all the raw edges and across all the staples (on the underside of the seat) with a clear acrylic sealer, which should stop the hessian pulling away from the staples and deter the edges from fraying.



I've painted the setting a very pale greige... in low sheen acrylic paint, (no name it was a concoction).

Any way you'd think that now it's finished son would be happy to sit THERE and eat his tucker.....but nooo... Last night l got a desperate phone call asking how to clean up the plate of spagetti sauce that he'd upended on his (newish cream) carpet (while watching the telly)....guuyyysss!!!

 

After  the setting was finished, l was looking through pinterest and right away found all these lovely aqua and white pics that l'm sharing today. Everyone must be on the same wavelength.

Perfectly co-ordinated dotty kitchen from chic-deco. via  pinterest.com

Love this beautiful shabby chest of drawers in faded blue. countryliving.com via pinterest. 

Relaxed outdoor living from hookedonhouses via pinterest

Gorgeous kitchen from meadowbrookfarm via pinterest.

Thanks for dropping by,

Til next time,

Bron.

Books,Bargains and Blooms.

Hope the week's been kind, at least it's almost the weekend. l've been thinkin' it's been ages since l posted any of my art work and in truth, l've not been painting a lot of pictures lately. There always seems to be some other committment or distraction..... and for me l need a large block of time set aside,(3 or so hours) otherwise it seems pointless even getting the brushes out. 
l've painted many murals over the years and enjoy doing them more than canvases. It's great the way a finished work can really change a space. My favourite room to paint is a childs room, cos usually it's a picture that's fun and is often something they've picked themselves. When they see it finished..... the face says it all.

This is a photo of a photo so the quality or detail isn't fantastic... this mural was done in a room for 2 boys, (the size is 3metres x 2.8m...ish)  Their beds sat either side of the mural so it was pointless doing a lot of detail in the bottom corners, as you can see it's just rocks, shadows and a few plants. Most of the action is in the central/upper part of the painting. l always use water based acrylics as they're less toxic than oils and dry nice and quick. l usually draw up a sketch for the client based on their ideas, occasionally (if l'm lucky) they will have a picture which l can use as inspiration. l like to make sure we're all on the same page for the colours. It's not enough to say blue or green, everyone's vision is different and the more that can be sorted before l begin, the less problems we have as the painting emerges. Generally they take about a week to paint, but this depends largely on the amount of detail. We always agree on a price before l begin.
You can see another of my murals is here. l will post some more over the coming weeks.

l took some pics of my fave finds from the past month or so.....Now is it just me, or are op shops getting really excee. It seems l have to really apply myself to find a bargain these days... and the pickin's have been a bit slim for budget conscious me. Still...l'm up for the challenge. This beaded collar was attached to a not so nice Tshirt so l unpicked it, nice bit of girl bling...$7.00. Vintage plastic bangles - gold and silver, they have an embossed flower pattern. Cheap at 50cents each.

Perfume bottles which l'll decorate and other bottles and jars....why...l don't know, but each one cost no more than a dollar, and may come in handy...!! 

How creative is this use of light bulbs...mini water gardens. acquireboutique via pinterest.

This chocolate box was my best find and was free. l bought some jewellery from a guy at the market which was stored in it and asked him if l could buy this too. l'll throw that in he says.....arn't people nice. l think it may be 60's, and the label's near perfect.
The purple gems inside were on a pair of shoes, l took them off and threw away the shoes...they were rubbish!








A couple of old original paintings $7.00 for the pair. At least the market's still cheap.

l'm not sure, but l wonder if these books have all been painted the same colour. Anyway they look really sweet...pinterest.com.

This is the jewellery that came in the chocolate box. Daffodil necklace and the one on the right is stamped arcansas which despite it's (American) name was made by Elizabeth Reimer (she was a Hungarian immigrant) who designed jewellery in the 50's and 60's in Sydney. Don't know what the stones are but they look a little like moonstones.

A few weeks ago l got a book out the library called Girligami, which l guess is origami with a girl focus. l had a go at making the shoe that was featured. I was sooo bad at it, this shoe is my second attempt and looks only remotely like the one in the book, but hey it was fun trying (ok frustrating as well) but with a few more tries....

Who knew books could look so good. Lovin' those bookmarks.velvetstrawberries via pinterest. 

Some of the camelias from my garden.
Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Til next time,
Bron.

Kitchen Makeover.

When l began blogging late last year l was really hopeful that l could post twice a week for a year and up until this week, all was good with that plan......and even though todays post is kinda two in one, it's not the same... but life's like that sometimes....

l spent ANOTHER day painting at son's house this week, finally l can show the after pics....WHEWW!!!  

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure if you can see the 36 years of wear and tear on these kitchen cupboards..but believe me, they're a mess....so even l was surprised at the magic created from elbow grease and a tin of paint. These cupboards are on the left of the kitchen below.

 

 

The stain on the cupboards is sooo dark, and add to that years of nicotine residue.... it wasn't easy to get a pure white result. After lots of scrubbing, sanding, undercoating and layers of paint (four) at last all the effort seems worth it. The colour is Dulux White on White and is in an easy to wipe clean semigloss.

 

The knobs were also changed to a brushed stainless, they were kept simple in keeping with the style of the kitchen... That lace curtain has gotta go.

Just wanted to share these three gorgeous pics from  countryliving.com  via pinterest.

A few weeks ago l was chuffed to recieve from Tam  atreasuredpast. the Versatile blogger award. Thanks heaps Tam.....though she may not read this since she is happily romping around England with her family at the moment...lucky her...Anyway there are a few things l need to do...Attribute the award giver and link their blog - tick... share 7 things about myself- tick... and pass this award on to 15 new blogs,( half a tick). So here goes......

1. l'm an early riser and hit the floor most days at around 6.00 which is great unless you want someone to party with at night.... l get quite grumpy around 9.00.

2. l practised martial arts (taekwondo) for many years and came to within one grade of going for my black belt... but quit to become an aerobics instructor. This was a "couple" of years ago, and now.... can barely raise an eyebrow let alone a sweat.Haha!!

3. l lived on the Gold Coast for almost five years and like a true Victorian...often got tired of the endless sunny days, hard to believe but it's true...l missed our lovely and even not so lovely seasons. 

4. When l was young l hated antiques and old stuff...til one day l saw a set of 5 gorgeous  ruby glass glasses etched with gold in the window of an opshop as l passed by, they cost $7.00 ... and l've been trawling for "old stuff" ever since.

5. l never listen to the radio and rarely watch the news on telly....

6. A bit out there saying this l know.....but l don't like Footy and don't follow a team, and l'm married to a (rare) man who also can't stand it.

7. I'm a VERY keen gardener.... when it's not too hot, or too cold, or too windy, or too sunny.....hahaha!!

l'm hoping that less than 12 months is considered NEW blog cos l want to award the Versatile blog award to some of my blog friends on my sidebar.

In no apparent order these are my blogs of choice.

hviturlakkris - Scandinavian pale and interesting

kyandra   Creative  and beautiful.

boatshedchic.   Gorgeous seaside living - creative makeovers.

theparisapartment. Daily inspirational loveliness

rachelashwellshabbychic. Still lovin' everything- new book soon ...yay.

LUSH  Lots of funky home and fashion ideas.

sunshineinmyshadows Girl bling and inspirational writing.

mdinteriordesign.  Colour and design - Floral photography 

shabbychicgirls  So so beautiful

magpie   Lovely whimsy pics and stories about life.

l know this is only 10 blogs but that's close to 15 isn't it. Let's hope the blog police aren't out and about.!!

So please just cut and paste to your blog.

Also this week l did a photo editing class at my local TAFE, just a couple of hours. There were only two of us, so it was interesting and we had lots of help. Pity l don't have the program they used .....hopefully l can get onto something similar.

The original pic is left to which l've added (silly) text... on the right l've created focal colour with black and white background.

Here l got to add spots of bright colour. I really like this one....

Feelgood pic of the day..... a friend of mine emailed me this a few weeks ago...she knows how much l love birds. What an awesome MUM she is.!!

Enjoy the weekend everyone. Thanks for coming over and big thanks also to my newest followers. Nelly, Maria and Kym.

Til next time.

Bron.