Workdesk Wednesday! - #1 ~ Over The Moon

Yo!

So this is a neat feature I came up with for this year to keep me crafting. Basically it's just a little update once a week with a project that I'm working on that day. Which means I have to do at least a tiny bit of crafting or prep for crafting at the very least, every single week.

This is great for two reasons.

1. I get to set aside some time for myself each week to enjoy my own hobby, which I haven't allowed myself properly since moving out.
2. There'll be some more interesting content for you guys reading and it'll bring you a bit of variety since it won't just be finished pieces, you'll be seeing WIPs too.

Like today. Today is a WIP, mainly because I've only had enough time to do some prep before writing this blog entry so that I can get it posted in time. But that's cool because I can continue work on it after I post this and it may be a finished product in a future update or still a WIP next Wednesday, depending on what I decide to make in the meantime.

So Workdesk Wednesday this week (heehee, first WW!) is the set up of a project that I've actually been planning for quite some time but only just got round to starting.

As a kid I loved the show Sailor Moon, as I'm pretty sure most of my friends did, and when Sailor Moon Crystal came out more recently I was desperate to make some moonie goodies. The first one being this lovely little two piece set of embroidery hoops!

As you can tell from my sketches in some of the shots (which will be traced to make templates for the felt I'll be using for the applique) they're going to be transformed (eventually) into the inside and outside of Sailor Moon's compact.

I'm hoping to upcycle some crystals I took off a tacky old chandelier that came with the bedroom when we moved in (the frame went to my sister, I just wanted all the sparklies) and maybe some beads or buttons from my stash but it does depend on how well they'll fit into the design at this size, so we'll see.

I've been really looking forward to making these so hopefully there'll be updates more frequently than just Wednesdays and Sundays but I'm not 100% on all the features I want to do yet, so I guess we'll all have to wait and see. Even me.

Hope you guys are excited to see how these turn out because I sure am. I'll keep you all posted anyway.

Until next time!

New Year - New Workspace

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a great holiday season and that you're ready and raring to go with all your plans for 2016.

Mine started right here, with a daytrip to Ikea and a weekend of building and organising this beautiful new desk so that I'm able to comfortably indulge my creative side with all my crafting.

I'm not doing any new year's resolutions but I am hoping to keep this blog updated a lot more now that I can get a fresh start, so watch this space for some cool little features beginning to pop up over the next month or so. I have tonnes planned, including a brand new look for the blog. I wanted to wait to post my first entry this year until that new look was up and running but it's not quite ready yet and the new year is fading into the distance fast. Where does the time go, eh?

Anywho, I'll get straight to it. I never showed you guys my workdesk when I moved out a couple of years ago, so here's what it looked like (except way more cluttered most of the time)...

This was when I first moved out and hadn't collected a bunch of sewing supplies, etc. I've accumulated a lot over the last two years, including a brand new sewing machine I got for Christmas this past year. So I definitely needed a less cramped craft corner.

Plus it was pretty lonely sat in the bedroom by myself crafting when the boyfriend was in the living room playing video games. I like company.

Enter plans to refurnish the living room! (Which looks fantastic by the way, I'll get some pictures when it's all done to show you.) But for now, you'll have to make do with this beauty!!

The main "everyday" desk is the glorious little Micke from Ikea and the gateleg Norden table, also Ikea (pretty much my whole living room is now), works as my new sewing table/dinner table (I love multi-purpose furniture! And yes those are my dining chairs hanging off the wall next to it, I kinda love that small-space-living vibe) and folds away when not in use so that we have huge amounts of floor space. Seriously, it's like we gained an entire room and we're not done packing stuff away yet. What even?

There's still a few tiny additions I'm waiting on to add to the main desk. I have some magnetic hooks coming that will be stuck to the backboard behind the monitor and will hold my embroidery hoops, double sided tape and jewellery elastic and I need some more CD cases to finish moving over my stamps from an old binder that's falling apart.

As you can see, all my storage is in clear plastic. I did this not because it's my favourite but because it's the easiest thing to keep consistant regardless of where you buy the storage from, no specific ranges to try and manipulate for use for everything. I did however label all the storage using a gold permanent marker so that it kind of feels fancy without being over the top.

If you'd like a more in depth tour of what I have in and on my desk, such as tools, colouring equipment and materials, or if you want reviews of that sort of thing let me know in the comments below or on my Facebook. This year I want to share with you guys the things that you want to see, as well as what I've been working on in general and I'm going to try and be a lot more active and entertaining for you guys, so don't be afraid to ask for what you're interested in, I want to hear from you!

Until next time!

(Wow, I need to update that signature... Ew...)

Note to self...

This memo board is something I whipped up in a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon when I decided that the second hand frame I'd had lying around for a good five months deserved to be turned into something nice, at long last.

There was a little bit of advanced planning, I'll admit, but for the most part it was all down to an idea I got while looking at other people's craft rooms to come up with some storage solutions for my tiny corner of the bedroom where I do most of my work. I saw some memo hangers and decided, you know what, I could probably make a nice, big one with that old frame I've got knocking about. So I did. And here's how you can make one too!


You Will Need:

• A large wooden picture frame without glass - This one was second hand for £2 in a charity shop and didn't have glass to begin with, just an old painting that I removed, but if you struggle to find one second hand, you can usually remove the glass from newer frames too. (Just be very careful as you do it!)
• Emulsion paint tester pots - £1 each in Wilkinsons
• Multi Mesh - £4 in Wilkinsons
• Wooden clothes pegs - 60p for 36 in Wilkinsons 
• Sandpaper - If you don't already have any you can buy this in Wilkinsons for £1 a pack with 10 sheets included.
• Decorating paint brushes - If you don't already have these, Wilkinsons currently have them in packs of 5 for £2
• Stapler/staple gun, scissors and glue.
• Any additional embellishments you would like to use on the pegs. (Mine won't be decorated until a later date but you can look forward to that post in the future if you're stuck for inspiration!)

The How To:

1. Sand the frame gently all over with a sheet of medium grade sandpaper and paint the entire frame in the first coat of your base colour. I have chosen "Soft Cream", number 177 from the Wilko range. - Don't forget to lay newspaper or an old sheet down first!
2. After allowing the first coat to dry, add another coat in the same colour to get a nice, even covering and then leave it to dry again.
3. Once dry, add a single coat of your second colour paint, this one is "Sweetie", number 401 from the Wilko range. - Try and make the coat even but if there are a few patches, don't worry too much about them as they'll be distressed later. Again, leave the frame to dry.
4. Use the medium grade sandpaper to distress ares of the frame, you can go right down to the wood for a more shabby-chic look if you like, as I have here.
   
5. Turn the frame over and roll the Multi Mesh over the back of it, leaving some overhang. - This makes the next step easier and will be tidied up later.
6. Staple the Multi Mesh down all around the frame, you can do this with a normal stapler opened out, as I have, but this is very hard and tedious work so if you have got a staple gun, you would definitely be much better off using that instead. - I will probably re-do my staples when I can get hold of one, as they will then be much stronger and more secure.
7. Trim the edges of the Multi Mesh so that none shows around the frame, ensuring your staples will remain secure and the mesh won't slip out underneath them.
8. If your frame doesn't have a method of hanging already attached, as with mine, determine your hanging method and attach it to the frame as appropriate.
   
9. Use wooden clothes pegs to clip notes, pictures and odd scraps for inspiration to the board. You can even decorate the pegs to match!

Top Tips:

• If you decide to add embellishments to the frame itself, try not to add too many as it could make the frame look over decorated. - Why not embellish your pegs instead?!
• Choose a smaller grid of mesh to give you more options on where you can peg your items.
• Choose coordinating colours for your paints, remember that you want your base colour to show through your top coat..
• If green mesh doesn't coordinate well with your decor, you can upgrade to wire mesh for £1 extra, still in Wilkinsons. - I got lucky in that my planned colour scheme goes nicely with garden supplies.
• Don't throw away your leftover mesh! (And you're bound to have some extra.) You never know what it could come in handy for and it rolls up nicely for storage. - My remaining mesh is going to become an easy to store guinea pig run!
• Keep spare pegs at the top of the board in case you want to add extra tidbits of inspiration later, that way you'll always be able to find them when you need them!
• You can do this on a smaller scale with a smaller frame if you like, to save space on a mini version just buy some mini pegs, you can find these in a lot of craft stores, but funnily enough Wilkinsons sell them quite cheaply! This jar is one that I have lined up for another project and the jar would make some adorable storage once you've used up all the pegs!

That's all for now but I have loads of projects I'm working on at the moment, most of them I can't yet post but hopefully I'll be able to do some mini projects when waiting for bits to dry on my main works that I'll be able to show you and get this blog a bit more active. I do miss posting regularly.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the tutorial, like my finished piece and give it a go yourself, I'd love to see your interpretations!

Ta ta for now!