Happy Halloween

Yesterday myself & my good friend Shona got in the Halloween spirit with a little bit of pumpkin carving. I was happy with the results. 

DRN

Words of Advice

Just a collection of quotes that have stuck with me over the years, so I decided to make them into type posters, all designed by me.

DRN

D(IY)arren

So I have a habit of collecting pictures and framing them, (example) but some of my favourite prints are just too big to frame, not to mention expensive. So I got a few different sized Bulldog clips from a office supply store, pinned some steel nails in the wall, and ta-dah!

All done. I hung up some fairy lights too, they are battery operated and set the mood. I love how it came out, especially since that wall is the first thing you see when you walk into my room... Now I just need something for my back wall, and I have just the thing in mind. More on that later.

DRN

Simple Party Ideas.

Everyone knows that a good party is all about setting the mood... So before my big party I had spent hours trawling through countless design blogs, trying to get ideas for the perfect outdoor party/



In the end I really shouldn't have worried so much, everyone had a great tome, but I think my little touches really set the mood.


The Highlight was definitely out big open fire. Not only was it the focal point of the garden, but it provided heat on the April night when dusk began to set.


Other simple touches were the fairy lights we strung up, nothing is more classy or simple than some white fairy lights, really put everyone in that summer party vibes.


I borrowed a lantern of a friend of mine (the wonderful Shonagh) and just filled them with tea lights. I got a bag of 20 long burning tea lights from the 2Euro shop, was more than enough.

and finally, glass jars. Again so simple and rustic, but they give such a relaxed vibe. For the past month I had been collecting all the jars in our house, salsa dips, pesto, mayo... I soaked them all overnight in a bucket of warm soapy water, and in the morning the labels peeled right off. Then it was simply a matter of placing some of the larger jars around the garden and under some trees. I used the smaller jars as fence decorations, by simply tying them to the fence, we had an instant feature in the garden.

It really was the perfect party. My thanks again to everyone that came.

What I did!

So Im sure everyone rejoiced then this image appeared on the Weather report last night, it is SO rare so see images like this, I knew that Id need to make the most of the day.


My day started of very macho indeed. I went to the Garden Centre to get some compass for the garden. I felt very manly carrying all 3 bales out at once.

This manliness faded fast when I started my car, and Madonna's MDNA came blaring out the speaker. Oh Well.


And here was my mission for the day. Our faded and jaded fence needed to be painted.


Instead of another coat of varnish, we decided to change things up a little, so we went with a light tan colour. When the flower beds start to blossom, and the the green creepers grow along the panels, I think it'll look great.


And here's the finished effect. Which too nearly 5 hours to do both coats, and all the tricky bit inbetween. But, when the weather is fine, and you have good music pumping, the day really flies.


I had just enjoy time, and energy, left to deweed my herb garden.

Hopefully this will be the first of many gardening posts I have up here on WHAM this coming Summer.

SRN

Good as Gold...

I picked up this frame in the Somalia Shop a few weeks back, it was down the bottom of a bin and had no picture inside of it. What it did have however was a 50 cent price sticker, which was reason enough for me to buy it.

When I got home I flipped through old issues of i-D magazine I came across ‘Le Saut dans le Vide’ (Leap into the Void) by French artist Yves Klein. I love this image so much, the idea of free falling, and the pain that comes after it. It needed to be framed.



What I didn't Love however was the frame, so dark and clunky looking. Everytime I looked at the Black & White image itself, it felt to me so much more depressing.


Luckily I had some gold paint left over from my CHAIR, and it was all it look to give the frame a new lease of life. I just gave the frame one quick coat, using a sponge to apply the paint, so it wouldn't leave and brush strokes, just a stained effect.



I Love how it now looks on the Wall of Frame. It doesn't look dark or heavy, and the gold does what its meant to do, it frames the image, and doesn't subtract.

DRN