About zefiart

Blogger, DIY-er, poodle lover, graphic designer, dog groomer, recycler, artist, wonder woman in my spare time.

basket full of burlap flowers

Posted on December 6, 2012 by zefiart

I remember when I first read about making burlap flowers the tutorial said “be careful not to burn your fingers, cause you WILL burn your fingers.”

I sure burned mine.

I have a new hot glue gun, a big one, bought at a garage sale. Cool. Or rather, hot. Much hotter than the small one I’ve been using till now.

Or so it seemed when I got a nice big dollop of hot glue on the nail of my right ring finger.

YOUCH.

That made me stand up and pay attention!

So, with blood, sweat, tears and burns, I present a basket full of burlap flowers for the market.

See you there!

dictionary prints

Posted on December 6, 2012 by zefiart

A few more small frames with dictionary page art in them. Graphics thanks to the Graphics Fairy.

This one’s for you Angie (Knick of Time) cause I know you love clocks! A tribute!

This is one on my favourites cause I love old fans.

And a black frame – why not? Not everything needs to be white!

Apologies for the last two photos, they were taken in my lightbox and aren’t the best.

the small coat rack

Posted on December 6, 2012 by zefiart

Another tip shop find. This poor little coat rack was in a bad state when I found it. Broken bits, chipped paint, screw holes and a couple of nails which had been used to fix it to a wall.

Some gluing, some sanding, some filling of holes… nail removal of course, and a lick of paint and its as good as new…

Better than new actually, with its chipped paint and the character of a much loved old piece.

framed bunnies

Posted on December 6, 2012 by zefiart

I love this print of bunnies in a wide shabby style frame. Its a frame I bought a while ago at a garage sale when I found the frames in this post.

The colours are soft and the bunnies look so cute and cuddly. This might be perfect for a little girl’s room. Then again, it would be perfect in my kitchen too…

When I bought these frames they were all dark timber and looked clunky. With some antique white paint and a bit of distressing they’re light and pretty and not a clunk in sight.

fish bowl with a difference

Posted on December 6, 2012 by zefiart

You know those wooden bowls you find in almost every op shop?

Well this one was fish-shaped. Different. Unusual.

It appealed to me cause things that are different and unusual always catch my eye.

This is what it looked like when I found it – boring, uninspiring.

This is what it looks like now – fun, whimsical and offbeat.

I’m not sure if you’d use it as a bowl or hang it on the wall. Either way, I think its cute and much much more interesting than it was before!

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odds & ends finials – counting down

Posted on December 6, 2012 by zefiart

The countdown to my first ever market stall is well underway.

I’m nervous.

I’m excited.

I’m hoping people will love my stuff.

I’m hoping people will buy my stuff.

I’m hoping my car is a lot lighter on the way home than it is on the way there.

I’m worried in case this doesn’t happen and I’m on the wrong track…

Wayne is worried I’ll buy more than I sell…

Meanwhile I’m wrestling with my To Do (In Preparation) List. Instead of getting smaller it seems to be growing. Its now going to be HOT on Saturday* so an electric fan has been added to the things I’m taking with me. And a small eski with ice blocks to keep some water cold.

*Only in Tasmania can you have snow on the mountain on Wednesday and a heat wave on Saturday.

I don’t do well in the heat. But enough about that.

I’m sharing a few more items which will be coming with me to the market. Here are some cute finials made from odds and ends I collected here and there.

I did a bit of mixing and matching (odds & ends, here & there, mixing & matching…hehehe) and when I was happy with the results I glued them together.

Once dry I gave them a couple of coats of paint, beat them around with some sand paper then glazed them with some burnt umber to age them.

They’ve come up really nice I think.

Sometimes I wish I had a bigger house and more room to display things. But then I’d never be able to part with anything…

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the flower tray

Posted on December 4, 2012 by zefiart

I found this worn and battered tray in my wanderings a while ago and brought it home to the tray hospital for some TLC.

This is what it looked like before:

And this is what it looks like now:

The colours are very soft so the photos were difficult to take but you get the idea.

This is another item coming with me to the market on the weekend. I’m getting there in terms of preparedness… the flyers are printed and cut and I found a cute little box to keep them in. The tags are all printed and aged. I have my wrapping paper and more twine for tying.

All I have left to do is finish off a few projects (or decide to forget them and leave them for the next market!) then tag, price and pack everything going.

And pack a ‘market toolkit’…

I have all the best intentions in the world. I come home from work all geared up to get stuck into it. I have plans buzzing in my head: finish xxx, make more of xxx, check xxx…

But I get home, feed dogs, cook dinner, clean the kitchen, check mail, look at the overflowing laundry hamper, at the living room and its piles washing to put away and the craft mess, the carpet that desperately needs vacuuming… and I lose all my energy.

Instead of crafting and organising I sit down and watch the episode of Bones or Grey’s Anatomy or CSI I taped, then go to bed.

I guess I’ll be doing an all nighter on Friday night.

I’m having some serious headaches lately. I think its a tooth which I got filled not long ago. I saw the doctor and ruled out ear infection. Now its down to either TMJ (long name for sore jaw joint from clenching – which I do in my sleep) or a dying tooth… maybe even an abscessed tooth. Yet when I saw the dentist (after the filling but before the headaches cranked it up to ‘killer’ status) he swore there was nothing wrong with that tooth or any in the vicinity, nothing showing on the xrays.

Great.

I’m popping pain killers like they’re going out of fashion but I think I’ll have to bite the bullet and call the dentist today and get in to see someone the earliest they can get me in.

Ugh.

Off to take another pill.

junk4joy banner

Posted on December 4, 2012 by zefiart

Things are coming together… I’ve finished my banner for the market stall. What market? If you don’t know then you haven’t been paying attention!

The Shabby Chic Market at St George’s Church Hall, Cromwell Street Battery Point on Saturday 8th December from 10am – 4pm of course!

I thought having a stall with beautiful things is all very well… but a banner with my logo on it would be so much more professional!

After all, it goes with the flyers!

And I’m really into burlap lately.

Wayne’s been great. He’s coming to the market to help out on the day which is wonderful. He’s made me two weathered stick hanging rails for the dangles we make together and he’s all set to man the booth and buy coffee as needed.

I sure hope people like my stuff!

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4 chalkboards

Posted on December 3, 2012 by zefiart

Chalkboards are a good thing. Not only are they all the rage, but they’re fun, practical and pretty to look at.

In preparation for the market I made these four beauties using bits and pieces I had in my workshop. They’re all different styles and sizes of frame, and all have old drawer pulls added to them for chalk holders.

The first one is a distressed antique white and has a black metal drawer pull with just enough chippy paint to make it extra special.

The second is antique white, glazed with burnt umber and has a rusty bronze coloured drawer pull. This one will have string added to tie onto the chalk for those who lose things.

Third is another antique white and glazed frame with a brass pull, again with a hole for string to be attached.

Last is a pale pink frame with a gorgeously patina-ed drawer pull. Before market day I’ll be adding string to chalk for each chalkboard and perhaps a bit of bling… see how I feel about that when I do it!

I already have 2 chalkboards in our home so I don’t really need any more. (Can you have too many chalkboards?) I have a huge one on the porch to welcome people when they arrive, this one has pegs up top to hold chalk. (My chalkboard art leaves a lot to be desired!)

The other is next to the fridge for the shopping list, also with a peg chalk holder.

an old belt and a pink tray

Posted on December 2, 2012 by zefiart

I don’t know what it is about trays. I don’t really use them, not in the way my grandmother did to serve greek coffee and sweets to visitors. I just love them as decoration, on a table to hold objects or displays of interesting objects.

So when I find an abused and abandoned tray in an op shop I can’t help but rescue it.

Before: