About zefiart

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

framed

Posted on November 11, 2012 by zefiart

Another gorgeous little project, inspired by this pin on Pinterest, though I approached the subject a little differently.

I got the frames at a garage sale not long ago and knew they’d be perfect for this project. Of course they were dark wood at the time…

I had an old dictionary I never use (after all, there are dictionaries gallore online).

The images came from The Graphics Fairy

Pretty.

I have more framed projects on the go… I’ll be sharing those later. For now I have to get back to work.

intricate birdcage

Posted on November 10, 2012 by zefiart

As promised, here is a preview of something I’ve made for the Shabby Market coming up at a great rate of knots.

Lately I’ve gotten all wired about wire.

I love the stuff. I love the whimsical things you can do with it.

A while ago I made a teeny tiny birdcage as inspired by Pinterest and since then I’ve been feeling the need to make more. So I did. I made more teeny tiny ones. (Pics of those coming later).

I looked through the items I’d collected in my travels thinking they’d make interesting suncatchers or objects d’art. I found two of these little beauties… and I did what any self respecting re-purposer would do:

I made them into bird cages.

Aren’t they cute?

I’m now working on a set of 4 very tarnished silver cups…

Are you as mad about wire as I am?

dangling around

Posted on November 9, 2012 by zefiart

Things have been very busy around here lately. And I’m so glad I no longer had to blog every day!

Over the next few days I’ll be sharing some of the projects I’ve been working on.

Today its the latest suncatchers and windchimes. These were made for a lady who was interested in buying a few as Christmas presents. She said she may be interested in four but I had to make more to give her a choice.

Naturally.

What she doesn’t buy will go with me to the Shabby Market on December 8th.

The first one, above, is one of my creations, made from a tea strainer, keys, beads and crystals.

The one below is a very bent fork (I think Wayne may have had some anger issues on the day he made this one). I then blinged it up with cyrstals and keys.

The one below is more of Wayne’s twisted wire shapes, my bling and antique silverware.

The one below is an ‘on my own’ creation made with a coffee filter (I think it came out of an old coffee pot), lots of different chains and keys – both shiny and rusty.

Another Wayne creation – I love this one. The decorated flat spoon… very pretty.

Wayne’s wire flower suncatcher.

Again, an abused fork, wire and my blinged up forks.

We work well together don’t you think?

smelling the roses

Posted on November 6, 2012 by zefiart

I’ve been taking it easy since the end of the 31 day challenge.

By that I mean I’ve been working till late every night (after work) on projects for Hobart’s first Shabby Chic Market on December 8. And I still have a long way to go!

As I work, watching Criminal Minds, CSI, Bones, Grey’s Anatomy, House Husbands… (I multitask ya know) the poodles keep me company by sitting nearby and watching me work.

Montana, above, next to me, and Romeo opposite. I love the way they’re always nearby!

I always say “get a poodle and never pee alone again”!

The weather has been great lately. Warm days, some light rain. Perfect weather for grass, and weeds, to grow. I got the mower going (or should I say ‘someone else got my mower going so I used it’) and I mowed the lawn.

Of course it needs doing again – mow, look back and its grown an inch… A fact that I ignored on the weekend cause I only had so much time between grooming dogs to work on my market projects. I figure the market has a deadline. The grass will always be there.

But the farm is looking gorgeous and its the best time of year to really appreciate living here. The weather is warm enough to sit in the sun without burning to a crisp in 2 minutes, the breeze fresh, the smell of grass pleasant, the smell of dead things gone. (Only found one dead wallaby on the weekend, seems the toxoplasmosis outbreak may be slowing down. We can only hope.)

Anyway, no rest for the wicket. I have to go to work and then get back to the treadmill that is my life.

More later!

day 31 – a review

Posted on October 31, 2012 by zefiart

Day 31…. Its finally over. The pressure is off! Now I can just go on living my life as if I’m superwoman without the added stress of blogging about something semi-interesting every day!

So lets review. Here’s the original list as it looks now.

Projects to finish:

~~4 wire dangles for a customer order~~ Done. I need to contact the lady.
~~memory box which was going really well till I stuffed it up~~ More or less finished.
put up a shelf I’ve been working on in the toilet The shelf is done… its not up yet cause I have to figure out how to put it up.
finish living room curtains I started over a year ago Not even started.
~~memory tin I haven’t stuffed up yet~~
~~finish sorting items to donate to the work garage sale~~ The garage sale has been and gone and I’ve found more stuff I could have donated.

Projects to start (and finish would be good):

make tea light holders for the porch for summer Not started
organise hanging baskets for around the house I bought chains… its a start.
fix and put up an old chandelier for the bedroom No. Its still in the casita gathering dust.
~~make a hanging light for Wayne’s desk~~ Changed my mind so crossed that off.
~~clean up some old metal baskets and find a home for them in the house~~ Technically its half done, I cleaned up one of the baskets, the galvanised one I’ve used in the office to store objects for inventive dangles.

re-make a drawer unit into a bench for the mudroom I’ve pulled it apart and balked at the work involved. But I will do it. One day…
make a hat rack for mudroom No rush. The mud room is far from finished.
make a coat rack for mudroom Ditto. ie. Not done yet.
make a small box to hold mobile phones & chargers Still in the planning stages.
use the flour sacks to make kitchen curtains and cushion covers Not started. This needs to be done soon as I want to include those in the market stall I’m having in early December.
make nifty curtain tiebacks (or rather, ask Wayne to make them for me cause this one involves metal work) Eh. I’ve totally forgotten about this one.
find a use for some fairy lights I have The fairy lights are sitting here, waiting.
make a broken suitcase into a side table The suitcase is now empty and waiting for me to decide whether I should try to mend it or should upcycle it.
finish my tip shop chairs They’ve been put on the backburner since I need to make market stuff first.
fix and paint my gate leg table Ditto.
make a shelf under the kitchen window for herbs I have the bits. Just need to put it together.
paint the mudroom Well… realistically I need a ceiling in there before I can paint the walls, but the window has a frame now so that’s a step in the right direction.

Big projects:

remove office carpet Not yet.
~~remove linen cupboard from LR~~ I did this before the 31 days started.
paint the toilet walls Not yet.
make the smallest room into a walk-in wardrobe Still a way to go on that one.
paint the house – outside Waiting for the weather to be reliably good. I’ll be waiting forever so I’ll do it starting this month. Maybe.
stain the deck Ditto.
repaint most of the house inside, cause I changed my mind on the colours. Backburner.

Not too bad…

On the other hand, I’ve done a ton of things not on the list:

made a wedding present for Kelly and Simon
made 2 items for their wedding and for them to keep
decorated the church
re-arranged the office furniture
bought a cabinet and filled it with my craft stuff
tossed the grimy rug from the grooming room and put down lino offcuts from the mud room, making it easier to clean
learned how to rust things effectively
planted a ton of lavenders and a few other plants and cuttings – some of which are even still alive!
made a dispay for my old scissors and shears
started quite a few projects for the market stall
brought the ironing board into the house and bought a new cover for it so its usable.

So, maybe I didn’t get it all done, but I’m getting there in my own way. The round-about way where I take a step forward, a few steps to the right, a step back, two steps forward, spin around, step sideways and hop to the right.

I’m taking a break now.

I think I reached a point where I’m just so tired… for the last week, at the end of a long day, I’ve had no energy to do anything but watch TV in the evenings.

I need to restore myself so my hands get restless again, then I can start working on stuff as I watch TV like I usually do. I miss my times in ‘the zone’ where I multi-task cause doing just one thing is a waste of time.

Where is SuperZefi?

I want her back!

day 30 – the beach

Posted on October 30, 2012 by zefiart

Yesterday was a glorious day. 23 degrees C, a light breeze… It was the kind of day when Hobart is the best place in the world to live.

It was also one of those days when I have the best job in the world. Yesterday was my 1:1 day with a client where we’re free to go out and enjoy the day. We went to Kingston Beach for a long walk on the sand and along a walking track.

Today its a bit cooler, a bit rainy, and tonight the temperatures will drop and the horses will have to put their pjs on for a few days again.

Got home late yesterday, meetings you know, and just didn’t feel like doing anything at all.

So:
List some random number big enough to make you feel queasy.
Zefi nil.

Ok. Not quite, but close enough.

What I did do:
I took the dogs for a run in the paddock and laughed at their antics.
Spent some time rubbing Ben’s tummy.
Clipped off Montana and did 1/2 a groom on her as well. You could say I’ve now groomed one entire standard poodle…
Watched Mischa find the dead baby blackbird I tossed over the fence the other day, in an entire paddock, and roll in it.
I had another close encounter with the dead baby blackbird as I relocated its remains.

What I didn’t do:
Wash poodles.
Clip and wash Barney.
Fold the washing. I did move it to a place the dogs can’t sleep on it. Does that count as a tick?

Turns out I also unwittingly gave Barney a forbidden treat.

When I got home I put my bag on the floor in the corner of the office, forgetting I had a small organza bag in it (from the wedding) with 5 chocolate hearts in it.

While getting ready for bed I found an empty (and strangely undamaged) organza bag on the floor and one tiny bit of red foil. That’s all that remained.

We’re looking forward to finding the ‘decorated’ poop in the yard over the next couple of days.

day 29 – rusty horse shoes

Posted on October 29, 2012 by zefiart

What I did today:
I mowed the lawn.
I went to Fentonbury to have a look at what work needs to be done there, and organise it.
I visited the pacing trainer I bought Ben from and collected some rusty horse shoes. Cause you never know when you’ll need more rusty horse shoes.
I put off folding and putting away clothes. Again.
I groomed half a dog. Or should I say, I half groomed one dog. I put Romeo on the table and clipped the dirt off him. Its amazing how poodles are clean under the top layer of fur. Tomorrow is Montana’s turn. Then they’ll both get a wash. At least that’s the plan.
I bought a baby oak tree. Now to research where to plant it…
I made carbonara with minimum bacon. By necessity, not choice.

What I didn’t do:
Look at my To Do list. Time is ticking, we’re nearing the end of October and I’ve barely scratched the surface of the list.

Basically, I crossed off a couple of items and added 4 more.

day 28 – it gets worse before it gets better

Posted on October 28, 2012 by zefiart

That’s what they say. And let me tell you, its true!

Here is what the office looks like now:

I’ve pilled old suitcases and metal boxes on top of the dresser to hold things in an organised fashion. I added tags to everything so I’d know what went where.

I can see the desktop. But give me 5 minutes…

And I found a use for a couple of the bedsprings I got from the tip shop a couple of weeks ago.

This is what the office looked like earlier today:

Yep. There’s a desk under there somewhere…

This was yesterday:

This was today:

So, you’ll agree… it did look a lot worse before it got better, right?

Then, cause I loved the whole tag thing, I went a bit crazy and started tagging everything. Including the suitcases in the guest room which act as a bedside table.

I’m pretty happy.

What I did today:
I found my desk. I found the coffee table in the living room. I did 3 loads of washing. I made a cheesecake.

What I didn’t do:
Clip and wash the poodles. Its only been on the list for 3 weeks. Fold the washing and put it away. Cook dinner.

I’m going to go eat some leftovers and watch TV. I think I earned it.

Shared at:

day 27 – running to stay in place

Posted on October 27, 2012 by zefiart

Oh boy!

Was today a day of rushing around like a headless chook or what!

First, I packed the car with everything I’d need to decorate the church, then I had to get the trailer onto the car so I could go pick up the dresser. In order to do that I had to let Wayne know what I was doing. It went down pretty much the way I expected it to… he ~~spat the dummy~~ was thrilled and excited about my purchase.

Here it is in my office – now go on! This is worth being yelled at isn’t it?

Its going to hold a lot of crafting stuff, office stuff and general stuff in the office for me. All I need to do now is sort the stuff out and start cramming it in! Maybe I’ll get lucky and actually clear the coffee table in the living room…

After moving this baby in I had a dog to groom. He’s one of my special customers, a sweet little boy that comes in regularly for a wash and tidy.

When he was done I was off to the church where I made bows to the sounds of the choir practising for a concert in November. It was actually lovely to be working to their singing.

I put the little sign I’d made on a plate holder on a table near the church door. I covered the table in burlap and rose petals… The rose petals were stolen from a garden on the way to the church. I’d been thinking that I really needed some red rose petals so I took a scenic route to the church looking into gardens for easily accessible roses.

Isn’t the saying “Something old, something new, something stolen, something blue”?

Sorry about the photo. It was dark and the flash didn’t look good on the sign. For that reason its smaller than usual… smaller photos don’t look as blurry!

Then it was a rush home to jump in the shower and make myself beautiful so we could be back at the church in 30 minutes. The wedding was beautiful and Kelly and Simon looked happy as they said their vows. Kelly was gorgeous and the bridesmaids looked great in their red grecian style gowns.

After the wedding I shot off to the reception hall to add the heart wreath to the bridal table. The reception was great fun, the food very good, the sweets excellent and the hall looked fantastic in the red and white theme.

Here is the happy couple…

And here is the Baileys I ordered which came in a beer glass. I had to get a photo of that! … Too bad they didn’t feel the need to fill it to the top…

All in all, it was a very busy but lovely day!

day 26 – wedding decorations

Posted on October 26, 2012 by zefiart

Yes, yes. A day late. I know. I know. I had started this last night but I couldn’t get photos till this morning. So live with it!

I don’t know if I mentioned that our friends Kelly and Simon are getting married today. They asked me for help decorating the church.

I’d tried to get into the church a week ago to see about the decorations they’d arranged to use… the church is always open but there was no one there. And I had no idea how to find someone to ask. I’m greek orthodox and our churches are different, as are our wedding ceremonies. Not that I’d know how to decorate for a greek wedding either…

Anyway, I thought I’d make a few things for the wedding to use at the church or the reception… Whichever worked. In the end, thanks to the endless amount of free time I have, I only managed to do two things – a heart wreath which I think I can place at the head table at the reception. Or on the cake table. Or on the door…

I used willow twigs, wire and jute string to make the heart, then reinforced it with raffia bows. I added flower decorations, a bought (and Zefi-fied) wicker heart, a jute tassel I made with a small clockface and rusty key and some pearls. I really want to add a tag which has their names and wedding dates on it but I dont have any tags! If I can get one this morning in town I’ll add that to the wreath.

The other thing I made was a small sign I had planned to put at the door to the church, as a kind of welcome to people as they walked in.

I made this out of an old sign which I’d sanded back to resurface. I used an image of hand made paper with flower petals in it and created the sign in InDesign.

I then glued it to the timber using spray adhesive (I get too many bubbles with PVA glue) and then covered it all in some satin varnish for protection.

I added a rusty wire heart which I fixed to the sign using one of my pre-rusted eye hooks. Unfortunately there’s nowhere to hang the sign at the door so I’m going to have to compromise. I’m taking in a small plate stand to put it on at a table near the door.