Lexie loves..

Hi ladies and a good evening to you..

Do you know what today was? Today was my last day in work for 17 whole days! That's right petals..I am officially on holiday! Cue many celebrations and some frantic packing and organizing!

I just wanted to stop by today for two reasons...firstly to say a big, smiley hello to my new followers. Hi guys!! Thanks so much for joining me on my blogging adventure, you are eternally welcome here! I will be checking out your blogs very soon..I love finding new blogs to fall in love with! 

Unfortunately though, you have stumbled upon my blog at a time when I am about to go on hiatus. But fear not, there is a WiFi connection where I am headed so I'm sure I will have time to stop by and share a photo or two of what will probably be a very wet, rainy Cornwall.

But, before I head off down the M4 to the countryside and beyond I just wanted to share some of the things that have been keeping me busy these last two weeks or so..

1. I have been busy renewing my holiday wardrobe and in the hope of some sunshine I decorated a straw trilby hat with some glorious ditsy print binding. It will be perfect if the sun shines! 

2. Packing has begun in earnest and in an attempt to convince myself to catch up on all those books I have been collecting I have packed them...they will be read...or at least, I will really try to convince myself to read them. 

3. After a long week and the growing weariness that comes from 6 months without a real break from work and day to day life, my calendar made me all kinds of smiley when I finally remembered to flip it over to June. Thanks calendar!

4. Lastly, not content with just the hat, I also madeover a plain beige belt..it had two gold bars across it, now they are two beautiful floral bars..perfect! No sun required for this little beauty.

And that's me for now, wish me well on my jolly holiday. I am hoping for laughter, flea markets, lovely photos and superb memories and the joy that comes from being back in the beautiful English countryside..just where I belong. 

With love,

Lexie

x

P.S Have you heard the word about the Cath Kidston summer sale...!!!!

I think they call it a Ta-Dah..

A short while ago I set myself a little project after being inspired by some lovely lovely pictures. Today was the day that I decided to get on with it. I was supposed to be visiting my beloveds in my lovely former home town of Cheltenham. My poor housemate got a case of the lurgies and is too poorly to drive us down. So, I decided to be productive instead and get cracking on beautifying my old chest.

I am a rather impatient person and I was fully aware when starting this project that I would get bored and impatient about half way through. Well, it turns out that I couldn't even last five minutes before the complaining set in. It seems that wallpaper is in fact,  the most hideous beast to work with when you're not pasting it on walls or using it in small quantities! Hideous! I got angry, I took it out on the wallpaper, the wallpaper didn't care. But thankfully I didn't give up. Damned if I was going to have a half finished chest even if I did have glue all over my hands and floorboards, paint in my hair and all down my arm.

A couple of hours later and I'm done. The only thing that kept me sane was the decision to paint some of the trickier fiddlier areas of the chest instead of papering them...

A few short hours ago the chest looked liked this on the inside..

Look at it all ugly, brown and grubby. I stripped as much of the old paper as I possibly could (tedious, tedious task)

It no longer looks like this! After fighting with some very pretty wallpaper for what felt like an eternity it now looks like this..

I am actually really really very pleased with my handywork! Don't get me wrong, if you look close enough you'll spot the imperfections...there are a few! But I am more proud that I followed it through and that it looks as lovely as I hoped. I think the white of the paper goes well with the clotted cream colour of the Annie Sloan paint and this little chest will definitely be coming to my bootsale with me in a couple of weeks...as a prop of course and definitely not to be sold.


What do you think? All I need now is an excuse to keep it open all.the.time!

If you're thinking of making over a similar piece, I used 3 metres of wallpaper with some watered down PVA glue and I got some beautiful lace crochet/lace trim for the lid edging. I peeled as much paper as I could and then vacuumed every inch to avoid getting gluey dusty, dirt everywhere.


Now I'm off to make some mini bunting, some not so mini bunting and other such beautiful things to sell at my stand.

Lots of love,

Lexie

x



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All about tape..

And there goes another Sunday..but my what a beautiful sunny Sunday it has been. How was yours? I spent some time tidying my garden today and now everything looks a bit spring like..a little less soggy and brown from months of winter so now there is much to look forward to..

My weekend in general has been rather lovely, what with all the sunshine, a fabulous time spent at the theatre yesterday and some time spent meeting Zach Braff himself (though not one on one I should say)..quite a big deal for me considering he has been one of my actor crushes for about 12 years...but enough about that.

Anyway, readers, I have a new obsession! Have you discovered the wonder that is patterned masking tape?? Yes? No? Some of you crafters may know the brand 'Washi Tape', I have never used it myself but the idea is much the same.  Think masking tape, think pretty patterns..think possibilities.

I picked up some Cath K patterned masking tape some time ago, it was on sale and it looked cute so I grabbed it...months later and I am sitting painting some mini wooden storage crates for my shop and I'm thinking 'this needs something extra'..and then it came to me! I stuck the masking tape to the wood and oh my, the result was lovely.

What you are left with is what looks like a really fine paint job but it is, in fact, tape. I was so excited by the result that I invested in a variation of tapes and have since found a plethora of items to decorate in time.

My tape collection, growing slowly.

Sadly, it seems that Cath K no longer has the tapes on sale but I was lucky to pick up a second pack from ebay. 'My fabric house' also have a lovely stock of fabric tapes which are very similar to the masking tape and full of just as much potential. 

I have been busy decorating everything in site with my tapes, including photo frames and more mini crates. But one of the most exciting realisations has been that the tapes make the most wonderful decoration for shelf edges as modelled beautifully by my craft room cabinet..

The tape turns transparent once stuck down so it looks like
intricate paint work.

A really simple yet beautiful effect that gives that added detail to your furniture, accessories and trinkets...of course this tape can also be used for gift wrapping, card making and scrap booking if you see fit..but I think some of the possibilities are far more exciting than that! For my next trick, I will be decorating plastic Easter eggs with floral tapes! It doesn't get any more spring like than that.

So there you are, new obsession shared! 

I will be back soon to tell you all about a favourite shop of mine that I revisited yesterday..you'll love it!

With love,

Lexie

Jumper weather

Am I the only one who is ready for some lovely cold, Christmassy snuggle weather? The weather in London at the moment is frustrating, it seems to alternate between torential rain and humidity..bah! I keep wearing my winter coat to work and by the time I've taken 3 steps I am sweating! (Nice image there). Enough of this I say, I want to wear my awesome new gloves, scarf and hat...I want to swaddle myself in layers of clothing and knitwear and boots and leg warmers and feel Christmassy!

To this end, and in the hope that the humidity and rain will soon be replaced by frost and the site of my breath as it drifts into the winter sky, I have purchased the most lovely jumper..from Cath Kidston no less...way more expensive that I can afford but with the aid of some birthday money it is mine..mwahaha. And in celebration of my new wintery addition I have put together some outfit inspiration using one of my favourite websites: Polyvore...mentioned here but a few short weeks/months ago.

I am also suddenly feeling an affinity for high heels..specifically heeled boots, although when I say high I mean only 2 inches high. You see, being of irregularly tall stature (6ft no less) I tend to stick to the safety of flats to avoid the old "She looks like a man in drag" thing but I do love heeled boots and so..what the hell! The progress is slow but I am gaining in confidence. 

Anyway, how are you feeling about the pending winter? Do you love knitwear as much as me?? How about that jumper hey?

Lexie x x x

Who wants free things? (CLOSED)

Oh yes I am. I've been meaning to give away some lovely homemade goodies for quite some time and I have finally got around to making something lovely enough to give away.

If you love Cath Kidston, homemade treasures and pretty little trinkets then you need to enter my giveaway right this instant.

One lucky winner will receive a keyring made by Lexie (That's me you know) personalised with your initial (in cross stitch) and finished off with the Cath Kidston pattern of your own choosing.

I have six adorable Cath Kidston prints for you to choose from, if you can even choose!

Not only that but the lucky winner will also get a secret surprise homemade little pretty as well! 

Two runners up will receive the same surprise gift and believe me they really are very pretty!

So if you're interested in my little prize simply leave a comment under this post and tell me your name. You can say hello too if you like!

If you know anyone who is a Cath Kidston devotee then why not enter for them as well?

Spread the word and get commenting and I'll select the winner at random as soon as there are enough entries to make it fair...(more than one would be good).

Remember to check back in a week or so to see if you are the lucky one!

Update: I can't reply to all your lovely lovely comments because I'll mess up the number system but thank you so much for your wonderfully kind words!