A Huge Outdoor Project ...Yard Work Is Hard Work!!

Hello me dear friends,

a few day ago I mentioned that we had big plans for our backyard and that is where I am spending a lot of my time these days ~ preparing the yard for it's transformation. I spent many hours these past days digging up plants and pulling up our stone paths and moving everything to one side of the yard. I can tell you it is hard work. The plants are older plants so they are really well in the ground so it took a lot of tugging and heaving to get them out and the stones for the paths were so heavy that I had to use a cart to get them over to one side without injuring my back.

Our backyard hasnt' been looking well for some time now because of last years work we had done. We used to have two huge Ash trees which both had the "beetle" and were dying and had to be taken out. That was really something!! Our lawn didn't really recover after that and since most of the shade was gone weeds started to go wild ~ so much actually that it was a challenge to keep up with them.

This is only the beginning of everything to come in our backyard.

Does this picture give you an idea of what is going to happen??

I must be crazy!!! We have thought long and decided to have a pool put in our backyard. I have been working since weeks and weeks on this now getting all my "ducks in a row" (organized) so everything will hopefully go OK without any hicoughs. I am so glad that my husband will be home from work when all this will take place. I am sure I will end up needing more than one box of hair dye to cover all the grey that will be a result of this project. I will take pictures along the way and share so any of you thinking of doing this will get an idea of what you are letting yourself in for.

Unfortunately creating will have to take a back seat for the time which I find a bit sad because when I feel stressed or down creating is the thing to take my mind off things. I am hoping to escape in between for a wee while and maybe get a chance to use one of my ideas that are tucked away in my little book and if I do I will try and share them with you but if I don't get a chance to I hope you won't forget me and take a peek to see when I am back and blogging.

I have added two images to share with you today ~ I thought you might like them.

I wonder if you might know who this is. She was born on August 4th 1900 and her name is Elizabeth. She was a very special lady and she was the mother of a very special lady (if that makes any sense to you).

I will let you know ~ this is the Queen Mother Elizabeth when she was approx. 3 years old.

I found this picture of her one day on the internet and thought it was just so precious.

This is a negative from the Victorian days. It was proof that fairies were real.

 (Well we bloggers all knew that one!!)

Can you see the tiny fairy clothes hanging on the wash line inside the flower?

This is way over 100 years old but hasn't lost any of its magic.

And last but not least ...

... I now have a fairy of my very own!!! Take a look!!

This is my wee tiny fairy. 

My daughter Ashleigh loves photography and used a new software she found to create this image of herself as a fairy standing on a daisy. She has her own blog http://everything-is-better-with-sprinkles.blogspot.com/ and if you ever feel like it why not fly over and take a peek!

I hope you are all well.

Have a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.



Baby Dresses and A Treasure To Share

Hello my dear friends,

I am very happy that you liked my felted nest tutorial and it would be great if I would get to see some of your creations! My wee bird will be the next thing I will be working on, so just give me a little time to write up the instructions and get the photos taken and I will post it as soon as it is done.

I would like to share some of my makings with you today again.

Since I have two daughters, girly things are a must in our house and I am always on the lookout for any new ideas and treasures. On one of my outings I found two little cotton dresses in a thrift store and I knew right away what I was going to do with them. My thoughts were directed toward a little girl's or baby's room decor.

I wanted the dresses to have a vintage look so out came the hot water and teabags.

 Once that was done I needed to make hangers for the dresses, which I created from old wire and pieces of broken wooden coat hangers. I painted and distressed the wood and for the hanging hook I twisted the wire and formed it around the wood.

Now I wanted to embellish the dress. I decided to make a hanging tag for each dress. I used a tea stained manila tag and decorated it with bits of muslin, an old crochet pansy with a pearl center and a small quote that I love. Using lace and delicate ribbon I strung the tag over the hanger and dress.

This is the other dress, this time a sleeveless one, but none the less just as pretty as the first.

Yet another sweet quote. Just imagine these two little dresses hanging on the wall in a little girl's room. I think it would look just lovely!

And last but not least ...

My treasure I would like to share with you.

This is an old Victorian infant school locker (long name). I bought this cupboard about 10 years ago back in England off of eBay. It came from an old school that was being torn down and I was so lucky to happen to see it on eBay, bid on it and WIN!!

 It is from the late 1800's and has three compartments. You can see the old airing holes in each door and each door has also a name tag for the student's name.

It took me weeks to hand strip it and clean it up. The hooks are the original ones but the numbers are replacements since only the outline was left from the originals and that's how I knew the number for each locker.

I am so in love with this cupboard! I have it standing in my hallway, so everyone can see it's beauty as they come into my home!



I only have a few pieces of Victorian furniture, but the ones I have are really special. I will have to show you my biggest treasure one day. It is a 45 drawer cupboard also from the late 1800's.

I wish you a peaceful and creative day,

Karen B.