Labours of love

It was back in early June when we'd decided that the garden patio set needed a coat of paint. With it being cream in colour it had weathered quite a bit,(not surprising after all the dreadful wind and rain it's had to succumb to!

We bought a tin of this paint....

...and I began to tackle the job. Mick said that he would do the painting, but I was adamant that I wanted to do it. By the end of the first coat I was wondering to myself why I had been so eager. I must say, it felt like I was painting the Forth bridge. "Why didn't we buy spray paint?" I asked myself. But to be honest, I'm not that keen on spray paints, and I'd certainly make a mess with that, so that answered my question. So in between all the thunder, hail, wind and rain we've had over the last couple of weeks, the set had two coats of the creamy paint.

...Stands back, admires work.... then I thought to myself " Now it looks a bit flat!" It looked too bright, ( well, isn't that what I wanted?) yes but... it looks too bright. By this time Mick was beginning to think I'd gone barmy. " I thought that's how we wanted it" he said. Well, yes, but. Then I had an idea, but if it didn't work (and it looked a mess) it would mean that I'd have to repaint the set all over again. Do I..don't I? Yes, do it!!! Right, off to my collection of paints I go and find this little pot of magic....

.....it's colour is Antique gold. In my brush box I found an old children's paint brush. Yes, I've had it since our children were small, (I don't discard anything if I think it will be useful) I wasn't going to use any of my nice newer brushes for this job! It didn't take much paint, I only used about a quarter of the small pot for the whole job. Beginning with the table I dry brushed the gold paint over the cream. I didn't want to cover the cream just add it along edges and also to the floral work at the base of the table and back of the chairs....

.......

When I first began putting the gold paint on it looked very dull....

....had I made a mistake in trying this?

...carry on until it's all done.. wait for it to completely dry....

...then make the decision, yes, that's what I'd do.

Well, it's turned out wonderfully. The pictures don't really show how "gilded" the set looks. In fact I was so pleased we now have a "gilded" cage too...

All that's needed now is to cut the plexi glass circle to fit on top of the table. I do use a table cloth which has matching seat pads which I made a while ago. But to ring the changes we shall use the clear top and I shall make another set of cushion pads, ( fabric from my enormous stash which I've collected over the years) I have some gorgeous Oriental fabric with gold running through it, I may just use that! Then all we need is some warm sunny and dry days so we can sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labour...please!!!

Batman Returns

Yes, Batman has returned. For our Grandsons' birthday card I just had to use him ( and his many guises) in some form. This is what I did. After giving it some thought I decided to try something different this year. We didn't know what to buy him for a gift and thought that it may be nice for him to have a money gift, which he could either save or spend as he wished, his choice. I didn't want to just hand over an envelope with money in it, I wanted something different. So, after some thought and some rummaging around in my little craft room, I came up with a flat box, about 9" square and 2" deep. Thinking of all the Batman films and shows which I'd seen in the past, ( I'm referring to Adam West as Batman now, nothing earlier than that!) I thought that doing some kind of mystery or puzzle would be different. Thinking cap on, I knew I had some green A4 paper and matching envelopes ( somewhere safe) so whilst retrieving said paper my mind was thinking of a riddle. Yes you've guessed it, green paper and envelope....the Riddler! Now all I had to do is make up a riddle.!?! I was thinking about this whilst I was covering my box with brown paper.....

...Once the box was suitably covered (and adorned) it would hold three "letters".... back to that later. I covered the box with brown paper. Now, this box needed to have travelled through the " Gotham City postal service" so I cut out two pictures, one of the Riddler and one of Joker and used them as stamps. I drew a "franking" date stamp, and added a few more "ads" to add to the look......

...I even added a "boot" foot print on the base of the box to give it a grunge look. I loved doing this, it was so much fun. I used a dye base black ink on my trainer sole. Mick wondered what on earth I was doing! I think it worked really well. Once the box was finished it was set aside whilst I composed my riddle. It didn't take too long. I just wanted something which may give him a clue to his present...

...I printed it on the laptop after finding a font suitable, and then I sealed it in the envelope which had a number 1 on it. Number 2 envelope contained his money, but I carefully wrapped it in silver foil and placed in a white envelope marked number 2. Number 3 envelope contained his card. But it wasn't a card as such it was a " who is Batman" mystery. Here are the pages.....

....I used pictures from a book (again) as I had with my sons' card. The background papers I made as a collage of batman images and took the transparency level down to give it a faded look. I used a jagged edged ruler to tear the edges... ...

...the script was done on the computer.....

....there are so many to choose from, but this one was just right....

...the backgrounds were just matted onto the card, but some of the embellishments were put on 3d foam....

....by this time I was wondering who had been my favourite Batman.....

.... (as the picture says) ..that's not him!....

...by the time I added this picture I thought of how old I was when I watched him on tv!!......

....and now to reveal who is Batman (and my favourite).....

...it couldn't be any other could it!....

....our Batman!....

.....success!!!!