Garden - before and after!

The BEFORE pic, but believe me it was worse than it looks because all this overgrowth hides the fact that there was 2 skiploads of junk just strewn around the garden. The back wall had fallen down - probably Mr Skipyard man, whose skipyard is behind the wall, leaning his really heavy equipment on my wall for 30 years. [gallery] Basically, everything had to be gutted. AFTER:
Visit the other posts for more garden pics

Bathroom - before and after

I borrowed a small 4th bedroom to make the bathroom into big luxurious one. Black and white and a bit of blue from the victorian tiles my mother collected, which I've put above the basin. And some green from the old Victorian poison / medicine bottles. NEEDS MORE PHOTOS ON A SUNNY DAY!

BEFORE:

[gallery]

AFTER:

Front of house - before and after

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Still waiting for bamboo to grow at the front so more photos to come.

My kitchen - before and after

The third kitchen I've done. Nightmare with nasty builders. A slightly dark north facing room. Put in double doors onto garden but had to retain other door as well for light. Meant that I couldn't have eating area at back near double doors unfortunately.The painting of the units was such a huge task that I left the kitchen unfinished for 2 years unable to make up my mind what I wanted. But however nice the wood looks, I'm afraid I've decided to paint it... sorry. BEFORE: [gallery] AFTER:
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TO BE REPLACED WITH MORE TIDY ONE? Room size: 5 metres by 3 metres Floor : solid distressed limed French oak Kitchen units: unfinished Broadoak sanded (ready for painting) Table and chairs: old family passed down probably from junk shop? Fridge: an 80cm wide Fischer and Paykel fridge freezer - more eco-friendly than american side-by-side fridge freezer.

My stained glass window

I found some an old front door glass panel with painted victorian glass in it in a junk shop, so  gave it to the local stained glass man in my street, and we designed it into a couple of window panels for my front door. Tried to keep it traditional, and I wanted lots of red. It was an interesting process to design, much harder than I expected. OLD DOOR - yuk!                                        NEW DOOR - phew!
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Just why I love my iphone

An ode to you Darling iphone, you're the one Never has a phone been so much fun Your sweet little icons fill me with glee Breathless.  Mindblowing. Technology.. I can track my periods and make a graph, I can prod fish in a pond for a laugh I can take you jogging and create a map And fortunately there's even an app to map the stars and chase away mosquitos, to track down songs and edit photos. To read all of Shakespeare or Grimm's fairy tales, Franz Kafka and HG Wells, TO FINISH! http://www.apple.com/iphone/ http://www.iphonefreak.com/ Look out for jailbreaking because that allows you to do even more with your phone, but don't expect me to know how. Also, do you really need to make your screen purpley streaky? Not enough time for this..

Finally finishing my kitchen

After 2 years of dilemma-ing I wish there was a course I could go on to learn about how to acheive different finishes on wood because it might be very satisfying to restore my old bits of furniture... On wood types and how to finish them: http://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/blog/ http://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/project-guides.htm

The Bloody Well Smell It Yourself campaign...

Right, I'm launching some new campaigns. The first one will be called "The Bloody Well Smell It Yourself" awareness week. This means USE YOUR NOSE to test whether food is really off or whether you are just being ripped off by the manufacturer who are covering their backs by putting the Use By or Best Before date a week before it really needs to be there. OR the opposite problem is of course having loads of rotting stuff in the fridge. Particularly single people who are sharing domestic quarters do this, I find. They buy in bulk once a week or less, when hungry, and don't get around to planning or eating up leftovers. Either way, it's all WASTE. And that means methane emissions from landfill 23 times worse than Co2. So the answer - buy less more often, locally not at the supermarket, plan better, and don't believe the hype about dates. Here's someone who's started a charity to redistribute surplus food to the needy : http://www.fareshare.org.uk/

Jane Dorner's glass art

My 3 fave pieces of artist Jane Dorner, who is someone who's produced SO much ARTY STUFF in her life I am constantly in awe.
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Ampersand River is a mobile triptych for CLA’s reception area and it expresses the agency’s role in enabling the spread of creativity and learning. The piece is a river of glass, made up of roundels and lenses meandering across three frames (representing the authors, illustrators and publishers on whose behalf CLA acts). Its outline is that of the River Fleet which runs parallel to the piece some yards away beneath the building.Materials: optical lenses and kiln-formed pieces; mixed techniques (silver stain, engraving, sandblasting, enamelling, fusing and mirror silvering); oak frames Dimensions: 2.5 x 1.15 metres
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This is entitled ‘Comma Separated Values’ and shows an outsize punctuation mark made of layers of optical lenses.Removed from context, it could be a comma, an apostrophe or a quotation mark. This ambiguity is reflective of the way in which language, meaning and vision alter according to perspective. In all performance, point of view determines our interpretation of what we see and hear.A storyteller accompanies this piece and draws out the themes of ways of seeing by demonstrating myths and fairytales with alternative endings or ambiguous interpretations.300+ opththalmic lenses fused at 720°C with some additional clear lenses affixed. Wooden frame oil-gilded with aluminium leaf. 910 mm high x 730 mm wide, with base.
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This piece is based around the circle as a metaphor for the cycle of life. It celebrates exuberance and asymmetry of pattern within a constraining circular form. The patterns are drawn from primitive motifs from all parts of the world as well as from photomicrographs of living organisms. Within this arrangement is the human form; at times precariously wedged, at others in harmony with the rest. They are bound by patterns that have existed before they were born.Lenses decorated with degussa enamels, lustres, engraving, inclusions and metallising, with additional ruby glass roundels from MRJ Furnaces. Frame made of maple. 650 mm x 980 mm.

see more of Jane's stuff and upcoming exhibitions here; http://www.editor.net/glass/installation.html

Tagged Arty glass

Shopping for vintage second-hand furniture

Out and about with the tape measure. One of the things I love doing is sauntering around second hand furniture shops - the vintage ones, with my tape measure and a mission to fulfill. I have to do this usually by myself, as friends and boyfriends tend to make me feel hurried and don't 'get' it. (or have far more important things to do). In order to stop myself buying on impulse, I take photos of the things I like with my iphone - and the act of taking the photo keeps me happy for a while... On THIS page is a list of shops. It's still in progress, feel free to suggest any by adding a comment - particularly in Stoke Newington, Hackney and the East end generally where I do not venture much. Meanwhile here are some buying tips: Tips for buying: Carry a tape measure everywhere! Measure the desired piece, then measure your room and really visualise how it works in the space and with the other stuff you've got. You might love it so much you just decide to buy it, but if you want to move it to another room for another use in the future, will it let you? How well does the style mix? I am in the middle of a style battle with chinese-modern stuff / dark furniture / white shabby chic painted furniture - and they're all mixed up in all the rooms - urrggh! Anyway, really imagine it in your space 'cos things look a lot bigger in a shop space. Do your research - find out the history of it, has it got a name, then google it - with image google - to find out who's got it elsewhere. You'll often find EXACTLY the same thing on Ebay - I found 6 other Austrian 19th C jam cupboards £200 cheaper than the one I bought from Chalk Farm Antiques - however, my purchase was nearer, and was perfect to the centimetre to fit in the space I needed. Remember you can adapt - with new knobs and handles or a new paintwork effect. Soooo much better than buying some laminated ikea crappo thing which you've paid for then falls apart two years later...Also think before you buy something really expensive. Can you get it made up yourself, finding the elements for example on www.salvoweb.co.uk and using a carpenter? Compile a dream board/book: One of the things I do is cut out pictures of styles or furniture I like, mainly from Living Etc magazine. I now have 3 art books full of pictures. It's a technique that stops me impulse buying, provides me with inspiration, and helps me weigh up and select from my options. You can see an example I did for my imaginary future loft conversion studio, HERE. Buying electrics - well some vintage light fittings are lovely but don't forget to factor in the electrician who'll have to hang them. Buying vintage guide:  http://www.livingetc.com/buyersguides/Buyers_guide_to_vintage_article_275345.html BEWARE, Living etc is great for inspiration but they also exaggerate to obtain the effect they need sometimes, which can be misleading. For example they photoshop furniture if it's not quite how they want, they show us shower room designs which are totally impractical. (links)