A day off and a visit to Vintage Squirrel

Today I managed to blag a whole day off....just for me! No guest breakfasts to cook, no sewing and much as I love the wee darlings....no children!
I headed off to Inverness to get some much needed clothes for the girls (why do they have to keep growing so fast?!)

The sun was shining and, with the excuse of needing some more Annie Sloan paint, I took the opportunity to call into the most gorgeous studio shop, near Munlochy Vintage Squirrel 

Kate is just lovely and really helpful.  She runs Paint Techniques Workshops from the studio (I'm hoping to do one as soon as I get a chance), until then I've treated myself to a tin of Paloma which I will be using on a wee occassional/coffee table.

The coolest floor ever, I love the blossoms....wonder if I could find a bit of floor to do this on?....

Loads of lovely natural light :)

I'm in love with the hare lamp...would go so nicely in my living room...hint hint....

I do think I need one of these shades!

 And...the best news is....not only can you get some really unique, quality bits and pieces for your home, you'll also be able to pick up a wee Jennifer Carr purse, wallet or bag as Kate will be stocking some of my products very soon :)

Playing with paint

 I've been busy working on some wholesale orders, getting the B&B rooms ready as it's that time again already and also trying to build stock for online. It's hard to not get caught up in a restrictive mind set that because time is so limited, it must be used sensibly and that everything we make must have a "value". After a good talking to from a really good friend I've decided to have one day (or at least evening!) a week to just play at anything creative. I'm desperate to try fabric designing and we have fun and exciting plans for over the summer :) until then, I've had a wee play with some printing blocks we picked up on our honeymoon in Dubai (4years ago!!) xx

The Painted House Patterned Rollers

Oh my goodness..... Have you tried these patterned paint rollers from The Painted House? They are amazing! You can use them on walls, paper, fabric (which I can't wait to try out).
Originally, I had planned to paint our back hallway with the Tussock roller, but with all of the "real life" that the area undergoes.....wet children in dirty waterproofs, husband in welly boots, 2 year old with dirty hands etc I'd be constantly worrying about if I could clean without the pattern wiping off.
I opted for 3 square panels of pattern instead, which gave me the perfect opportunity to have a play with my latest obsession for Annie Sloan paints ;)

After having a wee play mixing Provence with Old white, and Empires Silk with Old White to get the colours I needed (I wanted them to tie in with the colours in our kitchen as the hall leads into the kitchen).
I masked off 3 squares with Frog Tape (amazing stuff that stops your paint bleeding under the edges like normal masking tape).

And the finished hallway....

First play with Annie Sloan paint

My husband and I have very different taste....I used to think that he would like to furnish an entire room in one hit by opening the Next catalogue and buying the entire range (plus co ordinating soft furnishings!) Whereas I'm a lot more eclectic and love old preloved items which look like they have history.
Well....it's taken 4 years of marriage....but I've finally worn him down to the point that not only is he coming around to my way of thinking but he's willingly helping me make them over :)
I've seen so many fab makeovers on Pinterest with Annie Sloan Chalk paint so was desperate to give it a try and see what all the hype was was about.  I was lucky to get a gorgeous chest of drawers from our local Facebook free ads, it's a fantastic size and really solid. My husband is super practical and great at wood work, so he fixed the bases on a couple of the drawers and removed the hardware which we kept and reused as it was.
I didn't get a proper before pic...

but as you can see it was pretty old school, and although there was nothing majorly wrong with it, it definitely would not have suited our house.....
A couple of quick coats of Annie Sloan Old White and I absolutely love it!!!

The paint really was as easy and lovely to use as people rave on.  My husband sanded back the top and pedestal - the wood isn't perfect but it has a warm homely worn look to it. I didn't want to go to mad with the distressing as this was my first attempt and I didn't want to over do it so just rubbed over all the edges and natural "wear areas" with some fine grade steel wool.
Now we just have to manoeuvre it upstairs to our bedroom!