TERRARIUMS

Natural greenery is something that evades me.   Our home is dark in some rooms, quite bright in others - and I have a bad memory - so watering can be a bit hit and miss.   Once winter hits, I like to keep the temperature at a level somewhere in the vicinity of a tropical holiday destination, so plants tend to curl up their toes - not a pretty sight.

Flicking through pages of interest (depending on the day - today it was collecting pictures of feet) I noticed a few Terrariums making an appearance.    I felt the need for greenery, this was the answer.  Let the shopping begin!  A  tall Apothecary Jar at Tarjay last week, and another larger jar in a lovely gift shop in Montrose at the base of the Dandenongs, and the third jar I got for the bargain price of $3.99 (just need to "Shabby Chic" the lid) at an op shop.   Now to find suitable plants.  

Another gorgeous shop in Bayswater, just a few shops up from Spotlight, is "The Complete Garden" - boy could you spend some money in that shop.  I digress.   I found a couple of plants - of the fake variety - and hey presto - AN EVEN I CAN'T KILL IT Terrarium.    

This one is my favourite though.   I found this fabo' toadstool.   It was a little top heavy, so I siliconed it into the base of the jar, and then added the layers of "dirt" and pebbles.

Here is Norm, inspecting my work.

I finally found a frame to use for my bakery sign.   Naturally it was the wrong orientation, and yes I could have pulled all the staples out of the back, but there were that many of them, I would still have been at it this week.    The frame was  very plain, but with some wooden swirls from the scrap booking section of Spotlight, a bit of sanding , the swirls  then glued  into position and the whole lot  receiving a  coat of undercoat and a few coats of semi gloss water based paint, a bit  of roughing up at the end and "hey presto" the frame was suitably "shabby". 

    The print was redone to fit the frame and printed as a poster print - with a matt finish.    The wording was put  through my computer painting program and the edges fussed up a little.    When I got the print back home I used the glass as the template and trimmed the edges.    It didn't quite have the look I wanted (I wanted it to look a little like a chalk board, complete with that dusty look of used chalk boards) so I set to and after a bit of  "research" (that would be googling), I went back to Spotlight and bought some transparent gel medium.   For those that haven't seen or heard of Gel Medium, this, I discovered, can be used to add "brushstrokes" to your photo's, prints or paintings.    I applied mine with a cross hatched stroke - don't be too generous with the medium or it may not dry clear.   It still didn't have the look I was after, so with damp paper towel and some white acrylic paint in hand, I rubbed the white paint over the surface of the gel medium.   Let the paint dry  and add another coat of medium.   Again I had been a little cautious with the amount of paint I added - I had taken off a little too much - and I had a couple of spots in the medium that were a bit flat so another coat of Medium was added with the same cross hatching method and then rubbed it over again with the white paint on a damp piece of paper towel.    It didn't take long to dry - it was up in the high 30's (Celsius) that day, and I was able to put the whole thing together that night.      

The vertical lines are just a trick of the light. 

It is now  back to working on the goldfish quilt.  Today I decided  it needed another design element.  (You have all seen the Ghastlie Quilt, so should know I like a design element or two, or three or six).  I am adding a jetty/viewing platform.    Found some great "plank" fabric.  

This is where the feet googling came in.   Then I took a few photo's of my feet.    When and if they make it on to the viewing platform, the toe nails will be perfectly manicured, the calves smooth and silky or the feet will be wearing shoes and the legs will be covered in pants - the jury is still out - the final decision will be determined by my drawing skills or lack thereof!

Whilst I was out and about, I gave a brief thought to my self portrait that we are doing this year with the quilting group.   Purple is a personal favourite, so this will most likely be the background.   

Next, whilst perusing the fat 1/4's I chose the hair colour.  I may have been delirious when choosing the colours, but who says I can't dream of golden tresses.   I can add silver bits when I applique them into position!

So there we have it, the first 9 days of January in a nutshell.

Bye for now, Sue xxx