Heinz Beans Can #cansong

My first mini movie is the #cansong which my friends daughter learnt and wanted me to record her and her singer Dad performing.

If you like our version, please go to instagram and watch it there so we stay high in the ratings. My instagram account is JaniceIssitt_life_style. (https://www.instagram.com/p/BLCPifxhU9c/?taken-by=janiceissitt_life_style)


Heres our video ... I haven't worked out how to upload a large high resolution version yet, so bear with me ...

Canon 5D MK IV camera chat

I'm not a gadget freak, or a follower of the latest models and updates, I generally try to keep up to date as much as it concerns what I do but techno babble bores me senseless, so here's my rough guide to my new camera for those out there who need to cut through the bullshit and just take cool arty photos. (Also it has a 600 page booklet ... hello !!!)

It started with me thinking about getting a new lens for the Canon 5D MKII, to wondering if I should get a second hand Mark III body, to then discovering that there is now a Mark IV model, which just came out in August.  The other half said, well why don't you watch some reviews comparing the models on youtube ... oh my word, now there's a whole other topic to talk about.  

Apparently to be a camera reviewer on youtube you need to wear a baseball cap, and blurt out as much technical babble in a short amount of time as possible. The assumption being that you already know what all the abbreviations mean and this is what rocks your world.  I seriously think that photographers are split in two camps, those who revel in the new technical specs and those who just want to reproduce the beautiful images they see in their mind. These are two quite different beasts, and without appearing sexist, I do think that gender has a lot to do with it.  

Don't get me wrong, all the women photographers I know definitely know how to use their cameras, and get pretty excited when they buy new tripods and lenses as I do.  But generally we don't tend to rant on about f-stops and AF (auto focus) points, we just like to cut to the chase and say how the technical improvements affect us in our work. When talking pictures we are more likely to discuss how we make a composition and work with natural light, and how different locations lend themselves to different styles of photo.

I think the main thing that swung me into wanting this new camera is that it has a large screen on the back, this can be switched onto live mode so you can see what you would normally see through the viewfinder before taking the photo.  This is hugely helpful when you are setting up the right position for the tri-pod.  Then the very best thing of all, you can touch the screen to focus and take a photo, thus altering the points of focus quickly and accurately.

My eyesight has got pretty bad over the last ten years, it was perfect all my life and after 45 it just started to go, age related. I find it really frustrating trying to get sharp pictures but no longer have the stress wondering, as this camera can be relied on to get it perfect.  Also it has wifi, so you can also view what's going on in the camera, on your laptop and even take photos from the laptop remotely. This is something I will do in future when working with a team, so my stylist can see what the final photo will look like.

These 5D's work so well in low light and this new model has improved that even further. It's got more pixels blah blah, but all we want to know is how it handles the light in dark moody still life etc. The answer to that is incredibly.

Before even looking at the booklet I just popped the battery in and after finding where the new position is for the on/off, just started.  I sussed out where the button for the live screen is and it took a few minutes for it to sink in that the screen is now touch sensitive, it was like a revelation. I kept reducing the light and it just coped brilliantly, in fact it didn't go dark enough for me, but I need to mess about with the aperture and speed for this rather than using auto.

Day two, I have decided to start making videos and one of the things raved about by the baseball cap wearing geeks, was the quality of the videos shot on this camera. Not only is the quality incredible but the ease in which you can switch onto video mode. So I made some footage of a singer I'm working with and tested it out on a few simple clips. I made a few basic mistakes by shooting portrait and not landscape (so I had to flip the footage in editing), and I tried hand held filming which for this was simply not right.

To switch over to video mode you just move the 'live view' switch round and use the touch screen to focus.  It did an amazing thing, it has face recognition, so when the singer moved around it followed his face to keep it in focus, my word, is there anything this Mark IV can't do.

I bought the camera with a lens, a 24-70 as I didn't have one of these, as an interiors photographer you often need to go slightly wide angle, but have to be careful not to warp perspective too much. A 70 is lovely for portrait so this lens covers both my needs.

Day three we took the new 5D out for a walk and just shot some random footage outdoors so I could try it in a few different situations, I still need to get used to the auto focus through the viewfinder as it is a different system and can be adapted in different situations, thats a whole section of booklet I need to read. 

This weekend I'm going to make a fun short video with my friends as a test, I also need to practise how to edit, a skill I will be working on over Christmas. We are then off to Paris for more filming and photos and I have another singer lined up to shoot a video with too, so I had better get my act together.

Just one warning though, if you are updating to a new camera chances are you will need to update some of your other stuff too. Pain in the arse but my perfectly good laptop is too old to take the software needed to edit videos from this camera, so I now need a new laptop and the latest versions of i-movie and Final Cut Pro to edit the footage. I'm going to try both and see what I think of them. I've used i-movie before but it may be a bit too basic for my needs now.

If my weekend project works out I will be posting it here and on instagram.  In the future I want to make more little films, and maybe some tutorials too about crafts and diy. I hope my regular readers will find these entertaining.

Next week I will have some cool photos of Paris and some places to recommend, until then, au revoir. 

Final Touches - Bedroom DIY iii

Part three of my bedroom decorating and styling continues with a look at changes to the window area and some finishing touches. After a few days now I am still trying the furniture in different places and swapping things from other rooms too.

folding shutters from Jali, duvet cover from Soak and Sleep

Window treatment.

My ceiling isn't flat all over, it becomes lower as it sits into the eaves of the roof and around the window. This is quite sweet but very annoying if you want to fit traditional shutters. I seriously love old French shutters, but not only is it pretty hard to find the right size but the roof tilt made it totally prohibitive. The solution was folding ones from Jali which can be made to order. They are pretty simple and could easily be made yourself if you are good with carpentry. I removed the tiled window ledge and replaced it with an old piece of leftover wooden flooring. The window appears larger now and the fretwork means you can have the shutters closed on a bright sunny day but still let in enough light to realise it's daytime.

Under the window is a radiator. I tend to cover mine with a cabinet as it looks neater and acts as a shelf. As I was moving the bed up against it I didn't want any weird gaps so I bought a radiator cover which stretched past the radiator and up to the wall. It wasn't the most attractive of covers and so we changed the top for a piece of reclaimed scaffolding plank. I then toned down the new white mdf with a mixture of chalk paints to make it blend.

It's good to mix different shaped pieces of furniture when you can so that they don't look like a row of boxes. A curve on the leg or front can make all the difference. The kidney shaped bedside cabinet from One World Trading has a great organic shape and is almost identical in colour to French Linen (colour) with some detailing of decoupaged birds on the front drawers. I love the shape and so changed my square cupboard for this. To keep the colour flowing I added a similar tone to the central panels of the door to my walk-in wardrobe which also got treated to a set of hooks.

I'm trying to see how furniture looks when not pushed flat against the wall, trying some angles across corners and such. The curves of the kidney shape works very well in this respect.

I even gave my statues a coat of chalk paint, lamp from One World Trading

Collections never stop growing, I'm starting to collect collections now!! The second piece from One World Trading is a white glass fronted wall cupboard, small and neat enough not to be intrusive but handy to group together 'collections' of candles, bottles and books. It has a cute wallpaper at the back giving it a vintage Victorian vibe and is lightly distressed which again fits with the pieces that I'd been working on.

I painted a couple of old bedside cabinets and by placing them under the cupboard tried out a few different looks for it, some standing the cupboard on top and some hanging it on the wall above. When stood on a base it becomes a mini dresser shape and really suits a bedroom, although its handy size would go anywhere in the house.

So next job was to replace the bed headboard. Initially I was going to use an Indian carved screen and rested it in place for a few weeks to see if I liked it. My plans changed though when I saw some old shutters at an antique centre. They had been left outside and the paint was peeling but I loved the way the shutters were made, the iron work on them and even the colour they had previously been painted. They couldn't possibly go against my bed without a clean and quite a bit of the flaky paint was scraped off (for fear it would end up in my hair or something). I may paint them but for now I'm going to live with them and then decide.

Sometimes we have to think unconventionally to have a real break through. The door between my bedroom and the hall/landing opened in such a way that it took up space and prevented me from having any other furniture in that area. It then occurred to me that actually, I never close the door so why not remove it altogether and for a bit of privacy, hang a door curtain. Eureka, the curtains which never worked on the window now look perfect as a door covering. By extending the curtain pole beyond the door frame I can also push them out of the way completely, and if I need something less transparent than the lace, hang one of my beautiful monogrammed French linen sheets (recently purchased at the Lincoln Antiques Fair).

The finishing touches to the room are a lamp and a cool set of hooks (also from One World). The lamp is not a bedside light particularly but more a soft room light so I placed it on a low wooden box over the other side of the room. The base is the perfect combination of colour and distressing with a neutral pale linen shade and it's rather sophisticated look adds a touch of class.

I couldn't resist the set of three hooks either, my love for deer antlers winning me over for these, and as I had removed the bedroom door from the other side of the room they can provide a place to hang my long necklaces and Japanese kimono. I'm still playing with different effects too, I tried out some fairy lights for a while...

These giant pillowcases are quite common in France, it's not all that easy to get the padding here in the UK so I just put two thin standard pillows in each one. Gaelle from Gz Bb Antiques has dyed these to art deco covers in lovely pale blue grey.

For more looks in this vein, using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and furniture from One World Trading, check out my Pinterest boards.

I hope soon to be adding a shop to this blog and you should be able to buy similar pieces to mine with one click. The company who provide the platform are just ironing out some glitches, I'm keeping my fingers crossed to get this up and running as soon as possible.

I'm still tweaking the paint too, but that's the beauty of Chalk Paint, keep an eye out on Instagram.

This blog has been copied by someone in Indonesia and they are using the Blogger platform, as yet Google, Blogger etc have done nothing about it. Just in case this post also gets copied ... hey you .. it's copyright to me Janice Issitt, all photos and words, and I am reporting any violations to the copyright agency.

See you all soon ... Janice

September Be Home Free

Making these grids of the photos from Be Home Free has become a great favourite for me recently, I love playing with the tones and colour palettes, the themes and compositions. But most of all I love your interpretations of the tag.

The combinations of inside, outside and styled still life also gives us a great sense of seasonal feel.  The autumnal tones, mist in the mornings, cobwebs and fruit harvest. More cozy times under the duvet or with a warm drink.  And this September has again also been a time for an Indian summer feel, warm spells where they weren't expected and a few more visits to the beach before the holidays end.

white to cream, stripes and shelfies

           @abbie_melle @birdsforme @hannie65 @samphireandseasalt     

Autumnal tones and fading light

@akexandra_p_hobson @jennihaikonen @featherandwild @kempscat

Boat, bed, beach, bum

@sigridsminde @heidi_hallingstad @gatheredthreads @majamoliere

splish splash, water, washing indigo and blue

@livingslower @Alexandra_p_hobson @christinagreve @rebecca.kathryn

Botanical pops of colour linger on with geraniums, hydrangeas and dahlias, probably the last of the colours before the leaves turn to gold and red. 

Pots of pink and vases of pom poms. 

@grainandfeather   @binnuraaykol      @ehpyle

I am seriously envious of anyone who is out early enough to catch the mist on the fields.

@helaine_39 @sigridsminde

And to the winner, who this month receives a tin of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in their colour choice, is this delicious delicate styling by Sarah Notes, who, while generally known for her flat lays has taken her talent for precision and perfection to a hand-made wall decoration using natures finds.  I love the Japanese influence which is a hot trend in interiors, the sense of Wabisabi and the ingenious idea of making this wall hanging.

Well done Sarah, let me know your colour choice and address so I can send your information over to Annie Sloan.  I can't wait to see what you do with it.

Next week is the last part of my bedroom decorating makeover and the announcement for the October prize in Be Home Free.

Wilderness and Islands

Before the weather changes and the summer turns to autumn, I thought maybe one more outdoorsy type trip could be squeezed in and so enamoured by the stay in a Yurt with Canopy and Stars, I found us a shepherds hut at Knepp Safaris in East Sussex.  

We arrived as the sun was setting, so had to find our way into the woods with a torch, other campers told us to grab a wheelbarrow to transport our bags to the hut and so we wove our way past the dining area and glamping kitchen into the woods.

A fire was soon lit, my other half now calling upon his skills as a boy scout, whipped up a roaring one in the outside fire pit.

The hut was super cozy, we made the mistake of lighting the indoor stove and it was too hot.  I loved that bed, snuggled up and outside total darkness and the sounds of owls and other nocturnal creatures.

The next day we followed the walks around the area of our camp. The owners have been re-wilding the fields and now there are wild horses and pigs roaming free.  We didn't spot any deer but did spend a lot of time with squirrels and rabbits, birds and insects. There were no organised safaris on the days we were there, so we made our own and with the aid of a compass and map, a flask of tea and comfy shoes.

As we were near the coast I decided on a whim that we could hop over to the Isle of Wight.  OK, a very extravagant whim, considering how expensive the ferry across was. I was truly gobsmacked that it cost 99 pounds to cross the tiniest stretch of water! I'm sure it's cheaper to go to France.  But, I had never been to the Isle Of Wight so I bit the bullet, paid the ferryman, and booked us a room with Air bnb in a cute cottage on the coast.

My main reason to visit was as a pilgrimage to the home of Julie Margaret Cameron, the first female photographer, I have been in love with her work for as long as I can remember.  Her house, however, was a bit disappointing, but it just has to be the first thing on my list. 

It also rained on this first day on the IOW but undaunted, we packed in every single sight we could see.  Our Air bnb was an annexe to a house which was originally the coachman's cottage for the John Nash estate.  John Nash, famous architect built himself a castle on the IOW and many buildings around, I shall investigate this on our next visit.  The host of our Air bnb is an artist and holds retreats at her home, set deep into a long stretch of woodland and right on the coastal path, the setting was perfect for long walks. 

And before we got back on the ferry we had a hunt for red squirrels in one of the many wild woods but sadly to say I did not see one. This must be a sign that I should return with the sole mission to commune with red squirrels, armed with nothing but nuts and a long lens.

French Linen - Bedroom Makeover ii

Part two of the bedroom decorating: Now having assessed what I want out of it I move onto painting. 

Very often my reference for colours in decorating come from the smallest objects and sometimes I just crush over one colour and play with tones of it by mixing up my own variations. Completely coincidently or maybe subconsciously, just as I became besotted with French Linen sheets I also became very fond of the Annie Sloan colour French Linen!  There's a pinterest board showing this at https://uk.pinterest.com/JaniceIssitt/french-linen/ 

shelf and kidney shaped cabinet from One World Trading. Linen sheets from Soak and Sleep, original French Linen sheet and cushion covers from Gz Bboys Antiques
Paint on walls from Annie Sloan 

stencil is also available from Annie Sloan

Using this colour, I mixed it down with old white and pure white to create other shades which I have used on the wardrobe, radiator cabinet, walls and door.  Sometimes it is like a grey tone, sometimes more brownish and sometimes a bit lilac, depending on the colour it is painted over and how much pure white you add to it.

Let's look at the room to start with; Some of my existing furniture was too sentimental for me to part with, an original victorian wardrobe and chest of drawers which have been with me from my very first flat and were probably the first pieces of furniture I every bought. But the honey tones of the pine have been left natural for over twenty years so I felt it was ok to paint them.  Also last year I changed the carpet for seagrass flooring, (something I have fancied for years and eventually I just went for it).  While I like the flooring the fitters made a terrible job of putting it down, they came through Carpet Wright and I will never use them again, but that's another story.  The reason I mention it is that the natural seagrass colour is quite honey coloured and so this and the pine was all too much.  This tone looks nice as either a floor covering or a furniture finish but not both together.

My bed isn't very old but I made a rash decision when ordering it and I've never really loved the white metal headboard which is part of the frame. As there is nothing wrong with the bed it would be wasteful to change it completely so I got Ian to saw off the existing headboard end to create my own.  Beware if you do this, it has changed the rigidity of the whole bed (I think we took it down too low) but I think the bed will hold up.

Some of the other pieces in the room were gold, a mirror frame and a small cabinet. Another thing I never liked was the curtains, I changed them many times but because the window is quite small they looked twee.  I tried French cafe cotton panels, different lengths of drapes, but nothing every really pleased me. 

So here is the list of things that I wanted to change;
Walls (colour), all furniture including bed, window treatment and window ledge and bedding.  Everything except the floor and ceiling then.

gold mirror frame painted in Chalk Paint - French Linen mixed with Old White.  Walls also Chalk Paint

Lamp from One World Trading

I find some interior decorating blog posts can be quite short on details, lists of 'how to' and when I click they are just a lot of fluff about how to drape a curtain and such are a bit patronising, So I'm keeping an eye out here as I write this series of posts, not to be too 'blah' about decorating a room. In perspective it isn't life or death but I do meet a lot of people for whom decorating and interior styling does not come naturally so I hope this helps anyone who is lacking ideas or confidence.

I knew I wanted whites and touches of French Linen (colour), but I also had some paints left over which would add small touches of pink mint and blue.  I used Old White, Original and Pure as my white bases, however the Old White and particularly Original were more cream in tone than I had in mind so I bought a few more tins of Pure both as a white on it's own and because this is a great colour to mix with others.

the television is in this cupboard on the wall, easily made from cheap louvre doors from B&Q
I ended up with very subtle distressing but I feel I may still keep adding layers and chipping bits off, it is a work in progress

Walls
Starting with the walls (as I knew it would be easier to change the furniture than to keep changing the walls).  I had tried this technique once before with richer colours and really like it.  Using the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint I have three colours open, one brush and water.  

Begin with the main colour - Whites, I loosely paint an area then immediately dip the brush into water and start to add the water to the wall, then just touch the tip of the brush into one of the colours and work onto the wall, blending with the white and water. Don't cover all the white area with your colour, just like you are adding stripes or hints of the second tone.  Blend with the water and more white and continue like this.  It is best to not stop and start as the paint will dry and this technique works when it is wet. It leaves you with a look of old plaster, distressed walls and watercolour paintings. 

I would say that it might be over-kill to do all four walls so I just used plain white on one wall (the one behind most of the furniture) and the other wall is broken up with doors so not a large surface area. 

The furniture placement and use also came in for scrutiny and by moving the bed into a corner I had more room at the side for some different items.  In a small space if the furniture doesn't perform a decent function then it just ends up eating into the room.  I also wanted a few more romantic vintage looking pieces that would blend with the original old ones and here is where the colour comes into play.  The colour palette is the tie, the link that pulls it all together. As the room is multi-functional I became aware that if not careful it could end up looking like a student bedsit.  Chic and stylish grown-up colours and elegant pieces of furniture should keep it on track. 

Recently I discovered One World Trading when they asked me to photograph a posy vase.  I noticed on their website first a shelf in the sale which is super attractive and totally in the colour range that I'm working with, so I snapped this up before it sold out.  The majority of pieces on their site are reproduction of vintage and antique styles so fit with many different looks. Tones of Scandinavian and shapes of Victorian, elegant and very stylish. Unfortunately I couldn't fit any large pieces into the room but after much deliberation decided the 'kidney shaped bedside cabinet' and 'white wall cupboard' work with the dimensions and colour scheme perfectly.  

white glass front wall cupboard from One World Trading

lower cabinet painted in Pure chalk paint to match the new white wall cupboard from One World Trading

When I first used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint as a Painter In Residence, I didn't mix my own colours but now I always do.  I wish I had done back then, if I had my time again I would probably do things differently, although I did make a point of being as bold as I could to celebrate the more vibrant end of their colour chart. 

For some reason it didn't occur to me until the end of PIR to start to mix colours and these paints are just made for it.  You need to experiment as it isn't always obvious how to make new colours, unless you are an artist and then you probably have a good handle on what does what.  Get a good range of tester pots but also have a look on Pinterest as there are lots of example cards now of what different colour mixes look like. 

Wardrobe
Painting the wardrobe and chest-of-drawers was a work in progress. I didn't have a really clear idea, just some general looks I like. I thought I would just see what they looked like as I went along.

The wardrobe is a single one, often thought to be like a child's wardrobe so I was keen to not let it look like furniture from a baby's room. One colour was too much like a slab, too much colour became childish.

To start I painted them both in old white, a few coats as a base, then a little sand down.

The main colour for the wardrobe is a lightened French Linen, which watered down slightly comes out as a lovely pale grey colour over the white. On the centre panel I thought another colour underneath with some stencilling would make it look more interesting.  For the centre panel I mixed Antibes Green with a lot of white for a pale mint colour then stencilled with some pastel mixes of pink and darker green.  I wanted this centre piece to look like I had discovered it underneath another colour so dry brushed the French Linen over and sanded it lightly. The piece was finished in the new white wax, which is good on pale colours as it doesn't darken them down at all.

Chest Of Drawers.
Boy, I painted a lot of colours on this. I didn't love love love anything I did to it so I kept painting on more colours and trying different distressing techniques.  In the end I consulted fellow Painter In Residence Agnieszka from Poland, whose work has so far been my absolute favourite of all the PIR's.  Her distressing is beyond brilliant and truly a great example of how to do it right.

this photo is a bit too contrasty, the colours are more subtle than this but I thought it would better show the process

There is always a debate as to whether to varnish or wax between layers.  I did do some as I was never clear in my mind whether the piece was finished or not, but Agnieszka does not. Here are some of her tips:

"Think about the final look of the furniture

- choose colours (what colours do you want to use for project? - where will be the best places for the chippy effect on the furniture? - how many colours do you want to use for project? ("primary" colours and "secondary" colour in a few places - one will be ok)

TIP 2: I'm always first painting a thin coat of paint - rather precisely. Then I put on more layers (thick coats of paint this time) in a few places, imprecise (in every which way, to create texture)

TIP3: I always use a "secondary" colour just in a few places (e.g. legs, locks, handles) and then I put again the "primary" colours to hide this layer. It will be the best effect if you use two coats of paint.

TIP4: Very important! All these layers of different colours you can aply in one day but you need to wait 1-2 days to create chippy look. Otherwise, you don't get this effect! Chalk Paints are cool because they dry quickly but for rustic chippy look, all these layers must "rest" before using any tools.

TIP 5: I work on the places that would naturally distress - I used a scraper and sandpaper for a distressing look

TIP 6: I love using dark wax at the end my work, to create a beautiful patina to my piece" Agnieszka explained.
This information was very useful to me and the experience of someone else who had also experimented was invaluable.

I mostly found the idea of leaving the paints to rest and harden a very useful tip. If the paints are dry but not 'set' they are likely to smerge into each other when you sand, and if you want chippy then use a blade to flick off the layers.

I have very mixed emotions about distressed furniture because done well (like Agnieszka does it), is one thing, but done badly it can be an eye sore. All I can say is don't over do it.

I actually don't like the process either, I hate the mess and the feeling of sandpaper on my hands, so after a few tries I got online and ordered a palm sander from Argos, same day delivery for 15 pounds. Then I started to enjoy it a lot more. I asked Agnieszka about the tools she uses and here is what she said;

"TOOLS. The best tools to distress furniture: my favourites are scraper, spatula and sandpaper (medium grit) and sometimes metal chain (you can beat it up to get aged look) and hammer to get a rustic chippy finish too.

TIP: I'm always using first a SCRAPER or SPATULA, then chain, hammer and then sandpaper at the end! If you use first sandpaper, you don't get chippy look at all (flaking paint). Sandpaper rubs layers, so you can't scrape this layers. So, first SCRAPER, then SANDPAPER (only in few areas)."

French Linen monogrammed sheet from Gz Badboys Antiques and French Linen colour from Annie Sloan 

To see some of these looks find Agnieszka's website here, and well done to her for writing these tips in English for me.

To my mind the chest of drawers may continue to be a work in progress, Im' still not sure about some parts of it.

I hope you find this blog post instructive and it spurs you onto a bit of DIY yourself. In the next post about changing the bedroom I look at the finishing touches.

One World Trading - https://www.one.world/
Annie Sloan Chalk Paint - https://www.anniesloan.com/
Gz Badboys Antiques - https://uk.pinterest.com/gzbadboys/

September Sponsors #behomefree

Already the gallery for BeHomeFree is filling up for September over on instagram and I'm pleased to announce that this month there will again be a prize for the chosen photo.  Annie Sloan has donated a one litre tin of decorative Chalk Paint in the colour of your choice.

Colour inspiration comes from all around us which can be seen so perfectly in these inspiring photos.  As August drew to an end there was a flurry of last minute travel, myself included, before the Autumn sets in.  Right now we can see a mixture of summer and autumn hues as the season creeps up on us. 

I love to mix my own colours with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, they are perfect for this, my palette at the moment features whites with tones of bleached driftwood, pops of pale pink and vibrant cranberry with some hints of cool aqua and french linen.  You can see mood boards over on my Pinterest page which also often leads you to the places where the pieces are sold.

Here are some of my photos from this last few weeks, and some from the #behomefree gallery to show how colours can sit together. If it works in nature it can work in your home.

I love the exuberance of these ladies, out there soaking up the last bit of summer ..

@_marzie @_scarlett.l @kayleighawright @_susandrea_

@_mandydearest @niki.at.the.cottage @rebecca.kathryn @frontfortyfarm

@melissacondotta @aplayfulday

Be Home Free definitely meant outdoors this last month but I feel we will probably soon turn to the cozy nooks, firesides and candlelit evenings.  Whatever it means to you please keep tagging and joining with the growing community of colour captures. If you get the chance please also let me know what colour you would choose from the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint range and what you would paint with it.

Winner will be announced at the end of the month.
Happy snapping.