Painters In Residence Moroccan Boho Bedroom

The last of my projects for Painters In Residence has now been posted up by Annie Sloan and it's my Moroccan Bedroom.

Actually this bedroom is an illusion, it's my conservatory that I use as a studio and I built this set to show what could be achieved with paint and colour. 

The back wall is the colour Provence with a Mandala in Napoleonic Blue.  Mandalas are traditionally used in meditation and so I did my own twist on this by designing and cutting my own stencil.

You only have to cut one quarter of the design as you can repeat it to form the circle.  The designs were a collage of various patterns I had seen with some alterations done on the template before cutting. 

The table was dark brown wood.  I first painted inside the carved areas so they would show through underneath the top coat.

The floor was a quarry tiled dark rust colour which I have never really liked so I was more than happy to see what happened when I put paint onto it. I first painted each tile alternate colours and let those dry.  I cut my own stencils again, a variety of different designs and then painted these onto the tiles. Once dry all the tiles were covered with the clear lacquer from Annie Sloan which seals and protects them.  On a few of the tiles I picked up some tiny details with gold leaf and varnished over it. 

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The bed came from good old e-bay, it was painted in Barcelona orange and varnished with the same lacquer as I used on the floor. I again cut a stencil, Im a big fan of peacock feathers I even have some tattooed on my leg, it was also a play on 'feather bed'.

The bed coverings are called Kantha Quilts and are made from old saris held together with a Kantha stitch, made and hand sewn in India. A great way to up cycle old saris.

The little screen was mainly in Old Violet but I created an Ombre effect using yellows, orange and red, mixing them as I went along. This again was dark wood and it just goes to show how well the chalk paint covers.

The three Painters In Residence were given three months to come up with their completed projects and very soon the next batch of recruits will be handed the baton.  I hope my approach has been an inspiration to some of you to be brave with colour. I don't consider myself a great painter but I do get carried away with a vision. I find that if it doesn't work then what's the worse that can happen? Well you just paint over it and put it down to experience.  I rarely do any work now without the Chalk Paint coming out at some point, for photographic backdrops and props to changing the walls in my house to match the new furniture makeovers. I seem to be on a mission to eliminate beige, boring and dull so if this triggers even the slightest idea with you to go bold with colour and add some details then I hope it makes you as happy as it makes me. Love Jx

Romance and Roses

This week I have seen a few themes running with my friends on Instagram, so I have decided to join in with these fun photo stylings and thought I would share them here as well.

"Capture By Lucy" has a great blog and feed on Instagram, she runs a few photo challenges like Capturing Colour. Just follow the hashtags. 

This week her Capturing Colour theme is Pink, whilst over at Lobster and Swan blog they are Styling The Seasons, with February being Romance. 

Another Instagram challenge came from Fabulous Thrifted Finds, their theme being glass, so to kill three birds with one stone I played with all these ideas. 

My motivation levels have been very low during January so this was just the kick up the proverbials that I needed to get styling and snapping. 

paper weight a rose in glass from Aylesbury Antique Market

a collection of my own vintage items which is my idea of Romance

this chair has just been finished, painted and upholstered by myself.

I chose Travel for my romance theme, the idea of being dashed off to Paris for Valentines would be my perfect date. 

As my latest chair makeover is quite romantic I have included this in the pics, the fabric is from great Facebook friend Betty Zee who does fab things with fabric, and the paintwork is from the usual source, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Ive recently been indulging my collection of needlepoint cushions too with several more being finished just now for inclusion in photos soon. 

To find me on instagram go to http://instagram.com/janiceissitt_life_style/

and if you like a good blog then check outhttp://capturebylucy.com and http://lobsterandswan.com


This heart box is very old, it's a watch box which belonged to my Dad. Styled pink and romantic and glass for all the themes. 

Ive had these shoes for years, the postcard came from Instgram seller Half Moon Hobo

thrifted 50s frosted glassware, 

Thanks for popping by, and don't forget to check us Instagrammers out. See you all soon.

A little p.s. just adding a few more pics as Ive also joined with  Emily Quinton for Floral Friday Competition. 

Serendipity Reclamation's Summer House

I don't know, my blogs are like buses, you don't get one for ages and then theres two in one week!  I just thought I'd do this extra one as another of my projects for the Painters In Residence series for Annie Sloan Chalk Paint has just been revealed over on her blog.  It's the summer house that I added some finishing touches to for Jane at Serendipity Reclamation.

Jane who specializes in sourcing reclamation, designed this summer house and found some beautiful authentic features like the windows which came from France, copper guttering and many more details like a chandelier and metal desk.

With a soft muted palette of colours used in the building already we decided to add some pops of colour so went about mixing chalk paint to get a bright fuchsia pink, we added Emperors Silk to Henrietta.  A diluted amount of this was used to soak the lace panel in and it picked up the colour beautifully.  I also used this colour in the wall stencil, a repeated pattern made to look like a mandala or snowflake.

Jane had also found a screen frame missing its panels, she had already found some beautiful french linen sheets and the stiffness of these was perfect as a natural background to the graphite stencil.  To add touches of grandeur to the screen and cupboard I used Annie Sloans leaf and gold size glue in brass. 

The cupboard was painted in Antibes Green and then given two coats of Craquleur, a glaze which crackles also made by Annie Sloan. I then worked dark wax into the cracks as Jane wanted the piece to look aged.

The summer house serves many uses, sometimes an office and sometimes for yoga or guests and social occasions. The desk is the most stunning piece of furniture so to compliment it I used Annie Sloans leaf in silver for a little side table top.

Top Drawer and Tattoo Style

Happy New Year one and all, yes, Ive been a bit tardy of late in blogging, to be honest I have been very lacking in motivation over the holiday period and am often feeling very blue by January. It's hard to keep your energy and motivation up when you are self-employed and I do think that the dark wet days don't help either, hibernation has set in and knitting has ensued.

But everyone else has battled on back to work and time waits for no man, so it's January and in retail that means the big buying shows for the coming Spring and summer with all the major trade shows being held.  

Top Drawer at London's Olympia also incorporates Home and is a great showcase for the shop suppliers and wholesalers/makers to display the coming trends in gifts and interiors. The show is so vast that I decided just to feature the things that I feel fit into my Tattoo Style ethos.

the perfect presents for your tattooist at Temerity Jones

It pleases me enormously when items which were once thought creepy and maybe too gothic, seep into the mainstream. Some of my personal favourite pieces of victorian, circus, steampunk, crossover can be illustrated here.  Firstly, Phrenology heads and palmistry hands.  

Temerity Jones

Seletti

Phrenology dates back to the Greek era when it was thought that certain areas on the head were responsible for specific functions. This is clearly laid out on the phrenology head but we now see that being tweaked into a more fun object.

Alphabet lights were on several stands, they vary from the large rusty statement pieces akin to old theatrical signs,  to smaller more kitschy ones which would be fun in a kitchen or teenagers bedroom.

temerity jones

PAD Home

Filament light bulbs and cage shades are also hot news in interiors and I welcome the regression away from horrible energy efficient bulbs, sorry but thats the truth.  I love that the lightbulb is a beautiful thing in its own right, now being shaped in a variety of ways and the filaments larger than before like some victorian scientific apparatus.

temerity jones

NKUKU

These look great grouped together and offer a good alternative to areas where a fabric shade would be impractical. 

i-bride France at PAD home

Van Asch Sweden

Victoriana and steampunk, skulls, lace and animals in period clothing, whats not to love. Above you can see how these quite gothic subjects are transformed into something quite delicate and feminine. 

Temerity Jones

temerity jones

Mercury glass is the name for this silver aged effect on glass objects, it is reminiscent of how old mirrors crackle and mist. Personally I love old mirrors, and when buying antique and vintage ones I actually prefer the imperfections. Mercury glass has started to form another of my collections and it looks particularly elegant used at Christmas. For me this look fuses the ethnic style from India with a victorian feel and I love a good fusion. Nkuku has been mentioned by me many times before, for me they are the perfect wholesalers of fair trade products with their eye for mixing country rustic with ethnic whilst hinting at scandinavian cool. I should buy shares in them !

nkuku

Top Drawer is only for shop owners and buyers, not for the public, but I thought it was still worth mentioning these companies either because you may have a shop or you could track down your local stockist. I hope to be bringing you some of these stockists soon as I may be working with a few shops in the future on styling and sourcing.  

www.temerityjones.com
Nkuku
Van Asch
PAD Home

Saint Lucia, Snow and Sweden

The countdown to Christmas has begun with the first Advent candles now being lit all over the world and none more so than in Sweden where every window is lit with a star or advent candelabra.  So put on your armour of light and fend off the darkness.  This year I was lucky enough to be in Sweden for St. Lucia day, the 13th December.  The roads had candles burning on the central reservations and in the shopping centre were young women dressed in white dresses with red sashes. The lead girl wears a crown of candles as this is also the shortest day of the year and thus it is a festival of light. 

My lovely God-daughter dressed up for me in her Lucia dress and crown of candles. 

St. Lucia is one of my favourite Scandinavian images and this year I hung a painting (by an American artist known as Audrey Eclectic) over my fireplace. If you have seen my home in Homes & Antiques January issue you can spot it.

For two days of my trip I popped up to Kiruna in Sweden (which falls in the Arctic circle) for some snow, and despite their being less snow this year than previously, it did fall to minus 24 degrees and there was no daylight at all.

The lack of daylight made photography very difficult but the weather was more of a hindrance in this respect as you have to wear such heavy special clothing that you can hardly move. 

Kiruna is a mining town and quite industrial, the smoke from the mines chimneys chugs away all day and night (not that you would know the difference).  Unbelievably the whole town is going to be moved in 50 years as they need to mine for the steel and iron underneath it.  The lack of light, and coldness added to the rather film like quality of the place, not so much in a pretty pretty way but more spooky and akin to Fargo.

We did a small amount of walking and between our hotel Camp Ripan above and the town we found some lovely older houses in gorgeous pastel colours. 

this house is empty with windows missing but seems to be undergoing some restoration.

this pale pastel yellow is a favourite colour for the houses 

I like the colour combinations on this house.

pink and yellow offset the Swedish flag on this property

the window lights are so welcoming,  I particularly like the candles on the window ledge.

We had one of these little cabins and to get to the main hotel had to walk down here. 

I had to considerably lighten this picture. It was taken quite early in the day.

And then there was the Ice Hotel. Mmmm a bit of a sore point with us. Due to open two days after our visit it was basically a building site with no signs of being ready. They charged us for a very lame tour and then left us stranded with no food or drink waiting for a bus in sub sub zero temperatures. 

It will take some convincing to get me back there.

In the Ice Hotel reception Rachel gets stuck in to lending a hand.

reindeer skin and antler doors

A corridor which we weren't allowed to go down.

The bar of the hotel is separate this year and in this round dome.

looking down towards the Ice Hotel from the car park

The ice is harvested from a local river and stored like this.

the bar where we didn't have a cocktail in an ice glass

the main hallway

I didn't get any photos of us dog sledding, that was quite an experience, being pulled by 8 huskies through the snowy forest and across a frozen lake. Not for the faint-hearted it was quite a basic way to travel and pretty scary.

As for the Northern Lights, well we did see a glimmer but not the full green illuminations. Strangely everywhere we went people said they had just seen it earlier! We think they were exaggerating.  Heres the thing though, they could start from around 4oclock and go on until late, you would have to sit outdoors away from town lights for many many hours just looking at the sky and in those temperatures you need to be pretty determined.  Perhaps I will try another time. 

Hope you enjoyed my little round-up of photos to join with Audrey Eclectic on her St. Lucia parade of blog posts. 

More photos later in the week of my special Christmas bargain finds from the charity shops.