yellow fling is over

yes - I'm done - my little fling with yellow has come to an end.

getting a new coat of white.....

I tried to really like it.....

  tried really really hard.....

it looks so good when other peoples use it - but yellow and I just aren't compatible with each other.
it's time to say goodbye.

with christmas decorating starting in house-o-nefotlak this weekend - some changes have to be made.
lucky for me - the changes were never huge - just splashes here and there.

I asked mr w. to get down the christmas decorations this weekend (we store them in our roof space).
we usually put up our tree on 1st december - but it's a thursday this year - and he will be away interstate with work.

just seeing all the boxes - the kids and I and mr w. just couldn't resist to start right away.

yesterday before they had even changed out of their pj's - the decorating had begun.....

(one star was added to cover up an instance where some underwear may or may not have been showing - then I just went nuts with the stars!!!! hey - it's that time of the year!!!)

blue stars because our tree is decorated in blue, white and silver - and yes - there is some crazy stuff going on with that cabinet on the right - I'll let you know when I have finally made up my mind!!!

apart from decorating madness - we managed to fit in a trip to the movies on friday night (breaking dawn 1/twilight for goob, eky and I - and arthur christmas for triple j and mr w. - both movies were enjoyed muchly by all parties involved) - and we also attended a 4 year old b'day party at the neighbours. good times.

and - I may be starting work this week - a 6-8 week contract - back at a place I worked at last year. amazing money - great people - and hoping for 4 days a week (and still allowed to go away over christmas!)
fingers crossed it all gets confirmed tomorrow. the extra money would just be perfect at this time of year.

so - hope you've all had a great weekend at your place.
hugs from here.
cheryl xox.

copy-cat delight

I do so enjoy when someone else finds inspiration from the things I blog about. (actually - I'm absolutely thrilled. little old me - inspiring peoples on the other side of the world - who'd a thought?!?!?!!!)

remember a couple of posts ago I wrote about my op art lesson while on prac in a primary school??

well - the lovely April over at Money Pit Love (all the way over in Canada) has created her very own piece of nefotlak. op art - and I couldn't be happier....

Money Pit Love

thank you April - you made this wee Aussie girl a little chuffed today!!

so.....on another topic.....does anyone need some rain?? I've had enough of what we have here!! thank you.

hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

goob's room - gallery wall details (1 of 2 posts)

thanks for all the lovely comments on goob's gallery wall.

here's the details on the wall as promised - for those that might be interested.

i've broken the wall into two parts - this post is about the top section -

item # 1

this frame was originally a very cheap black vinyl covered frame with glass - no matt.

the keys - i've had a bunch of old keys for a long time (you can pick them up on ebay etc) - goob requested to have some on her wall - i'm a nice mum - so i said ok!!!

method
1. remove glass from frame (i left this frame finished with no glass)
2. glue fabric (or paper) to the sturdy piece of card (the same size as the piece of paper that comes inside the frame) & allow to dry.
3. arrange keys on fabric - then pierce small hols with a sharp knife either side of the key - and thread thin wire to hold the key in place - twisting at the rear to keep firm.

here is a closeup - you can just see the black thin wire i used.....

i then rubbed and buffed on silver leaf over the frame (i've posted about using this before here) ......

when dry - i put the frame back together - minus the glass - and hung on wall.

item # 2

the classic button letter!!
the best tutorial i found on this technique is here - i found it to be very easy to follow and clear.

i just used Microsoft Word to work out the font and size of the letter i wanted - then made the letter showing just the outline (to save on ink) - printed it out on paper then carefully cut it out.

here are some pics of the process.....

playing around with button placement - then moving to a clear locaation to start the gluing

started on one section on the g - then just kept adding layers and glued as i went

once on the wall - you don't even notice that there is a letter cutout underneath the buttons - but it does help to define the letter better. i like it!!!

i also left the glass off this frame due to the height of the buttons.
i used the glue cun to attached the blue paper to some card before putting it in the frame.

item # 3

this one was a former gift from a friend to goob many years before - and it looked like this.....

 method
1. 'gems' removed
2. painted on sides and edges with black paint.
3. painted on sides and edges with white paint.
4. paper was stuck to the top of the letter with mod podge.
5. light sanding along edges with fine sandpaper (including along the edge of the paper).
6. glaze and brown paint mix painted over top and sides - and wiped off gently with tissue. (just to age the finish a little)
7. 3 x coats of matte varnish added to finish it off.

item # 4

that's us - the nefotlak family!!!

essentially this was a cheap brown laminated frame rubbed over with that magic silver leaf i mentioned above (for item # 1). love love love that stuff!!

here's a close up of us.....(photo taken at a 50th b'day bash we attended last year).....

item # 5

this is the pictrue/frame that started this whole gallery wall.
this used to always be on this wall - all by itself and lonely!!

it is an original lithograph which was given to goob for her christening in 1996 - framed and all - i have not touched this frame - it's exactly how it was received!!!

the artist.....i believe is an australian - although i know nothing about her.....

the picture i find kind of odd - but i think it's a very clever christening present (instead of all the trinkets one mostly gets) - as it's far more useful into goob's older years than most of her other gifts!
she's got some real art!!!

anyhoo that's my thoughts.


so that's the gallery wall tour for now - i will be back to share the nitty-gritty about the lower half soon - i promise.

yay - tomorrow is friday!!! sweeet!!!!
hugz,
cheryl xox. 

more making and rearranging

have been busy these last few weeks - in between lurgy sickness and general house-hold happenings.
more handmade goodies and rearrangements for the loungeroom.
remember these.... (which i made and posted about here)

 i moved them into here.....

 

and remember this little white mirror .... (in the background there with the wreath) .....

it got a little paint job and a move (painted yellow then rubbed back a little with sandpaper) .....

and i wanted to make something - so did a little fossicking in our garage and came up with this (this is still the prototype - i'm thinking of mounting the letters onto wood - for now it's all on scrappy cardboard!!) ....

hand bent scrap metal pieces / wire / cardboard !!

and this is where it currently lives ..... for now .....

so many projects going on at once over here! my head is buzzing and i'm not getting much sleep - but i'm loving the changes to our house - and i love that i've once again found my creative-ness which has been a little dormant for the last few years.

i think that i really would like to get full-on into creating - and eventually selling bits - but for now i want to get my home looking a little better - and of course everytime i come up with a new 'something' - my girls squeal and say they want one for themselves!!!!

oh - almost forgot ..... i also got my hands on some more wooly goodness .....

it's a bobbly alpaca wool blend (48% polyacrilyc / 30% alpaca / 15% wool / 5% polymide) - and a little unusual to use - but it has a lovely feel and a hint of that wooly smell which i love.
i've never used such bobbly wool - cause i don't knit much (until i made this wee creation last month - my little yellow knit pillow - which i posted about here) ...

but i've decided to go bigger - and make a warm wooly throw for the loungeroom - and it's started to take shape like this .....

 

definately a project that will take more time - but i'm loving sitting with the family in the evening - plugging away at this one - making it up as i go along.
the girls love to have a say about where they think each next peice should go!
i'm also going to need a lot more wool!!!!!

so that's all the latest from house-o-nefotlak today.
i need to get out for some more undercoat for the bedrooms (to cover up frightful past paint jobs - done by us!!!!) - and grab some more grey paint for the dining room - as we've almost - yes almost - removed all the stuff that i photographed here .....

i still dream of a time when that blue wall will be gone!!

i know - incredibly scarey photo - but at this exact moment that white cabinet (in the front) and all those boxes are gone to new homes (in other rooms) - and we can see half of the table!!! (it's been hidden for ages - so there is great excitement in the air!!!!)

i'll leave you with this - cause it's much more pretty!!! .....

hope you're having a great day!
cheryl xox.

industrial look - 1

after completing the bones of our lounge room (apart from removing the carpet) - i now wish to jazz up the room a bit - give it some feel.
i love the industrial look - have for ages - just haven't had the space to make it work until now.
(well - i'm hoping i can make it work in my little world - kind of awkward showing my feeble attempts here - but - well - we'll see how i go!!! eek!!)
i really love letters and/or numbers on walls and/or on furniture/cushions/accessories - large & small.
in fact just love typography in general.
haven't got a whole heap to spend - so looking at grabbing ideas where i can and trying to make it work here at home.

here's some yum interior shots that  i love -

 the first two photos found at homelife.com.au

 

this one from v25 the blog 

 

this from loving.living.small

this from Room Remix

and do check out these and more gorgeous pics at  
The Essence of the Good Life blog -     

 

so.......i've started to collect me some numbers........more on that in my next post........

night!

mrs c. xox

nefotlak - beginnings

hi.
welcome.
thanks so much for stopping by.
my name is mrs c., and together with my daughters goob, eky and triple j, and the wonderful mr w., we today launch our new blog - labelled nefotlak.
this blog is to document our design ideas, our inspirations, our room makeovers, our garden ideas and anything else we learn to love and/or share along the way.
we love craft, photography, interior design, quilts, stuffed toys, papercraft, upcycling, beautiful things - and much, much more.
me - personally - i am the wife to the most patient man in the world, mum to 3 amazing daughters and a good-looking spoodle (dog = x cocker spaniel + poodle). i am also currently studying to become a teacher (primary school) - something i've always wanted to do.
i've been blogging since 2006 - although that was under other names and with vastly different content.
here - i start again.
i hope you enjoy the ride.
please feel free to say hi - would love to hear from others out there in blog-land.
night.
mrs c. xox