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Winter celebrations 2025!
27 December 2025
The run up to xmas is always a bit hectic with jewellery orders, which came later this year for some reason, meaning very tight December deadlines for me. I'm so pleased to have got them all completed on time. It is such a fulfilling moment when I can make a lovely xmas for my children so they are not missing out just because I'm a single parent (always a worry I have).
We bought our tree at the end of November, this year we got a little tree in a pot which even came with a small birds nest in! These days I just let the kids do the tree and I do the rest of our flat. My son and I made a brass garland with stars and he did the moon.
Our tiny tree sapling from a few years ago is still alive!
It is a bit tight without a separate dinning room. We always have Xmas dinner in the evening (family tradition) so that we can have candlelit dinner. So for lunch I just put some snacks out. I used this little victorian wash stand (that used to be my daughters desk) which is handy because you can put plates and cutlery in the draw! My mum came over for xmas day this year.
I love that our dog has her own stocking and presents and really joins in the whole fun. We all laugh and spend a few minutes to give her belly rub and help her open her gifts.
Remote controlled concentration.
I have had these vintage star baking tins for years as they perfectly hold a tealight.
It has been a great year, a sense of stability with regards to my business, Only Through Shadows, which is 5 years old now! Considering all the obstacles this year for the jewellery trade, I'm so proud that I have managed to keep going and keep making. I can't wait to make new things, so many ideas always whizzing around in my head! I have also been keeping quite fit by walking my dog so much. I would never find the motivation without her, she's the best! So enthusiastic for life (and cheese)
P and L are doing well too, its a funny age gap now, as my daughter is now a teen and my son still at Primary school, so they are not as close as the used to be in some ways. Sometimes I think you just have to accept the ebb and flow of children growing up, changing one minute and then reverting back the next minute. I now just trust the process. At least at xmas they are both like little kids again which is lovely.
As for me, I am just happy to be growing old, grateful for that privilege. Next year I will be 48!
I'm sure I will be back here with a similar blog post...
Best wishes to you all for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!
Thank you for visiting my blog, love from us...Artemis, P, L and Otterdog xxxx
DIY Artex Ceiling skimming
8 September 2024
(After!)
This could be quite a dull post about a ceiling!
Never in my life have I worked so hard on something that most people won't even notice what has changed. However I notice the swirly patterns on my ceilings since I bought my flat three years ago. It's in all of the rooms, however I really only notice it in our living room. It's about 300 ft2 (27 m2) so its like two rooms in one, a sea of pattern. I decided to just attempt this room first.
The ceiling has been lowered in the late 1980s but the building is Edwardian I think. With the big window, the Artex takes up half of your field of vision if you know what I mean?
If you're not familiar with the stuff (if you're in the UK I'm sure you will be!) Artex is a kind of coating used to make patterns and textured on walls and ceilings. So popular during the 1970s & 80s, that it covers a huge amount of properties here. Also, It used to contain asbestos, and so can be dangerous if disturbed. It is a nightmare to have removed.
I had my communal hallway tested before moving in, which was negative for asbestos and I then had my living room tested before I did anything to it. I used a kit bought online for the living room (I was 90% sure it was the same Artex as used in the other parts of the building, so I wasn't too worried but thought it better to do it anyway).
Here is the living room ceiling when I was decorating after stripping off all the wood chip wallpaper
(Before!)
The living room pattern is more swirly like waves or clouds? I forgot to take close ups before I started work on it, but here are the other rooms with different patterns...
Bathroom
Kitchen
Bedrooms
I am obviously not a professional and this is the first time doing any plastering so I really do think I am completely out of my depth. However, I sadly do not have money to pay for a plasterer at the moment or near future unless I win the lottery. So I only had two choices really - live with it, or do it myself. If you can afford professional plasterer then I wholly and completely recommend that you do that and save yourself a lot of work and aching limbs. Also, if your ceiling is a bit dodgy, cracked or covered in a shiny paint, it will most likely need to be addressed by someone more experienced.
First thing to do (after removing or protecting room contents from dust) is to scrape off as much of the Artex as possible. Obviously if your Artex contains asbestos, you must not scrape or sand it)
I tried a few methods but I found that cheap window cleaner or vinegar can help to soften the Artex and scraped off as much as I could. Just spray it and wait a few minutes before scraping. Disappointingly, only a small amount of the pattern would budge with all of the methods I tried.
I used this plaster kit, but due to the size of the room, I needed a few of these tubs which are not cheap! I found this other filler which is virtually the same product but a lot cheaper, and used the tools that came with the original kit. The Toupret product does not require any PVA bonding coat (according to the info on the tub). You basically use the roller supplied, to roll on in thin coats. You then use the serrated skimming tool followed by the smooth one. I needed about two to three coats to cover the pattern. The first coat you just want to roughly fill in the pattern, doing small areas at a time. The top coat needs to be nice and smooth as you can get it. Let it dry between coats over night.
Using a damp sponge and water spray bottle to blend in any visible lines or rough areas.
(between coats)
(after the first coat I scraped off the protruding lines with a long handled floor scraper and wetting it so it comes away easier). I didn't think it would be that hard to cover as I thought it was quite a shallow pattern, so naive!
(needed another coat!)
The walls had become so grubby over the last few years so I had to paint those too. I also fixed some problem areas on the walls with the same filler which is a pale grey colour.
Btw, if blobs of plaster land on the carpet/upholstery, just leave them to dry and they just flick off the next day!
It takes off a lot of plaster but it was as you can imagine, a real marathon and took me about a week of 4 hours per day. I did this during the holidays when the children were with their dad. It was a heat wave, I looked like a sweaty dough ball. Use a dust mask!
What I love about this sander is that it catches about 80% of the dust, you just tap it out into a tray every few minutes. This is all the dust I caught instead of it clogging up my hoover.
Once I was happy enough with the finish (about to pass out from exhaustion), I painted it with a good quality matt white emulsion paint. The Toupret skimming plaster/filler does not require mist coating first so that saves a lot of time and energy.
I was very impressed that it only needed one coat of paint, I used Dulux Trade Matt which is always reliable in my experience.
In the end, I am super happy!
It may not be perfect compared to a professional job of course, but it looks ok to me and I saved a lot of money!
It is so relaxing to have a smooth ceiling and it changed the light and the feel of the room too. I now lay on the sofa and gaze up at all my hard work.
Since I have moved in a few years ago, I have worked my butt off trying rid this property of textures from the 1980s, woodchip wallpaper and Artex everywhere!
It is starting to look more like the 1900s
I took lots of photos in different lights and angles.
(Before)
(After - my jewellery making HQ Only Through Shadows )
The ceilings don't bother me as much in the other rooms, probably because they are smaller. I might tackle one room per year, once I recover. We'll see!
A little while ago I also made a mantle piece with wood panels and pegs for the blocked up chimney breast. That stove is electric! So I'm quite happy with how our living room is now x
(BTW I have linked some of the products I used to Amazon in the hopes that if you decided to buy it, I will apparently receive some income. I've never done it before so I don't know how it works properly yet but I'm just letting you know!)
Thank you for reading!
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