Posts by: jillmayor

I would like to know how to go about having a garden makeover by one of the well known gardeners. Darmuid Gavin's creations blow me away!

Hi there! The contrasting colour for yellow - or pale lemon in your case - is blue, so any colour/shade in the blue - purple zone will complement your pale walls well. Have you thought about a wooden floor too? Against your paler walls and cabinets it would add a warm feel.

I have painted glass bottles and jars for many years and the glass paint I use is readily available from craftand hobby shops. I have used both oil kand water based methods. If you are feeling adventurous you can also make it look like a leaded piece either by "drawing" in a lead coloured paste, also called liquid lead,or by using the thinner self adhesive lead stripping, like they use on windows.

Natural colours/tones work well in room with not much light. A soft linen/cream with natural light wood accessories looks nice. Try gold as the accent colour e.g plantpots, cushion covers etc. Use plenty of table lamps and/or candles. :D

Dairmiud Gavin can come and put one of his creations in my garden anytime! He has some wierd ideas but what an imagination he's got.

Ever since I first saw Bob Ross on Discovery Home and Leisure I must have painted well over 100 paintings in his style. I have sold a lot at car boot sales but my attic is still overrun by quite a lot. Time is my only problem - I just wish I had more of it. I would love to have a studio from where I could sell my work. I also like to glass paint and paint on ceramics with different meduims. Is there anyone else like me out there!

have you any children in school or do you know of anyone who has? My son asked his chemistry teacher if he could buy some so he could experiment at home and she gave him a whole box of test tubes. Worth a try. Good luck :D

Hi there! I used to have a yukka which went all tall and spindly so I "saved" one of the side shoots before deciding to throw it away, which I put in a pot of compost. That ws almost 20 years ago! It is still growing. It's only grown about 18 inches but its leaves are still lovely and green and shiney. :d

Jas, Hi there. I haven't done a car booter for a year or two but, yeah, I've sold many at one. Naturally, people to to "booters" with 5 and expect to buy a house, but stick to your guns and they'll sell. I never take the ones I do on canvas or you'll never make your money back. I take the "practice" ones done on hardboard but they are original oils so stress that fact! Good luck.

I've had no response to my "plea" of having a garden makeover! I have a large garden which "wraps around" the house on 3 sides. the front is very small but the side and the back are quite large. The side is higher than the rest and just laid to grass. I want some privacy so for the past 2 months we have tried to build a wall - but with the weather being what it is - haven't had a lot of luck with dry days and days off work coinciding! I'd love a courtyard-style/low maintenance garden but I haven't got a huge budget. Any ideas?

Thank you Diane. I will bear your suggestions in mind. I am just waiting for a dry day or two to get the wall built. Once that is done I can begin the actual garden. Are you having a wet August in Colne like we are over here? Jill.

Hi Shaz. I agree with the previous reply to your dilemma. I couldn't think os a bette colour to be "stuck" with. You can do anything with white. How big's your room? How about choosing a really funky colour and make a feature out of the window wall and then "dress" your window with stunning curtains to go with the colour you've chosen. that way you will have made a feature out of the whole room by only colouring one wall. On the other walls hang some pictures and a mirror to reflect your masterpiece window. Good luck. Jill :D

Hi Linda. Your home sounds lovely. Blue and pink used to be the "in" colours as I used to have those myself. When I got fed up with the brightness I found a lovely subtle shade of minky pink from the Dulux range called Sonata. Unfortunately when I wanted to touch up, the shade was no longer available but I phoned Dulux who advised me of a local outlet that would mix up a batch. I lived with it for years without really noticing the colour - it wasn't "in your face". I had a B&Q booklet thru the door this morning and the paint that is available now is brilliant. There is a range called 1829 which is authentic period shades. they also do a New England range which is a stunning range of "whites" which will be more neutral. Hope this helps. Jill :D

Thank you, Anna. Guess what I'll be doing today....... :D

jas. You are lucky having a whole garage to splash about in. Me, I've got my kitchen and boy do I make splashes! I'm not a popular painter with my hubby. Your creations sound far superior to mine. Have you tried advertising in the local newspapers or even in the post office on the notice board? Lots of people like local art. Someone who lives in a neighbouring village advertises that he is holding an art exhibition in his back garden and sells his pix that way. Hopefully, I will be doing a craft fir nearer to Christmas..........Good luck. Jill :D
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I was sitting in the doctors surgery this morning browsing thru the mags when I saw a letter with a similar plight to yours - re bloomin' cats fouling up your flower beds. Mothballs! Yes, apparently they hate mothballs. The pungency of these things will apparently keep them away for up to 6 weeks before having to change them. :D

Hi there. You say you don't want anything tv character based but your boy likes diggers and cranes etc. Doesn't Bob the Builder fit the bill? Are you any good at art? Could you paint a bright yellow digger on the wall for him? This could be easily painted over when he outgrew this "digger" fascination. If you don't like that idea - you say he likes purple. Well lilac is a variation of the same colour. Bright lilac with contrasting paintwork - lemon maybe? B&Q stock a good variety of kiddies borders. Maybe there's a builders theme one available. Good luck. Jill

There's a fab shop in Swansea called Good Habit which sells all sorts of lovely fabrics including Indian ones. I've been into Plymouth several times - is there nothing available from the indoor market there? I don't have the phone no forGood habit but it will be available from directory enquiries but call from a call box as it's free!

Hi there Amanda. Have a look on www.bath-doctor.co.uk. There is also an site to direct your questions to. It's info@www.bath-doctor.co.uk. Also have a look on the B&Q website at www.diy.com. There is a "contact us icon to click on and they will get back to you in 48 hours.Hope this helps. Jill :D

Hi there. I see you are from Swansea, so next time you're in Llansamlet, pop into the Range.They have gold,silver and copper leaf sheets in the craft dept which is quite inexpensive. You'll need the "size" to go with it. Coat the surface with the size, wait for it to go tacky and lay a sheet of the leaf over your frame and brush with a soft paintbrush. You will probably miss parts but that gives it an "antiqued" look. Good luck! Jill :D

Hi Denny. My garden resembles a building site at the moment but I still managed to brighten it up with cheery flowers in planters. Bright colours take your attention away from the ugly bits you don't like!Have a look for inspiration in the library. There are lovely pix in books for even the smallest space. :D

Hi Shirley. Have you tried adding fresh fruit to your salads? Chopped apple, apricot,strawberries - anything to give it a zing. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top for that added crunch too.Salads shouldn't be restriced to just lettuce and tomatoes. A squirt of fresh lime is an alternative to vinegar too. Happy munching! :D

I don't often get time out to read a lot but when I do I can't keep my hands off Dean Koontz! No, I'm not at that "funny age" but his books are really can't-put-downable. My favourite is Strangers. It's about 700 pages long but once I got into it I just read it until I'd finished. For those 5 days no one got fed and no dusting was done, but hey!, If I'm off work on hols, time's no ones. "Watchers" was another of his that I couldn't put down. I could relate to every character. We didn't have a hol this summer(if you have been reading the messages over the past few weeks you'll know I've had major wall building problems in the garden! Dean is a bit of a spooky, spine chilling author but it makes you wonder - is all this possible.......I'm a bit of a hippy kind of chick so I like to think that there is another world out there. If you like the romantic kind of read, Rosamund Pilcher is lovely. Quite a contrast to Dean but equally as gripping. Happy reading. Jill :D

Not that I'm up in the wee small hours - but does Open University run any courses? I know they've got a website. I'll look it up now and return with the answer later. Have you sold any of your art, by the way? Jill

Hi. Me again. I looked up on Jeeves and found www.open.ac.uk/search.