An Introduction

Welcome to my blog! First I'll introduce myself. I am Gemma, I am a mum of two and obsessed with paint and the restoration of vintage furniture. I live just north of the pretty Roman town of Lincoln in the east Midlands England. I lived in Spain for two years and returned home six months ago. It was a temporary job for my hubby and we were posted to the wonderful city of Madrid. In many ways it was a fabulous experience but (without going into massive detail as I don't want this to be a post about the trials of living abroad) it was challenging, lonely and frustrating. Trying to adjust to a totally different culture and language is no mean feet but the experience was invaluable. And although I'm happy to be home there are lots of things about Madrid I miss and yes the weather of course!  

As you can see we had two years of culture, old and new, gorgeous weather and even our own pool! Why did you come back you ask??? Well despite all this lets just say you can have it all but without your friends and family what is left is just a void that can't be filled. And familiarity. There's no place like home and I had had my fair share of feeling just a little isolated and lost. But now I am back I there is so much I miss. I ached to go home but I miss Madrid and all the things that drove me crazy too.

I named my business  Mariposas which is Spanish for Butterflies. I love butterflies and the word like the whole Spanish language it is beautiful, which hopefully my finished pieces are too. 

During my time over there I went on a porcelain painting course as I was on a pretty low ebb I needed something to focus on. There is nothing better than doing something creative for depression. Once a week for one hour it was total bliss and escapism from those long nights spent alone while hubby was travelling Spain with his work. I realised that I needed a creative outlet and that would help treat my depression, doing something where I was creating something beautiful. 

So on my return home six months ago I am searching for porcelain painting courses with no avail. So I stumble across a website for a local business Crofton Interiors in the pretty village of Hackthorn a mere ten minutes away. I read all about the chalk paint they stock, Autentico, Never heard of it although I was familiar with Annie Sloan. I have my friend Maxine at Crofton Interiors to thank for introducing me to Autentico chalk paint where I went along for a days workshop to see what this fantastic paint could do for me. It was a fab day with tea and cake included! I went away with my spice rack painted in 'poetic' and used the remaining paint on some other pieces at home. I just couldn't put the paint brush down. 

Now there's a rather unflattering pic of me in the red apron enjoying myself at the workshop. Now this paint has real chalk in it and is a joy to use and gives a lovely clean finish. The colour choice is amazing. This kick started my obsession with paint in all its glorious forms and vintage furniture! Having painted some other pieces with what was left in my paint tin I had to order more and more, trying different colours. The pleasure it gives me is indescribable, I never feel more relaxed then when I'm painting. My hubby thinks the same way of cooking but me sadly not lol! 

During the six months since, I have experimented with other paints, different chalk paint and eggshell and have produced some nice pieces. When we bought our first lots from the auction my hubby was struggling to see how this 'junk' could ever be desirable again. He wondered what he was going to do with all this stuff in the garage and envisaged having to take it all down the dump in six months time. 

Lets just say they weren't to his liking in their current state. But way behold after a waving my creative magic wand he was totally balled over!

and I'd only just started. He was sold so things were looking good. So I thought maybe I could make this work as a way of earning an income, so I don't have to try and join the ratrace, be over worked undervalued and underpaid any more and leave my kids at nursery, which lead me into my depression in the first place. In Spain I didn't have the hassle of all that but I had the opposite problem, doing nothing! It's great for a short while but you can't spend your whole life on a permanent holiday. And it's no holiday if you are on your own for most of it. What can you do in a country where you can't speak the lingo and learning it would take years. You can't work even part time and financially it's a struggle (it's so expensive there). so The only alternative is to come home after two years and find your vocation in life. I hope I can make this work, I have the will power and the belief that it will work. I am so inspired by others success stories. I take a lot of inspiration from fellow 'shabby chicers', furniture upcyclers or whatever you want to call them. Their success drives me forward. Hopefully I can be of an inspiration too one day. Lets watch this space.