Sights of Madrid

As you might know from my previous post, we are currently in Madrid.
The journey was tiring to say the least, getting up after barely sleeping for two hours makes a day and journey like a zombie. So Tuesday went basically all to the trip. We did have clear weather and a no-wing seat (which I had chosen online) making views for some beautiful pictures.

As I also said in the last post it is not a vacation, but some family drama, I will spare you the details, but today it is solved and finished. It sounds like a quick thing but it actually have been taking/dragging on for several years so it is nice that this chapter has finally closed.

Our Hotel is in central Madrid (Puerta del Sol) with lots of old buildings, cafe's and restaurants.
We have been doing something nice every day to relax, mostly looking shops and shopping a little :)

With all the things that needed to be arranged I have only took a few pictures so far, but now that we have the weekend and no-not-fun stuff for a few days I will be sure to take some more for a more thorough blog post for next time.

Most people know the famous architecture of Barcelona, but Madrid is full of gorgeous buildings too. Maybe not so peculiar as Gaudi's work but definitely worth a visit.

Hope to share some more in the next few days!

Mediterranean Travel

Tomorrow morning, before the crack of dawn, we'll be heading to Spain, the other side of the Mediterranean sea for some family drama.
This all happened quite sudden so arranging care for our doggies was a nightmare but it is finally all arranged.

I hope to blog from there, but you never know how things go when you are not at home. Our shops will be open but no new items for a little while :)

Dissecting a Faucet

For years we have this beautiful brass faucet. Due to some damages not usable as a faucet it was begging to become a Steampunk lamp.

After a thorough internet search by mum we had beautiful wiring, socket and plug and also scored a heavy cast iron feet where the faucet fits perfectly in.

I sawed off the attached copper pipes and had to completely put all pieces apart of the faucet to be able to wire it. It was quite funny to see the anatomy (hence the title with dissecting)  of the faucet. I had to make it worse before it could get better.
After the plumbing lessons I also had some electricity lessons (yaay for youtube) and finished the awesome ( if I may say so) Steampunk lamp.

The cast iron foot was a perfect fit, the lamp is heavy (4.4 kg - 9 lb 7 oz) making it very stable.

It is funny it took ages but not the making of it more collecting the parts and also I thought I would need an electrician but turns out it was easy to do it myself.

Now that I know that I can handle it and always can ask dear YouTube for help there might appear some more lamps in the near future :)

The lamp is available in our StarHomeStudio shop, right now it has an USA plug but that can be changed to another Country's system :)

Bohemian Armchairs; Finally Ready!

Finally finally the chairs that have been suffering since January are ready!

After I did the paintwork which I showed last week, it was time to fill and upholster them. These chairs were the most time taking and effort requiring furniture pieces till now, mostly likely as they are two but also the way we changed the model from open woodwork to partially covered etc were all new things to us.

They are both covered with the same embroidery, which was a gorgeous huge piece of embroidered tapestry. We puzzled it in such a way that not a tiny piece was left and both chairs got super colorful.

They are sold separately but I hope someone won't split the set and buy them together as they look so smashing :)

Even the back sides are super colorful, no need to put them against a wall, all sides are worth showing off.

As you can see the paint work I did was in 6 shades that are in the embroidery.
They are available in our StarHomeStudio shop, among other one of a kind furniture pieces.

Newly Listed: Whale Tail Necklace

Whale Tail Necklace - Nautical Necklace Beach Jewelry Leather and Metal Unisex by StarDelights
Seashell Still Life Photography Sea Shell Coastal Wall Art Pastel Beach Print by GalleryZooArt
Minimalist Bird photo, Seagull, Beach decor. Pastel, summer photography by NancyFalsoPhotos
Windy Day Photography Hair Blowing Sunny Blue Sky print Shine...by VictoriaEnglishCharm

Work in Progress

Finally some progress with the two chairs that I have been showing since January!
They are now all cleaned and repaired. And I am now painting them with 6 layers of different colors.

As it is a pretty classic chair we wanted to have it a little crazy and unusual. The 6 layers with sanding in between does take a lot of time and upholstering of course will take a while longer.

But after 4-5 months it really is now time to see the end result as this is crazy :)
The weather now is perfect to spent hours outside to paint, so that is great.

Newly Listed: Driftwood Windchime

Driftwood Windchime, Rustic Fishnet and Driftwood, Beach Finds Installation, Wall Hanging by StarHomeStudio
Woods - Fairytale Photography, Forest Photos, Muted, Soft, Zen, Nature Photographs, Landscape by slightclutter
Sparrow Bird Photography Chipping,nature, woodland, striped, reflection, brown, twins, rustic home decor by VanillaExtinction
Nature Leaf Photography, Brown Dark Rustic Home Decor, Macro Square Print, Up Close by VictoriaEnglishCharm

A Little Wild Trip

Today we went to the Animal hospital, a mountain drive of about half an hour, for our Zeyno. We discovered some large lumps and as we have had these kind of shocks a lot lately we did not waste any time and went straight away for her to be operated. It looks like she has the same cancer as Simon ( who is doing well) but we'll know more when the pathology test results are back. She is a big 12 year old dog, but we love all our doggies and like to keep them around healthy and happy :)

While waiting for the operation we discovered a fox pup in one of the recovery cages, oh so very adorable and pretty and very small. She will go to a wild life park once she has been vaccinated and has stayed there for quarantine for a while. I never have seen a fox so close, let alone a pup so I took some pictures for this beauty.

The operation went well, 4 lumps are removed and we'll know what is going on in a few days.
On our way back we stopped by an abandoned greenhouse, literally exploding with greenness, so magical.

I often love pictures of abandoned places, the way nature takes back the place and slowly makes it green and pretty has something satisfying, the ability of nature to heal is amazing (of course it can heal to a certain extent).

We must have passed it dozens of times, in a fast going car you do not see everything, but this time I realized that the greenhouse was a little too green and we made a mental note to stop on our way back for pictures.

Girmek Yasaktır - Forbidden to Enter, not that you can actually enter, I did break that rule by poking my head and camera inside :)

Funny enough just when I was about to write this blog post I came across this image on BoredPanda, it seemed to meant to be featured here considering the combo of the fox and the greenness that she could have been in that greenhouse :)

Here some 'forbidden' peeks inside.

Zeyno is doing well, lying on her favorite couch with a comfort blanket and her appetite already back to normal, and her tail waggling like nothing has happened, animals are so strong!

Newly Listed: Pyramid Amethyst Necklace

Pyramid Amethyst Necklace Kuchi Necklace Healing Stone, Purple Shades, Healing Stone, Tribalfusion by StaroftheEast
Photography, cloud photography print, purple wall art, nature photography, fine art print, wall decor, Wonder by SpringBurst
Nature Print, Purple Wall Decor, Heather Photography Print, Large Wall Art, Botanical Print, Nature Art, Home Decor by AgaFarrell
Vancouver photograph, Coal Harbour, Stanley Park seawall, Vancouver skyline, wall decor, Misty Mauve by SandyWigginsImages

Hello May

Hello May, I am glad you're here! April was a crazy month, full with unwanted, unpleasant 'surprises' so I hope, I know (thinking positive here) that this month will turn out better!
Furniture projects have been on a halt for a while but we are planning on picking it up this month.

Luckily between all the mess we have our Sunday's escapes to the beach which helps to unwind a little. Also with this lovely weather I did some garden work, will show that soon. Making some sad looking parts of the garden a bit more joyful which is a challenge with 9 doggies who love to dig up freshly planted things :)

Besides driftwood, shells, urchins and stone we also find a selection of curiosities each time we go to the beach. You won't believe how many crab legs we have, we even made some necklaces with them.

The road to and from the beach are through mountains, forests and villages, with the changing seasons there is always something new to see, like this amazing tree.

Newly Listed: Sea Urchin Ring with Cubic Zircon

Sterling Silver Pink Sea Urchin Ring with Cubic Zircon Engagement Ring One of a Kind Size 8 by StaroftheEast
Barn Owl Photography,  dreamy fairy tale, forest, woodland, pastel photograph print by BokehEverAfter
Pink Purple Wall Art, Seascape Photograph, Dreamy Beach Photography, Whimsical Wall Art by BreeMadden
Pink flowers. Pastel. Fine art photography print by BeatriceLechtanski