Carol's "On the Patio" Nook

As with all kits, despite the precision cutting, it is always a good idea to do a dry run of the major pieces first. This not only familiarises you with the kit parts but will also help identify where the pieces will fit against each other and enables you to judge which areas should therefore ideally be left free of paint to ensure a smooth joint in due course and also mark the left and right sides etc before assembly.

I left all of the tab/edge pieces of the patio base unpainted as the walls fit on top of them and whilst all four inner walls (stone coloured) are painted following the same principle, the outer terracotta walls are painted all over as their edges show. I chose to paper the door frame wall so that it resembles a living room in a house that leads out to the garden area. The added bonus is that by cutting the paper to the full width of the outer edges, the part where the tabs meet are smoothly covered. I painted the pergola pieces and when dry, I distressed them with two shades of grey paint to give a weathered look before fitting into the basic structure. The table and chairs were also inked and distressed in the same way but with lighter colours.

The stone effect of the patio was easy to achieve following the guide on the base piece and using different coloured grey and brown paints. I made this over the course of a few cold November days and looking out of the window I was inspired to create an autumnal scene with lots of orange and brown colours amongst the greenery and leaves which were made using the CKC die cut fern, sword leaf and ivy leaf sets.

Having made up the tubs and trellis, when they were glued in place, I then stuck miniscule pieces of grass and flock to resemble weeds through the stonework and earth and fallen leaves to the area around the shrubs because of the wind and rain. There are also a few puddles (made using Cosmic Shimmer Clear Gloss Finish Glaze) still left on the paving.

A couple of finishing touches were some steps made from the off cuts from the kit and a pair of wellingtons to entice you into the patio garden – whatever the weather!

I think you will agree with us that Carol has done an amazing job creating her Autumnal Patio Scene, and those tree's are so clever.

If you would like to recreate Carol's patio or create one of your own, all the links can be found below.

Happy Crafting

The CoolKatz Team x

https://www.coolkatzcraft.com/book-nook-intrigue-on-the-patio-complete-kit

https://www.coolkatzcraft.com/cool-katz-leaf-dies

https://www.coolkatzcraft.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=cosmic+shimmer

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