Day Out!

On Monday we actually both took the same day off and spent some actual time with each other. The whole day in fact. I can't remember the last time we both didn't work all day on the same day. We'd set aside a bit of money and decided to head out into the world for a lovely time.



We tried on glasses at the vintage market and I bought myself a name patch for my jacket that says Harold.



We had a picnic and let everyone in Marks and Spencer know we didn't really belong there by being surprised and excited to find things like tiny brie and laughing when they gave us side eye.



Will took me to a second hand bookshop I'd not been in and we bought a book of Japanese myths. We also went to another awesome bookshop and got a little 80p book of Viking epic.



We found out that Bernard likes Parsley.



And made an aubergine friend.

Obviously this post wouldn't be complete without a gif of Will licking a houmous lid.

Days 104 - 111 // 365 2015

Day 104 - His confused look of 'why am I no longer being scratched?'



Day 105 - Yup.



Day 106 - Shark comb! 50p shark comb!



Day 107 - Bernard gets too hot too fast. He is my spirit animal.



Day 108 - Working on a stock request for The Jade Tree.



Day 109 - Spring is well and truly springing.



Day 110 - I was in the worst mood. Ignore the window dirt (I think the lens is dirty too. Dirt party.)



Day 111 - See my natural modelling skills. I bought this shirt a few months ago and I still love it so so much. The drawing is perfect, the shirt is comfy and the print is super quality, which she does herself. She being Mia Hawk who's Etsy shop you can find here.

Days 97 - 103 // 365 2015

Day 97 - I love libraries. I love it when people add in the due date even though it's all do it yourself and these pages don't really get used now. Why did this person feel the need to have their book back by 6.30pm?



Day 98 - Sketchbook painting at my desk. Always smudging wet work.



Day 99 - Even Bernard isn't super cute all the time. (Ha! He's actually totally gross most of the time.) I had no idea his mouth was open when I took that photo. It was the best surprise. Such a little monster.



Day 100 - Yolandi wip.



Day 101 - Best at making notes. Also best at accidental pen/cup coordination.



Day 102 - Liking the lichen.



Day 103 - I had taken this photo of the cats I'd made earlier in the day and then got in bed and realised I hadn't actually taken a 365 photo so thought I'd just add my face to this and be done with it. Once I'm in bed, I ain't getting back out but also want the photos to sit nice and landscape on here.

That purple cat is listed here.

Zine ~ Will Loves Food

For my March zine I did a lot of research into different ways of folding paper to make booklets and kind of ran out of time to make any proper content. So, I made this regular zine with some of the many photos I have taken over the years of Will enjoying food. I realise this won't be as funny for anyone other than Will and myself so I haven't bored you with a long post of photos of all the pages and haven't included every page in the gif but it made us laugh so much and I wanted to have every months zine included on the blog in some form or another so here is a peek into Will's love for food. Trust me, it's the best zine ever.

Illustration ~ Yolandi

Yolandi Visser of Die Antwoord. I love Yolandi she's cute but could (and would) totally beat you up if necessary. She's also all about people being themselves and fighting against the idea that there is one way everybody should be, which I think is pretty important. I'm thinking about making a series of drawings/zine/prints/something of awesome women and thought she was a mighty fine way to start it off.
Here are a few wip shots of the main painting. (I started the inking before I thought to take a picture but you get the idea.) I do rough sketches then work on the lightbox to pencil the final line work onto whatever paper I'll be using, paint then ink. I find if I ink first the paint can sit on top and I like a really black line.



I'd love suggestions of awesome ladies you're a fan of. It's one of many zine ideas I have floating around in my head and I like the idea of having other people suggest their own don't give a fuck ladies so by working on this little project I get to know some new ones and the zine isn't restricted to my limited knowledge of the world! So if you have a lady hero (and I use the word 'lady' as inclusively as possible) who I could google/library search then let me know.

Crochet ~ Humpback Harry

The new issue of Simply Crochet (30) includes my whale pattern. He's just the right amount of simple and satisfying I think. The body is a cone shape and it's how/where you add the pieces that gives him his cute, chubby, whale shape.



I'm at risk of sounding like a creepy stalker (I'm not, honest) but having my work in a magazine that is also featuring Twinkie Chan is bringing out the squealy fangirl in me. I've loved her work for quite a while (I even mentioned her in my interview for the magazine a few months ago) and seeing my whale sitting next to her is really quite exciting. Eep.

Easter Weekend

Over the Easter weekend chocolate nests were made (and munched), mum and dad came for a visit, hot cross buns were consumed, eggs were hunted and the city was wandered through. I took the weekend off from work (pretty much) and it was a rather lovely break. If you ignore that gnawing feeling of 'oh my god why aren't you working you lazy scummer you don't deserve days off!!!'. Everyone gets that though don't they?

What My Phone Saw ~ March

My very own booklet // Amigurumi get pretty mad when you don't arrange their innards properly



Will and me have matching knee bats, coz we're cute // Bernard doodle



The coolest tattoo studio in the fine city. Not that I'm biased or anything...



Thinking about using shrink plastic again. I don't know how many versions of pens/varnish/glue I've tried and given up on over the years.



The council say this guy won't give you diseases, I agree // Working on my fiddly fiddly wrist

Sketchbook ~ Orange Carrots?

Here's a few pages from the end of my 'free mistake' sketchbook. These first two have some drawings I did by referencing old paintings. I really like drawing from old paintings. It makes for a good mix. These are clearly drawn by me, I didn't try to directly copy the paintings as such, but Will could still tell who the artists were. Maybe Will's just magic.



I'm finding at the minute that I'm doing some stuff I quite like in my sketchbooks but when I sit down to do a 'proper' piece I can't get anything out. Just pratting about in my sketchbook has no pressure but then thinking I need some actual portfolio type pieces has loads of pressure attached to it. Even though there shouldn't really be a difference. It's all just drawing. What's most annoying about it is I know I'm doing it.

Days 89 - 96 // 365 2015

Day 89 - Norwich being good at colours.



Day 90



Day 91



Day 92 - The simple joy of making Easter nests.



Day 93



Day 94 - Making a friend.



Day 95 - Egg hunt.



Day 96 - A rather tasty looking basket.