coffee shops

2 seperate visits to 2 seperate places.
every now and then we treat ourselves.
and it's good.

i have a cold. i feel rubbish. i always get a cold after a long weekend at work, i can't mix so much with the public, i catch all their germs. i'd much rather stay inside not catching germs making art and only venture out to see something pretty.
yes i'm a hermit.
normally it only lasts a day but i had it yesterday and now i still have it today and i have to go back to work again. i'm sure that'll make it more fun.
oh well i'll have to just deal with it.
at least it's only a cold.

on the up side, yesterday we ventured into welwyn and i bought things for packing shop items. i love stationary, i got quite excited carrying my little pile of envelopes.

x

4,5,6,7 /365

4/365 sketches for a new 'thing' for the shop.

5/365 very quick and without using a rubber. just the first lines that went down.

6/365 drawn in the dark dark back corner of the cinema while i watched nanny mcphee 2 after work waiting for will to finish.

7/365 some copied rufus dayglo from 'visions of booga' and some stuff that i could see from the sofa.

hoping to have a really productive day today but it's already later than i wanted it to be and i feel so worn out. the last 3 days i had as many hours at work as i normally do in a whole week. which isn't much, but i'm not used to it. and now i have my one day off before back to work again. i so hope i find a nicer job soon, and i hope even more that it won't be too long before i can survive off my art alone.
which is partly down to you buying pretty things off me, so get ready for that :) i think i'm aiming for the site to be up and running by easter monday *fingers crossed*

x

3/365

100th post!
amazing.

i think i'm going to start putting these sketch a day's together a few at a time rather than a post everyday seeing as it might get boring.
but i thought this goose deserved to be the 100th post because he's inquisitive.

x

2/365

yesterday was one of those days when you just can't draw. i tried drawing many different things and they all got rubbed out. so i left it with this medly of animals. not so great but i still did it.

x

paper flowers

i sorted through my paper drawer today and turned it into 2 paper drawers by emptying a drawer under my desk so the paper had more space because it kept getting caught whenever i opened the drawer. some might say, 'throw away some of the paper you crazy hoarder'. i say, 'that would be crazy'.

i found some beauties i'd forgotten about

i love this label. it's gold as seen in the next picture and it's awesome. and on awesome paper too.

we went for 2 short walks today because i need air. and we also needed magnums.

spring is pretty.
i wish it'd actually get a bit warmer though.

x

1/365

i'm feeling more settled recently so i'm going to try and do a sketch a day again, i didn't do it for very long last time. but i was still in the horrid house and at stupid uni.
i think it'll be particularly important on days like today when i don't have anything specific that i can get on with creatively but i should still do something art based.

this went alright i think, though her facial features aren't quite angled enough for the tilt of her head. or they're just wrong. faces are my downfall. and in my lazyness i decided to not even try and add the tattoos. but at least i did something while i was being lazy on the sofa rather than just being lazy on the sofa.



last night will made hotdogs with chilli. and he actually made the chilli, none of that out of a tin nonsense for us. and there's some left for lunch!! i'm actually excited and i don't even care.

x

sunglasses, toadstools, the wonders of the internet

i have to show off my new sunglasses. i saw them with will a couple of weeks ago and it was on my list of things to buy if i had any money left this pay day. i went out with mum and dad yesterday and they bought them for me because they're lovely :)
you may think, 'what's the big deal, they're just black sunglasses...'

but...

look at the inside!! i know it's the inside and you can't see it when you're wearing them but i don't care, they're awesome. and you can see a bit of the red round the edges which is quite cool.
anyway, i'm in love with them and i'm really chuffed that i don't have to spend another year squinting.


also yesterday i made another set of notebooks.


i'm excited, my website is well on it's way to being awesome.


also yesterday i took part in the 'day in the life of' group on flickr. which is essentially just taking loads of photos throughout the day and then showing them off. it's quite cool becuase it makes you think more about what you're doing throughout the day just incase it'd make a cool photo whereas i'd normally just get on with it and then later think 'hang on i should have taken a photo of that' and it's too late.

here's my set so you can have a look if you choose

and i have to mention, last night i listened to a live stream of amanda palmer's performance in poland. i'm amazed by it. i was in the uk peeling potatoes and hearing her be amazing in poland at the actual time it was actually happening!
and i am now even more excited about the evelyn evelyn gig in april!

x

toadstools

more notebooks on the way.

x

spinnerette

i've always loved the distillers and i've always loved brody. i knew a while ago she'd got a new band but i've only just really listened to them. and now i hope i have enough money left after rent and such to get their album.
it also brings back a want to cut up t-shirts and tie them back together again.
awesome.

x

on the way home

this is how we found it.
i think it's oddly pretty.

this morning the gardener has cut the grass for the first time this year. hello hayfever.


x

we went to london yesterday. we got to a crossing so we waited like you do in order to not get run over. most people in london don't understand this and just run around absorbed in their own self importance. while we were waiting to cross this particular road some people ran across just infront of a securicor van and he beeped at them as he came round the corner and then went past us, still standing on the pavement not getting beeped at and

he gave us a thumbs up!

i have never seen anyone in london recognise that you're being polite and proper and sane, they just steal their chance to push past you.
don't get me wrong, i love london but almost everyone is mental and rude. not this guy though.
he was just plain awesome.

thumbs up all round to the securicor man!

x

happy mother's day

x

polka dot teapot

so, yesterday after feeling like i could get everything done but not knowing anything to do i sat down with some sewing stuff, put on eternal sunshine of the spotless mind and sewed.

i watched that film twice and the extras too. i love it.
anyway, this:

is what i ended up with.
i think it'd look lovely on your wall, don't worry it'll be in the shop once it's all up and running.

i told will he was warm like a bear in a jumper and clearly then had to draw a bear in a jumper.
meet tarquin:

i felt really productive today but haven't had anything definate to do, so my productive-ness has got a bit wasted. i think i'm going to do some sewing and see if anything worthwhile comes out of it.

i hope it gets warm soon.
i'm fed up of being cold.

x

did you steal my tarts?

i don't feel like i've done much the past couple of days but i have made these notebooks for the shop.

i've ordered some small prints as a test of print/paper quality etc to see if i want to order some proper sized prints, so hopefully they'll be arriving in the post soon. i love getting post even if i have sent it to myself.
i also need to go into london to get more card for notebook covers.
and i just generally need some more designs for things.
hello? inspiration? are you there???
i'm sure it'll kick in again soon. i think i'm feeling a bit stuck because i have a few vague ideas but they aren't quite ready to exist yet. in the mean time i'm going to try food shopping online for the first time and i'm going to drink tea in the hope that it will turn the ideas into real things.
tea is magic like that.

oh and go see tim burton's alice in wonderland. will took me to test run the 2d copy and it was brilliant.
johnny depp's mad hatter is actually mad and a little scary. awesome. i want a ring that is a small pin cushion. and i think i'm in love with helena bonham carter, 'i love my fat boys'. in fact, the whole cast is amazing.
go see it!!!! we're going again next week.
(i think 3d is silly. just because it's new, which it mostly isn't anyway, doesn't mean it's better)
x

alice in wonderland 1903

will showed this to me last night and i was amazed by it.
it's the first ever film version of alice in wonderland, it's only about 10 minutes long and it's so pretty.
it's quite damaged but i think that's part of it's charm, it makes it even more precious.

embroidery and blood

today i did this:

it was a drawing i'd already done, i just used carbon paper to trace it onto the fabric and then sewed round the lines. the slightly pinkish glow on the lines is the tracing line. you're meant to do that on the back so you can't see it but seeing as it was just a test to see if my pictures would look good like this i did it on the front so it was easier to follow.

guess what?

i stabbed myself with the needle. that would be my bleeding thumb. i'm amazed at how perfectly round it came out, it doesn't look real.

i walked as far as town with will when he went to work for a bit of fresh air and then took a scenic route home seeing as the sun was out. it has been a good first day of the month, still cold but i could feel the sun on my legs, it was awesome.
anyway the day isn't finished yet. i'm going to find myself some dinner and then have a think about some new brooch designs i have in my head.

also if you use a printer for printing good quality (like sellable as art or use in a portfolio good) prints of images i'd appreciate it if you let me know what make the printer is and any thoughts you have on it. we need a new printer and we don't even really know where to start looking so hearing about some first hand experience would be helpful.
thanks

x

back pain and brooches

will came into the living room last night and found me like this:

and proceeded to abuse me with the camera:

the flash almost blinded me. i spent the next few minutes watching little purple things chase each other round the ceiling.



this is not a good picture, infact i'm off to cut my face out of it... but it shows off my pretty dress. aw pretty. doesn't mr.wilde look lovely...

i was laying on the floor because the cinema is trying to kill me with back pain (i seriously need to make money a different way) and i need a new chair for my desk because the one i've got at the moment isn't low enough.

yesterday mummy came to see me :)
we went into welwyn and had a wander round but there isn't really much to look at. i got some threads i needed and we had cute attacks in the pet shop then went and had some tea. she also bought me and will a cup of pick n mix from smiths. we are happy.

then i came home and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening making these. not just these 2 but lots of them for the shop. i'm excited, there's more and more stuff for my website all the time. i'm hoping by the end of march it'll be up and running but i still have a lot to do.

by the way, will wasn't abusing me on purpose, his camera flash is just freakishly bright.

x

p.s. hi march, you're looking rather lovely this morning. i hope you make this sort of effort every day.