End of Week 51

The biggest revelation of 2012 for me comes on its last day: there are only 51 weeks this year. According to this calendar, anyway. If you wanted to plan anything for today, the 31st, you're buggered as you have no place to jot it down. So, no social life for you. Sorry and all that, but there it is.

End of Week 50

Merry Christmas!

Too True

A fab post on how illustrators seem to be in four places at once by the lovely Sarah McIntyre on the David Fickling Books website.

Illustration by Sarah McIntyre

Crimbo Card 2012

Well, 20 days in to December, now everyone has (hopefully) received theirs, I suppose I ought to at least mention the 2012 Crimbo card!

I knew I was going to be busy throughout November, so I actually drew this baby up and had it at the printers before Halloween. I was going to do something with ice skating woodland creatures, but after scribbling a few ideas for that without anything really grabbing me, this postbox idea (as seen on my December header above) just jumped into my head and the rest....insert cliche here.

So, here we are:



And the inside:



No reindeer this year, I know, shocking!

If you pop back on Christmas Eve, there will be a little animated surprise.....

End of Week 49

The Last of the Moes

Better late than never, this was Hubbo's last Mo:



Creepy as bejiggery. I felt he could sidle up to me at any moment with a Lesley Phillips-esque "Hell-lo" and everything would go a bit Carry On.

Anyway, thankfully he is clean shaven again, and managed to raise 90 squids for Movember. Well donez that boy.

Kitteh

THE. BOOKS. ARE. DONE.

Can I haz life now?

End of Week 48

I really like this one.

End of Week 47

Spot the Illustrator

End of Week 46

End of Week 3

Hubbo's sister has promised him an extra fiver for his Movember total (currently at 90 squids! Woo!) for every different style he can adopt before the end of the month. So here we have the lip warmer at the end of week 3 and pre trim:



and post trim:



Apparently, it's going to go "all Errol Flynn" before Friday. Sigh.

I've Been Busy...

...finally updating my Folksy shop. Huzzah! I mean, I only made these things back in June, but there you are!

I've put some clasp purses and a couple of drawstring bags up there today; hopefully four more slightly larger drawstrings will be meeting them in the shop later this week when:

a) My camera batteries don't die on me mid-photo shoot
b) It stops raining long enough for some decent light
c) I'm not drawing knights/dragons/princesses etc
d) I'm not behind a desk in a library somewhere

I've been planning to put up some clasp purses for nearly three years now, so I think it's just about time I got them off the drawing board and out in to the real world! I've have already sold one this afternoon (the one with squirrels on, below), but as that was to Lovely Jutta, a friend IRL, I'm not sure that counts!

Please do take a look here. Ta v much.

Make Away

 Photo by Dan Thompson

Really, I should've blogged this weeks ago, but throughout November and up until this Sunday 25th, my Little Red Riding Hood themed prints have been for sale at Make Away, Brighton Square.

Now, Make Away is an awesome idea. Here's some blurb from their website:

Make-Away is a pop-up shop powered by Retail Ready People.
Delivered in partnership by vInspired and Retail Trust, Retail Ready People is a FREE 12-week skills development and volunteering programme which gives 16 – 25 year olds the chance to set up and run a high street shop in their local area. Retail Ready People provides training and support as well as practical skills and experience to help young people find out more about retail careers, progress and get promoted.

I just happened to see on Twitter that they were after people to sell their prints at the pop-up shop during November, emailed in, and was accepted. If you can get down there this weekend and lend some support to some fab young 'uns doing something really positive, and making use of an empty shop in our town centre, then please do go.

Here is a bit more info about Retail Ready people, Make Away and Empty Shops Network.

I Mean, I Get to Draw Stuff Like This....

....which has got to be fun in anyone's book, right?

Yep, Still Loving My Job

End of Week 45

Bit Late, But End of Week 44

Mo-age Update

End of week 2. Apparently, it's getting a trim to upper lip level very soon......

Mo in Progress

End of week 1, and there is definite Mo-age. Actually, I think Hubbo could grow a great big, bushy beard within a month if he fancied it. Obviously, he would have to forfeit all kisses ever, but, still, it could be done.

Man, I Love My Job

Sunset, Yesterday, The Beach, 4.24pm

We were hoping to see the Green Flash, but, alas, it was not to be.

End of Week 43

Cannot quite believe there are only nine weeks of this year left.

Happy Movember

After um-ing and ahh-ing for too many years, Hubbo is finally getting on down and taking part in Movember. This was him at the stroke of midnight, clean shaven and ready for a bit of mo-hatching. I'm hoping he'll go for something Dali-esque, although I have a horrible feeling it's going be something like this.

If you would like to sponsor Hubbo, or find out more about Movember and raising awareness of prostate cancer, go here. Cheers muchly!

Trick or Treat?

Treat, I'd say. This GENIUS treat-within-a-treat cookie idea is from Megan, who runs Not Martha, a site I've heard of but not visited before today, incredibly. I hope there'll be a Christmassy version nearer the time, or maybe I could do something similar myself on a Crimbo theme.....hmmmm.

Read all about how to make these amazing cookies here. Happy Hallloooooweeeennnnn!

Stamp Lovelies

The 2012 Christmas stamps came out yesterday. Now, I have a big, old stash of blog standard 2nd class stamps that I was planning on using for my Crimbo cards (which are now at the printers, huzzah), but I think, after seeing these Axel Scheffler-illustrated beauties, I'm going to have to reconsider:

Image from the Royal Mail website, link below

I do like a Christmas stamp. Actually, any kind of unusual stamp. I have a box where I keep a both a 1st and a 2nd class stamp from each Crimbo, which I tear off from cards I receive. Sad but true!

This year's stamps are out from next Tuesday, 6th November. Check out the full set of lovelies here.

End of Week 42

Learning to Machine Knit is Harder Than it Looks...

...although I don't think this is too bad for only my second go! Tres Gryffindor.

End of Week 41

I Have Succumbed Already

Finally!

Well, after rather optimistically starting this Halloween-themed cross stitch this time last year and running out of time/energy/enthusiasm to finish it in time for October 31st, I actually got around to finishing it off sometime in the early summer. Of course, it then sat there in my floss tin unloved, unironed and unframed until this Tuesday - even though I bought the frame for it last October, too. Gah.

Excuse the rather grainy and faded-looking photos; the autumnal light is a right bugger for taking photos in at my place. The last is probably the closest to true-colour:







Halloween AND alphabets. What's not to like, right?! The kit is by Lizzie * Kate, which I bought through Sew and So, along with the "vintage" effect Aida.

So, what was missing and keeping my frame and my stitching apart was two final components: foam board and stainless steel pins. I thought the whole framing thang would be really difficult to pull off neatly, but after watching this lovely video from Sublime Stitching, it was a literal doddle:



Easy peasy lemon squeezy, right?

I've already got hold of a few mini-pumpkins of various colours that I'm going to put along the mantelpiece interspersed with the odd candle to add to my spooky decor. Bring on Hallooooooooowwweeeeennnn!!!

Cornwall

Mainly ice cream and sight seeing, then? Deffo.