They've got them hoppy legs and twitchy little noses...

Day 5 of the Doodle Olympics

Day 3 and 4 of the Doodle Olympics

Day 3 of the Doodle Olympics

Day 4 of the Doodle Olympics

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 
I want to be clear, I do not make New Years Resolutions, so I feel no shame in it already being January 3rd, and me already playing catch up :) I have spent the day, trying to get bits and pieces in order, so I can sit down and write my first blog post of the year. 


How are you all, did you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year? Fubby and I stayed at home for Christmas this year, which meant Christmas for us, started even earlier. I know, that makes no sense, but it is true. It meant we had to get all gift buying, and wrapping, for our families done, well in advance, as we saw them in the two weekends before Christmas. Christmas day for us was very relaxed though :) 
Look how lucky we were! 

I also want to highlight a couple of the presents in there, from my Folksy Secret Santa, I think I know who it was, but I still need to find out if I have guessed right :) Sorry it is small, I will have to take a photo of them alone at some point. In front of the orange box there are some cute little lavender cushions, and a crochet corsage brooch, and to the right of those, just passed the pink diary, is an adorable embroidered "Dreams" pillow, also with Lavender. They are such sweet gifts, and I love them all the more, as they are things that I know I wouldn't be able to make, I am pretty bad at sewing, and I can't crochet! I have also been sleeping brilliantly since I have had the Dreams pillow by my head at night - maybe a little too well, if the time that I woke up this morning was anything to go by ;)

Another wonderful little treat that occurred just before Christmas, was that I was runner up in a blog competition run by the very talented illustrator Mary Kilvert. I won this rather wonderful lavender cushion, that is illustrated with Mary's gorgeous little sheep, and Mary was good enough to post it straight away, just so I would have it in time for Christmas. This one is sitting in my living room! 

Now! Onto the New Year! I am going to set myself a challenge, lets call it Doodle Olympics 2012, maybe, you know to keep it topical, or Doodleathon etc. I will doodle/draw/paint/illustrate an image/images, by hand, or digitally, each day for the whole of 2012. I don't draw enough, I used to be quite good at it, and now I am not, so I need to make the time to practice. As you will see from the first two images, it hasn't exactly got of to a good start. After getting up late on January 1st, I'm not too sure where the day went, then I tried to develop the same little images on the 2nd, but I had picked up the only pencil lying around, which happened to be a big soft pencil that I didn't really want to use... there was a point to these little scrappy doodles, they are initial ideas for our wedding invitations... they will improve... well they had better! :/

Day 1 of the Doodle Olympics

Day 2 of the Doodle Olympics

Merry Christmas!

Sorry the blog has been a bit quiet over the last part of the year, that should all change in the New Year. 
As you can see the Christmas Festivities have begun here! 
Merry Christmas everyone! 

Lucky Girl!

If being whisked of the Edinburgh, being given a shiny engagement ring, and having a bundle of presents wasn't enough, last weekend, I was up in Warwick having my first bridesmaid measurements taken, and collected more fab goodies from the lovely Gayley lady, and creative soul sister Rach :) I am one lucky girly, so I thought I would quickly share with you :)  I have a brand new mustard bag, so I can look like a real lady about town. Kenzo Flower Tag, which I just love. An Orla Kiely mug, that I simply must use whenever I am doing anything creative, because it makes my desk look cool :) and my first piece of Tatty Devine - ruby slippers, just call me Dorothy and show me a yellow brick road! Have a great weekend everyone :)

Edinburgh Birthday Weekend & Engagement

Still playing catch up with the blog, the days are just running away. It has been a couple of weeks since Edinburgh, but I thought it would be nice to share some of it with you :)

First stop, when we arrived in Edinburgh Friday afternoon, was Camera Obscura. So much fun! It took a while for Mr.J. to find the magical, childlike wonder in it all - yes we all know tricks with mirrors, yes we get how things work, but we also have imaginations, and are able to believe it is all magic, just for a few hours :) I loved the Vortex Tunnel, did the turning tunnel mess with my head and make me think that I was falling - yes it did, super fun! :)

From the top of Camera Obscura

 Mr. J. Looking a little unimpressed...

Mr. J. getting into the swing of things :)

Singing cats :)

Mr. J. at the top of Arthur's Seat. He was going to propose right there, but there were too many people around - (see person in background). It was buzzing with people climbing everywhere, would have been quite embarrassing :)

Views from the top.

On the way down.

We went back to our hotel so Rob could change shoes, and he gave me this :)

We went out for food and drinks to celebrate.

 On our last full day we wondered around Edinburgh. 

On Calton Hill

Final morning, it is my birthday. We eat scones, and drink, proper, thick hot chocolate, in Princes Street Gardens. We find a load of cool little galleries and shops that we had previously missed, and watch some weaving. 

Birthday treats on my return home. 

Hello 30s - Day 362 - 365 - That's it folks!

Here it is, the final installment, following the last few days, of the 365 day 'Hello 30s Project. I have enjoyed doing it immensely. Although I will never win any awards for photography (or ever intended to), it is nice to be left with a visual diary, that represents the last year. True, there isn't an awful lot of 'sitting on the edge of your seat excitement', but those things don't happen on a daily basis, some days are just, you know, days, but they are still just as lovely in their own little way. So here they are, the final days, Day 362, 363, 364, and 365. Enjoy :)


Day 362:

All packed and ready to go on the Thursday night. Rob had decided to take me to Edinburgh for my birthday weekend. I have never been to Scotland before, so it was all very exciting. We had quite an early Friday morning start though, so had to be organised, and have everything ready :)


Day 363:

By Friday afternoon we were looking over the rooftops of Edinburgh. :)


Day 364:

There was some walking involved (more on that in another post), and I thought, being in Scotland, that it was only right that I took a photo of some thistles. 


Day 365:

The Scott Monument, in Princes Street Gardens, well the top part anyway, I was a bit too close to get it all. You can walk up it, but after a fairly long walk the previous day, we didn't really fancy 287 steps, maybe another time :)


That is it! The end!


Maybe you are curious about my favourite days over the last year. Looking back over them, has made me realise just how many awesome days I have had, I feel so lucky! Here are literally just a few. 


Day 1- 5 - The Lake District for my 30th birthday, such an amazing place, and gorgeous accommodation.
Day 56 - Meeting up with Lyds, Liz and Trent at the Tate Modern, and seeing the Ai Weiwei installation, Sunflower Seeds.
Day 61 - One of numerous InMe gigs, that I went to throughout the year :)
Day 87 - pleased as punch, at the success of the giant rainbow cake I made for lyd's birthday. Even more impressive was that I managed to keep it on my lap, for the car ride over to their house. 
Day 91 - Christmas with the Johnson family - I am so lucky to have been so warmly welcomed into this family over the last 6 years, and they do Christmas so wonderfully, it is an absolute festive pleasure!
Day 105 - The Pudding Club, part of my birthday gift form Gayle and Lyds. Gluttony at is finest, I have never experienced anything quite like it.
Day 147 - Celebrating Lyds 30th birthday, with Lyds, Gayle and Sam, making cocktails at the Peacock Bar. :)
Day 224 - Celebrating Gayle's 30th with Gayle and Lyds, quaffing champagne and drinking tea, at an afternoon tea at The Athenaeum Hotel in Mayfair.
Day 245 - Going to Chessington with the Jones family. We always have fun, when my sister and her family come down to visit :)
Day 273 - Mark Watson at The West End Centre, Aldershot. Maybe the hardest I have laughed all year!
Day 286 - The whole of our week in Suffolk was glorious, but I was really drawn to Southwold. 
Day 363 - 365 - Well I couldn't miss Edinburgh could I???


And my absolute favourite day? 
Day 364, the day Rob proposed :) (More on that, Scotland and my birthday, coming shortly).