So When She Tired Of Drawing Birds She Turned To Camels

Day 138 of the Doodle Olympics - I decided I couldn't keep drawing birds, so decided to turn to camels instead. I admit the reason he has a fez on his head, is because I wasn't sure what the ears were supposed to look like. 

Day 139 of the Doodle Olympics - Camel number two. I love that this chap looks like a proper rocker, with his goatee and studded collar!

Day 140 of the Doodle Olympics - Camel number three. I had to google camels sitting, I've never ridden a camel, and have never really paid attention to how they sit down, it's all a bit awkward... how they sit that is, not my lack of camel knowledge. 

Day 141 of the Doodle Olympics - I was going to draw a garden gnome, and then decided that I wasn't sure how, so went with a little toadstool house instead. 

Day 142 of the Doodle Olympics - I was trying to decide what animal to draw next, because animals really have to be the best things to draw, you can put them in clothes and give them moustaches, and it's always highly entertaining. I decided I hadn't drawn rabbits in a while. 

Day 143 of the Doodle Olympics - Continuing with the rabbit theme, I got my Beatrix Potter on! In so much as it is a homely rabbit doing some kind of baking activity, and not (sadly) that I'm in any way as talented as Beatrix Potter.

Day 144 of the Doodle Olympics - I wanted to decorate things in straight lines again. I do love having a straight line phase.


Other work... I've been melting organza flowers, giving them a bit of shape, so at some point I can layer them up into flowers and pop them on a copper wire stem. I also had another book arrive in the post, so I need to start reading that too, ready for review. It occurred to me, that I only ever linked to one of my book reviews from here. If you are interested here are the others so far...
Turn Your Talent Into A Business
Pop Party
Homespun Style
Hand Spun
DIY Couture

Found - Basket... Cases...

I was away for a long weekend this week, so yet again, I was unable to get along to my local charity shops. I was in Norfolk, and on Sunday we visited The Granary in Snettisham. The Granary has a coffee shop and gifts for sale downstairs, but I was interested in the antiques and collectables upstairs. There is an odd assortment of wares with the space being rented out to various sellers, but I found a few pieces, mostly to be used as wedding props. The first was a book, to add to the growing collection of old books. It was only 50p. I'll be taking the cover off, but maybe I could frame it, I do quite like old book cover illustrations. Then we found a frame, that isn't for the wedding, we just thought it was quite nice for a couple of pounds. Then followed three wicker baskets. I'm after fairly small rectangular baskets, that we are hoping to use for a sweet bar when we get married. Finally, we picked up two small, old battered suitcases. They have seen better days, but we want them to put the wedding cards in. 

There Is Something About... Heidi ...Sunday

So, if you follow me on Facebook, or Twitter, you may have noticed that I won a wonderful blog giveaway from Heidi McDonald's Scissors and Glue Facebook Page. So I wanted to share my goodies with you! 

The prize included an adorable felt orange owl - he now has pride of place in my orange corner, at the desk where I do all my crafty work - a cute little acorn brooch (which I accidently missed out from the photo - oops), little birdy cards, and three Gocco Screen prints/cards. I would love to have a Gocco screen printer myself, so these are super exciting, and they have turned out brilliantly.

So as an extra thank you for having such a wonderful giveaway, I thought I would introduce you to Heidi, for those of you that haven't discovered her work already. 

Heidi is an illustrator, painter, artist, and creator, living by the sea in Dorset. She creates wonderfully cute and whimsical characters that all seem to tell a story, and are brought to life mostly through water colour and promarkers.

Heidi has an Etsy shop called Little Nore, where you can find anything from ACEOs, prints, cards, stickers, decorative boxes, zines, and brooches. As well as running Little Nore, Heidi works on commissions, and has started the process of creating her first book. 

I have loved reading Heidi's blog, and following her illustration journey. I love that she shares so much of her work, and I've been inspired by her honesty, and admire how she is constantly trying to push her work, and experiment with new mediums and styles, in order to keep her work fresh, and to ensure that she is stretching herself, and developing further. Heidi is currently taking part in an online painting course called 'Paint your Story' where she is trying to recapture her seven year old self. It focuses on taking creativity back to a time, where you did something creative because you could, and because it was fun, and you didn't care what people thought. She is currently experimenting with, and embracing a liberating free and playful style, incorporating collage, and a loose painterly effect. It is a wonderful process to observe, and I think it is something we creative types should all consider, when we are sitting around, spending far too much time worrying about if we are or aren't 'good enough', or fretting over how to pay the bills, it is an excercise that harnesses and embraces your talent. 

Finally, I can't end this post with showing introducing you to Nora, Heidi's cat, aww just look a that face!

Heidi can also be found on Twitter!

This Week... A Prize, Things That Grow & some Earrings

I'm not going to lie, a This Week post can become a little sad when you take out the work element (that will now appear on Wednesday), and those magical finds (that will now appear on Tuesday), but never the less... 

This Week... I received a parcel in the post - it was a prize (but more on that, hopefully, over the weekend). I saw something trying to randomly grow from a wall, I like things growing from walls, there is a little Secret Garden magic about them. I ate some apple and strawberries, don't be fooled that I'm healthy, there were giant cookies too. I think my ginger is trying to grow. I have never thought about growing ginger before, I really don't know anything about growing... anything. However, I have found out that it grows in a tropical climate, but that if I put it in a pot and keep it indoors, it might grow, but it doesn't like direct sunlight, and I might get a problem with spider mites. Trying to decide if I should give it a go? Finally, I have a new pair of Emma earrings listed on dawn bevins design, hopefully more will be added soon.

Bird Bird Bird, the Bird is the Word...

In keeping with my new efforts to be more organised and consistent, I'm going to aim to update the Doodle Olympics every Wednesday, along with anything else I've been working on. In theory it will be called "What's going on Wednesday", but I'll probably stick to more decorative titles, just for fun. 

Day 131 of the Doodle Olympics: So after the last doodle in the last post, I decided that I was quite taken with birds, so began drawing them... daily... :/ I like this guy, like the other bird he wears a jumper, and I like to think that he is flapping out his wing, and saying 'Aww shucks - you guuuuyyyss'. 

Day 132 of the Doodle Olympics: "But I don't want to go in the water"

Day 133 of the Doodle Olympics: This little chap, looks down on people a bit (not literally of course, he's too small). He thinks he is right about everything, but I'll let you into a little secret... he is nearly always wrong, but there is no telling him!

Day 134 of the Doodle Olympics: This guy is looking pretty worried, his wings are all up in the air, and he has got himself into as bit of a flap, maybe he has just seen the peacock below...

Day 135 of the Doodle Olympics: This Peacock is a real lady... or is she?? We all know that the flamboyant peacocks are the males - just saying! 

Day 136 of the Doodle Olympics: Derren the duck, he doesn't dare to swim - What is wrong with him?

Day 137 of the Doodle Olympics: This dashing fellow is Speckled Spencer, he likes tea, crumpets, and a spot of afternoon dancing.


Other things I've been working on... Popping my Zombie Kitty Plays Cupid collage onto Society6, I mentioned that I had finished it last week, but it is now available online. I've also been reading Steampunk Accessories, and making appropriate notes, in order to write a review for UK Handmade. It is proper homework, that is why I'm allowed, tea, strawberry milk, and a cookie! :)

Found - Second Hand Books

I'm currently trying to decide how to organise my blog a little better. I'm quite happy with the 'This Week' posts, and the Daily Doodles, as they have become quite consistent, but it isn't enough. So here is 'Found', which I hope to be able to post every Tuesday. Found will look at things that I have  - funnily enough - found over the space of a week. It will include things that I have bought, in particular, things that I may have picked up in charity shops. This gives me an excellent excuse to go for a rummage every Monday, to help me on my quest for for pretty plates (a quest that I have yet to start, I only decided to make it a quest yesterday), and props and accessories for my wedding. If it happens to be miserable out, or if I am just being plain lazy, it may also play host to Ebay buys, and online wishlist finds. 


So without further ado, here are the four books I picked up in the charity shop today. 

They weren't in my usual charity shop, as I was off in Frimley for a dental check up. I was a bit disappointed with the prices of most of their books, they were all £1 paperbacks, regardless to the condition etc. I really want some old hardback books, so we can use them as part of the decoration for our wedding next year. Fortunately, in a crate tucked away under the shelves, were a whole bunch of these Nevil Shute books. I would have preferred something with slightly more dust, but they are quite pretty, and at 49p each, I figured they were not to be sniffed at. I took four, as I had to take them home on the bus. 

This Week... Humphrey the Elephant, Zombie Kitty & New Clothes

This Week... Humphrey arrived, and we took him to his new home, in baby Archie's nursery. I just loved that Wooden button. The new baby card from Hello Wilson also arrived, (which I love because it is just so different), as did a couple of books. The 'That's not my...' books have always been a favourite with nieces and nephews, and Tanka Tanka Skunk has been a favourite of mine since my bookselling days. I finally finished a Zombie Kitty collage, so hopefully that will be up on Society6 soon. Finally, Fubby took me shopping, I apologise for the lack of decent photos, but they look much better on, seven tops in total - aww, he must have really been fed up of me looking a tatty mess.