Fitzwilliam Museum

Friday was spent in the Fitzwilliam musuem. The staff were particularly amused to see me sat on the floor with a sketchbook with my two little artists in residence doing the same. I am not the most patient of sketchers but there is enough asian and greek pottery here to keep me inspired. (And an exhibition of Howard Hodgkin's paintings to oooh and aaah over.)

I've said this before but I really must draw more. Pah. I can hear my old art tutor now - my sketchbooks at college were drearily empty, to my shame I would much rather have the paints out making a mess and if I hadn't discovered collage when I did I suspect that my art career would had died before it had begun! No such worries for my son though, he will make a wonderful illustrator should he choose to do so. He thankfully doesn't seem to have inherited my lazy gene. You can check out his wonderful drawings on his blog.

Up With The Lark

Larissa from Giggleicious and I have been friends since college and the birth of our daughters has created a sudden and unexpected urge to get out the needles and knit, sew and crochet lots of goodies, some of which you can see in our newly opened etsy shop called Up With the Lark! Ok, so it's full of Larissa's things at the mo as I am very good at starting things but not so good at finishing them but go and drool over hers until I catch up. Above is the adorable Bertie from Larissa's monsters range.

2 Years Blogging!

Where did the time go? I only thought I started this a year ago but 2 years have skipped by. I've never been very good at keeping diaries so memories of my past are jumbled up randomly in my head so it is weird to look back in the last two years in chronological order. What has struck me most is the journey I have been on and the progress I have made, a lot of it as a direct result of starting this blog and the amazingly talented people I have met along the way who have inspired and directed me in ways I'm not sure could have happened otherwise. I love being at home with my children but from an artistic point of view this can be very stifling. Up until my two year old was born life had become a bit of a treadmill; I was making a reasonable and necessary living from making wedding stationery but there wasn't room for much else, creatively speaking. I don't remember exactly how I came across blogging but I was on maternity leave and free to explore and rediscover my art again. Blogging seemed a good way of focusing and putting down in words the muddle in my head, and looking back at my first posts it was a muddle! I've still got a way to go but the future is looking good, oh and thank you to everyone out there in blogland, you are all wonderful!

UK Street Team - Etsy

Some of the UK Street team at etsy are planning on going to New York to meet fellow etsians and take part in their trunk show at the end of this year. Of course this is going to cost a bit so we are all donating to the street team shop to help out. My little note or greeting cards are for sale there - go check out the other wonderful items available too!

Vintage Scarf Top

Please excuse the blurry photo but just look what came in the post today, this gorgeous scarf top from the lovely Greygoat at etsy. Made from two coordinating vintage scarves it ties at the back with a huge black bow and is so flattering in all the right places! Thank you so much Grey, it is stunning!!

Front Page Glory!

Woohoo my UK treasury is on the front page of Etsy. Well done guys and gals!!! It won't be there for long so go check it out now!

Printmaking Workshop

Last Thursday Kamal and I helped out at a printmaking workshop for local children which was loads of fun! I haven't done printmaking since college and it wasn't something I really took to but this time we used really simple techniques and water based inks and the results were fantastic. The first group of prints were using a technique called drypoint where the image is drawn or 'scratched' into a sheet of acetate with a sharp point then the ink rubbed into the scratches. The second group shows 'press print' where we used polystyrene (similar to pizza bases) and the design is pushed into the plate and the ink rolled over the top to leave white lines. The kids took to it really easily and I got to have a go too - see my birdy? Think this is something I will be trying at home, apparently if you don't have a press you can use the back of a wooden spoon. Watch this space!

A Rose is a Rose

New little photographic print available on Etsy!