Fun and funky

I'm loving this new batch of yuzen papers, there are some fantastic patterns! This one is particularly cool, I nearly didn't list it but it's in my etsy shop if someone wants it before I change my mind!

Sanctuary

You know when there are days you have so much on you just don't see daylight? Ok that's an exxageration, I see plenty of daylight but I just don't get time to go out and enjoy it as much as I would like. We have been in our new little house 4 months today and the sun is getting warmer and the garden is starting to bloom and I am getting itchy feet. As anyone who knows me will attest to I am not the domestic type - although my family is well cared for I am not one for baking and gardening and housework in general. I do it because it has to be done, I would much rather be making things with paper than eggs and flour.

But there is something about this house that reminds my of my own childhood, hours spent at my nan's baking fairy cakes, the taste of fresh veg that my dad grew (except for the marrows, never understood why he insisted on growing marrows ugh), memories that I want my own children to have. As I grew older I quicky lost interest in these kind of things, I wanted to move away and go out with friends, but now find myself in possesion of a beautiful garden and no idea what to do with it!

So although I have no expectations of suddenly transforming myself into a domestic goddess I do feel the need to enrich our lives a little more and give my children an understanding of the world they live in, eating our own vegetables (no marrows kids, I promise) and seeing if I can actually grow a few flowers without killing them! After a wander round our local garden centre I came out with these two pretty little hydrangea, a book on attracting butterflies to your garden and an indian cookbook. Nigella watch out!

Wander

Think I am slowly perfecting my technique - I've found if you get the timing right between drying layers and the consistency of the gel medium is not too thin, not too thick you can overlay transfer on top of transfer and build up the layers to get wonderful depth and textures. I love playing around with layers on photoshop but there's nothing like producing a real painting.

(Oh and thanks to Bunny for the use of her photo, you can see the original here and while you are at it go check out her wonderful shop!)

Oops!

Time ran away from me and I forgot to most my valentine swap postcards - so sorry, they are on their way!

New books are being added to Chalk Hill and my etsy shop - go see!

Linen

Mmmm 12 sumptuous metres of sheer natural linen to go up at our windows. A very good reason to road test my new sewing machine :D

In the Garden

We haven't really touched the garden since moving in last October and it was starting to look a bit sorry for itself with a lot of dried and dead foliage filling the borders, so we got our gardening gloves on and got stuck in.

I must confess to having very little gardening know-how so it's possible I pulled up things I shouldn't but it's looking much better, even our family of robins and blackbirds flew in after we'd gone back in to warm up and started foraging for worms which they were never able to do before.

I am really looking forward to the next few weeks when we can start to plan what veggies to grow in the greenhouse and I also want a little wildflower patch somewhere. We did uncover a few little gems already growing amongst the weeds and dead stuff, two large blacurrant bushes, a gooseberry bush and this pretty little iris. Who'd have thought last october, with all the stress and worry we were coping with, in just less than 6 months we would be owners of such a gorgeous home. Life is good.

Happy Valentine's Day!

In need of a new home

I brought these back from the COS gallery where they have been residing for quite a while now. I was pleased to have sold a few unframed collages there, these are some that made it back. I have decided to rework a few but those that I am still happy with are going in my etsy shop to see if we can find them a new home.

It's always interesting to look back at old work. I go through a real love hate relationship with mine - I love it when I create it then about a week or two later think it's awful but I don't have time to do anything about it (or don't know what to do about it), so it goes where it was intended as it is and I just cross my fingers the recipient likes it (which thankfully they always do) or just hangs around and eventually gets put away in the 'to deal with later pile'.

But I think if you have had long enough away from it you can dissasociate yourself and see it on it's own merits. I am usually too close to my work to tell if it works or not, if it is good enough or not.

White Ice

Crochet wire and beads, for sale on Up With The Lark.

90 Day Challenge

Well I started the 90 day challenge with good intentions before we moved last year but it all fell apart once we got here, trying to write an article a day proved to me more taxing than I could have imagined, but I have picked it back up again over at the Chalk Hill Blog - go see!

(The gorgeous glass pendants are from luckygirltrading.etsy.com, yum!)

Odd Jobs

Today is one of those odd job days where you finally get to catch up with all those little unimportant tasks that you put off until tomorrow (whenever that is), such as collecting all the carrier bags full of wool that are distributed around the house and actually put them all together in one place. Then you suddenly realise where you put those size 3 needles you were looking for the other day.

Emails are being answered, magazines sorted, letters sent off, small projects finished and cups of tea drunk right to the bottom of the cup. A good day's work.

Snugglies

As most artists will know, trying to do anything creative with cold hands is impossible so I treated myself to a ball of 100% Twilleys wool and knitted myself these little wrist warmers, perfect for keeping my hands warm and still leaving my fingers free to work. Love em. And so do the kids so looks like I will be making more to stop them from stealing these!

New Items on Etsy

Two of the latest additions to my etsy shop, a lovely accordian photo album for 5 x 7 prints and the valentine prints below which won't be around for long!

IF - Tales and Legends

I would love to have been a writer. Unfortunately words don't come easily to me so I tell my stories visually (and even then they can let me down!). I have always loved the Hitchcock movies, wonderfully written and stunning to look at, not many filmmakers knew how to make black and white look so good. A tenuous link to this weeks Illustration Friday theme of tales and legends but I'm abusing my right to artistic license ;D

On fire

Scribble

One of the drawbacks of being a professional artist (and I use that term loosely) is to have to explain who you are and why you do what you do. Not something I am especially good at because it doesn't matter to me if people know why I produce a particular piece - I would much rather they experience it from their own place in the world, to find their own message.

But explain I must, as difficult as that is, so not much time for being arty or crafty. Must get this done first!

Fade

Hmmm well this was a little experimental and didn't end up the way I originally intended but sometimes paintings just go their own way. It's a little frustrating when you know exactly what you want to do but your hands, or brain or something just doesn't seem to know how to achieve it.

This gap in my head has held me back for years and I suspect I know what I have to do to fix it...been here before, just got to knuckle down and do it!

Part of the journey

Here is one of the canvases from the pile shown in the last post, or rather a part of it. I've gone over the original with delicate layers of paint and image transfers which will hopefully build into something a lot more interesting than how it was before. It's not so much that the original painting was awful, more like it was unfinished somehow. One of those ones you look at and cringe at because you know full well something's not right.

Shiny and New

Yesterday I came back with my application form for Cambridge Open Studios so assuming I get it completed in time I should be participating on my own this year - scary thought - but I also brought back a pile of prints and paintings that have been lurking in the gallery, some of them 4 years old! Funny how you see things when you haven't seen them for a while, a lot of them will be painted over. I am really excited about this year, my colours have come back and I have lots of ideas brewing. I've said this before but there is change in the air, it was a bit of a whirlwind last year but this time it feels more settled and flowing in one direction!
Shelves have gone up in my room too so the clutter is one step closer to being contained, there might even be room for my sewing machine which still hasn't made it out of the box - oops!

Clean out

Been busy giving my websites a bit of a spring clean and a rebuild ready for this year, got a few ideas floating round my head for a few changes here and there but I'm keeping that to myself for the mo! So forgive any weird little goings on and layout changes as I sort things out, normal service will resume shortly ;0)

Valentine

Busy preparing for valentines day, making the cards, preparing my websites, generally getting organised!

Illustration Friday and Inspire Me Thursday

So before you think this has turned into a craft blog, here's my latest painting. Yes it's been a while but with so much upheaval last year I just lost any will to pick up a brush. Knitting and crafting became almost like therapy, its easy to pick up and put down and requires no emotional involvement whatsoever. But now, 2008, we have moved house and settled in and ready to face the new year and all it's challenges. I haven't set any new year resolutions as such except for one. Focus. If I don't achieve anything else this year I want to look back and say I gave it my all. 100 %.

The finished article...

rather pleased with this one, the client in question wanted her favourite fabriano paper for the pages and chose this stunning dragonfly fabric for the covers. Think I might have to make another one for myself :D

Nearly done!

I love this bit, when the pages are folded and the covers ready to be glued and stitched and it starts to feel like a book. Immensely satisfying.

Warm and fuzzy :D

New little post christmas bargains!

Clickety click

I've had 2 days of printing and cutting and sewing and sticking for recent orders, none of which look particularly interesting so here are a couple of new knitting projects I've started instead. Knitting has become my new addiction (it used to be biscuits) and I'm in the honeymoon stage of buying wool and needing to start knitting with it immediately, regardless of what else I have going on. It's a good job I have lots of duplicate needles or I would be unpicking old projects to start new ones!

The difference is this time I have every desire to finish these; last year I was starting things which I fell out of love with fairly soon after starting them and they are still in a box somewhere. I might dig them out when these are done, we'll see :D

Ta Daaa!

There we are, one tidy office. Trouble is it might not stay that way now the kids can get in - look at who I found taking down my photos to steal the blue tac. Hmpf.

Crafting 365

One of my 'things to be achieved' this year is to keep up with all the groups I joined last year, or to put it another way 'to finish what I started'. Not least is the crafting365 flickr group from the lovely Lupin. I've decided to start afresh for this year (mainly because it's just easier to keep track of the days) so here is a couple of pics of the blanket my son has been after for yonks - if he's lucky he might get it by the time he's old enough to not care any more. Maybe I should start my own group called 'a square a day' if someone hasn't done it already. 12 done and counting :D

2008!

Well believe it or not this is my tidy office. Ahem, well nearly tidy. Was supposed to have been finished New Year's Eve but as you can see I didn't quite make it. I've tried very hard not to do the New Years resolutions thing as they are always things to fail at and I can't keep doing that. So my list for this year is things I am going to achieve instead of things I want to achieve but probably won't. So today I am going to finish tidying my room so that tomorrow I can sit down and start to accomplish everything else. How's that for positivity!

a good place to be...

It's been 2 weeks of bliss. No work, no computers, no emails, no guilt, just time with the children and the tv and knitting and walks in the wood and me. The last 12 months have been taken up moving house and rebuilding my business and 2008 is a year to look forward to....

hope you all have a happy and prosperous new year!

Inchies!!

Don't you just love it when unexpected parcels drop through the letter box, especially at Christmas - here are my swaps from the 100 inchies in 100 days swap I took part in earlier in the year (http://karenjinks.blogspot.com/2007/07/inch-by-inch.html). Absolutely gorgeous work guys, thank you!