Starting this Wednesday on my etsy shop there is going to be one MASSIVE sale. 3 prints for the price of 2 – The cheapest free… for the whole of September! Gasp!

How to enjoy this lovely offer: Pick 3 prints you want to love and cherish – buy 2 of them, and in the ‘NOTE TO SELLER’ part of the transaction list the title of the 3RD print you wish to receive for freeeeee. Please make sure that the print you chose for your freebie is the cheapest of the 3.

Please read the small print: This offer EXCLUDES any limited edition prints, original drawings/paintings/illustrations/cards and accessories (totes/badges etc.).

I completed stage 2 of the painting/picture/doodle this morning and wanted to show you how it was progressing. Very slowly, but it’s starting to take shape. (If you missed the first post, here is a link – as you can see I’ve done LOADS… ok that’s a fib) I’ve done a high res scan as it is now because a tiny percentage of me predicts disaster for the next stage – now it’s time to test/play/experiment. I’m not planning on being very adventurous with this drawing but I’ve had an idea bubbling around my brain and it’s time to try it out – I definitely don’t do enough spontaneous doodle experiments.

It happens a lot and I’m sure I’m not alone – I get random little ideas and never seem to act on them. Maybe this is because I’m useless at keeping sketchbooks flowing (I forget them, lose them, I’m too ambitious with them and too precious with them – thus losing interest in them), they would probably help me to fine tune these ideas and drawings instead of just imagining them and then forgetting them. In the end I’ll put the potential project off or maybe even spend too much time thinking about it so when I get an opportunity to start I’ve either lost interest or moved onto something else completely.

I am trying to change this unease I feel towards sketchbooks. I’d like to find that comfortable mid way point between a book of drawings I’m very precious about and a scrap of paper drenched in scribbles. (It sounds like I’m after a smart casual sketchbook) Right now I have a collection of small yellow post-it notes on my desk. They’re filled with quick, rough, awful sketches but they’re a record of those little ideas I mentioned before that would usually get themselves lost. I’ve started carrying a very small note book too – just in case emergency doodling must commence (I say “I’ve started carrying” – it’s in one bag and if I happen to use that bag then I have the sketch book on me that day). I’m classing all of this as my ‘sketchbook training’, it sounds a bit more like ‘sketchbook therapy’ – I’ll get there one day even if it means gluing a book to my hand and carrying an assortment of pens around my neck.

Round 3 of this drawing will follow over the next couple of days.

:)

A Moleskine doodle from my London/Essex adventure at the start of the week. I’m awful at keeping sketch books so lets see how long I can keep this one going. (I’m guessing 2 weeks)

I’m reading a fantastic book at the moment ( “The 13 Problems” )and I figured since I eagerly update my ‘Virtual Bookself’ on facebook why not make my fiction intake a bit of a feature here on the blog as well.

I’m a huge fan of Agatha Christie but I’ve not actually read many of her books. I’m familiar with loads of the stories from listening to radio adaptations and devouring the feature lengths on Christmas TV but I’ve decided it’s one of my belated new years resolutions to catch up on my Agatha Christie reading list. This one in particular is a collection of short stories merging to create one big story. I can’t say too much because I’ve only chomped my way through half of it but I love her style, her characters and the little mysteries they’re each spinning. I also love that Miss Marple is mid knitting project – as am I. Although I reckon she’s doing a much better job since I’ve just had to start my Cardigan project from scratch for the 5th time. Fingers crossed this book will bring me a little luck in the wool depatrment.

I had a slightly spontaneous seaside adventure yesterday, the weather was gorgeous, we had fish and chips – you can’t opt out of fish and chips by the sea. I also managed to get my camera working, it’s only taken me 3 years or so :) Anyway it’s time to bombard you with some of the pictures.

We didn’t get chance to see the circus which is a shame but we spent the whole day strolling along the beach, taking in the sights (like this giant drink – middle picture), paddling in the sea. I was expecting rain and wind so I didn’t go dressed for a beautiful summer day – Trouser legs were rolled up and sandals removed (we Brits are alright at adapting to weather conditions). I did invest in a summer hat though and still managed to catch a little sun on my nose – easy on the rudolf jokes please.

It has been a very long time since my last seaside themed trip and this one was full of British summer cliches. I loved every second of it (donkeys, ice cream, sandcastles, deckchairs, fish and chips etc. – the works). Usually it’s early winter and we’re visiting nan. The coast is a very different place in the colder seasons with the wind shoving you this way and that and the grey waves beating up the shore. Me and mum can still spend hours combing the beaches for beautiful pebbles and shells. Yesterday I saw a couple of washed up star fish – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a star fish other than dried ones in shops or museums.

It wasn’t until I was looking back through the pictures that I noticed the small boy right in the middle digging for lost treasure – or so it seems. Brilliant.

We went for a wander up the beach to where it felt a little more natural with less neon and fairground sound effects.

Some of the seafront shops had some very random things for sale. I love the blue in this picture.

I’d really like to invest in a deckchair for the garden so I can curl up and read or knit outside. I’ve got a horrible feeling though I’ve missed the season since all the shops are stocking up for winter. Has anyone got a deck chair they’d like to donate to a midlander? I think after yesterday I would like to live closer to the sea.

A peek at some of my recent etsy favourites. A lovely yellow theme coming to light too.

1. ‘Cake card’ by ThePinPals 2. ‘Tangerine jade round beads’ by BeadFrenZ 3. ‘Amandine Bunnybun’ by ninon 4. ‘Carol’ by tushtush.