A new print, which is now available in both shops. This is a digital print of one of my recent paintings. She was the first one I finished and probably my favourite so far. I’m slowly building up a small collection of paintings so I can imagine soon she won’t be the only one available in print form. She has a very faint pout (you might not be able to see it on some screens but it’s visible on the finished print), which I’ve been trying to mimic on my other portraits – of course it’s proving nearly impossible. I would love to hear what you think of her and her sisters. The original is made up of a mixture of watercolour and acrylic paints with a hint of the pencil sketching coming through. The print measures 8 x 10 inches and the image sits comfortably in the middle with room around the edge for framing.

Remember a while back I said I’d purchased some paint brushes? Remember also how I said I’d probably never use them? Well, I proved myself wrong! I’ve spent the day painting (6 and a bit hours to be exact – 2 and a half audio books), and I’m exhausted (what’s that about?). The paint supplies have been living in a box I mentally labeled “Wishful thinking”. I have a habit of collecting and investing money on plenty of art and craft supplies, hoping I’ll find a project for them – that very rarely happens.

Anyway, after dusting off the paint bottles and digging out the new brushes I managed to come up with these 4 ladies and I’m so pleased with them. I never thought I’d have the patience for the process (admittedly today could be just a one off) but there was something therapeutic about the repetitive patterns and details. I found myself fully engrossed. Similar to the Cotton Doodles, there is a kind of amateur roughness to them that I’m very fond of. I’d love to hear what you think of them. Now it’s time for me to clean up the mess I’ve made :)

Just a quick note to say hello and show you some of the Polaroid pictures I’ve been working on this last few weeks. Some are examples of me playing around with colours. Very sorry about the loud wall paper – hope it’s not too distracting :) I would love to hear what you think as I’m really REALLY enjoying making them. Speak soon!

I really wanted to share some of the new pictures I’m working on. I love the lampshade one at the top. That colour orange is currently one of my favourites, the lime green too. Would love to hear what you think of them :)

For this weekend only! Buy 2 prints and get a 3rd print for free! (The cheapest comes free. Please name the free print you wish to receive in the ‘notes to seller’ part of purchase. This offer excludes limited edition prints, A3+ prints and accessories – totes and badges etc.) Sale ends midday Monday (31st) GMT. The sale is only taking place on my etsy shop.

An eagerly awaited summer has arrived. I’ve cracked open the corner of the cupboard bearing dusty sandals and shorts and shamefully revealed my whiter than white toes to the world. While doing so I decided what a perfect time it was for an early summer sale! 3 for 2 on prints for this weekend only – Sale ends on Monday 31st so lets say a proper goodbye to winter and welcome the sunniest season with a bit of colour. Spread the word!

It’s been ages since I last wrote something for this site but in truth I haven’t been up to much. I did go out and purchase 4 new paint brushes with the intention to splat some paint here and there but as you can tell from my lack of news – it’s not happened. And yes the brushes are sat in their packaging, unused, in a pot on the windowsill.

I have begun a couple of hefty crochet projects. Both blanket themed. One started out as an experiment I can’t seem to stop and the other was typical ‘Amy being impatient’ behavior – wanting to begin another project before the first one is finished. Anyway, the crochet is proving very calming and when teamed up with a handful of audio books it makes the summer afternoons perfect. Right now though I’m sat at my new desk with my new view thinking it’s probably time for a coffee and wishing I’d purchased some cakes along with the cat treats and vegetables I bought this morning (above – you can spot the beginnings of blanket project number 2 and some of the vegetables just mentioned).

Since I’ve no new pictures to show you I thought I’d have a rummage through some of the etsy treasures I’ve been admiring recently and share those instead:

1. Cast iron deer door knocker by MechanicalStag 2. Cityscape Screenprint by KarolinSchnoor 3. Vintage Russian Mask by CoolVintage 4. Vintage Printing Block by CoolVintage 5. Tattooed Lady Doll by MCK254 6. Sailor Vignette Print by DwellDeep 7. Dotty Hoop Ring by ShereDesign 8. Vintage Oriental Parasol by LITAA 9. Woolly Bear Print by JuliaPott. (All photo credits go to the makers/sellers)

Hope you have a wonderful warm day

2 new badge sets FINALLY in the shops! I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to list them and post about them here (also sorry about the bad photos!). I’m waiting for a new camera charger to be delivered since my old one hasn’t shown up after the move. As soon as it arrives I can fully update you on what’s been happening. Right now I’m sat at my table in the spare room with a lovely view, thinking about replacing my cold cup of coffee with a fresh cup :)

I got interviewed for the GingiberSnap blog. Fancy giving it a read? Here’s the link!

Good morning! This is probably the earliest I’ve written a post for this new site (that doesn’t count the early hours). I was touched to see my Cotton Doodles featured on ‘My Love For You…’, horray! Right, back to sewing…

ps/ I’m pleased to announce my online shops will be reopening at the end of the week. There will be limited stock available – no large A3+ prints for now. But I will be launching some new portrait prints (as mentioned here) and new badge sets! YES!

I ran out of things to do during the craft fair last weekend and ended up randomly sewing the word ‘hi’ onto a piece of fabric… I haven’t really been able to stop sewing since and I thought it was about time I shared some pictures. I have to admit (and you will definitely notice) it’s not something I’ve done before but I’m really pleased with how they’ve turned out. I like that they’re bumpy and uneven and a little all over the place – I definitely wouldn’t have won any awards in Jane Austen’s day, that’s for sure.

I’ve had a bit of a flickr clean up this morning too so I’ve dedicated a set purely to the cotton doodles in hope that it will encourage me to continue making them, click here to see what I’ve done so far.