Over the last week I’ve been making these little fellas. They’ll be in the shop soon! I think I’m in love with the colour scheme :)

I have been so quiet on the doodle front but I promise I haven’t been avoiding my doodling responsibilities. Here’s one of the many pictures I’ve been creating quietly to one side, finally the time has arrived to be able to share it with you! Red Shoe Diaries (a rather groovy Nottingham based band) are releasing their single at the start of next month. Check here for more info and to have a listen!

It’s official folks – I’ve FINALLY branched out and have a bit of knitwear for sale! Here are some snapshots of Leanne modeling the lovely woolen goodies from this mornings shoot in the local park. The shawls are now for sale in my etsy shop. Priced at £36 each. They measure roughly 45 inches x 19 and come in 3 colour schemes (classic charcoal, rusty red, true teal). If you have any specific colour requests feel free to get in touch, I love to do little custom orders.

ps – Here’s a link to lovely Leanne’s etsy shop. Beautiful prints and more.

I’ve been absent from ye olde blog lately. It’s been a busy time here in old Mapperley-topsville. Halloween’s been and gone (shocking! – no pun intended). The trick and treaters ate ALL my sweets – totally not cool. I spent most of last week either living at the cinema or buried in my paints. The painting right at the top is finished, phew! and it’s the biggest I’ve done so far so I’m really pleased with how it’s come out. As you can see there’s a handful more I’m currently working on. I’m looking forward to framing the finished pieces and who knows they might make a formal appearance in the lovely shop sometime before Christmas!

Talking of Christmas – The cards are back for sale in the shop and a new one will be joining them before the week is out. Not to forget some lovely new stocking fillers will be tagging along too – I just need a new staple gun to complete that mission.

The Makeover mission’s been a proper challenge recently but I’ll come back to that with pictures and heart wrenching tales of sighs and grumps. Until then, for those of you who have some halloween candy left over – enjoy! For those of you, like me, who don’t – Fancy a cuppa?

ps for the next 24 hours (until 11am Thursday) get yourself 20% off in my shop! use the code BLACKCATS.

pps – A little Halloween illya roar for those of you who missed it:

A little D.I.Y project for the house. I’ve got enough fabric for a couple of chairs – I just need the chairs now.

Another little project I finished this morning is my mouse (it’s quite big so possibly a rat) tea cosy. I found the pattern for free here- there are some amazing patterns on that blog. I saw one during my last visit up to Orkney in someones window and wanted it. So it was a bit of a surprise when I came across a pattern so quickly – I didn’t even own a teapot when I started making it. Funny what knitting will make you do… I’m going to alter the eyes a little – bigger beads are needed I think.

Some new little accessories that will be making their way into the shop very very soon just in time for, dare I say it, Christmas 2011 (gulp!). I’ll also list some festive cards seeing as I’m getting into the Christmas spirit… during our mini heatwave…

It’s begun…

In my last post I mentioned my current wardrobe crisis and what I thought I should do about it. Your wonderful positive feedback and stories have encouraged me to commit to this project and this post marks the beginning. Not the most beautiful picture to begin an adventure with but the most meaningful (and believe it or not those bags are big and heavy – they look so tiny in this picture!). I’ve also removed 4 coats from my cupboards, one of them had bus tickets from the start of 2010, so you can tell how long it’s been since I last wore it – it’s time to go! I’ve gathered most* of the guilty of being unflattering and worn out clothes and sorted them into bin or charity bags. I’m ready.

*Throwing out stuff is hard… and I’ll be honest with you – there are still a couple of offending items remaining in my drawers. They will be replaced but I’m predicting this adventure as a slow and thoughtful one. I don’t expect one or 2 shopping trips to solve my little battle with fashion. I’m preparing myself for those difficult and annoying times ahead. So I decided it was probably a good idea to keep hold of a couple of tatty basics until I find their well fitting replacements – otherwise I’ll have nothing to wear – and that will be even more stressful!

I will try and do a couple of ‘make over’ related posts every week (at least one) but you never know, some weeks might be a lot slower than others. I am really looking forward to sharing all this with you and I hope you enjoy the ride and find little bits of it inspiring and/or entertaining.

Beginners luck: I found this beautiful skirt yesterday. It fits like a charm, it’s comfortable and easy to clean. That’s another important ‘must’ for my new wardrobe, I don’t want to get things that need to be dry cleaned. I can’t afford it and I don’t really have the time – plus I sometimes feel a little bit nervous wearing them out and about because I’m frightened I’ll drop or spill something on them. I’m clumsy so it’s inevitable. Anyway, I’m pleased as punch with my new purchase… bring on the rest!

On a more house related note we got the BEST housewarming gift from Tom’s sister (THANK YOU SO MUCH!) the other day. Check out this handmade beauty!!!! I LOVE IT! It even has a tiny illya on it!

A new Print – now in the shop! Title: Flowers in the Dark. Based loosely on one of my paintings from the “Looking for Trouble” show. Someone mentioned they would work well as prints – so tada! I tried mimicking the speckled grey card that the originals are painted on but the colours looked washed out in the print form compared to the paintings, so I settled for a darker background. The print measures around 21cm x 29.7cm (A4) and is priced at £12.

The bright colours on the black reminds me of fireworks and another print I used to stock – my last attempt at a jug of flowers back in 2009. Weird looking back at older prints and pictures, they sometimes feel so primitive. Do you find that? I know the older picture only dates back a couple of years but it just shows how subtly styles can develop without you really being aware of them doing so.

ANYWAY and more importantly ;) Autumn is nearly here which is making me greedy for Halloween, pumpkins and Bonfire night. Not forgetting the gallons of Gingerbread lattes I will be drinking when the time comes…

2 new mini paintings are now in the shop – Priced at £25 each and both measuring roughly 4″ x 5.5″. Both pieces were featured in the “Looking for Trouble” exhibition I set up earlier this summer. I’m trying to find loving homes for these originals otherwise they’ll just end up living in boxes, which is sad because they’re so colourful and I’m sure they would much prefer to live on nice walls. I have some of the framed ones from the same show making their way into the shop really soon too so keep your eyes peeled!

I’m back! Armed with some pictures of my new studio and our sleeping room. Looking back I wish I’d dug my camera out and taken some before and after photos because we’ve done a little decorating since we moved in last week. Our bedroom walls were a mixture of mid blue and “Almond” cream – It was like sleeping in a block of blue cheese. Below is an example of the previous colour scheme but in person the blue was stronger and darker… The whole back wall and the alcove (where the book case now stands) were that blue colour and the rest of the walls were the overly warm cream… *shudder* But this is a tale with a happy ending because as you can see from the pictures all those colours are gone and the room feels clean and spacious!

The room I’m using at the studio also had a strange colour combo going on. The walls were lilac and deep dark purple. Now for anyone who has visited the projection rooms where I work at Broadway will know they’re also dark and purple. Working at home would’ve felt too much like being at my other job and I don’t think that would’ve been good for the brain. We got rid of the darker purple and ideally I would’ve liked to remove the lilac too but we have a huge wardrobe in that spare room (which has come in handy because we have lots of stuff!) and it would’ve been too much of a mission to rattle everything about. I’ve come to terms with the lilac now and I have covered most of it in pictures and postcards.

It’s such a good feeling having so much space put aside for making and creating. I’ll take some snaps of the rest of the house to show you in my next post.

PS – my Etsy shop is now open!