Yesterday I spent a grand total of 99p while walking around the Mapperley shops. I don’t own that many Agatha Christie’s, believe it or not, but the ones I do own I’ve found in charity shops and have beautiful covers. This might be the start of a new collection. The lovely bit of framed lace I came across for the grand total of 49p! You can’t really say “no” when a treasure like that pops up…

I’ve not done one of these doodles in a while and had a sudden urge to document yesterdays outfit. I filled my new bag with activities to keep me going at work – DS and little bit of knitting (The bag was an etsy find from Fox and Thomas – I can’t underline how much I love that shop). The dress was from Tesco (yeah, surprised me too). The jeans need re-dying because they definitely aren’t “black” any more. And the jumper had quite a lot of cat hair on it but funnily enough I didn’t draw those on ;)

I’ve just prepared a bucket of roast veg as my contribution to tonight’s “broadway gal’s wine and dine time”. I am armed with food and drink and very much looking forward to eating and drinking it.

Some new hand painted cotton spool baubles have entered the shop!

A little glimpse at what I’m making. These things have been so popular and I love painting on them. So far I have completed 9, so there will be a big shop update when these beauties are ready. I’ll keep you posted of course!

Tonight we’re off to the theatre to see THIS!!! I’ve not been to see a play in soooo long and I got so excited about the prospect of going to see some whodunnits on stage that I went and bought my tickets at the start of MAY. Early bird indeed – BUT it means we should have great seats. Tonight’s performance is “Sweet Revenge” – A Francis Durbridge classic. We’re going to start the evening off with Pizza too… Oh what a perfect line-up. Pizza and a splash of murder… so exciting!

Colourful etsy finds I’m in love with at the moment. 1. Blue Coffee pot from Luncheonettevintage. 2. Feather Garland by kayeblegvad. 3. Striped messenger bag by ikabags. 4. Wooden necklace by Snugstudio.

I got some beautiful slippers from my Ma while I was adventuring up in Orkney. The patterns and bright colours are beautiful and I can feel some projects brewing as a result. Also I’ve dug out some inspirational etsy finds as a result…

5. Folk Peacock from GinghamLife 6. Table cloth from VintageKeepsakes 7. Cross Stitch throw from Lunaparkfoundry. (All pictures credits go to the sellers)

Three NEW cotton spools are now in the shop!* Lovely little ornaments ready to hang, each priced at £8. Hope you like!

* They went so quickly! I’ll have some more available soon.

I finished this blanket yesterday. One of those jobs you think will only take a couple of hours to finish but it ends up swallowing the entire day in one gulp. It was worth it even though I did have a very numb bum by the time I stopped.

Also I’ve got some new cotton spools making their way into the shop very very soon. Cat related as requested. (Sorry for the grainy pictures – there’s a massive rain cloud sat on our hill) I’ll let you know as soon as they’ve landed in etsyville. Woop!

I finished painting 4 new cotton spools today. They were so much fun to make last autumn/winter and made beautiful little tree decorations – added bonus. These fresh little faces will be in the shop soon so keep your eyes peeled.

I got my tickets for the Classic Thriller Season which takes over Nottingham Theatre Royal this August! HURRAH! I’m WELL excited! I also treated myself to this beautiful Orla Kiely folder – perfect for storing stray doodles… sigh, so pretty.

It’s been a while since my last update. So I thought I’d show you all some pretty things.

1. Zach the Triceratops Planter and Succulent by Plaid Pigeon. 2. Bread Board by Earthome. 3. Ornate Floral Brooch by The Aviary. 4. Jacquard Floral trim by dkgeneralstore. 5. Vintage Spool Coffee Table by Hindsvik. 6. Bright Yellow enamel Colander by Confettigarden. 7. Animal Drawing Books by Sukie. 8. Black Circle Leather Sandals by Sandall. 9. Handsome Victorian Silver Ring by Iciernia.

I bought this desk YEARS ago from a charity shop for the grand total of £3!! It’s been living in a friends basement and ever since, mainly because I could never find an easy way of getting it home via public transport and I kept forgetting about it. But as you can see I finally brought it home!! It has little legs you can screw on the bottom but for now they’re tucked away inside and I have just the top resting on my work table. It makes the table the perfect height for painting projects so I’ve nicknamed it my ‘paint station’ for now. In the past I’ve been using big books to lean on (as you can see in this older post) as an attempt to limit the back damage I keep accidentally inflicting on myself. Fingers crossed this beauty does the trick!

Below: The spring flowers are filtering their way into a lot of my doodles at the moment (but I think that was a bit obvious in the recent sketch book updates). Anyway, here are some of the beautiful flowers I’ve been enjoying and some examples of how I’ve been putting them in my pictures.

And here is a random illya picture: