What am I???

I know I'm being something of a copycat, as several of my favourite bloggers have been holding little competitions - but I couldn't resist :o)

All you have to do is tell me what you think the object in the photo is and I'll put all the right answers in a hat... You can have as many guesses as you like, and I'll send the winner a wee something...

And to make it as auspicious as possible - I'll draw the names on the Ides of March (the 15th)...

Look a REAL painting!!

A real canvas, that's now hanging beside my desk - how cool is this?!?!
I had to try out my acrylic inks on canvas, and I'm thrilled with how this has turned out. I left the cling film (SaranWrap) on overnight just to be sure... and the organic shapes are gorgeous!
And wow! These colours! They lose nothing of their intensity during the drying process. And in this technique, the open spaces are as important as the shapes - all created by the manipulation of the cling film while the ink is wet. Love it! Just love it!!

I played ALL day!!

Here are some of my newest creations! I had so much fun!

The little picture frame is made from a cool kit I got from Stewart Gill. Their paints really are incredible! I totally see why my friend Zorana raves about them! And well, I always have to make some atc's!

I'm especially pleased with the painting. It's basically the first one I've ever done just from my imagination, playing around. I want to fill the notebook with paintings and images, and if some sort of theme appears, I'll then make a cover... it's the first time I've done this. I usually make the journal and then put images in it, so I thought it would be fun to try the process the other way round :o)

And look! It's the first time I've managed to put links in the text!! Oh, I am sooo on a roll!!!!!!!!!!!

And I've put some more images on my Artwork blog - take a look when you have a mo!

The only remedy...

... for those aching feet after a hard day's shopping!
Esther and I had a fun day in Lincoln yesterday spending all her hard-earned pocket money. (Nick and Sam had a boys' day bowling!) We had a really super day, but our poor feet took a pounding!!

Loveliest of surprises!!

This lovely bundle arrived in the post yesterday!

A number of wildly creative ladies throughout blogland held various giveaways for Valentine's Day... and of course I signed up for a bunch :o)

But then, of course, I forgot to check back and see if I'd actually won any... until this lovely wee card, sprinkles and choccie hearts fell through the letterbox!

Thank you so much, dear Kate, spinning away in Idaho!

Sun arise in de mornin'

It may not be the most dramatic sunrise, but what it means is PURE JOY - it's barely 7am and the sun is UP!! The long winter nights are shortening, the days are lengthening, the gloom is passing, spring is coming, the sap is rising, the birds are singing, the SADness is lifting...
YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As you can tell - I'm really not a winter person :o)

Cliches all the way...

And in many ways Valentine's day is something of a cliche...
But nonetheless I dragged myself out of bed yesterday - I'm dying from a stinking cold :o{ - and duly made my man a Valentine card.
And there the cliche ends... this is a genuine expression of love and thanks for his being there every day - in sickness and in health - for the past 18 years...

It's no wonder...

... we Brits talk about the weather all the time! These pics were taken 3 days apart!! And still the little primrose keeps smiling through - she's not as bright this morning, but she's holding her head up!
We've got off very lightly with the countrywide snow shower that came through on Wednesday night - much to the kids' disappointment!! If we lived down in Worcester they would have had two days off school!!
I, on the other hand, am immensely relieved - I'm chasing deadlines to finish all my work before the kids break up for half-term next Friday. But there's always time to stop... look at the primroses... and talk about the weather...

Such treasure

I rose this morning early as usual, and went to my desk.
But it's spring,
And the thrush is in the woods,
somewhere in the twirled branches, and he is singing.
And so, now, I am standing by the open door.
And now I am stepping down onto the grass.
I am touching a few leaves.
I am noticing the way the yellow butterflies
move together, in a twinkling cloud, over the field.
And I am thinking: maybe just looking and listening
is the real work.
Maybe the world, without us,

is the real poem.

Mary Oliver

So why am I sat at my desk?? I should be out there in this glorious February sunshine. It's bitterly cold, but the LIGHT out there!! No wonder these little beauties are open so wide - soaking up every drop of this radiant energy...

Premenstrual? Moi?

I decided to play yesterday afternoon and did some colouring in... I have this cool book by Shiloh McCloud called She Moves in Her Own Way - it's a colouring in book for grown-ups :o) I LOVE her flowing images - maybe when I'm more confident of my drawing abilities, I'll be able to draw such flowing females...

It was only after I'd coloured in the picture that I realized what the text said...

Boy! Those hormones will have their say one way or another!!

A joint effort...

... between mother and daughter...
Esther (my extremely talented just-turned-nine-year-old) drew this fabulous lion, and I coloured him in using my new favourite toy - caran d'ache neocolor wax pastels.
I think we might be doing some more ventures like this - especially as she loves to draw and I love to colour...
I'm wondering if somehow I missed out on that chubby-crayon-in-hand phase when I was a toddler, because it feels like a wonderful new discovery to me to play with crayons...