Coasting.

We were given a random box of, well… junk, the other day, by the guy at the nursery; I thought it was sweet (he gave it to Punk to play with, I think) while Mr thought it was weird. It’s funny how differently we see things.

Anyway, there wasn’t much of use in there, except a really cool ice-cream scoop. There were a few coasters in there too which I thought I’d do something with.

I painted them with Gesso & wracked my brain; what would be something cool to put on a coaster?

When I think of coasters I think of pubs, bars, alcohol, music, glamour – maybe not the most child-friendly themes. I decided in the end to go with pretty girls, in the style of the Archie comics.

I went through a huge phase when I was younger of drawing people in this style & it was really fun to revisit that.

I covered them with a couple of coats of matt varnish, but even so, I don’t know if I want to use them as coasters after all.

More creative spaces here. (And, if you’re partial to a bit of meme, make sure to swing by Saturday, we have a bit of a homecoming….)

Our free not-so-crappy portrait.

When I saw Katie & Reuben’s Free Crappy Portrait a while back, I KNEW we needed one too, but me being me, I thought “I’ll email them later”, then promptly forgot all about it. Finally I did email them though, & I’m so glad. Look!

Not at all crappy, in my opinion, and terribly flattering for Mr & I. He doesn’t look like a hobo & I look like a trophy wife who can knit! Nice. My favourite part is Suspence with a mouth full of dirt & the sausages in hotdog buns…

This is what I sent them;

“I have sent through a few pictures as it seems impossible for everyone to get into a photo together at any given time. We are a little family of four with a cat & two dachshunds that we refer to as "The Sausages". We live in a teeny tiny house with nothing but vegetables growing in the yard. I like to make things, draw & blog. My 3yo daughter likes to pretend to read, the man of the house, surprisingly, likes to grow nothing but vegetables in our yard & the baby has just learnt to stand up, so, after eating, that's pretty much his favourite thing. I am currently obsessed with the colour mustard & crochet blankets. My 30th birthday is imminent.”

I totally forgot a picture of Morgan which is why he’s white – we shall pretend he’s been rolling in flour.

Don’t pretend like you don’t need a Free Crappy Portrait too. You SO do.

We’re going to have this one printed & framed, it’s that not-so-crappy.

Knitingo.

Someone has been waiting a very long time for me to draw this. What can I say? I have commitment issues (now she just has to wait for me to post it).

Getting in early; Free Easter Colouring Page

Since everyone seems to think my drawings lend themselves to being coloured in, I thought I’d give you all an early Easter pressie!

Go here to download & colour to your heart’s desire.

My Creative Space.

Late night drawing. Again. I have been drawing heaps lately & enjoying it immensely. I am thinking about offering up some completed illustrations on etsy or madeit… but knowing me, thinking about it may very well be as far as I ever get, although it would be nice to have some pocket money.

Last night I was home alone, bored & ready to draw so I asked on Twitter (I gave it another whirl & it seems third time is a charm) for some inspiration, Cam & Brianna were happy to oblige with the suggestions “A chook!” & “Gingerbread men & ladies” respectively.

Well the chicken is straight forward enough…

But the first time I read Brianna’s suggestion I saw “Gingerbread MAN & ladies”…

More creative spaces with Kirsty.

the little tea zine….

I had such a lovely suprise in the mail this afternoon – a cute little parcel of tea-themed goodness from Isis.

A while back Isis put out the call for tea-themed contributions for a zine she wanted to make, I sent her a drawing & she included it for me – very nice of her considering the pool of talent I now know she had contributing! I’m sorry Isis love – my Miss Teapot is positively outclassed!

Anywho – the finished zine is A M A Z I N G. Beautiful, cute, funky, clever & just… well… just my cup of tea. There are tea-themed crafts to make, reviews to read, recipes to drool over, stories to savour… I can’t believe how much dear Isis has been able to fit into this little gem & just how fabulous it all is. Truly! Perfect for sitting down in your favourite armchair with an iced vovo, & yes; a cup of tea. You might need a pot of tea actually, if you plan on getting through everything in just one sitting.

If you would like to see for yourself, you can buy it here for just $5 AND you get a free tea-themed badge!

If you are feeling lucky, you might want to tell me what your favourite drop of tea is in the comments below. I have two copies of this tea-riffic (ha! I kill me!) little zine & I’m giving one away. I’m keeping the badge though. Sorry.

 

Painted Polaroids.

Oh dear – you are going to be so sick of bloody robots before this month is out!

While opping a few weeks ago I came across some of those cool wooden coat hangers that squish together at the bottom, I picked them up because I had seen them displaying ‘print your own’ calendars on Etsy last year & thought “Well now, if that isn’t a cheap Christmas present….”, but when I got them home I realised they fit on a wall in Bubba#2’s room perfectly – on  pre-installed hooks no less, so I decided to leave them there.

I was going to buy a few robo-themed postcards from Redbubble to display in them, but I am poor yet again so made do with a bit of DIY Polaroid action.

Hopefully soon I’ll be able to show you the nursery all dressed up in it’s space robot glory, just  a couple more things to do…..

Last Night…

…or, more accurately, this morning, I stayed up pretty late drawing & painting the final ‘bots for Bubba#2’s room. I picked up a few $1 frames at Le Oppy the other day too so if I can find some hooks or nails they’ll even get put up today. Maybe.

I love it, LOVE IT, when I get into ‘the zone’. When I can’t do anything else except focus on what I’m doing, & I can’t rest until it’s done. It happened when I made the storybook drawers for Miss Punk, or more recently when sewing up her reversible pinnie, but as much as I love it, it doesn’t happen all that often. Most of the time when I finally manage to convince myself that ‘now is the time!’ to make, draw or create I am so preoccupied with other things I should be doing, or things happening around me that the zone remains sadly unobtainable.

I think that if I could get into the elusive zone more easily I would be encouraged to create so much more, both in volume & time commitment, but when it happens it seems to be more by accident than active choice.

Do you reside in ‘the zone’ when you create? Is it easy or hard for you to get there?

(For more creative spaces, or 'zones' perhaps, Kirsty is back - woohoo!)

Procrastination…

…is my middle name.

Seriously, if there were an award for the most procrastinating procrastinator, it would assuredly go to me. There would be a parade. Fanfare. Tickertape. I would get a medal. It would be hobbled together MacGyver style from a sink tap, a paddle pop stick & some tape, because the award would come from The Royal Society of Procrastinators, and they wouldn’t have been very prepared for the ceremony.

…I digress… (another of my great, yet useless, skills…)

I have been ever so slowly trying to clean out the spare room over the last few days – also known as bubba#2’s nursery to be – but things are not progressing as they should be. There are so many distractions… boxes to be opened, books to be looked at, things to be sorted… it reminds me very much of how I used to spend days to weeks “cleaning” my room when it was demanded of me by my poor Mother. I would walk in, all gung-ho, begin by piling everything on top of my bed (for easier ‘sorting out’ purposes), finding all sorts of interesting & time-consuming things along the way. “Oh, that’s where that went!”, “I forgot I even had this!”, etc, and then sometime after 1am I would look at the mountain of crap on my bed, shrug, and sleep on the floor. Ah. Memories.

That is very similar to what is going on in the spare room/nursery/junk haven right now. Yesterday I found a bunch of sketch books & spent ages flicking through them, they’re not even from that long ago really, but still, it’s funny what you forget doing/drawing, & what you remember. I thought I’d share a couple of pics that I don’t think I’ve blogged before, so that my time procrastinating wasn’t entirely wasted.

The one below was something I was playing with for a while & then Cam had her Superpops challenge… well, I was already half way there…!

From NOW.

I’m joining in with Lauren & making one thing a day for the next two weeks. Drawings count. She said so.

This is, obviously, a robo-cat. I drew him last night, which means I still have something else to make or draw today. Hmmm.

My Creative Space.

Wow, it’s been AGES since I’ve played along with Kirsty’s ‘My Creative Space’ – Apart from not blogging, Thursdays are pretty busy for us so even if I’ve been doing something creative I generally forget to post about it… am up early today though so thought I’d quickly share a couple more ‘bots that I drew last night; the ratio seems to be two robots I’m happy with to three that don’t get past a head…!

I was also eagerly perusing pretty, bright, spring-type fabrics for ages last night, I know exactly what I want to make for my winter-banishing craft swap (…join in, if you’d like!) & I’m already very excited about it. Just browsing through pictures of all the fabric that scream ‘sunshine!’ made me feel happier, even as I could hear the constant pounding of rain on the roof!

..and now I must be off, busy, busy, busy day ahead – if anybody pops by with a moment to spare who is also playing MCS, I’d love you for always if you could throw my link into the list for me (..that’s not an illegal meme practice, is it?)?! Else wise I’ll do it when I get home… there is surely a certain prestige that goes with being number 247 on the list…??

Starting somewhere.

I have not made any sort of a start on bubba#2’s room yet, I have thought about it, fleetingly, but then… I was thinking of going with a theme, like ‘pirates’ or ‘robots’, but when I suggested this to the boy he said “Pirates are boring & robots suck”. Le Sigh. He would preffer the full Thomas The Tank Engine by Target look, me thinks, but as if that is going to happen… instead I might just try to make a start & see where it takes me, no doubt we’ll end up with a mishmash of retro boy stuff that at the very least makes me happy, because, let’s face it, I’ll be spending more time in there than the baby, to start with!

Last night I dusted off my pencils & sketch book & got started on some robots, perhaps for the wall. Punky & I have been playing robots a little lately, so I might have to guard the finished products lest she steal them for her room, but they’re a while off being at that stage.

My Creative Space.

…Right, so first of all I do know it’s not even Thursday yet, but I’ve not got to play along with Kirsty’s lovely meme for the last couple of weeks because Thursday is Gymbaroo day for us which means faffing about in the morning & almost being late because we were stuck behind a truck the whole way in or something – then there is opping & sushi to be had & by the time we get back I’m tired & bla bla bla… so I’m getting in early.

My creative space is, quite frankly, a big ‘ol mess.

I’ve now finished two of my four pincushions & have even completed a long ago promised picture to do with tea for a zine that dear Isis is putting together, Isis, if you’re reading;

a) Sorry I’ve taken so long, and

b) You still don’t have it in your inbox because *coughs*, me being me, I have lost the power cord for the scanner. Or temporarily misplaced it. I hope to find it soon. I do.

For more creative spaces… uh… you’ll have to be patient. Kirsty will be having everyone over for tea & crumpets at kootoyoo in the morning…

My Creative Space…

…more drawings, waiting, waiting, waiting to be scanned & coloured. I did not find the pen. My suspicions were heightened when The Boy said something along the lines of “It probably got thrown out”. Since his solution to everything that ever goes missing is “It’ll turn up”, and since is he is absolutely the last person to encourage me to spend money buying a new anything, I was alarmed.

Does he know something he’s not telling me? What is the whole truth in the saga of the missing graphics tablet pen? I fear I will never know.

BUT! All is not lost. I have a new pen. It came in a box with another tablet mind you (it’s a long story), but I am ready to get to work.

If you are working on something a wee bit creative, you should share it here with Kirsty & her hoard of devoted “spacers”. (I don’t know where I first saw that, but I like it…)

Apologies to everyone who commented on last week’s space that I didn’t get around to visiting – but my internet is zooming again (cue angels singing), so I’ll be over to bother you this week, never fear.

My Creative Space

I can’t believe it’s Thursday again so soon…?!

Ooohparently it is though, and that means it’s time for perusing all the creative spaces around the blogosphere, thanks to the lovely Kirsty.

I already mentioned that I’m not big on Valentines Day, but all the posts about love & hearts & mushy stuff I’ve been seeing has seeped into my subconscious or something because I’ve been drawing pictures along that theme: Love.

These aren’t finished yet – I want to draw a little more & colour on the computer, but I might not be able to fulfil that last desire… the pen for my digital drawing pad has gone AWOL & I can only hope that I’ll find it soon, maybe while packing, and that it wasn’t picked up by one of our house guests a couple of weeks ago by mistake & discarded as a useless pen out of ink, for that is how long it has been missing for… I know it must seem like I’m losing things all the time but generally I know where everything is, even if it is amongst some mess or other, but having “people” here has messed up my “system”. Cross your fingers & your toes for me folks because I really will cry if it is lost for good. Really really.

Inkscape.

Playing. With Inkscape. For hours. More later. Very tired. Must sleep....

More exciting than a presidential election...

....is the vote for Superpops on CurlyPops' blog!



I just saw that the lovely Liesl & I are neck & neck...! Has my luck finally run out?! Am I the John McCain of Blogtoberfest 09?! We shall see tomorrow! If you've not voted yet (for the toilet roll cosy - c'mon, that is GOLD), you really should!

My Creative Space...

...has only really been available to me again for the last day. Everybody has left & the house is quieter & tidier!

So now it's all about drawing; getting stuck into things I should have already started, such as my pen pal letters swap from the Meet Me At Mikes forum and some new things that I couldn't resist volunteering for, like Curlypops' "Super Pops Challenge" & a very exciting swap with a Mama from Crafty Mamas which involves art & funky clothes....

Once again thanks must go to Kirsty at Kootoyoo for hosting My Creative Space, do toddle over for some grand inspiration (or a bit of crafty voyeurism, if you're anything at all like moi...).

Haiku Ambulance

Another of my 'A Drawing A Day' sketches. My favourite auther, nay, the best auther, ever.

Richard Brautigan.

Haiku Ambulance

by Richard Brautigan

A piece of green pepper
fell
off the wooden salad bowl:
so what?

My First "Drawing A Day"

Through the new Meet Me At Mikes forum, I stumbled upon this adorable blog, and found this meme... A Drawing A Day.

I hereby pledge to DO a drawing a day, but I doubt I'll post one everyday. Perhaps the occasional one & a 7-sketch set at the end of the week? We'll see.

Anywho, without further ado - just a quick drawing I did last night while waiting for United States of Tara to start;