Purrr

An unexpected update!

Hello there!

Just a quick update for you while the dinner cooks (Quorn Family Roast) with lots of roast capsicums and potato waffles. Why not?

We ended up with a little shop update today - I didn't even realise that enough paintings had built up here to warrant one, but there you go and here are a few snaps of them:

Another vintage-style portrait "Wonderin and Wishin" 5x7 original acrylic on canvas. I wish I had a lace collar like that! I also wish I had the gumption to go out around town with a harido like that. Not brave enough today though!

Yay for fashionable fifties ladies! "A Bold Print For Springtime" original ACEO....and so it is!

I think that I'd like to wake up to this one morning too:

What a view! Plus your morning espresso and your feline familiar! "Paris, 1955 - Black Coffee, A Black Cat and a Sunny morning"

Can you tell I'm missing my kitty cat?

Nikita! As you can see, she's sitting in an old Spanish urn. I'm sure she's much happier in Spain than she would be here, plus, I would be constantly nervous about the busy main road not far from our back garden wall.

I also just had to paint one of the more enduring couples of British Literature:

"Mr and Mrs Bennett" Original painting on book page (8" x 5")

I love that couple!

Oh and, of course, I couldn't miss out these two:

"Lizzie and Mr Darcy" (8" x 5") original painting on book page.

...and I just finished a Downton Abbey comission!

It's Lady Mary!

Pheweeee! Oh and I should really be doing some more work on this too:

Ick!

Toodlepip, my fellow Castle On The Hill-dwellers!

xxx

 

British travels and new beginnings.

Yesterday, I spent most of the day on the train to pick up Amelia, who had been in Cornwall for the half-term hols. I used most of the train hours pointing my phone out of the window to capture sights like this:

Late Winter. Many freshly-ploughed fields getting ready for planting. So exciting!

Lovely, warm sun through the window and waking up all those little seeds underground.

...and a few sheepies enjoying a munch! I also spotted a load of lambs, but didn't managed to capture them on camera quckly enough. Sorry! Anyway, i'm sure you know what lambs look like by now, so you can imagine them :)

I do love travelling through our English countryside and training it is probably my favoured method of getting around.

One of today's jobs has been to list a few new prints. Originals have sold and these images have been just waiting around in the computer for me to put them to good use, so here you go!

All three are available in the shop. From left to right >>here<< >>here<< and >>here<<

Toodlepip!

xxx

...once in a while, this happens...

Yup - I'm on a vintage kick again. My head is simply filled to the brim with vintage decor and dresses - how very girly! Bleugh! Love it!

So, one way of satisfying the urge for wonderful oldey-timey things is to just paint them. Here's the first of a few ladies who will be hopping over to the shop. In fact, she's already there!

Original acrylic painting - The Green Wall (5" x 7")

I wonder if I can get a whole gaggle of these lovely ladies together. Talking of gaggles of lovely vintage ladies, check out these gals!

Toodlepip!

xxx

Chai Glorious Chai!

Yes - it's time I extol the virtues of this amazing beverage and share a few of it's spicy possibilities with you.

Most of us are familiar with the usual beloved cuppa here in the UK, but we rarely take it further. I dare you to be a tea adventurer!! OK it may not suit us all, but I know that most of you will be up for it!

Sweet, spicy, milky and the perfect refreshment for an afternoon at home. Ahhhhh! My favourite version is a simple mix of black tea, cardamom and cinnamon. You might like to experiment with other possibilities, mainly using the sweeter spices like ginger, nutmeg, coriander seed, liquorice root, star anise, peppercorns (whole, not ground ot chopped - too overpowering - unless you like that kind of thing!), cloves, a pinch of saffron if you're feeling flush, and even rose petals - YUM!

This is my favourite recipe for the moment:

I wish I had some nice rolled assam to hand, but alas, the good ol' PG Tips will have to do ;)

Cinnamon & Cardamom Chai

1 cinnamon stick (waaaay superior to powdered)

1 cardamom pod (green, not black - I find the black too smokey in flavour)

1 tea bag

1 heaped teaspoon demarera sugar

Glug of milk (dairy or non-dairy work equally well, depending on your taste)

I have a bit of a thing about cinnamon!! Look at the grain on that baby!

Break off a piece of your cinnamon stick - a couple of inches will do fine. Then crack open your cardamom pod, just so the liquid can infuse and swirl around the seeds inside while it brews, but not so much that the seeds spill out - that just makes it annoying to drink!

Pop them in the bottom of your cup and boil your water.

Pour water over your spices to just an inch at first, to help them infuse nicely, then swirl for a few seconds before adding your tea bag and topping up your cup.

Leave the flavours to sort themselves out for two minutes, remove the tea bag, then add your sugar and milk.

ENJOY!

OK - back to work I go - I'm hoping to finish the previous post's painting in the next couple of hours :D

xxx

 

The Perfect Bedroom

Yep - that's what I'm painting - thinking about all those lovely things I would love in a bedroom if I were, say ten years old again!

A pile of lovely vintage suitcases and a fantastic, antique almost-Davenport desk.

Idols on the walls ;)

Jewellery stored prettily, stacks of books, a comfy bed on which to loll about and read...

I'm having real fun with this painting! More to add tomorrow!

xxx

 

 

A sneaky peeky...

Just had to share a teeny snapshot of today's painting. More later!!

xxx

An oceanic update...on a very small scale.

Hello!

Now the oceanic mini-update is sorted, the whales print set is up in the shop, as are these ladies:

Mermaid Rock

The Mermaid and the Sea Fan *SOLD*

Next week, I'll be working on some cosy little items, and a few more ACEOs too!

Have a sweeeet weekend!

xxx

 

Mini Ocean Update!

Hello!

I always wanted to be a mermaid. How better to pay homage to this wish than paint a couple of my own?! Just a little varnishing to do - it brings out the colours brilliantly!

I gave them fun frames - a painting is never quite finished without a proper frame ;)

They should be in the shop tomorrow - I'll post on the Facebook Page when they're ready!

Joining the two mermaid ladies will be this Narwhal and Beluga print set. The originals are staying with us for a while at least - I can't quite let them go yet - their faces make me smile!

xxx

 

Land or Sea?

Just thought I'd share a few photos and the new cold water whales print set with you this lovely, sunny, but ffffffreezing Friday...

Yup! We're growing a carrot and a parsnip top. I'm wondering if they'll ever get to the stage where we can plant them, then I can take the seeds, plant them and grow more actual veggies...anyone know if that's possible?

For the moment (as our wall and framed decor changes ALL the time), this little Lizzie Bennet is sitting on one of our kitchen shelves. If you'd like one, she is available for sale >>here<<.

...but if you prefer something more aquatic...

 

Mr Narwhal print! I love how the detail of the canvas really stands out in these prints!

...and Mr Beluga...I love their whaley smiles - if ever you're in a bleugh mood, just take a look at their cutie faces! Ahhhh!

And the print set, which will be popping into the shop next week:

I really hope my love for these amazing animals has come through in the paintings.

Happy Weekends, melovelies!

xxx

Gypsophila Elegans

...or "Baby's Breath". My mum used to grow this in our front garden when we lived in Southport. I've always had a soft-spot for it. When I saw bunches and bunches of it for sale yesterday, I could't resist!

Love it!

xxx