The Fringe

Here in Edinburgh we're in the last weeks of the Fringe; a summer festival where the town gets filled with people from all over. These are a few process images from a guide book for artists that I've been working on for a while. I hope to publish it one day, but, in the event that I don't; you guys get to enjoy some snippets.

Steve

I gave my card to a few new friends today and it was the kick up the butt I needed to post again. So, to new friends, here is a portrait of an old friend of mine. Steve the Harris' Hawk. He was a beautiful boy.

Support your local libraries!

The weather is fantastic here in Edinburgh, for the moment, and the Scottish make the best of the sun while we have it. The parks and beaches are packed. So Chris and I went to the library.

This is my haul. The unseen world of today's most creative talents. The best of the best of Bukowski and this beautifully illustrated natural history of the birds of paradise.

Then we did go to the park. Reading and sun. There is not much better.

I hope you are all enjoying fantastic weather wherever you may be,

With love x

Happy Towel Day!

In honor of the great Douglas Adams and in lieu of photo's of me carrying around my towel, which I most assuredly AM doing, here are some nice towels for any Hitchhikers in need.

This fun dolphin number because...well they did TRY to warn us.

These fantastic Dr. Suess hooded towels! In different colour ways so that you can be the Grinch, Horton or The Cat in the Hat.

This lovely vintage flapper girl beach towel from the Etsy shop NeatoKeen

 This adorable little pink owl towel. Any chance that would be big enough for me? from the Etsy shop LilyLouLou.

And this kitty hand towel. A friend of mine has one and its just as cute in person.

I hope you all know where your towel is,

with love x

What I've been reading

From bottom to top :

• Kathy Reich's '206 bones'
• Kathy Reich's 'Mortal remains'
• George R R Martin's 'A Clash of Kings'
• Alice Hoffman's 'Practical Magic'
• Suzanne Collins' 'Hunger Games' Trilogy on Kindle

I'l start with my favorite which is 'Practical magic'. The film adaption of this book was a cherished childhood movie. A story of two witch sisters from a long line of witches and their lives on a small island. Even as an adult I can enjoy it. So, I was hesitant to read the book and have it ruin anything (which is why I have waited this long to read it in the first place). However, I was pleasantly surprised. It's darker in tone, no doubt,  but it also gives you much more background on each character than the film does. It explains some of the background happenings in the movie such as all the cats. It serves as a warning about dangerous men and being true to yourself and your family. I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes to read about magic and witchcraft. Or anyone who enjoys a good book really...

I've been reading the Kathy Reich's Temperance Brennan series for a while now. I know, I know I'm not reading them in order. But, the continuing story line is light and easy to keep up with, and I'm more interested in the gooey forensic stuff! So I don't mind skipping a few. It's pretty heavy with medical/forensic/FBI acronyms, but filled with interesting facts and tidbits. Also I'm completely in love with Detective Ryan our romantic interest, for anyone who is a fan of the spin off TV series bones he is the book version of Detective Booth. French Canadian sweet talker. Another recommendation.

George Martin's 'A clash of Kings', what can I say? It's fantastic. I don't want to spoil anything for anybody whose not yet read the books or seen the TV series but it's great. A whole world to immerse yourself in. Big characters. Exciting plots. Violence for those who enjoy it. Romance for those who don't. Wolves and Dragons for the animal lovers. At this point you can't afford to get too attached to any one character, lest they drop dead the next minute, but the threat of an Axe to the neck to anyone is definitely thrilling. Be warned it'l bring you so close to the edge of your seat, you may fall off!

Now, 'The Hunger Games', don't get me wrong, it's a good series, and an interesting idea. It kept me hooked. The writing is pleasant if simplistic, obviously you have to take into account its a teen book, and it's miles better language wise than twilight. BUT, the ending. No spoilers I promise but It was really a bit of an anti-climax for me. At the end I found myself thinking 'Is that it? what now?' So, over all good, but it won't make my top 5.

I hope you are all reading some great books,
With love x

Tea party!

So a couple of weeks ago I had a Tea party with the adorable Sugarluff aka. Hazel. We baked our own 'magical girl' rainbow cake and used a nice tea service like real ladies.

 Also, Hazel had a cupboard full of lovely teas. I am no stranger to tea, of course, I have quite a collection of my own. However, I need to get some of the strawberry and vanilla kind she let me try. It was very subtle and went perfect with cake. I fell in love with it. 
I hope you are all enjoying some delicious tea and cake,
With love x

Letters!

Possibly my favorite things in the whole world are giving and receiving letters. This is just a small collection of some of the letters that I have been the happy recipient of. It's a shame, I think, that it's done less and less now, the sending of personal letters.

I know it seems silly to send letters to people you see everyday and if you're not a jet setting type of person how are you to meet people from far off lands to mail things to? I started writing letters when my friends went off to university. Some of them went miles away. And it was lovely to wake up in the morning and see a letter from them sitting at the door.

There is just something about a hand written letter that technology will never beat. It's laborious and beautiful. As creepy as this may sound, I get a little piece of paper, that someone who loves me has worked over and thought about. Bought special stationary, maybe they've spritzed some perfume or included some kind of surprise for me, jewelry, stickers etc. It's a big hug in an envelope, and it's incomparable to an email. 

A site that I found useful:

Which, as well as having a pretty spectacular range of stationary, has penpal want ads from around the world. So get writing everyone,

with love x

Sketchbook Snippets

My camera is broken. I hope that i'l be able to fix it but for the mean time I'm using my phone, which is old, so this has been a bit of a struggle. Technology does not like me despite the coxing and the pleading and all the promises I make it. 

I hope you are all having a fantastic stress free weekend,

with love x

Things that cheer me up No.2

Snoozy ratties sleeping on your stomach.

Helpful

Here is a really nice graphic walk through, of some handy tips for creative business owners. You should check it out.

Hoolets !!

Today, as a surprise, Chris took me to the Polkemmet Country Park Owl centre! 

We dropped in just in time to see the bird display, we got to meet an adorable Tawny owl, a very large Great Grey Owl and a tiny fluff ball of an Eurasian Eagle Owlet. Not including all of the owls we got to see in their habitats.

  

But my favourite had to be this fella. A Brown Wood Owl. Look at those big black eyes. He was just sitting there all laid back chirping at me and blinking his lids like he was trying to stay awake. What a cutie! He's definitely going to be mine once my Hogwarts letter arrives...

There were also some beautiful chainsaw carvings for sale and this amazing OWL SLIDE. Such a shame I was too big to fit. I completely wanted to buy everything in the gift shop (I am such a sucker for souvenirs) but settled for some pretty new stationary.

The books under the owl said things like Magic and Spells

So that was our adventure today, I'd definitely recommend visiting the centre if you find yourself nearby. I'm busily sketching my favourites, to come soon. What have you been up to?

With Love x

I miss having a Starbucks downstairs

When I was at college. There was a Starbucks in the cafeteria just two floors down from the Illustration studio. The first thing I did every morning was to order my regular, a Venti hazelnut Mocha WITH cream. If I ran late to my class and had to go straight in, I'd go down during a break or at lunch or when I passed by to get to the student shop.

I still drink coffee at home, of course, but its just not the same. It was a nice break or it was the morning boost I needed or something warm to wrap my hands around in winter. If I ever become a millionaire I'm having one put next to my kitchen!
I hope you are all enjoying some tastey coffee
with love x

We went to the beach

It was lovely and sunny today, if not warm, so we took a wee trip down to Portobello beach and gave our toes a good wiggle in the sand.

It was nice to get some fresh air and a bit of sun since I've been cooped up playing Minecraft for most of the week and I'm beginning to resemble a vampire too much for my liking. No sympathy I know, I do it to myself, but it's so good and so addictive ... Repeat after me gamers. I must leave my room at least once a day. I must talk to real people. And eat something other than cereal straight from the box.

Hope everyone is having a terrific weekend,
with love x

Thinking about Cake

A birthday cake for a friend, this was an experiment with layered rainbows in shades of pink! I attempted it about 6 months ago. It was easier in theory than in practice, even though I was happy with the result (as was the birthday girl), I really want to give this cake another shot. I'm planning something fun with lots of colour!

Things That Cheer Me Up

Hello Mr. Fish, guarding my rulers...

My Current Sketchbook

I've finally gotten around to properly using this sketchbook. My brother gave it to me about two years ago as a Christmas present.

It's a lovely Moleskin notebook. I like Moleskins for their quality paper, the page keeper and the bungee strap that keeps the book closed. This particular notebooks paper is too fine for watercolour but it works great with fine-liner and pencil. 
with love x

I am so sorry! (Sketchbook Snippets)

It's been a very VERY long time since I have posted here. I am ashamed.  To say I ran out of steam early on in this venture would be an understatement.

The thing is that when I finish my work the last thing I want to do was fiddle about with a temperamental scanner/computer/blog. However, that's just laziness and I promise to try much harder. I intend to put a lot more effort and thought into this blog. So to that end, here are some recent snippets from my sketchbook.

Yes, those are Jaffacakes... 

I've been fairly obsessed with drawing horses lately, I don't know why I ever stopped, they're just so jaunty! Also my love for fine-liner has been rekindled. Can you tell?

I hope you are all having a really good week,

With Love xx