Tuesday 21 February 2012

Dotty Followers


(All Available on Joy)

I've had a little influx of new 'Followers' just lately and I wanted to just take a minute to say.....


 Hi, Welcome & Thanks for Staying x


I'm sure some of you out there have a vision that I dress head to toe in Polka dots, I have to say I've thought about it.....but other than a few Dotty Scarves and a Polka Dot Sun Dress thats it.


I often think of you all too.... I doubt very much there's 180 Spotty Dressed Followers out there but I can dream! 

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Friday 17 February 2012

....and the Award Goes To....



This week I have kindly been awarded the Liebster Blog Award from Dinki Dots. I have to say I was a little surprised as my blog was very neglected last year. There's no excuse I just lost my way a little and never seemed to find the time to write a decent post. I wasn't sure how many of you out there I was actually reaching these days. So thank you Dinki for having faith in my blog, I'm now doing quite well with regular posts & I receiving this has given me even more reason to keep it up!

So onto the award.....

The Liebster Award is awarded to a 200 or less followers blog in the hope that it will bring new visitors and followers to their blog. If you are happy to accept the award the steps are:

Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.

Post the award button on your blog.

Pass the award on to 5 bloggers who inspire you.

Leave a comment on those blogs to let them know.


Like I say having been a bad blogger last year and being out of touch with some of you thinking of 5 has been a hard one. My first thoughts were my good old faithfuls that I have followed for sometime on here & on face book. I love their products, am inspired by their success and have even made the odd purchase or two! I straight away thought Sara At Kitty Eden, Becky at Dots & Spots, Kirsty at Sixty One A and The fish (not) at Crafty Fish, but these are all huge success's with huge quantity's of followers so are unable to receive the award.

So I have thought and I have come up with 3 that make me smile. They are right up my
street....fun, bright, fresh, colourful & a little quirky twist!





MOO BAA CLUCK

A fellow Mum and Fellow Painter of Wood and A Very Talented Illustrator








THREE POTATO FOUR

An Art Teacher With an Amazing Imagination & Hair Probably Full Of Glitter!






ARTWORK BY ANGIE

An Old Friend From Art College Days Who's Business Is Currently Taking Off Big Time!




Gabs, Sandy & Angie I do hope you accept the award, you all more than deserve it x

Thursday 16 February 2012

A Valentines Gift From Heaven!


When I came down stairs on Valentines Day to find my hubby had left a little pile of pressies on the kitchen table I have to say I was surprised & flattered (a card would be pushing it some years!)

But when I got down to the opening that emotion turned to shock and elation, just look at this book......Orla Kiely, Pattern....... I say a book, its more than a book, its like a huge encyclopedia of beautifulness on every level.

The cover is a tactile texture, the pages are thick, smooth & glossy and the content, well I'll still be oohhing over the content in 10 years or so.


Stunning photography....


Perfect layout.....


and pure pattern every step of the way....

So I had a challenge on my hands having received a gift like that......I had planned on cooking a nice meal after the kids had gone to bed but I figured I'd best go the extra mile and add some little extra touches as my way of saying thank you.

Having consulted my 8 year old daughter we embarked on our mission (which she thought was great!). First she made a menu, then picked snowdrops from the garden, then helped me with the table.



(all this was hidden from view when he returned from work)

Then whilst he was in the shower she picked his clothes (with a little help from me swaying her off the idea of a tie!) and laid the menu & clothes out on the bed. I in the maentime created the table and began on the food.

The menu was...
Pate with Cheese Boule Toast
Cannelloni with Tomato & Mozzarella Salad
Chocolate Cheese Cake, Strawberries & Cream & A HEART SPARKLER!!



The whole thing went down very well and making that extra special effort even after 22 years together was well worth it xxx

Sunday 12 February 2012

Spotty Birthday



My Daughter turns 8 this week and today was her little party. She was very specific with what she wanted and it was all very sophisticated & grown up. A friend of mine has a Pampering business & came round to pamper her & 4 friends. It was all very nice, so pink, so girly & so glittery. At times I was a little sad as I feel the days of a class full running round like nutters, doing pass the parcel & insisting on themed paper plates may be behind us.

She wanted the cakes to be pink, blue, spotty, girly & have hearts galore!


We had great fun making made lolly butterfly's for the party bags, an idea I got from Pinterest



She wanted 8 cup cakes rather than a big cake (that one will be on her actual birthday) so her friends could each take one home.

The pampering went down very well & she has gone to bed very glittery, very curly & very happy!



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Sunday 5 February 2012

Bring On The Kids (part 1)

For those oldies who follow my blog you'll be familiar with the projects I get asked to do at my children's school. Call it a good thing (because I love it) or a bad thing (because I give my time for free) I guess the requests will keep coming when I am mum with a creative business! The school is very small, we only have 65 ish pupils at the moment, so I love to help where I can. The best thing about getting to do what I do is their smiley faces and their enthusiasm. As we only have 3 classes it's also possible that every child can get involved and I don't think I've ever had a moaning one!
My first project back in 2009 was murals for the toilets
Then we painted the hall wall. The theme was the schools architecture and the memories of the pupils that were leaving for high school in 2010
Then last year I painted a bench for a local competition
This year its 6 OWL MURALS for the new changing rooms!
I am doing them over 6 afternoons (2 with each class) and ultimately 6 boards will be produced, 3 for each changing rooms. First to finish have been the big ones. The top class has 24 puplis mixed across years 4,5 & 6. Look what they produced, I'm very proud.....
On 2 3'x3' mdf boards I drew a rough outline of a Snowy Owl, a Barn Owl and a Tawny Owl. Other than helping them to mix colours I really did leave them to it!





The less artistic ones researched facts and wrote them on the boards, which look really good



Tomorrow & Tuesday I've got 20 year 2's & 3's, wish me luck!

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