I think deer must rank amongst my favorite animals of all. They are so shy and so majestic. For me they are quite magical. Their silhouettes are wonderful. They are inspiring me a lot right now.

in the quiet, originally uploaded by slight clutter.
Some dear deer etsy finds. Click on the images for their etsy page.
I could spend a fortune, honestly. But right now I'm too tired, so off to bed I must go.

Yesterday David returned from a day's work in Bristol with a gift. It was this adorable coin purse from the shop Bloomsbury (which is an absolute treasure trove of goodies, it has mail order, check it out) and it was for lucky me. In fact I'm so lucky that whenever he goes away he more often than not comes home with some little treat. Like this Rob Ryan tile from a London trip which I LOVE. I'm spoilt.

Alice - A Very Fine Female
Here is my completed Alice - A Very Fine Female print. I'm so pleased with how sweet it looks especially framed up alongside the Elizabeth Bennett print. I'm so enjoying doing these and I've now nearly finished the third in the set, no other than Peter Pan's Wendy. The Wendy silhouette is coming on beautifully. It's so good to be making again!
Now it's time to take my Lola for a walk. She's driving me insane and I cannot take her destructive demands for attention any longer! Having a dog is blissful but having a bonkers one that needs long walks every day to prevent her turning from an adorable cutie into a maniac can be waring. But totally, totally worth it, she's such a sweetheart.

A is for Apple, B is for Bird...

This little print was created by me for my new baby daughter. It looks so adorable in it's frame, I love it! It reads Edie's Alphabet at the top because that's her name but that can be changed or removed completely. It's so hard to find time for my work with a little one to look after but then again every spare second is so precious I waste no time at all! Not like before when I could spend days procrastinating. The print is up on my Etsy site as of yesterday. I hope you like it.

Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair... ~Susan Polis Shutz

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck. ~Emma Goldman

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us. ~Iris Murdoch, A Fairly Honourable Defeat


Perfumes are the feelings of flowers. ~Heinrich Heine, The Hartz Journey

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. ~Chinese Proverb

A beautiful day spent at the National Botanic Garden of Wales. The flowers were enjoying their very last days of bloom which made them all the more lovely. Petals falling away, leaves turning brown, goodbye to summer and hello to the new season.
I've a sweet new print on Etsy which I'll post about tomorrow.

Alice and Elizabeth

Here are Alice (Alice in Wonderland of course!) and Elizabeth (Bennett, Pride and Prejudice), two of the literary heroine silhouette pictures I made. I put them in little frames so that I can group them together on the wall. I'm pleased with the way they turned out. Behind each silhouette is text from the first page of the novel and below a quote from the heroine. Alice's reads Curiouser and curiouser, and Elizabeth's I am the happiest creature in the world. I think I shall make a start on Pippi Longstocking next. Who do you think I should include? Any ideas?

"I wish I hadn't cried so much!" said Alice, as she swam about, trying to find her way out. "I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears! That will be a queer thing, to be sure! However everything is queer today."

I'm working on a literary heroines project starting with dear Alice. Here she is as a silhouette I've drawn. And below are some of the other appearances Alice has made through the years.

'...by the sea that was lying down still and green as grass after a night of tar-black howling and rolling...' Dylan Thomas

Today last week I was staying just a stone's throw from Newquay in West Wales, which is one place the poet Dylan Thomas lived during his beautiful but short life. If you've seen the film The Edge of Love it's the village where , close by, Dylan and his wife Caitlin kept a house. Beautiful film, such eye candy. Woolly jumpers, silk kimonos, knee socks, victory rolls, dance halls, poets, afternoon drinking and windswept beaches.

Love, Peace and Music
As I'm back making a little here and a little there I've reopened my Etsy. Just one print in to start, my Love, Peace and Music. Three most precious things.

Back from a holiday in a hideaway cottage out West. Family, food, a beautiful nook in the woods by the sea, my gorgeous Lola, my little sweetheart. We lit candles and ate outside, we walked on the beach at dusk, we picniced by the sea. It was good. Lately I've had my troubles but I'm on the mend and there's lots to love.

Snow

I love the snow. I feel sad when it melts. Looking out of the window to see big, fat snowflakes falling from a white washed sky when you've got a cup of hot tea, woolly socks on and a good book to read is a beautiful thing.

These things happened in 2008...

I got pregnant!
I had a blast at Glastonbury
I flew to Portugal got ill and flew back
I got away from it all here

I grew up a little
I realised what an amazing thing the female body is
I rejoiced when my husband finally got the job of his dreams
I won a design competition
I wrote, drew and made... but not enough
I went to my baby brother's wedding
I kissed my dog far more than is healthy

I kissed my husband far more than is healthy (and look where that got me)
I was broke
I was a little less broke
I had my first wedding anniversary!

the old year

a new year

Another year

Things have been a tiny bit rubbish for me recently. I've been ill and then ill again- a wicked double dose- and had to abandon my holiday in Portugal and fly home. Oh, dear. But, hey, nevermind, I'm on the mend and it's my birthday today. And I've got such an amazing family and such wonderful friends that I'm feeling a little more smiley today and thankful that I'm so lucky.

These cupcakes are HUGE.

This is a gorgeous limited edition cup and saucer designed by Julie Verhoeven. A gift from my husband!


And a lovely gift from Tiffanys from my dear friend Rhianydd and a bracelet from another fantastic friend Louise that I shall use as a charm bracelet. I've wanted one for a long time.

I'm very lucky.
And the All Saints jeans I had from my mum split in a potentially embarassing place due to a fault in the stitching so I took them back and got a refund. Then I saw them in the sale a week or two later and so bought a new pair for half the price! I spent the other half on another pair with a different print so now I have two pairs! A faint leopard print pair and a faint zebra print pair. I love them and wear them ALL THE TIME. Like I used to wear my stone washed skinnies with zips up the legs all the time when I was a little girl back in the 80's. Anyway, so far it's a very good day.

Glastonbury was beautiful!

Back from an amazing weekend at Glastonbury! I had the best time and the sun actually showed up and hung around for a very respectable amount of time. I always book into a hotel (in theory camping kinda appeals to me but in practice I pretty much despise it) and so a drizzly and muddy Friday didn't worry me too much, but then Saturday was GORGEOUS! I loved it. I saw some fantastic bands. Goldfrapp blew me away. Alison Goldfrapp looked great as usual and her voice is amazing live. They came on at about 6.30pm and it was that lovely time of the day when the sun is begining to sink a little and everything is golden and hazy and gorgeous.


Foals played in the rain on Friday but were so tight and put everything into their set.

There were so many other great bands. Vampire weekend were so good, definitely one of my highlights, as was Seasick Steve, Amy Winehouse, Neon Neon, and The Raconteurs. Plus, my brother in law's girlfriend had a vintage clothes stall by the Pyramid Stage and so I even managed to do a little shopping. And when I say shopping I mean she very, very kindly gave me a couple of things I had my eye on for free! How could it get any better?

To keep and to treasure...

It'll be our first wedding anniversary soon and in honour of the occasion we've bought this painting from artist Amanda Blake. I adore her work. It has a vintage feel and is soft and muted and a little magical.
I think it would be nice to invest in something beautiful every anniversary. Something to keep and to treasure.