Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen

Heather

A new winter portrait now in the shop. She's called Heather.

Enjoy!

oh and ANOTHER thing (I'm nearly finished for todays posts honest) I've just opened andloaded up some prints for sale in my NEW AND SHINEY folksy shop! Huzzah! So if you happen to be a UK based Shop-o-holic (like myself) then go see!

www.folksy.com/shops/blackoutwell

A house on Orkney

Well yes my mum just bought a house on the Orkney Isles. Very very cool indeed. So we went up to see it and me being a sport suggested we take the low carbon route and avoid planes... oh dear god it's a long way away.

When the first day of trains came we heard news of a huge storm rolling in off the Atlantic but the ferries seemed to be functioning fine. We arrived a little late in the evening at about 1am (after setting off at 7:50am!!!) and got a taxi to drive us round to the bed and breakfast where we slept like washed up logs. Another early (ish) start at 8:30 with a giant breakfast (perfecto) meant we had the rest of the day to explore the main island and get a bus over to Stromness to see the cottage. We got there only to find out that the ferries for the remaining of the weekend had been cancelled... gulp. We paniced a little then settled into the idea of just booking another night or 2 at the B and B back in Kirkwall. We went and found the solicitors, got the keys and headed to the cottage, which is wonderfull! It needs a lot of work but mum's giving herself a year or so to get the work done and make the place livable again just in time for retirement. We spent an hour measuring the place and working out what can go where etc. Then as we plodded back into "town" we had just enough time to catch the very last ferry of the weekend... so we went for it! After an incredibly bumpy ride we found ourselves back in Scottland in Thurso... only to discover no trains... damn...

So we found a hotel and checked the train times and just relaxed. 6am rise and shine! On train at 6.50 and then came the 2nd full day of transport :( 16 hours, 5 trains, 2 million cups of very expensive and not very nice coffee and 3 bars of chocolate which came with the glossy magazine of nonsense I bought. FINALLY at 10:28pm I walk through my door. By 10:33pm I'm washed, clean and in my pj's curled up on the sofa.

If you wanna see some pictures of the place and the adventure I've put some on flickr. On the art side of the weekend there was a launch party for the Nottingham Craft Mafia and I hear it went well! Lots of interest and lots of wondefull things to see. Alas I couldn't make it cos I was on route to the North. Check the website for any upcoming information.

So how was your weekend?

PikaPackage

It's here! The October Pikapackage is finally here! I've been quite excited about this. It's an amazing project promoting all the loveliness that is art, illustration and craftiness. The deal is you pay a couple of pennies and get a pack containing a random assortment of beauties. You can see the October participants here. The Pickapackage comes in 3 different sizes. You can buy one with 3 pieces, 5 pieces or 10 pieces here. It would make a wonderful gift for yourself and others! The August one is still up for grabs so go get one quick before they run out.


I thought I'd include a picture of the site :) Forgive my scruffy desktop... tra la la... you can also download a pdf of the zine and read the daftness that is my "interview" :) There are links on the blog so go look!

VERY advance warning on the xmas shopping

I covet, therefore I am

Currently coveting.... sigh... you can't help but look when you're stuck in a dark room, starved of company. I have to admit though I can't imagine any of these items being flattering on me. That's the trouble with internet shopping and me... I just have rotten luck and no patience... but I've only just dicovered the wonders of Forever 21 and I can see me gazing, longingly, at their online catalogue for at least another 2 hours....

ug I'm just adding to the post now because everythings so blimmin' nice.

Cuttin' and Stickin'

Start the day with something different. After a useless nights sleep filled with unnecessarily traumatic (blown way out of proportion by the mind) nightmares about failed holidays, being told off and crap stuff like that... I woke up early and decided today was a day for cutting and sticking. I even did a tiny bit of painting. I feel much better... Maybe sewing is in question for later? Maybe not... I don't think I could handle another fight with my sewing machine... I have lots of blue fabric which I bought somewhere and I've been meaning to make a mahoosive whale. It was the first thing that sprang to mind...

I spent yesterday morning and early afternoon taking down the show. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when 4/5 coats of paint later the bright shapes I'd painted on the wall ceased to be. Phew!
On my way home I ground to a halt outside Schuh because I noticed they happened to have maroon converse on display in my size. Horray. I've been after a pair for a couple of years now and I think today of all days will be the day I can tick this shoe mission off my list. I found a library book under my bed... gulp... I'm in so much trouble... The more I think about it maybe that was what oozed all its negative vibes into my dreams. It was really shouting "Take me back!!" I will do that today... and the reward will be the cons :) and maybe I'll have a sweet nights sleep tonight. One can only hope...

I also accidentally inverted some of the winter portraits and I thought they looked pretty cool so I figured I'd show you... tee hee... very new wave/rave (I dunno new talk) warhol... hm. The colours are pretty special...
I apologise for the personal/surreal/mess of a post today :)

NOTTINGHAM CRAFT MAFIA

Ya heard right! Nottingham's own craft mafia site has now been launched and a link can be found here. It's a very exciting, great, amazing and fun thing to be part of and we will all aim to keep you folk in the loop about the inspiring, contemporary and beautiful works happening locally. The sites got some info on its main members at the moment so go take a look and see what's to come. If the Craft Mafia is new to you then it's worth taking a gander at their own site. I also recommend the Glasgow Craft Mafia site...

I got asked to do this months website banner and as you can see one of my lovely ladies is featured. Every month we will take turns and ask others to design a new banner so the website will be ever changing.

Shop Update!!! meet the girls :)

I found this gem in oxfam today on my way home from work and it inspired me to pull back the curtains and show you what I've been up to lately! The graphics are beautiful and the story is really cool. It's rare to come across something so lovely :) It's also got the appropriate Autumn theme... seeing as it's Autumn... and what I have to show you is also Autumn/ Winter themed...



Now for the main event. A great big shop update :) I'm happy to introduce you to 8 lovely new prints that will be up for grabs in the shop within the next couple of hours. It's all about wrapping up warm and layering up those woolies. Each print will come with it's own little blurb filling you in on some of their current fixations, secrets, favourite fruits etc.

Each print is priced at 20 Dollars which is around 10 English Pounds and is printed on archival watercolour paper. The colours and details are bold and crisp. The page measures around 7" x 9" and the image sits comfortably in the middle :) Get in touch if you have special frame requirements and need the paper to be different measurements. As long is the measurements are no bigger than A4 I can sort something out.

Top Left: May, Enid, Aims, Ella.
Bottom Left: Ruth, Connie, Claire, Lotti.

** Just a mini note. The prints you will receive will be on a page that measures 7 inches by 9 inches. The above photo is prints on off cuts of paper measuring 5 by 8 inches (didn't want such good bits of paper to go to waste). This means that the print you receive will be on a piece of paper ever so slightly bigger**

A very VERY quick note

The show comes down on Sunday so go see it while you can and I seriously recommend the brownies!

Warm

The wind has picked up and the trees are giving up some of their leaves but not without a fight. Halloween is creeping closer and closer. Before you know it it'll be dark by 5 and town will be decorated in red gold and green.

I figured now is a good time to start introducing you to my next project. Wrapped up for winter. You may have noticed the blog's had a tweak and one of the lovely ladies is featured on the banner. There are pleanty more to come and I'll introduce you all next week :)

-Don't get blown away!

ps - Remind me to get my pumpkin this year...

Just One Of Those Days

Well today appears to be the Hockley Hustle which had completely slipped my mind until I approached work to find it surrounded by lots of crazy goings on. We got live music all around the building and massive painting being done outside (my fingers are crossed to keep the rain away!). It's all quite exciting to be honest. So if you happen to be reading this today and are located in the Nottingham part of the UK then come visit! Go see some live bands. They are all over hockley so you can't miss them... follow the balloons! If I can find a lead I'll try and update this post with some hockley hustle pictures :D

But right now I am in the mood for a nice cup of tea and a giant piece of cake.

WHO'S WITH ME?!?

Hand And Heart Gallery

Take a peek! Tonight is the celebrations so I'm sure I'll have plenty more pictures to show. There are a few of the show in the making and some of Sophie's amazing illustrations up on my flickr account if ya wanna see. I think it's time to rest before this evening :)

Maybe see you tonight!

ps - I've got some great news and stuff to show you soon! Cool huh? :D

pps - you excited??

ppps - GOOD!

pppps - rest time...