lunch, weddings, ikea

The picture of lunch is mainly for my benefit, to remind me that food doesn't have to be potato based or bread based or at work. Cheese is something I can't say no to though, so cheese based is always welcome. Anyway, you know it's summer when the salads come tumbling off the shelves into your shopping basket. Before you know it your chomping away like a buck-tooth rabbit savoring every crunch. Apart from salads, sunshine (and the 'overheating' feeling that accompanies the sunshine) weddings are also a big give away that summer's on the doorstep. These last few days we drove up to the Lake District to see my friend Charlie on her wedding day. Below is a snap of the happy duo. It was a perfect break. Not only was the wedding beautiful, seeing friends was another treat and being surrounded by such beautiful sights was breathtaking.



Example A (above) - Beautiful surroundings.
Example B (below) - The place called home (for 2 nights only). The inn on the lake, Ullswater.

New Print Set

A new print set is about to grace the shops. After the last blog post I managed to pull out the pencil case and get some squiggly lines down on the paper. I'm quite pleased with the results, which happen to be incredibly frilly and girly. (two traits I'd never associate with the Amy B I grew up with) :) Anyway, apologies for the fuzzy little pictures. I tried to capture as much of the detail as possible. Since I'm obsessing over such pale colourschemes at the moment, it makes it quite tricky in the photo documentation department.

The prints are roughly 4.5inches x 5.8 inches. (Same size as mini prints I stock). Printed on archival Watercolour paper. Room around the edges for framing. Will come signed and shipped in a hardback envelope to ensure no bends or bumps. Colours and detail are both bold and crisp.

Below is an example of the detail which is lost a bit in the fuzzy little pictures I took. And right down the bottom are individual snap shots of the prints themselves :) Very summery, very fresh, very flowery... oh it's good to be back :)

aw shucks

Wow it feels like ages since I wrote something for this blog... and noticing the date of my last post it has been a while.

I'll be honest and say I've been stuck in a bit of a drawing rut as of late. Sometimes you wake up and find that drawing deliberate lines are near impossible. Straight ones mainly, and for me it just makes the whole process of doodling very very very stressful and seem like a waste of time and resourses. I went back and read the advice of many talented and creative folk mentioned in PikaLand's 1st issue of 'Good to know', which tackles ruts, getting in them and getting out of them. It's nice to know so many others go through these phases. Reading some of the solutions made the whole process feel far less alienating and lonely (Massive thank you to Pikaland Amy and her publication). I vaguely remember adding my own piece of advice to the zine but you know what they say about never liking the taste of your own medicine :)

Today has been the first beautful day in the past few weeks. We've had belated April showers, which resulted in soggy ankles and sniffles all round. I'm slightly jealous of everyone who is sat outside enjoying it (I'm at work as, I type, in a dark room with no windows to the outside). The silver lining to that cloud is that I've finally pulled the pencil case out of my bag and I am doing some non frustrating doodles for the first time in 3 weeks (maybe longer) Woop! So I don't feel too bad about being indoors ;)

While I've been avoiding the sketch pad I gave my self plenty of time to start and finish some small knitting projects. This years knitting aim was to learn how to make socks and I'm pleased to inform the task is complete! It doesn't make much sense prepping this far in advance for the winter seeing as summer has only just about landed but there is something really nice about sitting outside and making things.

Over the next few weeks the shop will have another little spring clean. Hopefully (fingers and toes crossed) I'll have something new to share. If not I'll just bombard you with all of the little retail therapy purchases which have occurred this last month. Although saying that I hope to do both!

Apologies for the low atmostphere in this post, I've needed to push myself out of this rut by having a good old chat/ramble.

Have a wonderful day, enjoy the sunshine wherever you are. Have a cold drink for me while you're at it :)

It's raining petals

I'm back and ready to rock and roll. Hope you're bank holiday weekend was a lovely break from the norm.