[waves crashing]

went to see submarine last night. so nice to see a film that i've been looking forward to for ages & not be disappointed.

on an unrelated & disappointing note, my blog account was once again compromised. i'm currently undecided as to whether i'm going to move my blog elsewhere or give blogger a third & final chance, but i'll update you when i know. if you notice anything unusual in the meantime, you can check other online avenues (twit, flick) for info.

mini celebration

the last 24 hours have been a headache in terms of the internet. you may already know, but someone managed to hack into my blog yesterday, revoking my admin access which meant i had no control over my blog - i was later deleted from my blog altogether. fortunately the internet gods must've taken pity on me or something as this little space of the internet is mine once again. lucky girl. hooray!

ps. there's just over a day left to bid on my print okushon print - go!

i love mondays

i love mondays. they are my favourite day of the week. i let myself have a little lie in, then lazily started my day. this morning i had a bowl of cereal with yoghurt whilst i caught up with online things. i sorted out some spreadsheets so i can keep track of stock i have in shops better, then posted a couple of orders at the post office before heading into my local print studio (which is in the building i work in, but it's not so bad going into work on your day off when it's for pleasure). i finished off a series of prints before chatting with a couple of friends, then headed home. i went via a lovely little teashop called tlc, chatted to the owners for a while & got one of their new teas -caramel rooibos - to go. i stopped by my friend's greengrocers (where i was sad to find the last of the season's raspberries, no!) to pick up some veg then headed home. more online things, then read lucy knisley's new mini-comic while i ate veg pasta. now i'm posting this before getting a little more work done before my boyfriend comes home from a weekend away.

it's a shame tomorrow is tuesday.

ps. my shop sale ends on wednesday. be quick!

back to blogging

as usual, i've been too busy to blog. this is a good thing. the past few weeks have been craft-filled, which is splendid. i don't have time to update about events separately, but here's a quick recap. the handmade nation screening at DCA was brilliant. the embroidery workshop with faythe levine was inspiring & i got to chat to the woman herself. she joined myself & helen & michelle (collectively of craftsville, they had come up for the screening & were staying the night with me) for a cup of tea, & we all ate a delicious dinner with some of the DCA education team before the film. was great to meet some other folks too, namely the ladies of the glasgow craft mafia who had travelled through for the show. great night.

another craft-based evening was the dundee jamboree etsy craft party last friday. it went so well! people came, made, swapped skills & ate cake. kind of perfect. you can view photos over here. so grateful to everyone who helped make it what it was.

now that the craft party is over, i feel like i have time to be getting on with my own work. it's literally been weeks since i've managed to work on something of my own. i'm in the early stages of two very different projects, & i'm looking forward to getting my teeth into them. of course, it's not always easy, especially since i'm in the middle of learning to drive & still taking part in other people's ideas, but hey, it's good to be busy.

a few other things you should take note of:

- amy of pikaland has launched her first pikapackage of the year! you can buy a package here. i'm in this round, & there are so many great artists involved, i'm honoured.

- i added my first new item in what feels like forever to my etsy shop. just five bux for four illustrations that i really wanted to see in print.

- i'm not having much luck over on folksy, & i'm not sure i'm going to stick with it. however, the next two sales get a free mini-zine, so have a nosey.

five reasons

thank you

over the past couple of months, my stat counter has pointed out that a few lovely people have been kind enough to post about my work. i kept meaning to make something to say thank you; not only is it encouraging to read something nice about your work, it's ace that other people comment on the things that are written! i was going to make a list of those places after collecting links to where i've been featured, but i think the list might get a bit too ridiculous to post here! so here is a simple thank you for now. for any posts, image features, link to my blog, website or shop. i really appreciate it!

ps. one site i will point out is the ever-lovely pikaland, with posts from racheal as well as it's founder, amy. & here's a tip: if you visit pikaland before next tuesday, you could perhaps win some things from my shop. go!

eight hours

gocco print, available soon!

i've been super busy of late, again. it can get pretty frustrating, as my to-do list sees more things being added than completed. i received amy of pikaland's latest 'good to know' zine through the door today, & it has such a fitting theme for my current state of mind: 'how do you manage your time?' the very first page of advice, from kerry lemon, was rather inspiring despite it's simple concept:

"i remember reading that we all have 24 hours a day, and so if you spend 8 sleeping and 8 working that still leaves 8 waking hours to spend however you choose... i choose drawing!"

while i know i wouldn't be able to use all eight in as self-indulgent a way as i'd like, eight hours is a lot of time, & it's nice to have a reminder that it's there.

in other news, scott pollard of design jump very kindly featured me on his blog. & have you visited sharesomecandy lately? there's been lots of little changes lately, & more exciting things to come!

fifty

as of last night, there are fifty people following this blog. what a good number! hello to you all. i think you're all super.

banner

the lovely reuben of reubenmiller asked if i'd make him a blog banner for the month of july, & of course i said yes. et voila! thanks reuben!

festivities

all quiet on the blog front again, thanks to the flu. but it's almost gone now, so here's to a merry festive season to everyone, & to a happy & memorable 2009; i'm looking forward to it. above is my gocco'd christmas card that i sent out this year. after the (unnecessary) stress of printing & forgetting to put stamps on the first time i posted them (so silly), i'm glad they're finally reaching their destinations. my daily december drawings from the past couple of weeks have been uploaded to flickr, so perhaps you could browse through them whilst enjoying a mince pie. i may stall further blogging until i get myself organised after a week of feeling lousy, so see you in the new year friends. x

soon

i'm going to take a small hiatus from blogging (& social network-y things such as facebook etc) for a small while. i'll still be posting december drawings on flickr, & blethering away on twitter, & checking e-mails. in the meantime, listen to this lady, look at this chaps work, read this blog, & be good.

little things

it's been quiet on the blog front due to lots of hours at work (thanks james bond), & will continue to be idle for the next few days as i'm going home for a bit, to visit la famille, plus make some trips over to my beloved edinburgh for a couple of events. hopefully will get some work on the go too, i have little things waiting to be unleashed & unravelled, with a couple of new projects to start on. exciting times. 

speaking of exciting times, i watched the US election coverage from midnight until 5:30 in the morning. well done america, you made the right choice.

mary had a cup of tea

small drawing. i had twenty minutes before i had to leave for work on sunday, but i felt an incredible urge to draw something before i went. this is what came out.

i would just like to take a moment to profess my love for the blogger following tool. i've been using it since my account was able to, & you have no idea how much i prefer it compared to the days when i would click on all my sidebar links to see if there was anything new to read. what a timesaver.

do make say think - bruce e kinesis

blogs

not long ago, i found the travelling moleskine project through a blog called this chicken & decided to join. i read that the sketchbook got posted out yesterday, & when i got a mystery package through the post this morning, i didn't even make the connection until i'd opened it! so yes, i'm the first contributor. i can't wait to have a little sketchbooking session. the good thing about being the first was getting the added gift of some delicious treats, i definitely recommend green & blacks white chocolate!

on the topic of blogs, i've managed to acquire two more in the past few days. as well as having permission to post to the travelling moleskine project blog, i started a blog for my fellow illustrators from uni, so that we can keep up with & encourage each other despite distances or busier lifestyles. hopefully it'll take off. you can view it's small introductory offerings (thanks to my lovely sanna) by visiting here.

even though i'm trying to curb my spending, i couldn't resist this sukie address book (which was on sale half price, so it wasn't so bad) as i've always rather liked sukie stationary. i've been looking for an address book for a while, & even though it's a little bigger than i wanted, the illustrations & colour make up for it!

right, i'm off to try & do some things from the gigantic list in my head that continuously grows!

gorillaz - hip albatross

hello august

well, i feel like myself & life in general have become a blur lately, hence why there's been no updates on the blog front. in short: work, invigilation training at the edinburgh sculpture workshop (more on that another time), a visit to edinburgh city centre involving dodging fringe flyers & buying something's wrong by ruefive, eating yummy chinese & italian courtesy of my parents, work, alan coming to visit, making my first ever pot of soup (broccoli), the new batman film, booking a little holiday to ireland, making four 4m long banners for a club (or klub) night, & more work.

sometimes i think i've done nothing exciting, then i look back & i have! sadly the next few days involve simply more work. a lot of it.

snap happy

guess who's back! even the guy in jessops could tell how excited i was, due to my quiet squealing & flapping.

i had a good tuesday, complete with pancakes, chat, chopsticks, friends, wine, & a new read in friends like these by danny wallace, a gift from my best chum. i've been waiting for it to come out for over a year, so i was super happy to finally have it in my hands. night time brought a small illustration get together (sad that not everyone could make it). it sounds like some more of my class are considering getting blogs! this excites me, i can always use another excuse to procrastinate. for my current procrastination techniques (aka current classmate blogs) are as follows:

alan birch (my boy who just began blogging, but this has been intermitted whilst he travels around morocco), ali hardy (a blog on windsurfing, which he is currently neglecting due to... windsurfing), cat jeans (this blog is about her final year project, hence why it's ended), sanna dyker (finally! a blog that is being updated, frequently! my flat-mates adventures & escapades of art & life & such), & tracey smith (who has also just started hers up, so hopefully she'll continue).

i realise that three out of five blog writers are currently on leave, but to tide you over, here are links to everyone else in my class' websites (or the closest they have to one):

nicola boon, alasdair boyce, jordan butler, abby chow, alex gilbert, stewart mair, julie-ann murray, rachel speedie, mandy tait, & daniella wood.