fresher faced than i thought!

a cold caller just came to the door and asked if my mum or dad were in!

dent

we've all been hanging out in o-o's new dent (den + tent = dent). i made a frame based on a combo of this and this, haven't made the cover yet so improvised with my ages old knitted square blanket. it does need a little fine tuning, for a start it's HUGE (i'm going to take 20cm off each measurement) and i need to reinforce the corners but it's the ideal spot for a cosy cwtch. off up north tomorrow, see you next weekend.

sketchbook monday

favourite emergency service

today i donned my yellow waterproof dungarees (bought from a lovely german lady at the carboot for a quid) and wellingtons to clean my screens in preparation for printing some new pieces very soon. felt a bit like a firefighter, my favourite emergency service.

left to my own devices

i eat boiled eggs for lunch.

rats to;

• stupidly slow internet connection and virgin media not answering their phones despite VERY convoluted automated key pad intro system. a plague on all their houses.
• loosing o-o's lovely yellow coat, fell out of the bottom of the buggy. sob. 

hurrah for;

• pretty flower plate found in the street.
• slab typefaces (don't refer to them as fonts, it annoys les.)
• promo codes that actually work, got 15% off here with the code BL15 thus o-o's new rucksack cost £16.99 with gratisandforfree postage.
• drawing drawing drawing with muji gel pens, the only nib that seems to be able to withstand my tougher than tough levels of drawing/writing pressure. i didn't get where i am today pressing on lightly like A.B.G.*
• o-o and m playing raucous games of chase and having a good ol' tickle. 
• half term holiday next week. school's out!

* a big girl

drawing

drawing while o-o sleeps, mostly tea pots.

wonder if this little rucksack might help curb o-o's tendency to scarper. i love yellow!

a moment of realisation

this yellow stuff does not taste as good as it looks... o-o making a painting of a dragon.

o-o's tank top knitted by granny va-va using this excellent (and free) pattern (with some modifications, the original has LOTS of buttons, we decided one at the shoulder would be a sufficiency!).

considering making this pledge found on this pretty blog. i do buy lots of handmade stuff already and our house is filled with items bought at car-boot sales and charity shops, found in the street or rescued from skips but could i get by without any other kind of purchase for a whole year?

had an autumnal morning at the park with l-man and o-o, orange and yellow leaves gathering in crispy drifts all around.

sketchbook monday

come on wales!

TK, this one's for you...

nice things

lovely in a bathroom

beautiful clock

cute car!

have a great weekend!

the days are long but the years are short...

here's the new print. available in my etsy and folksy shops. inspired by this post on kat's lovely blog. trying to keep this in mind in those trying toddler moments!

a two brew problem

sometimes when i'm working on something particularly involved i treat myself to a double cuppa. the new print is finished, photos and etsy/folksy listings tomorrow, o-o permitting. perhaps i should make the above into a print, what do you think?

balancing act

this reminds me of this post (the second quote!).

gingerly

did you have a good weekend? we used the new cutter to make some ginger bread men (after thoroughly washing and then sterilising it in a pan of boiling water, the source of treasures is an environment of dubious hygiene.) the resulting ginger bread men were satisfyingly chubby when they emerged from the oven.

we went to the beach on sunday morning for a breath of fresh and a stretch of the legs. it was a return to normality after the warm weather of last weekend. bruised skies above, foaming sea and a fine salt spray in the air. o-o was cross that we wouldn't let him put pebbles in his mouth, peer into litter bins or loiter near the piss stink areas of the promenade.

sketchbook monday

matchbox museum

i've just added this matchbox museum of antique pen nibs to the sianuskavintage shop.

pocket treasures

i sleepwalk with o-o, that is, i push him in his buggy to get him to sleep. yesterday however, he skipped his nap, singing at the top of his voice and then declaring victoriously 'not sleep, no' as we returned home with him awake (and me in a grump at being denied my quiet hour drinking tea and faffing on the internet).

today i kept my expectations low and decided to go on an errand and see if he'd drop off. we went to the bank and on the way home, to a splendid source of treasures. the gods of junk were smiling on me and i found these lovely things...

a portable weighing machine ('old money' units), a sturdy biscuit cutter, a matchbox full of nibs, a very chippy wooden car and a red hat (not pictured, it's having a much needed wash). it must be a red day.

there's something very pleasing about organising flotsam and jetsam of this sort on a piece of kraft paper. i think they look a bit like a childhood collection which reminds me of the beautiful opening credits of to kill a mockingbird. a favourite. 

(and o-o went to sleep.)

flailing about

this has happened before. sometimes when i'm working on something i start to feel that i am in a rut of wrongness from which i am unable to escape. i carry on doing something despite the nagging feeling that it's not really working, it's a strange kind of stubbornness and i freely admit that it's pretty bonkers. so it was today. i started work on the new screenprint. first i had to trim lots of kraft paper to the required size, this took an age, maybe this investment of time was the reason i couldn't admit defeat later... once the paper was ready i started printing, the orange didn't really contrast enough with the brown kraft paper but i carried on anyway until i had lots and lots of orange on kraft prints. finally, after several hours i tried some white cartridge paper and instantly realised that this was much more successful. zoiks.

i is for igloo...

just added this vintage shop sign letter i to the sianuskavintage shop. it used to be illuminated with neon so it makes a fab lamp, just add fairy lights! mount it horizontally as a home for your lucky waving cat. this animated gif is an improvement on the last one but still - must. find. tripod. 

biscuits

popped into town this morning to by some corduroy trousers for o-o (it's the cloth of kings!). he was a patient boy in H&M, and did minimal running off so, as a treat, we made some biscuits when we got home. the animal shaped ones are slightly malformed and rather puffy but they taste pretty good. i'm no domestic goddess, i happily lived on a diet of toast and yoghurt before m arrived on the scene with his culinary wizardry, here's hoping o-o inherits his dad's cooking skills...

conkers & bonkers...

...weather. it's october, but not as we know it. we had a lovely weekend in the sunshine. counting conkers, trying to persuade o-o to keep a (borrowed) sun-hat on and enjoying the dappled shade in stanmer park.

and, having finally located o-o's amazing bonnet*, splashing in the sea at hove (actually).

happy days.

*this one stays on and is ideal for shielding the blond bonce of our fair skinned tiddler, it was made by this excellent etsy seller.

sketchbook monday

thanks!

360

yesterday i spent several hours sweating like a fat girl at a rave whilst sorting out our loft which had grown a junkle (jungle of junk) in which it is impossible to find anything. it was a truly epic undertaking and i had a near death experience with a glass ikea lamp and a loft ladder but now everything is neatly divided into sections including art, things for next time we have a baby, TGO and home improvements. a couple of things have languished up there for far to long, i have listed them in the sianuska vintage shop. a vintage swivel-y office chair and a they-don't-make-'em-like-that-anymore vintage metal filing cabinet. SOLD!