Jane Austen Postcards

 Hello! Happy Thursday (where do the days go?!)

This is today's workspace. Four commissions for a lady, and a couple of little extras too. 

 Kickstarter...

Some of you will already know about this project I've put up on Kickstarter. I'm so excited about it!

  

 

It's a new Jane Austen postcard pack, and you get to win rewards if you pledge a bit towards it (the more you plege, the more you win, as you might have guessed). 

If we go over the intended target, I will be able to add extra goodies to each reward, no matter how much you have originally pledged. 

The reverse will look like this:

 

Please come and help us out here >>> Jane Austen Postcard Pack <<<

Hope to see you there!

xxx

Down The Rabbit Hole

 

  The past week, after a year of working on her, I finished the largest of the Alice paintings.

 There's all sorts in there. 

Most importantly, tea, cake and lots of greenery (what more could one want?...)

 Oh yes...books...many books and a couple of globes to ponder over and play 'find the country' games with...

Candles, mirrors and flowers...

SEE PAINTING IN THE SHOP 

xxx

Festivities, please!

Today, our weather is oh-so-British:

I swam into town and back with the post for you lovelies. Really hoping your recentl christmas orders arrive in time - the best I can do is post the morning after they come through...GMT that is.

 

 I'm loving the way th bookmarks look when they're all packaged up and ready to go, especially with the toadstool-backed free ACEOs :)

 

I haven't had a moment to get down to any proper Holiday decorating yet! Somehow, I feel terribly guilty, epecially with Amelia in the house! So...the rest of today will be dedicated to scrubbing and cleaning up, then we're getting the tinsel out tonight, after the school disco!

Weeheeee!

 

xxx

New for 2013

These are just a few of the new projects which are on the go for the New Year!

I'm so excited to get to work on them and am currently in the throes of packaging and posting your orders (Thank you!!) before that can happen.

There will be...

 Some pretty, new and deluxe ceramic wearables (so you can be your very own art gallery, or decorate your friends and family as such):

 

 Additions to the already existing postcard packs. You may recognise Dita here:

I've reordered some more postcards of her as, selfishly, she is one of MY favourite vintage book-page ladies and I just couldn't miss her out...

I got a little obsessed with the way the lovely light played on the Gypsophila, dark wood and paper - so vintag-ey, old-fashioned-ey lovely-ey!

 

A couple of wearables close-ups. I'll take better photos in daylight soon!

 

 

 

May you have an amazing run-up to the big Holiday, wherever and whoever you are! I'm sure I'll be blogging about something again very soon (and will hopefully be out with the camera on tomorrow's frosty morning too!)

xxx

Giveaway extension and the Castle is moving!

Firstly, hello there and Happy Thanksgiving to you wonderful visitors in the States :) ...and Happy Black Friday aaaagh!

Oh if you have been following Castle On The Hill over at the Facebook page, I've made a new one for you. For some reason, the old 'Purrr' one wouldn't allow me to change or administrate anything. I know not why, but this new one (actually named Castle On The Hill) makes a lot more sense. I've uploaded a lot of new photos, so you can see almost the whole back-catalogue (bar a few which are on my old laptop etc). Still adding as we go but please hop on over there to join me at the Castle!

 

NOW...The giveaway...

"Paris, 1959 - Patrice Reads Obsessively, Sometimes To Her Own Detriment..."

 

Yup! Just a little giveaway! It was originally just a Facebook one, but I've decided to extend it for just another week on here too :)

I only recently realised that our very own 'Patrice' is all over Tumbr , so for anyone who would like to win an 8" x 10" of the lady herself, all you need do is send me a message (either on Facebook, Etsy, or right here), telling me what Patrice is reading. I've already had some cool suggestions and would love to hear what you imagine!

 

Good luck and hope to see you over at the new page :)

 

xxx



Steampunk pendants!

Well, steampunk for me anyway! I've loved making these up from old watch parts and my little prints.

They kind of remind me of Bioshock (without the fear factor and with a bit more cute) - a vintage world underwater, with cogs and machines. It's all gone a bit Jules Vern!

This one is made using my "An Unexpected Flower" image, which is a bit larger on its own in the shop!

 

 

This one is a miniaturised version of "Marcel et Janelle".

 

Hope you love 'em!

 

xxx 

 

Snapshots

...This week...

Houmous and grilled veg on toast with lots of oliveoil anbd a sprinkle of rock salt. Mmmm.

This made me cry. I wonder how old Patricia is now... Her name is not one which you would say is in fashion right now. I wish I knew who she is.

A parcel of little ladies are making their way up to Scotland as we speak! 

This is almost finished...I'll share it properly when it's done ;)

 

xxx

Mini Photo Diary

A couple of shots of something I was messing about with at the end of last week - a jade cabochon on an aged bronze adjustable ring, adorned with teeny tiny cogs and watch parts. I adore Steampunk and realised it's about time I created some items of my own. There are a few more jewellery items I'm still working on. I'll let you know if they work out. Who knows - some might even creep into the shop if they're good enough ;)

Our kitchen shelf. I might get more of the toadstool wallpaper printed just to go at the back there!

I picked up this extra-cute plate from Tiger Stores yesterday and decided to serve a spring onion garnish to go with our hearty winter stew (which can turn it's hand to many styles - we also garnished with mustard, cheese, chilli or fajita seasoning, so we could choose what we wanted. YUM!)

 

xxx



A world of blending

There's something pretty big which I'm working on.

I'm not sure if I should switch to oils for part of it, just for the ease of blending. I have some open acrylics (open meaning they stay wet longer, so you have more time to smooth the colours together). This has to be VERY smooth, but as you can see, it isn't complying perfectly:

OKAY

JUST ABOUT AS SMOOTH AS I NEED.

ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE.

HMMMM :(

 

Maybe more layers and more working and working at each part will do it. This could take a loooong time.

 

Hope your day is going SMOOOTHLY!

(Smooth sounds like a very odd word now. You can see why I am a painter and not so much a writer.)

xxx

Wuthering Heights

"Wuthering Heights" 12 x 12 acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PAINTING ON ETSY.

I hope I've done some justice to Emily Bronte's original description:

 

"Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr. Heathcliff's dwelling. 'Wuthering' being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather. Pure, bracing ventilation they must have up there at all times, indeed: one may guess the power of the north wind blowing over the edge, by the excessive slant of a few stunted firs at the end of the house; and by a range of gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs one way, as if craving alms of the sun. " (Wuthering Heights. Chapter1)

A little photography has been in order recently to prepare for this painting. I'm so lucky the skies complied :) I just switched the direction of the lighting around a little.

 

xxx

A Vintage Patina

Hello there. I trust this week is treating you well? Listen to me - you can blame series 3 of Downton Abbey for that rather toffee-nosed language.

 

Talking of vintagey-style things, we visited the Imperial War Museum in Waterloo on Saturday and I took a few snaps. (Sorry I didn't get to post them on the Facebook page yesterday - I was floored by another migraine).

Amelia tries out the Anderson shelter. "No - I think I prefer my own bed..." There's a surprise...

 

Although that chair looks comfy!

 

Let's see what's on the radio...

 

Make ourselves a nice cuppa 

 

...and have a little slice of pie. Apple? Rhubarb? Blackcurrant?

 

Lovely! Oh and I've been designing a little bit of packaging for the new magnets, which will be popping into the shop within the next couple of weeks:

 

Hoping you're warm and well-fed this week!

 

xxx