Showing posts with label etsy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label etsy. Show all posts

Saturday, 6 April 2013

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...


xxx





Friday, 23 November 2012

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




Friday, 16 November 2012

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 
 

Thursday, 8 November 2012

Regency portraits and something else for the walls...

Morning! I seem to have been playing catch-up (and winning!) so far today, after yesterdays' slumber and my neck refusing to cooperate with my wishes the couple of days prior to that, then before that, the internet going awol... Anyhooo...
Today, I've finished two new Sense and Sensibility paintings - this little Marianne Dashwood as a comission for a lovely lady who missed Marianne #1! Here she is:

I'll be making prints of her soonly!
There are already prints available IN THE SHOP of Marianne #1:
I try not to make them look exactly the same when I paint the same character more than once - although they do have a tendency to resemble one-another. I guess it's like movie and TV adaptations - some people prefer or have more of an affinity with one actor in comparison to another, so I suppose here it gives you a little more choice!
 
 This is the lovely eldest Dashwood sister, Elinor (#2!)
Original Elinor Dashwood portrait - acrylic on paper (5 x 7.8")
 
I rather enjoyed painting her velvety charcoal dress - want one!

 
This is Elinor #1:

...of whom prints are already available... CLICK HERE TO SEE HER ON ETSY
 
There are also a few new little ACEO girls available, whom I didn't get chance to blog about yet. A couple have gone already, but do have a rifle through the 'Original ACEOs' section if you wish ;)
Oh and I haven't yet shared with you my new wallpaper design! It's taken from my little 'Alice'-inspired toadstool painting:
Thank you SPOONFLOWER!
One day soon, I'm hoping to order enough to cover at least part of a wall. I think it would look amazing in a child's bedrrom, ina  little alcove or something... If you like it, you can see it if you CLICK HERE, TO SEE MY SPOONFLOWER SHOP. SOOO excited!
 
Hope you're having a wonderous week!
 
xxx
 
 


Tuesday, 6 November 2012

Busy, Birthday, Broken...

Sooooooo..... I haven't been around much recently, as it has been absolutely chockablock with these things:

Last week of Amelia's Autumn half-term, including tuck shop cake-baking; a book and reading week; a karate-grading (and new belt - yay!); open day at school and other events.

Family to visit (my mum and Amelia's dad Andrew) for the last couple of weeks, which was so, so lovely - I just wish I could have spent more quality time with my mama! We did get to visit this bit of London together though:



Then we went to Tate Britain and met with t'other Jess and her lovely mama Miriam at th Pre-Raphaelite exhibition! Yes we can now say we have seen the ORIGINAL Millais' Ophelia,
 
... Rosetti's The Beloved and Henry Wallis' Chatterton. I'm not quite sure why we didn't take photos together, but it was a bit (VERY) crowded in there.



Amelia's VERY belated birthday party, which turned into a Halloween party. Just eight extra little girls for games, music, a movie (Labyrinth!) and dinner.
 That isn't so very difficult, is it? I mean, there are enough of us to help out, so it should all go smoothly...
 Oh. Right. No not everyone gets a prize at Pass The Parcel - only the winner...and why isn't the dinner cooking? Is the oven broken? Oh no! The movie is too scary for you? REALLY?! Oops! Scarred for life!
Now I understand why more people don't do that, and hope one day soon to return to normal.. Still waiting...
Somehow, on this day, our internet went down, so I couldn't do anything with the shop, and could only occasionally reply to customer's messages, and spent an extra fortune on internet connection through my mobile network. Never good, but needs must...
Oh and then a couple of days after that, as I had been promising for months, Amelia's friend came round for a sleepover.
There they are, with a midnight feast!

It took five days, which seemed like a lifetime, to get back online again, thanks to Rob, who unravelled what the cabel guy was saying over the phone when I couldn't fathom anything.
 
On Sunday, I met up with long-lost-best-friend Audrey, dinosaur expert and her fantastic mummy! Well done Aud for taking photos!
Still not sure if I prefer this one....
or this one...
 
The Natural History Museum is one of my favourite buildings in the world.
Just look at these climbing monkeys and love them (also in the foreground in the photo above)!
After saying a sad farewell, Amelia and I headed home for a cosy evening watching some Monty Python with Rob. Then just as I was saying goodnight to her (she was at that moment under her bed, reading a book - the bed is elevated as you can see in the sleepover photo up there ^ somewhere), I cracked my head on the wood and bent my neck back. I thought it was OK that evening, but yesterday and today have been agony. I can't turn my head, can't lift my arms, can't sleep....and can't paint, as my neck is in a weird position (and yes I've tried putting the canvas at different angles...to no avail)! So that is why i've been catching up with computery things today instead.
This is my current to-do list:
...and now I would like to sleep, but really shouldn't...no. I'll try painting again, now the ibuprofen has kicked in again...
Thanks for reading! Hopefully, it won't be quite as long til the next blog update...
 
Toodlepip!
xxx
 
 
 
 
 
 

Monday, 1 October 2012

Sale Time!

 
Yep! I've decided on a little last-minute sale for you! Originally, It was just going to be an ACEO stock-clearance, but I decided why not just throw in all of the prints for a little while at least?!
 
So, If you've had your eye on anything in particular for a while but have been putting it off because it's just that teeny bit more than you've been wanting to pay, now's your chance to leap in there!
 
I'm trying to get all of them labelled, but with the other projects I'm working on right now, I won't get them all, but believe me ALL prints are available, so just type 'ACEOSTOGO' inot the coupon code box at checkout and they're yours! 
 
The sale is only on until Wednesday 3rd Oct inclusive.
 
I hope you find something fun!
 
 


Tuesday, 25 September 2012

Halloween stationery!

Hallo! I know I know - it's a little early for Halloween things, but I'm getting excited about it! Firstly, Amelia will be having a party, inviting her school friends around, making gooey things and watching scary movies. She'll be designing her own invitations too!

I've also sorted out a few Halloweeny invitations for you guys - these little notecard/postcard sets, featuring two of my illustrations - 'Jesamine and Nikita' and 'Anouk in the Pumpkin Patch'.

There are a few packs to choose from, so have a look around the 'Stationery' section if you like :)

Mixed pack - five of each design - CLICK HERE TO SEE THEM ON ETSY
 
Ick! You know, I always feel a bit weird about the shameless self-promotion. I think it's a problem we British people tend to have.
I have to tell myself:
"STOP IT! This is your livelihood and you're entitled to tell anyone interested about any new creations. if they don't like it, they can just look elsewhere. Simple."
 
OK. That's better. Thank you. Now time for some dinner-making and more glitter-applying. Let's hope I don't get them confused with each other...
 
xxx

Monday, 20 August 2012

Princess Gretchen

"Princess Gretchen" Watercolour on paper. (approx 3" x 4")

Gretchen. She dislikes being indoors and being told what to do. Unfortunately, much of life at court involves both of those. Whenever she can, she runs out to the forest to spend time with the wild things.