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Susan from Artstream Studios just gave me my first ever testimonial on Flickr! "flossy-p has a witty view of the world which translates beautifully into her illustrations. Her work is highly original as well as fully developed in all aspects of her rendering. Soft yet sharp edged, it keeps the viewer coming back for more!"How nice is that?! Thanks Susan :D  Which reminds me, there is only a week and a half left until the end of the {un}Limited show. Lots of my works are still available to buy online, priced from just $35. They are all original water-colour on paper, signed and mounted in matt windows, ready to frame, (I've used white mat boards as I think this helps to enhance the irregular and organic edges of the illos). They are even cut to fit right into a pre-fab frame (which you can get quite reasonably from here). See, all the hard work has been taken care of. There are even a couple that come pre-framed (they are the ones that are a bit more expensive). All that’s left is for them to find nice homes (wink, wink). What a nice gift one would make… So here's that link again, or you can click on any of those little thumbnails conveniently located just over there on the left. Okay, hehehe, enough, sorry, no harm in trying, right? 
Argh so much work .stop. Busy .stop. Tired .stop. No time for illustration this week .stop. Owners selling our house. stop. Painters will be here all next week . stop. Have to get all of our furniture out of the way .stop. Then will have to move house .stop. Argh .stop. .stop.
Now I work from home I don’t get out during the day too often. I mean I’ll pop down to the post office, or grocery store, or to a café, or even meet up with a friend in a park to soak in some sunshine, but because I don’t have a steady income anymore I try to steer clear of the shops… the temptation. But last week I had to go pick up some art supplies and I was left on my own around many shops for just a little bit too long.  Oh dear, I don’t often go on about clothes; I think the last time was about a year ago with the guitar shirt, but let me introduce you to my new dress. It’s Winter here, so this little snowy number stole my heart. It is illustrated you see. Look at all those critters! Wolves, polar bears, seals, walruses, and a goose I think. I just love it, and can’t wait to wear it somewhere (that’s the downside of being at home all day, there’s never any need to get changed out of my jeans). After that I had a teensy case of buyers glee and went right ahead and kept on buying… I managed to happen across the Society of Illustrators Annual (a satisfyingly fat book), and the art store was out of what I needed but rather than leaving empty handed I went right on a bought BIG paper instead. Eeek. I know that doesn’t sound too naughty (a dress, a book and some paper), but these days that’s a huge shopping spree for me. Anyway, back to the dress... On top of being fascinated by all the critters, I’m looking forward to being able to simply glance down at my lap or along my arm at them all, hence keeping myself amused during boring moments. I’m also acutely aware that this is the kind of thing my future children will discover a photograph of me wearing a decade or two from now, and laugh heartily and humiliated at how on earth I could find any such creation worthy of wearing out in public. :D
 Weee-heeee, another letterbox arrival! This is my ATC from Annette at Carambatack. I was able to select this one from her collection of available ATCs (there are always new ones available, so if you feel like doing some more swapping, and nabbing yourself a lovely card all the way from Norway, then go here). I chose Lonesome Rabbit because I found him to be quite unique; the crinkled texture and style of the little painting overall. I just adore him. I love Annette's wild-haired ladies too, so I was lucky and thrilled to receive one on the front of this card. PLUS two of the most beautiful handmade, vintage looking gift tags (which I highly doubt I will ever part with). What a package. Thank-you Annette!  All of this stuff is so lovely, but I must admit, I also got quite a kick out of the quirky stamp on the envelope!
 My second ATC arrived yesterday, this one is from Anastasia C and is called under my umbrella. It's so cool (I love it, thank-you Anastasia). Once again I love the colours and the retro styling. The background reminds me of vintage wallpaper and I adore the girls outfit. My favourite part mind you, would have to be the line of text that says "Choicer than the Mermaid Tavern?" (hehehe, that makes me giggle every time). This package came with some inspiration: what I assume is a mini moo card (I've never seen a real one before) and a note on some beautiful stationary. Both of which I've been meaning to get for myself for aaaages. Also, Jen the Canadian, let me know that she received her ATC from me yesterday too. How's that? We can post stuff to the opposite end of the earth and it will arrive in about the same time as posting it 10 minutes up the road from here. Pretty cool.
 I don't know if you guys have seen this yet; Draw Anyway. It's a fantastic site which gives drawing tips, techniques to try out, and if you're up to it you can even do the exercises. And it's all in an effort to encourage us to draw (draw anything, draw anyway). I know I've mentioned it before, but I use this mantra as my way of trying to scramble up out of those creative bogs of gunky darkness. You know, just draw, draw lots and don't look back, don't review, just keep going for a little while. I feel like it's good advice, but I don't always follow it myself... I have a habit of ignoring my better judgement. Anyway, that's why this site is sooo good. It's is WELL worth a look, it's got so many good things to try out. Doesn't pressure you into feeling like you've got to make a masterpiece, just something quick and fun to get you going.  I spent some time today playing with colouring some sketches digitally. I still don't know how to get them to look any good, but it was fun letting go and playing for a while, and I discovered some interesting effects. I also spent a good hour or so playing on the ArtPad site (these images are from that). It's great fun, and especially lovely watching the play-back animations to see how other people draw. If you want to see how I drew a couple of scary monsters, then go and watch this. GRRRRRR! :D Or, better still, go make your own here.
 The first of the ATCs from our swap last week arrived yesterday, and it somehow managed to arrive safe, dry, and without a drop of rain on it through all this hideous weather we've been having. It's from Sara from toilet roll art, and it it just lovely. The scan doesn't do it justice really, the colours are fresh and the foil bits set it off a treat I tell you. Thank-you Sara. In the envelope were some other little treats too, including my very own logo! Actually I had a nightmare the other night about this swap. You know how when you do a swap, you often get those super generous partners who will put all sorts of extra bits and pieces in the package? Well, I've been so busy that my ATCs were sent as is, no fancy extra's; not a button, not a ribbon, not a sticker, nothin' (sorry guys). Anyway I've obviously been harouring deep guilt about this in my subconscious ever since, beacuse the other night I dreamed that all the swapped ATCs started arriving with some serious bonus prizes! Each and every one had extra gifts inside, and they were big. There was food, and knitted things, and bags and the biggest one was hand painted screens; you know those old fashion free standing changing screens, (3 large panels held together with hinges), yeah anyway there were 2 of those. In the dream I looked across my mountain of goodies and felt so so so guilty. Moral of the story: if you're like me and sent the ATC on it's own, I thank-you for easing my guilt. (Oh, and if you have sent extra bits... thank-you!)
One of the benefits of having a secret blog is that you can admit to watching midday movies on TV (while you’re suppose to be working at home) without fearing the wrath of an employer or client. Heee. I haven’t been doing it this week, I’m waaay too busy (promise, and besides this week they’re showing The Diary of Ann Frank, and I’ve seen that already and was very upset because I didn’t know that she died in the end. And how did I NOT know that? I was in tears for days after that. I just assumed that if we all knew her story so well she must have survived to tell the tale, or at least confirm the diaries were hers, you know?)…  Anyway, my weakness for the midday movie was during the previous 2 weeks when they were showing Anne of Green Gables. I know! How long is it since you’ve seen that? Oh, and let me tell you it’s even better than I remembered it to be. So anyway, it only ran for 2 days during the first week… but THEN they played the sequel for another 2 days the following week. So, I was, you know, kind of “scheduling” things around it, claiming it as a long lunch break. I didn’t even answer the phone while it was on because I didn’t want anyone to hear it in the background, and have my naughty little secret ousted, heh. I know, I know, it’s starting to sound like a bona-fide problem, or a condition of some sort. BUT people, it was Anne of Green Gables! It’s a classic. And you don’t appreciate, when you’re young, how good the acting actually is. But some things don’t change; Gilbert Blythe is just as delicious as he ever was, and I still want to be able to wear little hats and a bustle dress like Anne. Okay, so I may have a problem. Mr You claims I’m a thirteen year old trapped in the body of a growing woman. He could be right. You know how much I hate mornings, well there was a whole year where I got up and showered and dressed in time to sit and eat breakfast by 7am so I could watch Pokemon every morning before work. And I’m kinda bummed because I’m going to be out tonight when the reunion episode of Degrassi will be on. (Whooo-hooo! It’s up to the new generation, but the old originals are meeting up for the reunion). My vcr doesn’t even tape that channel, damn. Despite how it sounds I actually don’t watch much TV at all really. But I can assure you I will clear my plate wide and clean if anything of that ilk graces the midday movie slot next week. Shhhhh, let’s just keep that to ourselves though, shall we?
 Dear Tilli, It’s hard for us to say how long you’ve been home with us now, as there were so many hiccups at the start, but I can tell you it feels as though you’ve been part of our lives for much much longer. It’s pretty clear that Mr You thinks you are the BEST birthday present he has ever been given! We still remember the first day we saw you, sitting high up on a shelf on your own, away from all the little kittens inside your enclosure below. Back then they called you Tilliana, and you wore a diamond encrusted pink leather collar. Both Mr You and I commented on you right away, saying how pretty you looked. (You’ve grown so much since then). What followed were weeks of bad fortune for both you (as you suffered a terrible eye infection, then a flu) and for us waiting to know if we could have you, then worrying for your health, and not being able to have you at home with us. We eventually got to bring you home for good, and you settled in right away. You spent the first few days in one part of the house as you got used to the layout, then as we introduced you to the other rooms and the hallway your spirits seemed to rise even further. The hallway is your dream come true as you bolt from one end of the house to the next You also love playing under the bed, under the wardrobe and under the lounge. You adore playing with your ball, so much so that you have discovered new superballs around the house that we completely forgot that we had. You love your scratching post and also the play box I made for you. We always knew you were a sweetheart, but I never anticipated how playful you would turn out to be. You and I have the best fun together playing peek-a-boo and hide and seek! You’re very clever when you play these games, it’s great fun and I laugh so much, I thank-you for introducing playtime back into my day.  You also like to sleep. Your favourite spots are on the brown cushion on the lounge, and also on the office chair in the sunny doorway, gazing into the back garden. (You haven’t been outside yet, but in a few weeks we intend to introduce you to the back garden. I suspect you will love it more than anywhere else). At night you sleep in your little room, in your little fleece lined nest bed. You didn’t take to it at first, but once we started putting a hot water bottle in the bottom of it, you LOVED it. Each night we lay you in your bed, put your eye drops in and both pat you until you’re nice and relaxed and ready to go to sleep. We have other routines too, each morning after breakfast you sit in my lap and purr loudly as I brush your coat. You’ve gotten so used to it now that you even stretch out each of your legs one at a time so they can get a good brush too. Your lips quiver with satisfaction as I brush under your chin and down your chest. You LOVE FOOD! It’s incredible really, you’re so desperate to get at it that for a while we were concerned that you were pregnant. Sadly, last week we took you in for your desexing operation, they cut you open and discovered that you had already been desexed. So now you are shaved bare in strange places, have a big nasty scar, and are once again in recovery. We felt so sorry for you, but at least we now know that you are not pregnant, you just LOVE food. Actually your love for food makes it easy for us to train you, as we use small snacks as motivation. The only time you make a noise is when you’re getting worked up about a mealtime. You don’t know how to meow yet, instead you make a funny little squeaking sound. Because of this one of your nicknames is Squeakor. I say “one of” because you have many: Tilli-Milli, Till-Till, Tilli-bits, Tilli-biscuit, Possum, Bunny, Chook-Chook (because of the way you look like a roosting chicken when you lie with all your legs tucked up underneath you) and others. We also sing songs to you, actually Mr You does that more than I do. I mentioned before that you are a sweetheart; you’re gentle and affectionate, and it melts my heart in the morning when Mr You lets you into the bedroom, you jump up onto the bed run right up to my face, give me a kiss, and bounce back off the bed to go and start playing. Your way of kissing is touching your little pink nose to the tip of our nose. It’s soooo cute. Sometimes if you’re feeling extra loving you’ll smooch your nose up and down ours, and sometimes you even reach out and rest your little hand on mine for a while. You haven’t been too naughty yet, you’re just curious really. You haven’t climbed any curtains, or clawed any furniture; your main vice is food. You don’t try to get to our meals (you’re a good girl), but one morning after we ate scrambled eggs for breakfast we came back into the kitchen to find you, all four paws and tongue, knee deep in oily egg water in the frypan we had left soaking in the sink. You got in trouble for that, but we still love you. To this day we still find you searching for egg-water now and then.  There was also the incident with the pot plant. It’s a strange little plant that Mr You bought as a bit of a joke for me for my birthday last year. Anyway as you like to sit in the sunshine, and this particular pot plant was in a good sunny spot, you decided that you would prefer it if you could sit on the sunny pot instead of the plant. You didn’t get in trouble for that, as I thought it showed good problem solving skills, (and you haven’t bothered any other plants at all). Mr You said to me “My birthday present can beat your birthday present”, and we both laughed. We laugh a lot actually, you’ve brought great joy into our lives, and so so much love. We love you enormously, and we think about you when we are away from you. Even when we went out for a nice meal last night to celebrate our anniversary, we couldn’t wait to get back home and see you. I think it’s safe to say we are completely besotted. All my love, flossy-p-mammor (hehehehehe – don’t worry I won’t be doing this each month, I just love the mamma-baby newsletters that people get to write and thought I’d try one too. I know, Tilli is a cat and the love I’m sure doesn’t compare to that which you have for your own baby. But it’s as close as I can get for the time being, and anyway, have you seen her? She’s seriously cute!)
 My Illustration Friday attempt for " your paradise". My ultimate paradise would be if all the alarm clocks in the world were fired off into space. (This is such a different style for me, I've even freaked myself out. I don't think it will be staying.)
 Thismoring I sent off two characters for review, Mouse Girl and Trumpet Boy. If this couple impress the right people, it may lead to my first commercial illustration project. I'm not sure if it's what they're after. We'll see.
Ooops, it seems I missed my bloggy birthday. Over the weekend this little space clocked up two years... you know, it feels like it's been much longer, in a good way. :) Anyway, what better way to mark the occasion than with a friendly swap! My first batch of ATCs are done and ready to get packed up and on their merry way.  1) Yellow. 2) Lillac. 3) Olive. 4) Blue grey.
5) Pink. 6) Orange. 7) Green. 8) Apricot.I'll be happy to swap these little women for one of your ATC's or a little piece of crafty/collagey/sketchy/painty anything. Even a handmade card, or nice photo. Anything that can fit into a normal sized envelope. There are 8 to swap (one per person), so if you're interested please leave me a comment and I'll contact you via email so we can swap postal addresses. Also, please let me know which one you like the most (see lables above). Oh, and if you're sitting there thinking to yourself "but I can't make anything good enough to swap", then I say to you "Phooey"! Snap out of it, and just do it for goodness sake (close your eyes if that's what it takes). eeeeeeee I've never done this before. How exciting!
Arghh, I've been so stuck lately. You know that horrible place when you really really want to be making beautiful things, but something within stops you from even starting? I've just been so stuck. And, you know how it feels you get in those states where everything you see on the internet (or in galleries or magazines) that other people are doing/making/painting just makes you feel seriously inadequate and unworthy? Well I'm in the thick of that at the moment. Arghhhhh. It's horrible.  ANYWAY, to overcome this nastiness I've been forcing myself to just do stuff. Do stuff that doesn't require thought, or concept, or has any outcomes to prove. Just do a pile of stuff, quickly, so that as soon as I finish one thing I move right on to the next without even thinking or reviewing the last one. It's been good. Well, good enough to get me doing something (rather than sitting about moping), and there's even been a few nice surprises along the way. New eyes, new shading, new lips. This little un-stuck project of mine has morphed into a modest set of Artist Trading Cards (my first ATCs ever). So, I'll be up for some trading as soon as they're done (hopefully by tonight). Anyone up for some swapsies?
 My Illustration Friday attempt for " cars". Yikes! It's beeeeeen soooo loooooong since I've done something for Illustration Friday, I've almost forgotten how to. (And I think I might only just scrape this one in before the next topic comes in). Feels good to be back though. Lets see if I can keep it up...
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