what have i been up to?

why, making christmas decorations of course...



aren't they lovely - the patterns were by jean greenhowe (as are a lot of cute knitted things) ---> they are rather delightful and a super thing to hang on the tree.


i can't decide which one is my favourite - but there is something very nice about the little choir boy (i think it's his hair!)


unfortunately my own christmas tree will be missing out on such delights as they have all been sent off to the far corners of the world (well... brighton, birmingham, bath and cardiff) for other people to enjoy...i hope they like their new homes.

here is the little christmas card i made to accompany them:



i haven't totally neglected my own christmas tree though and have been making some other decorations with which to adorn it...i'll post some pics of them soon. we are putting our tree up tonight which is quite exciting - christmas is v.v.near now!

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birds

a pelican & a puffin

some lovely blogs

the other day when i was browsing on flickr i noticed some of my pics in someone elses photostream so i went to investigate and found that my work had been profiled by holly becker on her blog decor8. which was rather a pleasant surprise.

holly is a freelance writer and interior design consultant and she created her blog to catalog some of the things that she loves - recently the blog has featured a range of lovely online shops that are offering discounts to readers of the blog, which is quite delightful indeed.

another blog i have just discovered is this one which features illustrations and crocheted creatures from american illustrator m.patrizio. i loooooove her crocheted characters (<----especially the pears in this picture) and it makes me want to learn crochet even more. it just happens that my mum has asked for this book for christmas so i will be able to have some sneaky peeks and learn the tricks of the trade - a pro in no time i will be!


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a christmas bargain

my entry into thrift thursday this week is this pair of knitted christmas stockings i tracked down in help the aged the other day.


they are for my mum and dad for christmas because would you believe it my mum has never had a christmas stocking (how sad). so this year it is all change - i am going to fill them with lots of goodies and then on christmas morning it'll be just like father christmas has popped by in the night.

the problem is i am having difficulty thinking of things to put in my dad's one. i have loads of idea for my mum but dads are harder to buy for....o well. a few extra satsumas will do it! heh, when my mum used to put satsumas in mine and my brothers stockings we used to put them straight back in the fruit bowl (naughty unhealthy children!)

i could be cheeky and try and pass off the stockings as my own knitted creations but i'm pretty sure no one would fall for that - i haven't got into knitting with multiple colours yet (that's a resolution for the new year though).















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an awards ceremony

yesterday it was the private view and presentation ceremony for the V&A illustration awards which was all very exciting.

i received the award of 'commended winner' in the student illustrator category for my origami animation. i was given a nice scroll with a certificate (and a cheque) and it was all very nice. though i am not too sure that i looked that good in the photos that were taken when i received the award - dear me, i do hope they are not shown anywhere where lots of people might see them.

the waiters at the private view were very efficient. they kept offering us more wine every few minutes - its a good thing i was sensible and didn't accept it every time or i'd have been on the floor by the end!

the main winner in the student category, chu-li chen, has just finished an MA in sequential design at brighton university (i think i may even remember seeing the work when i went to visit the MA show a few weeks ago) - which is the course i am planning to apply to for next year so that bodes well if the course is producing some nice work (that's also winning awards).

the overall winner of the whole awards is tony angell who illustrated a book entitled 'in the company of crows' <-- his illustrations of birds were soooooo nice i am not suprised it won. it was lovely to see. the exhibition is up until march next year so i'm sure you'll all want to hotfoot it up there for a peek, heh:

in the news

i have also now got my hands on a copy of the southampton daily echo from last week (now i know i've hit the big time), which had a little feature about my button phobia books in it .


it was part of a larger article about a button phobia sufferer and it was rather nice to see my books mentioned in a paper. it's mainly thanks to colette over at artists unique (formerly student unique) who put together a press release about my books.

anyway, enough about me....have a look at this flickr group dedicated to the age concern 'knitted hats' campaign by innocent smoothies. there are some wonderful photos of the hats people have knitted AND they are giving away prizes at the end for the nicest photos entered - what a jolly good idea!

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i took some nice photos in my room

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something i knitted

i had another attempt at trying to create a knitted something and came up with this (i'd say he's a penguin):


he is more successful than my previous attempts i reckon

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at the weekend

i did some monoprints


















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run rabbit, run

watch this

it's a real nice animation by run wrake entitled 'rabbit'.

here's what they have to say about it on the animate! website:

A selection of 1950s educational stickers, discovered in a provincial junkshop twenty years ago, provide the ingredients for this adult fairytale.
When a boy and girl find an idol in the stomach of a rabbit, its magical abilities lead to riches, but for how long?

I really loooove the way it was put together, and the story is quite charming too - though i am not sure how much i agree with the hacking up of rabbits and cows - those horrible horrible children, heh. i'm glad they get their come-uppance!

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