May Drawing Challenge - Day 1

wow the 1st of May already... yikes! And a long time since i last posted on here!

it's been a crazy past few weeks, lots has happened, nothing particularity exciting of course, but then what else would you expect from my mundane life :)

in a moment i'm going to try and explain a little about why i've been so absent (beware, there's quite a lot of writing!!! you all know how much i love to ramble on and on...)

but first i'm happy to announce that this month i'm going to try and blog a little drawing every day. yes that's right, you didn't read that wrong, i said EVERY day! bearing in mind that most days i won't be posting much else other than the drawing of the day, but still, it'll be quite a challenge for me!

the drawings i'll be posting won't really be like any of my usual work, they'll be quite rough and messy (for me) probably coloured with watercolour or pencil and quickly drawn with pencil. shock horror! they're not going to be any good but i'll try not to dwell on that too much.

they will all be kind of small as well, i'll be drawing them into a little handmade notebook i bought a few summers ago, i bought it intending to draw something new in it every day for a month but have never bothered to use it until now!

so they won't be at all polished or perfect (double shock horror) but i'll be posting them regardless so be prepared for some haphazard stuff.

here's the first one...

as you can see, the theme was 'Bunting'. it's from a great drawing challenge set up by one of my creative friends, the very lovely Astrid

this is the list of themes for each day (click the image to make it bigger) and then you have to post your drawing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Molome, a Blog or Pinterest so that you can share it with the world!

in fact a few friends of mine have also had a go at the first day drawing as well!

here's Kyren's bunting picture (+ you can see more of Kyren's work on his blog)

my friend Madi (who is a brilliant illustrator!) also had a go as well, check out her pretty bunting collage picture (+ read the blog post about it on her blog)

+ a v cute drawing by my friend Quinn (check out Quinn's illustration page here)

and another glorious doodle by Danni (check out her fab site doodlesbydanni)

 and here's Astrid's gorgeous drawing as well...

you can find out more about the 'May Draw A Day' project here on Astrid's blog

and in case you're wondering why i've decided to have a go at this challenge, it's because at the end of this month i'll celebrate my 21st Birthday and i thought since i've always wanted to have a go at one of these drawing-a-day projects it would be nice to try and accomplish it while i'm still 20!

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right, now it's explanation time. sort of anyway...

regular visitors to this blog will know that in recent months my post count has dropped significantly.


last summer i was running out at least 4 or 5 posts a week but since then it's like i've lost the inclination to generate posts at all. Even the last few that i've put up have been a struggle to write and create.

i always offer the same excuses (college work, commissions or illness) but the truth is, that even with this workload i would still find the time to blog if only i could be bothered!

i'm not completely sure what's happened really, since last year, around November time, i've been on a downward spiral, sort of like a roller coaster or a game of snakes and ladders. Sometimes it loops upwards shooting me up through the clouds but then it'll hurtle down again, disappearing into doom and gloom and then i won't be able to climb back up for a while.

it's affected me pretty negatively in general i guess. my tension headaches have come back with a vengeance, i'm almost constantly disillusioned with my college work and studies and my already lacklustre social life has become virtually nonexistent. so fear not faithful readers, it's not just my blogging abilities that have suffered.

it's a real shame as well since used to love blogging so much, it was a little escape for me, something to look forward to after a day at college or a trip out with friends or family, but now i can't find the energy or the proclivity to run regular posts. often enough i'll find myself with some time to spare and i might think 'ooh i could do a blog' but then i just sit there staring at the empty text box wondering what to write. so i shut it down and give up again.

 i'm on the final stretch now of my HND course at college, i have an absolute load of work to get done before then + work to prepare for about 3 exhibitions before the end of June! i've also made the decision to temporarily stop accepting new commissions (yes... that's how much college work i have to do!) until some time in June when i'll finish the course and be free until September.

if i've got all this work to do you might be wondering why on earth i've chosen NOW of all times to do a drawing challenge but it's ok, i want to do the challenge and believe it or not but i can actually count it towards my drawing units for college! (yaaay) 

so that's it i guess, i'm not sure what else to add other than i'm sorry for having vanished so much since last year + that i hope you enjoy my little doodle drawings every day this month. they won't equate to the picture packed posts i used to do but for now they'll have to suffice.

as always, until next time, that's all folks... xX

★ ♥ Sweet Ginger ♥ ★

i know i KNOW i said i'd post last night but i didn't get home until 7ish and i was very tired, had a bad headache and was hungry so i just decided not to blog . . .

but that doesn't matter because i'm blogging NOW!

so at long last (and in case you hadn't already guessed) my handmade stuff + arty bits are being stocked in a gorrrgeous new shop here on the Isle of Man

for the past few weeks i've been sewing my arrrse off trying to make a bunch of necklaces in time for the shops Grand Opening . . . which was yesterday afternoon

the shop is called 'Sweet Ginger Emporium' and i'm not gonna lie... it's one of the coolest most colourful and generally awesome shops i've ever been in! 

i mean look . . . they sell buttons from jars like you're getting a bag of sweets!!! what's not to love! (+ check out that awesome Rob Ryan bunting)

it's like a retro/vintage haberdashery shop with loads of funky modern twists + it stocks all manner of incredible haberdashery goodies including gorrrrgeous fabrics and materials, criminally cute buttons, amazing ribbons 

+ they sell super duper DIY crafters kits, like the 'Pepe et Sophie Lapin' one they gave me to test out . . .

as you can see above, there's Pepe (patiently awaiting Sophie to join him) next to some of the awesome felt making kits + tapestry kits

the shop also stocks the most adorable embroidery and sewing stuff, like the French brand 'Maison Sajou' which was founded in 1828 and has the most beautiful old fashioned packaging

not to mention that Sweet Ginger is one of only 2 shops in the UK to stock Emily Peacock tapestry kits 

the only other shop selling them being Liberty of London . . .

apart from that though it just has this really great vibe, they stock all this sumptuous fabric and ribbon from India + the most wonderful patterned fabrics

+ there are all these amazing handmade garments, bags and accessories dotted around the shop

it's a veritable treasure trove of eccentric accessories and cute little gifts + everything you could ever want/need to have a go at making your own stuff

i mean look at these pretty bags! 

and these cute head bands 

they also stock all these really cute handmade bits and pieces from Curious Key (aka Danielle Stowell) 

their maker shelves are one of the first things you see when you walk in the door . . .

oh and what's that along the top row. . . could it be?! MY STUFF

it sure is folks . . . it sure is!

i spent a good hour and a half yesterday morning just setting it all up and trying to make it a little candy coloured corner of fun

now there are certain items here that are 'by order only' (like the dolls, the lollipops and the fawns) so technically not everything is on sale but all of the necklaces are + the postcards and the greetings cards and who knows. . . maybe even soon the little canvases as well

and that's that really, i couldn't get pictures of everything yesterday morning because i had to leave in a hurry and i couldn't get pictures at the opening yesterday afternoon because it was just sooooo busy!

right, for those of you that live local, the shop is at 68a Parliament Street, Ramsey and if you like shops like 'Just Enough', 'the Tide' and 'Abode' then you'll love this. . . get yourselves there asap!

anyway, for more info on the shop go ahead and 'Like' the Facebook Page - Sweet Ginger Emporium

or feel free to follow the shop via Twitter - @SweetGingerShop

+ massive thanks to the lovely Ciara and Julie for asking me to be a part of it all in the first place xX

* * *

in other news . . . 

it's the first time in weeks that i haven't absolutely HAD to spend every waking moment sewing stuff and i'm struggling to cope! well . . . not really

i'm attempting to finish my college essay today (in between episodes of 'Supernatural' + copious amounts of strawberry milk) and i'm still getting over the fact that my hands and fingers aren't sore for once!

hhhm perhaps i'm a little bit addicted to sewing though! i wonder what i could make next?!

also in other news, i woke up this morning to find a super duper awesome thing

the artist/illustrator/designer and all round general genius Mr Jon Burgerman (who some of you may know i am a huuuuge fan of) recently started a group on facebook in which you can submit a photo of yourself which, if he gets time, he will do a little drawing of it

well myself + two of my college friends, Kyren and Jeni are all big BIG fans of Jon's work so we all submitted photos of ourselves to be 'Burgered' and at last . . . he drew us!!!

here's Kyren's

here's Jeni's

and here's mine . . .

aren't they great! i think they are completely and utterly hilarious!!! yet still totally awesome! even if he did make my eyes brown . . . they're green Jon GREEN!!!

to get 'Burgered' yourself, request to join the group here - Burgered

and to check out some of Jon's awesome art, head over to his website - Burgerplex

* * *

pretty sure that's all for today, ah well if i've forgotten anything i'll add it tomorrow or another day!

that's all folks . . . ◕‿◕ ★

ps - i'm in the mood for another little giveaway, head on over to the Facebook page now and check out the poll i made, who knows . . . i might just have to giveaway some cute goodies again soon!

snow snow snow snow... SNOW ♥

well in case the title of todays post wasn't enough of a giveaway... yes it is indeed snowing ALL over the Isle of Man!

i couldn't make it to college yesterday so there was no HND xmas party for me this year!

the weird thing was, that yesterday there was basically NO snow up where i live (north of the island) yet the south and west of the island had come to a standstill due to the weather!

anyway, we all thought it would calm down overnight and in a way it did... then at 4am this morning it started to snow again

and it STILL hasn't stopped! :-O

now you see the problem...

THIS is what i woke up to!

now i normally LOVE the snow but to be honest i'm not so pleased about it's arrival this weekend for a few reasons

A: i'm supposed to be meeting my friend Charlotte in town today to exchange xmas prezzies + have a mooch around the shops for any last minute xmas bits... the snow has made this impossible!

B: my friends Mike and Kyren are supposed to be flying back to the island today... the airport is closed!

C: i spent at least an hour last night doing a sparkly, festively fun manicure (see below) and now i'm trapped in the house and have NO-ONE to show it off to... i want my friends to see my sparkly nails!

see... all sparkly! very Alexander McQueen i thought (slightly... maybe... a little bit) what with all the bright red and  gold going on

anyway it doesn't matter since nobody but the people that read my blog will get to see them!!!

i still roamed about in the snow though...

right well, it's frrrrrreeezing cold and snow is everywhere so here are some, well... A LOT of photos of my garden and the area where i live... enjoy

aaaagggghhhh why snow.. why today?!

in fact, the weather is SO bad, not only has the airport been closed and ALL of the islands bus services been stopped, even the Groudle Glen Railway had to cancel todays Santa Trains!!!

what a shame! stupid snow, ruining everyone's festive fun...

END RANT

* * *

>>>Sewing/Embroidery UPDATE

so last night i sat and watched/listened to 'Moulin Rouge' and cracked on with a bit more embroidery

as you can see she's coming along quite nicely, with proper eyes and a mouth at last! next step is finishing off all the hair... and there's a lot of it!

anyway, i'll post a photo every time i've worked on it so you can see how it's progressing 

* * *

and that's just about it for today, i'm feeling rather bored what with being trapped in the house and all that so don't be too surprised if i end up posting again soon-ish

maybe not today, but almost definitely tomorrow

so wherever you are, have fun, if you're somewhere cold then wrap up warm and stay safe

and if you're somewhere warm... well, then you're very lucky!

that's all folks...

 ★ ◕‿◕ ★

muchas gracias y adios

(that's thank you and goodbye in Spanish on behalf of Argentina, another country i've sadly never visited, maybe one day i'll get to see it, gracias amigos ♥)