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

Santa Trains and Sienna ★

so yesterday i got up bright an early (ish...) to head into town to pick up my darling little cousin Sienna for the day

she was all dressed up and ready to go in her candy coloured winter outfit + sweetie patterned welly boots! 

we had a nice little mooch around the shops first though, she helped me pick out a few last minute xmas prezzies for some people so i treated her to a little Hello Kitty necklace for being such a sweetheart!

and she even got to meet Santa outside the local shopping centre!

but then it was time to take her on our annual day out to the fabulous Santa Trains at the local Groudle Glen Railway

we took her last year and had a brilliant day out despite the chilly weather! so we were all looking forward to heading to the glen again this year for another trip on the trains. here she is with my mum aka her 'Auntie Joy'

it was pretty cold when we got to the Lime Kiln Halt so we did some dancing about to the Xmas music to try and keep warm while we waited for the train...

but then at long last, we heard the all too familiar 'choo-choo' of the train as it came chugging around the corner to collect us

then it was on to the Lhen Coan Station to get some mulled wine, a mince pie, and then go and meet Father Christmas!

the Station looked very festive, all decorated for Christmas as the train kept heading back and forth to collect and drop off more visitors

we had a fabulously festive and fun day and i'm sure we'll be visiting the Groudle Glen Railway again next year to take Sienna to the Easter Bunny and Teddy Bears Picnic Trains

for more information about the Railway line be sure to check out the official GGR website here - Groudle Glen Railway

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after the Trains, we popped out for some lunch where Sienna decided to open the little gift Santa gave her at the station 

turns out it was a very VERY awesome little wooden marionette puppet

Sienna eventually decided to name him 'Lenny' and i'm not gonna lie, we had a LOT of fun making him walk and dance about on the table top!

unfortunately we had to drop little Miss Sienna off after that because today she got the boat over to the UK to visit her family for Christmas!

but we had a great day, it's always a fun day when Sienna is around :) x

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in other news, i got a lovely little surprise in the post yesterday as well!

the very lovely Astrid from 'Schwarzie Design' had sent me a cute little bundle of mini print cards and a little note via 'snail mail' all the way from South Africa!

it really made my already lovely day that extra bit awesome so big thanks to her for that!

her artwork are very gorgeous, i'm sure i'll have to run a post about her and her sister's designs on here in the New Year, but until then i recommend you check out her website here - Schwarzie Design

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and i think that's it for now! not many plans this week, i've finished buying and wrapping ALL of my Xmas presents to i'm a bit unsure of how to spend my time other than reading, watching old movies or editing drawings!

but i have something super duper sweet to share with you all tomorrow evening so be sure to look out for that!

and until next time, that's all folks... ◕‿◕ ★ xX