May Drawing Challenge - Day 17

the theme for today was another tricky one, 'a memory' had me stumped for ages! i spent most of the morning wondering what to doodle, but this is what i came up with, eventually...

yep so it's me on my first ever bike when i was about 5 or 6. i remember pedaling like crazy outside the path by the kitchen door and just feeling really pleased with myself that i had a groovy pink bike albeit with stabilisers! :)

 that's it for today i guess, i'm heading off to see the BA fine art degree show now so cheerio!

that's all folks... xX

Creative Café #15 ★

hello lovelies! it's that time again, time for you to kick back and enjoy some arty stuff!

so go now my dearies, go and make a nice cup of tea or coffee, get some juice or a smoothie, grab a snack and get comfy because today it's another cracker of a feature!

so today's Creative Café post is all about the awesome and super duper Daisy Church, a very talented artist/illustrator/animator originally from Delaware, currently based in San Francisco, USA

i've followed her stuff on and off now for about a year and a half but never really looked deeper into her work until now, i spotted some of her pieces the other day and recognizing the style of drawing, knew that it was about time i featured her artwork on here!

all of her characters are very fun and flirty, she tends to draw lots of super duper girls in all manner of outfits and get ups, the one thing they all have in common is that they're ALL gorgeous and ALL wonderfully drawn/painted

her sketches and illustrations, the pinup girls in particular, have this great kooky style that i just love + the colours she uses in her work are fabulous! i'm a colour fiend at the best of times but it's hard not to appreciate and admire the work of a girl that uses such fun colours in her work...

but when she's not working on sketches, digital pieces, storyboards or animations she also creates the most gorgeous paintings and drawings that are chock full of gorgeous details!

she is a verrrry talented lady to be sure! and as if it isn't enough that she can draw and paint amazingly, she's also a fab animator as well! check out this demo reel of her work...

Daisy Church: Animation Demo Reel 2010 from daisy church on Vimeo.
 

you all know about my eternal love for all things animation so you'll understand why i am such a BIG fan of all of Daisy's work. i adore it all though! it's all sooooooo super duper pretty!

sit back, see for yourself and enjoy...

gosh isn't it all just gorrrrrgeous!

i told you it was...

right, time for some links!

to see even more of Daisy's lovely artwork be sure to head on over to her website here - Daisy Church

you can also buy prints of her work (+ some original pieces!!!) via her etsy shop - Artwork by Daisy Church

be sure to 'Like' her work on facebook - Daisy Church

and follow her on twitter - @daisychurch

she also has the most fabulous blog full of darling drawings and sketches - Daisy's Drawings

all that's left for me to do is say a massive thank you to Daisy for saying yes and letting me run this feature, thank you!!! :) x

All images featured in this post belong to Daisy Church© do not claim, use, distribute, reproduce or trace ANY of her work without her express written consent. All Rights Reserved.

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so i'm off to college tomorrow to get some sketches done and stuff like that, i've started a new sketch book and it's already the bane of my life!

i really suck at doing sketch books...

ah well! 

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

Topsy-Turvy Day ★

so this morning i woke up ridonkulously early to get ready/packed for college, i got there early and found my tutor Andy in the corridor moving boxes, he said "oh, didn't you get the email?!"

and that was when i knew i'd wasted my time going to college!

so according to the email that i definitely DID NOT receive, the September term officially begins today BUT all HND students don't need to be in until Wednesday at 9:30am

AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

honestly i don't know WHY i even bother sometimes!

it wasn't a total loss though because i got first pick of the desks (heck yes!!!) and after my five minutes in college i skedaddled off down to Douglas town and settled in at the Alpine for some breakfast

it's been miserable weather-wise on the island lately and today's been no different so it really was the perfect time to cit cosy in a nice warm café

i cracked out my macbook to show Melanie (café's owner) the Matryoshka edits, she's off to get her tattoo coloured soon so she's planning on taking a copy of the coloured image to help the tattoo artist colour it all in! exciting stuff

i also spent some time working on a few new 'candy character' sketches as you can see here from this shot of my makeshift desk this morning...

what can i say?! the Alpine really is my café home from home!!! i realised today that i mention the place ALL the time yet i've never snapped any photos of it to show you all, well i fixed that today since Melanie let me  run around with my camera!

this is the pretty spiral staircase leading upstairs...

...where it's all airy and bright! 

and all homely and comfy! you can see why i like it so much here! there's so much red and blue around as well...

+ Melanie picks the most awesome stuff to go on the walls, almost all of the items framed are vintage postcards, book covers, record sleeves and posters. this is my favourite, an old copy of 'Heidi' box framed in a pretty rococo style frame

even the chairs are pretty! there are lots of mismatched vintage chairs but all of them are upholstered with this super funky stars pattern!

 as the café's name suggests, there's a big mountain chalet type vibe going on here, and as well as a few pairs of vintage ski's on the wall there's also a whole bunch of retro Ski-ing posters

and as if the decor wasn't gorgeous enough, you can take my words for it that the food is just as fabulous! the rosy cupcakes are a personal fave of mine, for obvious reasons...

and here we have the lovely Melanie busy writing out today's specials! so big BIG thanks to her for letting me run around cheekily snapping photos!

she also promised me i can take a photo of the tattoo to show you all when it's fully coloured!!! so be sure to keep an eye out for that :)

* * *

i spent the rest of the morning wandering around Douglas where i ended up buying a lovely little Picture book

"Dear Fairy Godmother" by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Nick Sharratt (and yes... i did buy it for the pictures!)

the story is very cute but i'm not gonna lie, it was the adorable illustrations that made me pick it up in the first place...

i really will NEVER get tired of Nick Sharratt's illustrations! i love his work so much

for more info about Nick Sharratt + to see some more of his lovely work, be sure to check out my old 'super sunday' feature on him here - Super Sunday #7

and to get your own copy of the book you can go here - Walker Books

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last but not least, this afternoon i nipped up to Ramsey to visit Sweet Ginger to drop off some new cards and stuff

it's been aaaaaages since i last visited the shop so it was lovely to see Julie and Ciara + to have a skeet at all the pretty new things they have in stock

i ended up treating myself to this adorable little garland, i just couldn't resist it!

apples are my favourite fruit and you all know what a sucker i am for anything polka-dotted so it was pretty inevitable that i was going to get one of these!

* * *

nothing else to report on for now, it's very gloomy outside so i'm planning a nice chilled evening cooped up inside reading picture books and my new issues of Vogue and Elle

enjoy the rest of your Monday wherever you are + whatever you're up to

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

Creative Café #6 ★

apologies for the lack of posts, i spent Monday asleep (mostly) and was at college aaaaallll day yesterday finishing off written work for assessment/printing/hanging out with the HND's

anyway, since i haven't made anything today and i haven't been anywhere, let's have another Creative Café post shall we!!!

go on put the kettle on, get your tea/coffee/beverage and DON'T forget the cake and/or biscuits because you know that's the most important part!

ready???

ok today's Creative Café post is all about an awesome artist/logo designer/illustrator/graphic designer/picture book illustrator i recently discovered via tumblr, her work is super duper gorgeous and i just know you're going to love it! 

so today's post is all about Kyra Kendall from Toronto, Canada

like i said i only came across her work recently via her tumblr blog but i liked it straightaway

her loose, colourful style i so fun and vibrant and she draws such quirky things that it's kind of hard not to like her stuff!!!

she has so many styles ranging from loose sketchy watercolours to flawless vectors and yet each of her pieces have their own unique vibe and character

in fact you know what, i always ramble on and on, just see for yourself . . . have a nice scroll through it all because that's the point, it's ALL gorgeous!

ah don't you just love it!!! i could look through her work all day

it's all just so fun and girly and gorgeous! 

i genuinely do luuuurve her stuff! she is so super duper! for more of her work you can. . .

check out her tumblr blog/website here - Kyra Kendall

'Like' her stuff on Facebook - Kyra Kendall Illustration

follow her on Twitter - @hellokyra

pop over to her flickr photostream - kyrakendall

or check out her dripbook portfolio here - Kyra Kendall Illustration

big BIG thanks to the lovely Kyra for letting me feature her work here, if you liked her stuff then i definitely recommend that you check out her tumblr site, it's awesome!

All images featured in this post belong to Kyra Kendall © do not claim, use, distribute, reproduce or trace ANY of her work without her written consent. All Rights Reserved.

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nothing else to report today dearies, i've got to make a stack of greetings cards for the shop tonight, i'm literally surrounded by Sweet Ginger Strips girls and Sugar Skull prints!

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