Su Blackwell: The Fairy-Tale Princess

One word: WOW!

Yesterday Henry and I went to Oxford partly because Henry has never been to Oxford before and I wanted to show it to him, and partly to see my Grandmother who lives there.  One of my favourite things to do in Oxford is visit Blackwells bookshop because I always discover something new and exciting in there when I go.  This time was no exception!

I have been a fan of Su Blackwell's work for some time.  I am as you know very interested in 3d/photographed illustration and she does it so beautifully.  I am always charmed and amazed by her paper sculpted scenes.  When I saw this book sitting on a shelf in Blackwell's bookshop my jaw literally dropped.  I had no idea that she had illustrated a picture book! All I had ever seen of her work before were isolated pictures on the internet.  I was entranced!

Here are just a few little scenes from it. There are bigger, double page scenes in the book too but they wouldn't fit in my scanner...

'The Fairy-Tale Princess is a lovely, heavy, 96 page, illustrated book.   It features seven fairy-tale princess stories: Cinderella, The Frog Prince, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The Princess and the Pea, Snow White, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty.

It's a fascinating book. I was lucky to be able to take it home with me yesterday as my bank account is still recovering from Turkey so Henry bought it for me for Christmas instead. He's taken it away again now (boo!) so I will have to wait until Christmas to look at it again.

So yes that's that.  I wasn't expecting to review any books that wern't Halloween-y this month but I couldn't resist this one!

We had a lovely time in Oxford. Henry liked it as I thought he would.  We both said that we would be quite happy to live near Oxford sometime in the future. It is a beautiful city.  Have you ever been there?

Above is the Radcliffe Camera and below that is a replica of it we saw in a shop window- made of cake!

We stopped in for a cup of tea at my Grandmother's house before we went home. She got out some photo albums and we looked at lots of old pictures. It was very interesting. I especially enjoyed seeing a picture of my Great Grandmother and Great Grandfather who I don't think I ever even met. It's funny seeing pictures of people you are blood related to so far in the past and who you never even saw- especially if they are a direct line to you.

On the right is my Grandfather who lives in America and the other two are his parents, so my Great Grandparents.  The one on the left, my great Grandfather was Claude Muncaster who was a real proper, sort of famous artist! here's one of his paintings. He liked painting boats.

Anyway that's enough for now I think! Hope you have a good day! xox

Pink rabbits and more Celestine

I'm quite conscious of the fact that I haven't blogged about any actual artwork at all lately.  The problem I'm having is that most of the artwork that I am doing at the moment is for publishers/clients and so I can't really put it on my blog until its published- hence nothing to show you! (though if you do want to look at my artwork I have made a 'categories' section (look right) where you can find it under 'my work')  

Here's a little sketch though so you can see the kind of stuff I'm working on at the moment (although it doesn't actually involve rabbits, this was just an experiment to see which outline worked best!):

I can't wait until I am able to show you the stuff I have been doing.  It might be a little while though so you'll have to stick around! ;)

For now here's another post about Celestine.  I know she's rather clogged up my blog lately but I have been feeling extremely crafty and inspired lately and can't stop making and sewing tiny things!  There's something about the turn of the seasons that always makes me feel more creative than at other times of the year. I don't know why, maybe it's that kind of intangible fizz of excitement in the air that you get when the season starts to change.  Do you find this happens to you too?

Here's Celestine in her favourite black dress with the gold glitter collar and new black shiny boots. Goes well with the striped tights don't you think?

And here's some photos of that pink cardigan I wrote about a couple of posts ago. Celestine refused to be photographed wearing it though- said it didn't suit her complexion. She can be quite a vain little thing.

'salmon pink really isn't my colour!'

see how small they are!

gotta love those tiny buttons

boots for Celestine

The sum of her wardrobe so far hanging on the mantlepiece

Well that's all for now folks! Hope you have a nice evening-  what's left of it anyway.  I'm off to eat some crumble! xox

Vampire Boy's Good Night

As you will probably know by now, I have a great love for children's books.  I especially love halloweeny/spooky/gothic children's books and I thought it would be nice to showcase some of my favourites here this October, in the lead up to Halloween.

Let's start with Vampire Boy's Good Night by Lisa Brown.

I discovered this book one day in London whilst browsing in Foyles book shop and immediately fell in love with it.  I just adore the illustrations. To me they are spooky but also comforting- kind of like the Addams family!

The story follows the little vampire boy called Bela who goes with his witch friend Morgan to see if children are real.  They stumble across a load of children having a halloween party and who are all of course dressed up. This leaves Bela and Morgan wondering 'are they REAL children?'...

Don't you just love the atmosphere and detail in these pictures?  The sun going down behind the black spindly gate, the endearing little vampire waking up in his coffin, the sleepy butler with a plaster on his neck....  definitely one of my favourite halloween picture books I own!

What are your favourites? I am always really excited for recommendations of children's books I may not have heard of!

Green for Celestine

Happy first day of October everyone! Now I can finally start talking about Halloween related things without feeling that it's too early.  I'm looking forward to a month of pumpkins, dark nights and spooky stories.  In fact I am planning to show case a few of my favourite Halloween related picture books here on my blog in the run up to Halloween.

Anyway that aside, I thought I'd show you a new item of clothing I made for Celestine the other day.  (I know I know I think I have a can't-stop-making-miniature-things disorder) A green cardigan!  I actually made a pink one for her first and then realised that pink wasn't quite her colour but that's a post for another day. 

As you can see it is the perfect cardigan for climbing trees in! Celestine is well camouflaged. 

*I know the buttons are actually quite large on her but I think it gives the cardigan a sort of charm.  I did have some smaller buttons but not in green.*

some green buttons from my miniature button collection. If I see tiny buttons I HAVE to buy them.

A couple of photos from a walk I went on the other day. Meant to post them before but I forgot. They fit well here though!

Today has been full of thinking up story ideas, swimming, taking the dog to the vet and eating cheese and ham toasties.  Celestine went bed shopping.

What have you been up to? xox

Celestine takes a walk

Yesterday Henry, Barney and I went walking in one of our favourite places.  Celestine came too. It was a beautiful day.

Here's Celestine standing on top of the hill. She wore her new shiny yellow coat.

View of the valley.  There's a stream at the bottom.

Henry and I raced wooden boats down the stream.  We wrote our initials in the bottom of them. Henry's boat won.

I love shallow, pebbly streams like this. They inspire me. This one comes from a spring just a bit further up.

Celestine at the bottom of the hills in the valley, just before we walked our way up to the top.

Pattern for Celestine's yellow coat. Very simple.

Yellow coat in all its glory.

 Hopefully we will go back there soon!

What did you do this weekend?

Ferdie and the Falling Leaves

I did promise in my 'Leaves' post that I would review two autumn themed books. So here's the second one!

I first discovered Ferdie and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson whilst I was at uni in Norwich.  I used to spend a lot of time in the book shops in Norwich poring over the children's books. It was a bit of an escape for me to be honest- uni wasn't all that great. I remember seeing Ferdie and the falling Leaves for the first time and immediately loving Tiphanie Beeke's warm soft illustrations.  I had not seen illustrations like them before. I remember thinking her style was quite unusual and fresh at the time. I am guessing they are done using pastel (a medium I can never master) but I'm not entirely sure.

The story is about a young fox called Ferdie who gets terribly worried when the leaves start falling off his favourite tree.  He gets even more concerned when other animals begin to take the fallen leaves away. The squirrel takes them for his nest, the hedgehog takes them to keep warm.  Poor Ferdie does not understand about Autumn- That is, until he wakes up one morning to find his tree covered in a beautiful coating of glittery ice.

'You are more beautiful than ever,' whispered Ferdie to the tree made of ice. 'Can the Squirrel and the hedgehog keep your leaves for the cold winter nights?'

A tiny breeze shivered the branches, making a sound like laughter, and in the light of the rising sun the sparkling branches nodded.'

I just think this is a beautiful book (especially for this time of year.) And the cherry on the cake is that the last page which has the picture of the icy tree on it is actually embossed with glitter! So it really does sparkle.  I can never resist a bit of sparkle.

Meet Celestine!

This is Celestine.  She is 4 inches high.  She likes (in no particular order):

dressing up, exploring, eating chocolate, reading her tiny books (especially 'Ernest et Celestine' as Celestine is her namesake), being transported about in pockets, making mischief, stargazing, drawing, boating down little streams, making magic, writing letters, visiting the seaside, cinnamon, searching for crystals, making perfume from flowers, Christmas-time, pumpkin houses, baking, Halloween, witch's hats, cheese, toadstools, pointy boots.

Miniature Jeweller

As you probably know by now, I am a great fan of anything tiny. I don't know what it is about minitaure things but they absolutely fascinate me. I think this is part of the reason why I like to create my illustration work the way I do. 

Anyway, on Saturday I went to Miniatura in Birmingham.  Miniatura is a huge international dollshouse fair held twice a year.  There are stalls upon stalls of amazing miniature things- anything you can think of! It's actually quite overwhelming to walk round because there is just so much stuff!

This year the stall that really caught my eye was one owned by a German Lady who was a miniature jeweller! I have never before seen a miniature jeweller at a miniatures fair and with my love of sparkles I was completely captivated!  She was mainly selling necklaces and tiaras and they were the most exquisite, glittery, delicate things i have ever seen! She said they were all made from swarovski crystals. (the most teeny tiny swarovski crystals mind!) She was also a really lovely lady and said that she made this jewellery as a hobby rather than to make a business out of it.  It was clear to see that it was a labour of love.

Another thing that really attracted me to this jewellery was that the necklaces had real little clasps! So it is possible to actually put them on a doll or character if you wish.  I have a special love for anything miniature that actually works.

I have to admit that I could not walk past this stall without buying a piece of her jewellery (even though I am supposed to be saving money after Turkey.)  The pieces were all priced at about 20 to 40 pounds from what I can remember.  Considering the amount of care, talent and craftmanship that has gone into them though I was very happy to pay it.  I see it as the same as buying a piece of someones art work. 

I tried desperately to try and capture the sparkle of the necklace in photos but to not much avail! In real life it twinkles like anything!

The necklace I bought is based on the necklace the Queen of Persia wore (below) and I am absolutely besotted with it! I can't stop looking at it and making it sparkle in the light.

Unfortunately Ursula Sturmer doesn't have a website but just in case you are interested in purchasing one of her beautiful creations you can email her at stuermerelz(at)web.de
 

I wish I could have bought more of Ursula Sturmer's miniature jewellery. There was a dazzling ruby tiara I reeeally wanted but I had to reign myself in! I wasn't really supposed to buy anything at all. 

So yes that was the highlight of Miniatura for me!

Leaves

I can't believe how autumny it's suddenly become! I only went to Turkey for a week and when I got back I discovered it wasn't summer anymore. I'm not too sad though as I really love the turn of the seasons.  The days are getting shorter, there's a nip in the air and all the leaves are beginning to turn brown.  It's making me feel a bit Christmassy although I probably shouldn't mention the C word just yet!

Anyway, I thought I'd share a couple of my favorite Autumnal picture books with you!

First up is 'Leaves' by David Ezra Stein.  I was lucky enough to be sent this book a few months ago and it is really beautiful and expressive.  I just love the way the drawings are so loose- you really get a feel for the movement of the leaves being blown about in the gusty wind. 

The story follows a little bear who is in his first year.  He has never seen autumn before and when the leaves start falling off the trees he wonders if they are ok.  He tries to put them back on the tree but it is not the same.  Then he starts to feel sleepy and so finds a hole, fills it with leaves and goes to sleep. He sleeps snugly all winter and then wakes up in the springtime. 'Welcome!' he cries to the spring.  'And, he thought, the leaves welcomed him.'

It's a simple story but works very well as a charming introduction to the seasons. 

Stuart Little

I just wanted to write a short post about the book Sturt Little, I recently spotted it whilst at the library and realised that whilst i had seen the film I had never actually read the book.  If you read my blog regularly you will be aware that I love miniature things of any kind so Stuart Little is the ideal kind of book for me!

I was not really surprised to learn once i had read it, that the book is quite different from the film. it has a different ending, some different characters and Stuart Little has a much more shall we say moody personality in places.  There was one part which I thought was quite funny and unusual where Stuart meets another tiny person (called Harriet!!!) and takes her on a date.  Things don't go to plan and the canoe which he was planning to take her out boating on breaks. She's all like 'don't worry it will still be fun!' but Stuart gets disheartened and says everything is ruined. Harriet then asks him if he would like to escot her to a dance instead and Stuart says no! What a silly mouse! It was rather unexpected- especially as he was so nervous and looking forward to his date with Harriet.  This is the part of the book that stuck with me the most for some reason. I think I found it a bit surprising.

Anyway, I very much enjoyed reading 'Stuart Little' and it goes without saying that the illustrations are also beautiful!