Creative Weekend

Hello! Hope you had a good weekend.  Mine turned out to be very fun and eventful. On Saturday my friend Anna came round and we made things out of fimo.  I hadn't made things from fimo for aggges and so was looking forward to having a go with it again.  I was inspired by the Mijibil Creatures blog to make this little giraffe.  I was really pleased with how my versions came out!

Then, also inspired by some of the things I've seen on the Mijibil Creatures blog I created this tiny little pixie girl with a toadstool spotted dress. Celestine is rather taken with her...

Then, I decided to make a tiny little reindeer too.

I also made a few other things that I haven't finished yet. And Anna made a little sausage dog among other things.  Hope she won't mind me showing it here:

I think I've caught the bug now- I want to make more and more!

Also this weekend we had friends popping over on Sunday afternoon and then went to a family friend's house for a roast in the evening which was all really nice. For a weekend that I thought was going to be very quiet, it turned out to be pretty busy! Also it was really sunny both days.  Good weekend. :)

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Spinning Butterflies and Glitter Pumpkins

From top to bottom:

1- My castle (two thirds of it) in it's current state.  Wallpapered but not furnished.  I also need to put the stairs and bannisters in. 

2- Celestine in what will be her bedroom.  She is patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for it to be finished. 

3- Trying out some new hair.

4&5- Spinning butterflies.  I made these with the children in my craft club yesterday.  You wind them up and put them in a card and they fly out. 

6- A little of what the cover for 'Witch's Cat' will be like. I molded the pumpkins out of clay, painted them and sprayed them with glitter hairspray.

7- Henry with our new car. Wearing a matching jacket. In front of Tesco's. 

8- Barney's first train journey. We took him up with us to go and fetch the car from the dealership.  It was a nice sunny day and Barney very much enjoyed the train ride.  Lots of people made a fuss of him.  After we fetched the car we drove to the nearest beach. Unfortunately it didn't turn out to be the nicest beach.

9- New Dorrie book to add to the collection.  I love Dorrie.

10- More tiny books for the castle library. All readable!

Other things (just so I don't forget): 

-My mum has been making me a ballgown which is almost finished. And I LOVE it!  Will post pictures when I wear it. 

-I have been watching excessive amounts of One tree Hill while I do my work. I always like to have something on in the background. Any suggestions for other series I can watch? 

- I have eaten quite a few bacon and avocado sandwiches this week and last. They are the best.

- We had people over for a Wii and pizza night. Was good to see friends we hadn't seen in a while. :)

- We went to my new little (2nd?) cousin Noah's Christening.  It was nice because Henry came with me and he doesn't usually come to church.  It was also nice to see all my family there.

- Met my friend Emma's new dog, Didi. We went on a walk and talked about weddings as she is also engaged. 

-I made a papier-mache Brontosaurus and a papier-mache pig.  

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Update

Just a little update- but not much to update on I'm afraid. I have been working on the front cover and sequel dummy book for 'I am a Witch's Cat' but obviously am not allowed to show any of it yet.  I really wish I could show more of my current illustration work on my blog. 

Here's a little sketch I can show you though.  Just one I did of recently of Celestine.  I don't know if you can tell but the fancy frame is all made of glitter.  I really like this portrait of Celestine. It hangs on my wall above my desk. I think I will make a copy to put in the castle.

Celestine also has a new hat!  I found it at a miniatures fair a few weeks ago.  Surprisingly I didn't go to this fair to buy anything- but that's another story- but when I saw this little hat selling for one pound I had to snap it up as I knew it would fit Celestine perfectly. I think it suits her quite nicely.  It's certainly keeping her warm in this cold cold month of April! Brr. please warm up!

And then because I was so pleased with finding this cute little hat I decided to photograph all of Celestine's clothes collection.  There are only a couple of bought things there. Most of the stuff I have made myself. I'm quite impressed with the amount of clothes she has.  I think one of my favourites will always be the little yellow rain mac.  I want to make her one in black at some point too.

Other things that have happened lately:  

-Henry and went up to Derby for his Grandmothers funeral. It was obviously sad but the service was nice (plus it was a sunny day). They read a poem about fairies and put fairies in the flowers because she loved fairies.

-Henry and I bought a car!  It's orange.  We are going to pick it up this weekend. 

- I painted the spiral staircase for my castle a lovely shiny gold. Also I put the carpets in.  Will upload photos soon.

- Listened to 'The Borrowers' audiobook while doing my work. I love The Borrowers. Thinking about them always makes me want to go and visit Bekonscot model village.

- Designed my wedding wedding necklace which made want to become a jewellery designer. Let's just chuck this whole illustration thing in hey?

- Did some wedding planning with friends which was more just fun than anything else. We made a moodboard and ate chocolate and looked at lots of starry/sparkly fabrics. 

- I became obsessed with this ring. I came across it on eBay and immediately fell in love with it.  I wanted it SO BAD!!! I can't imagine a more perfect ring (apart from my engagement ring of course) I love how the moon spins round the star.  I reeeeeallly wanted to win it!  However the cost of it went up too high for my budget (it is real diamonds and gold and everything so it was quite expensive) and I had to let it go. Genuinely GUTTED.  I can't find another one as nice as that anywhere. I keep thinking about it though. I gotta let it go!

Sigh.

Well, that's all for now folks! See you again soon!

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Happy Easter!

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Craft Club and Skiing!

Since January I have been running an after school craft club for children at a nearby school.  I have been teaching them how to make 3d illustrations!  It's been great and I am really proud of what they have achieved.  Here are just a few of their finished pieces:

That's supposed to be me by the way (above) in the stripy top and glasses!  

I have absolutely loved seeing all the different ideas the children have had. A lot of them did stick with making bedrooms but a few of them branched out and made other rooms/scenes. 

I am hoping I will be able to run another load of sessions next term- we will see!

In other news, last week I went skiing in France (Montgenevre- on the border- only a 20 minute walk from Italy) with my family and Henry.  If I'm honest I was a little dubious as I am not a very sporty person and not a HUGE fan of skiing (I can take it or leave it) but the whole holiday was brilliant! We had a very nice skiing instructor and I found myself really enjoying the lessons.  Also we stayed in a chalet with a couple of other families (who we didn't know)  They turned out to be very nice and interesting and we had a really fun and funny time with them. (and now I definitely like skiing!)

Henry and I wore matching ski suits that we borrowed from his Dad and friend.  We were easy to spot!

We also ate a lot of nice food including a lot of cheese (well, we were in France!) pizza, burgers hot chocolate etc... and then skied it all off again!  We were told by our rep that up in the mountain there was a restaurant where we could get hot chocolate 'so thick you can stand a spoon up in it.'  On the last day, even though it was blizzarding and freezing, Henry and I went in search of this chocolate. It didn't disappoint. It seemed to be literally a cup of melted chocolate. It was yum. I can't testify to the fact that my spoon stood up in it though.

We went on lots of chair lifts and a cable car which were fun.  Henry and I walked to Italy and looked at the multicoloured pasta shapes.  We went to a restaurant called Caesers were I ate a baked Camembert and played chinese whispers with the other families. I read the last book in the Moomin series (I liked the bit where Mymble brushed her hair until she was like a ball of lightning) We played a very silly game of articulate. I did some work on my dummy book for Witch's Cat sequel. We listened to avalanches being set off by bombs.  We waded through about three feet of snow- I have never seen so much snow in my life!

I also found a new little friend in Montgenevre. Can't work out what animal he's supposed to be (I think some version of a devil/horned thing) but I like that. 

So all in all a very good week!

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Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle

Have you ever heard of Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle?  I first discovered it about ten years ago when I found this book about it in my local dolls house shop.  I was immediately spellbound.  This miniature castle is a thing of beauty!  I wish I could see it in real life but it is in Chicago (on display in the Museum of Science and Industry)- a little far away for a day trip!

Basically, Colleen Moore (who was a star of the silent film era), embarked on a project to create a castle decorated with fairy tale themes in dollhouse scale.  She spent hundreds and thousands of dollars and seven years making this dream happen.  She hired hollywood set designers and crafts men to create the castle's fourteen splendid rooms and exquisite furnishings.  She also gathered antique miniature treasures from all over the world to put inside it. 

The fairy castle is situated in a Magic Garden.  This area of the Fairy Castle is animated by the endless rocking of the cradle of Rock-abye Baby, which unlike in the lullaby, rests safely in a tiny treetop on a bough that never breaks.  Here it is below.  it was actually Colleen Moore's most beloved object in the garden.  Her Irish grandmother had the golden cradle set with pearls made from a necklace, a pair of earrings, and a brooch she had inherited and worn from childhood.

I love the fact that this caslte is a culmination of so many different famous people.  For example there is a picture on the wall by Walt Disney, there are tiny books in the library contributed by famous writers of the day (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Daphne du Maurier and John Steinbeck to name a few), there is an autograph album with the signatures of six American presidents, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Phillip, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Winston Churchill, Picasso and many more.

In fact, over a hundred people were involved with working on the castle including Harold Grieve, a motion picture director and interior designer who like others, became bewitched with it:

'The leading characters of Fairyland will live in this house and they will naturally be interested in antiques.  They'll want to shop all the auction galleries and antique places in Fairyland, hunting for King Arthur's Round Table to go in the dining room, and Sleeping Beauty's bed...'

 

I also love how no expense or extravagance is spared when it comes to this enchanted castle.  It is filled with diamonds, rubies, jewels and precious things galore. For example in the princess's bedroom (below), Colleen Moore was thinking about Sleeping Beauty running from her golden bed to her ivory dressing table. What material would be elegant enough? The answer was Mother of Pearl.  The walls are painted pale pink with a mural of Peter Pan over the door.  Also notice the exquisite stained glass window.

Another thing I like about this castle is that Colleen Moore didn't put any characters in it. 'She intended the castle to be a home for the fantasy characters that had delighted her as a child.  And just as she was free to imagine its residents, she wanted viewers to have the same opportunity to people it with the fairy-tale characters of their own imaginations and renew the fantasy afresh each time.'  I think this makes the whole thing even more magical!

Well I've barely scratched the surface of the magnificence and detail of this castle. I so wish I could go and see it in real life! Maybe one day... For now I will have to satisfy myself with looking at pictures and trying to re create something similar in my own castle (haha I wish!)

So what do you think of it? Had you ever heard of Colleen Moore's fairy Castle before?
 I'd be interested to know!

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Twenty Five

Last week I had a birthday!  My friend Anna made and sent me this lovely little cake in the mail.  I just love it.  Celestine quite likes it too...

I'm usually quite big on birthdays but this year I didn't really have the time or money to do a lot.  Henry and I went out for a meal to Prezzo with my grandparents one night which was nice. They do the nicest pizzas at Prezzo. I also had honeycomb cheesecake which was yum.  I also went out for a meal with some friends. I really wanted a burger so we went to this place where they apparantly do gourmet burgers but the service was rubbish and nobody thought it was very good. It didn't matter too much though because we all went back to mine afterwards and had pudding there which was much better!

Anyway I also thought I'd show off a few of the things I got for my birthday including a beautiful (miniature) necklace made by Ursula Sturmer, the tiniest Paddington bear ever (made by Sally Reader Miniatures) and some purple drippy candles for my castle made by Dark Squirrel miniatures.

I also got a box of extremely alcoholic chocolate truffles from Henry's Dad and Gran which Celestine was very interested in.   

Lastly, I'm one of those people who loves getting nice cards. I never throw them away!  Here are two of my favourites from this year:

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