Working for Love

The third essay's been handed in and the house isn't a total hazard to the senses, so I've snuck in a bit of actual earns-me-money work! Specifically, four new cards:

'Moon and Roses' (bring your own Becherovka); forever shining in full bloom:

('The Rising Moon' card to the right is taken from Danielle Barlow's wise and wonderful 

Green Wheel Oracle.)

Finally an 'I'm Loving You' Valentine's card. Apologies to those who have been asking for this for ages:

and a couple of Thomas's prints which have also been requested as cards:

the ever-popular Bagpiping Angel:

and 'The Last Human', which is my favourite because it is full of such faith in humanity:

See, I don't just muse about Victorian gothic texts and desperately try to keep up with all the new ways to do maths homework and help small people blow the noses of inanimate creatures. Sometimes everyone else goes to sleep and I do some actual work! I love those times :).

Still Reaching For The Light

It is done.

It was a very happy thing to create (see my last post for earlier stages), but already Christmas is making demands and the baby is also making itself known with much writhing and thrashing about. So preparations for both are underway. 

Keep Saturday 5th December clear if you can get to Chagford because our Artisan Fayre is back with another wonderful mix of talented artists of all ilks, not to mention the music and teas and cakes and those very nice mince pies and... but really it's all about the art and not at all an excuse to hang out with some really lovely people in a sort of all-day party/market way. Do come!

The first load of very tiny clothes have been washed. Pickle and I had an unashamedly squealy time hanging them up to dry and it was fun to see her amazememnt at how very teeny some of them are. I'm not sure she really believes me that she was once just a loveable lollable blob of blubber which fitted into these clothes.

And space is needed (as it always is in our house), so I have taken radical action and offerred one of our sofas to whoever could carry it down our twisty stone steps on their head. No Gappies were harmed in the making of this photo.

There is a sadness in this crisp autumn air. Two young women friends, both with particularly warm hearts and generous natures, have died within the last month and another is very ill indeed. Also, I have recently made it through another wedding anniversary - a day I hope to celebrate rather than suffer at some point. Death brings gratitude to the living, as well as sorrow, and I am making the most of this gift each time I step outside, following Pickle with her new dinosaur backpack, to meet a new day. We continue to find ways to reach for the light.

For Bea. For Ella.

Bee Paradise

Well, I have been a busy bee. I have finished another original greetings card. This one took aaages (but happy ages) and you can see why:

It's called Bee Paradise (again, no prizes) and is listed in my Etsy shop here.

Meanwhile, I have sold Reaching For The Light (still available as greetings cards here) and received a commission for a much bigger version which I'm already looking forward to starting. I'll show you its progress as I go.

Bright blooms on a dark night

The hills are darkling and my thoughts are meandering, so tonight I will introduce you to my new postcards and let them speak for themselves.

If they take your fancy, they're for sale through my Etsy shop (the column on the right) and at Amy's Flowers, Chagford - my favourite ever florist who always seems to have some little offcut whenever Pickle comes in. Tonight Pickle is sleeping under the sedative influence of a beautiful pink gerbera bloom which needed a home :o).

The Spice of Life

 Gazanias - 'Treasure Flowers' in progress

Brush pen mosaic on canvas

5" x 7"

Something different again. I'm still calling this a mosaic, although the tessellating technique has been very different with this piece.


I'm so pleased I've discovered Gazanias. They totally deserve the name 'treasure flowers'. All the colours and combinations I've used are true to life, and there are more I haven't used. I've stylised the form, but the variety is accurate, too. Some have pointed petals, some rounded; petals can have four or five colours in them or just one and that bizarre blue and purple example in the bottom left corner is another fantastic variation.


There's still work to do. I'm undecided about leaving white space on this one. I'm tempted to keep layering blooms behind until I've filled the canvas. What do you think? The leaves are a fascinating silver which I don't feel would work well here.


100 Stories for Queensland, including my short story, Cake, will be released worldwide on May 3rd. I was very pleased to discover that my name is on the front cover. Click this and look down the left. There I am!

Like the Gazanias, this anthology promises to be a richly diverse collection of uplifting stories from all over the globe.

And I'm pleased to announce that, in my spare time (mums, try not to wee when you laugh), I have become a Bookworm Babe. My fab friend Maria has set up a 'little' (so we thought until we had to close membership and establish a waiting list!) book club. We're in our third month, but we've only just been named and made official through the library. We're a very eclectic bunch with rather conflicting tastes in reading matter, but that's just what I want from a book club - motivation to read what I would normally pass over.

This month we're reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (catchy!) by  Mary Ann Shaffer and I'd love it if you wanted to read along with us and let me know what you think. You've got until May 2nd to finish it.

[Edit: It turns out The Bookworm Babes are at the back of a 50-book club queue for The Guernsey business, so this month we are actually reading Cassandra's Disk by Angela Green and the word on the street is to not be put off by the cover!]

And finally, if you've ever felt you've made a fool of yourself or looked ridiculous in some way, this will reassure you you are not alone.

Vive la difference!