Dreamy Melancholia....

Lovely dreamy, melancholic animation by the fantastic Lesley Barnes, which employs the spring and summer colours we're using...

from Handsome Frank

This little film is a video for the yummy scrumptious Belle and Sebastian's pretty song 'I Didn't See It Coming'

Both Lesley Barnes and Belle and Sebastian hail from Scotland

Getting Ready For April's Fair

With my 'East Place' hat on - I have been working on some character designs this week - in readiness for getting printed - onto both fabric and paper goods...mysterious treats worth waiting for!!
They're still not fully finalised - so here's a sneak peek, with a copyright overlay for now....

 

If you squint your eyes - you can see better...

And head over to the Surface Pattern page to discover some new repeats I put together, that pick up on the colours

Working hard to find the 'right' names for these little friends - more difficult than naming my sons!

Here are a couple of pages from my notebook to prove it. The thesaurus is my bedside friend:

Oh that last one is what happens when I'm thinking

A Garden, Yes - But Plants?

This garden we inherited when we bought this house eighteen months ago is soul-less as well as plantless - and - although we have done stuff to both the garden and the house - it has involved taking down that random fence and removing a skip load - literally - of hard standing and brickwork - lots of bricks.

We have had to cut back virtually the only plants - a buddleia and that ivy from the end of the brick shed, for being in the wrong places. 

Yesterday I was tidying up me documents and photos on the computer when I came across a folder full of images I had snapped with the camera in the garden of the house we left for this one.....

Oh me, oh my, I had forgotten just how splendiforous it was!

Brace yourself - there are quite a few handsome beauties here:

We brought lots of things in pots with us but - two winters in - they're looking a bit sorry for themselves... The first thing I want to plant in the garden is a couple of fruit trees - apples please! Then all the rest after we've sorted the lawn and improved the soil and drainage. Meanwhile - we can feast our eyes on these - enjoy