Mr and Mrs Naughty Cat ...

There they are, brother and sister actually, and butter wouldn't melt!

Now immortalised by my box of German pencils and my sensetive hand ...

I often fill in 'flashed' eyes as I did here for Mr Cat making his match more with his sisters in this lovely group shot. 

Canvas and sensitivity ....

Sometimes you just have to send someone a hug from god ....

I had fun with collage, acrylic paint and pastels on box canvas and sent this off to a friend eager to here and see ...

And in return, they blessed my day!

Famous, but sad bear comes to The Raggy Rat ...

A very famous bear, well ok a slightly famous bear, has come to stay with me ... She arrived with a postcard showing her rather fabulous portrait ....

 

... and was squished inside a tiny box and sent to me by an artist with a sense of fun! She didn't look best pleased, as usual!

 

 Bear was a lot smaller than i imagined! But that's ok, she is going to come to France with me on the Dorset for Singing Tour De Normandie!

 

 More about the artist here on the back of the postcard too ...

 

Hmmm, the accommodation may need some sorting out?

 

Now Enjoy Gordon's video all about Sad Bear ...

Cute Shelf Makeover...

First, filling any gaps and keying in with some sandpaper ...

painting with layers of Dulux, because I have a large tub of it!

Looking for some collage papers to use ...

applying papers with thinned PVA

Aging the pie with fine sandpaper and finishing with some nice waxy furnature polish, ready for use in this years Artwey Art Trail!

DIY - time for knick-knacks!

It was time to get things up on the wall ... like this lovely printers tray which i bought off ebay, and then cleaned and oiled, and it is now on the dining room wall.



I am really pleased with this make-over, remember is looked like this! I used a little sandpaper to get the gentle ageing effect on the edges! This is in the hall, just below the old door bell ringer.



And from orange pine, to serene aqua, this one will go up in the downstairs cloakroom soon!

Today i got paint on me ....

OOPS!

yesterday I forgot to blog, but today ... today mummy made pancakes!

Pancakes eagerly awaited, pancakes with amazing shapes! How I love a good non-stick pan!

And my excuse? too much on my plate yesterday, but i did manage a bit of whitewash!

and who's in the bedroom? A jumping, yapping puppy in need of repairs! as well as stripped for a re-vamp!

A little JOY in your house?

I am really pleased with this, along with my new living room colours! I bought the small square canvas in a local charity shop, thinking, I am sure I can find something to do with this! I go in the shop some blessing, but i nearly always come out with something else, often a good book for the girls.

I printed out some large letters and drew them onto the back of this awesome vintage fabric, then glued them to the canvas along with 2 other fabrics from my stash. The effects were made using white and gold paint, giving a lovely aged look.

Russian Doll making - WIP II

Sometimes, I like to work very small! and in our set of Russian dolls, I got the four smallest ones to paint!



My girls worked on the three biggest of course, and i had to do a face for Mary!



And here are all seven of the girls, with fabric collage, acrylic paint and some fine glitter. My nect job is to get out the Ronseal, and protect them all!

House Work Again!

and the cat was ready to roll!



and the ceiling was sealed!



Meanwhile, in the Garden, after the rain had gone ...

Painting wooden boxes ...

sometimes we like t o complete a craft kit, especially presents we are given!



all three children have created something special, and they are very proud of the boxes ... (mary kept going the longest and used up all her paint!)



concentration-face! both Matty and Daisy painted the sides of the boxes white...



and kept the colours very fresh!



finally they applied all the glitter glue that comes with the kit, and i added two thin layers of RONSEAL...


in order, the work of Matty, Daisy and Mary ...

Spitfire, the mini-lamb ...

Spring time is just around the corner ... and with it this years batch of lambs, which made me want to paint a picture of one of last springs cutest!



Spitfire, photographed by Ivan. I began to get to work with coloured pencils and a few pastel sticks, remembering a little runt that died suddenly, last September.



and suddenly, there he was, with his distinctive ears glowing in the sunshine!



and Daisy was inspired to recreate Spitfire too, and here is he being sniffed by three rats!

extreme painting ....

Mary looks a bit suspicious in this picture, but the Fuzzies are busy creating, and are almost constantly wearing their new cycle helmets!

Here, painted and finally varnished are the plaster casts from the kits Louise gave to the Fuzzies for their 4th Birthday...



Daisy's are on the left, and Matty's are on the right of the picture ...

All of Us Girls and a Rabbit ....

Mary took a shine to the furry topknot belonging to the rat head i am making ...



Daisy with a huge box of cuttings to glue-down ...



Matty busy with her paint box ...



Edward Tulane left our hands this week, despite there still being doubts about our air-space, but there he is, gone on his way! I do miss him. He was such a character and really quite good looking too ...



I went shopping on Etsy and my headband arrived promptly. Its very hard to photograph your self featuring your new head gear, but i gave it my best shot!

House Work ....

there will be no more blue paint on my house ...




becaue as you can see, damien and darren have been hard at work ... but dont worry, they didnt go up there in the high winds we have had this weekend !

artwey art trail - the taster exhibition at the brewers quay ...

my work on diplay, in town, at the brewers quay ...



ooh, who is that on the telly?
its mummy sewing with three under three, a dvd made to advertise artwey ...



the exhibtition looks really good ...



visitors at the museum gallery ...



ingrid sewing her textiles, in the light by the window ... i took some sewing too ...