tombolalala

why not try your luck to win some super duper prizes, donated by some lovely people! all proceeds go to action for children. head on over to cants cans, dreams plans for full details on what's up for grabs, how to enter and, of course, to buy some tickets!
roll up, roll up ...

*new news*

i just updated my website with some new work for your eyes to see
.p.s. you may need to refresh the page if the old one still shows
.p.p.s. please do let me know if you spot any bugs, so that i can cry over not knowing how to fix them, ha!
.p.p.s. enjoy!

celebrate with a mini print

hooray, you may notice a new item in my shop today. it's a mini print which doubles up as a postcard to send to your mum, sister, friend, enemy, cat to let them know you're thinking of them.
brill for birthdays, thank you's, party invites, celebrations etc etc etc ... you get the gist.
printed on lovely matte card stock, comes with a pretty pastel envelope for sticking a nice stamp on and posting.
good. old. fashioned. snail. mail.

letterbox love

i spent a little time today packaging orders and other goodies (in an accidental red, white and blue colour theme, which i have only just noticed) ready to post out on monday. if you'd like a pretty parcel through your door too, head on over to my shop

?!X

i had been waiting for permission to share this with you all, you may recognise it from the wip shot in my previous post ... 

i heard about an interesting project a few months ago through the wonders of twitter, organised by think act vote (?!X) which encouraged people to dare to dream about a world they wanted to live in 

'we express the future that we choose through how we spend our money, time and energy. everyday we make choices that shape our world. think act vote is built to inspire us to think positively about our future and the votes we cast, today. tomorrow and forever... 

run by a powerhouse of volunteers and a vibrant community of collaborators and supporters, think act vote have spent the past two years asking thousands of individuals to think deeply about, and to believe in a future that they choose' 

52 futures have been selected and 50 illustrators have been handed the task of bringing them to life; with the hope of displaying all work submitted in an exhibition

... and, one day, to be bound in a beautiful anthology, celebrating and imagining the futures we choose

we were told to choose a future which we felt we could relate to and could believe in; i chose to illustrate :
'the future i choose is one where we give all we can and take only what we need' by rory costello
to me, this doesn't just make reference to the fact we need to become less of a drain on natural resources, but also to society as a whole, to the care and help we show fellow human beings. we could all improve by being a little less selfish.

to read more about the project and interviews with those involved, take a peep at the website
if you'd like to help make the exhibition a reality please head on over and donate 

a boy! :o

i have been fulfilling my #13 goal today ... here's a little WIP shot* of what i've been doing today. very pleased with how it's going so far - managed to draw a BOY, TWO whole hands and one and a half EARS --- these are scary things to draw, you see!
lots of hair, fur and a little colour to add tomorrow
also keeping on track with #20 by doing this blog post ... i realise i may be a little premature with my celebrations since it's only jan 4th ... but never mind

*apologies for the gloomy shot, i took it on my blackberry

alsoooo
if you get a moment, do check out my stall over on blogandbuysale.com lots of lovely sellers on there at the moment. if you'd be so kind to like my stall on facebook or tweet about it (using the links to the right) you'll help me to possibly get a months free advertising, which would be nice. thank you!

hello 2012

did everyone enjoy their new year celebrations? mine included fun with my boy, visiting our friends in manchester, meeting their beautiful (but terrified) cat, getting merry, some silly dancing, conquering my fear of going 'out' in flat shoes and many failed attempts at letting off chinese paper lanterns ...

i made a list like this last year and have managed to tick off a few things but not as many as i'd have liked, so i thought, this year i'd share it with you.
twenty-six things i'd like to do in the year i turn 26 ....

1. less spending more saving
2. get mum to teach me how to knit (again!)
3. knit/crochet something for myself - so far everything i've made has been for someone else!
4. make six new items for my shop - not including prints
5. get to 100 etsy sales
6. take better care of my health - i've become a hypochondriac
7. be dairy free! - i'm lactose intolerant but sometimes chocolate is just too tempting
8. stop cracking my joints
9. collect beautiful things for my new home ...
10. find new home to put beautiful things in!
11. get in a better routine, this includes but is not limited to - better sleep patterns, drawing everyday, exercising (almost) everyday
12. keep website up to date
13. don't waste my days off from pt job / be more focussed / disciplined / procrastinate less
14. but at the same time don't be so hard on myself to 'get it right'
15. finally put to use my coupon for a six month online course to learn spanish
16. read more books
17. monthly accounts / bookkeeping
18.be more conscientious about my impact upon the world! be more green, steer away from mass produced, use smaller shops/markets/charity/ebay etc instead
19. send more hand written letters
20. blog regularly - ideally at least once a week
21. take more pictures - get some printed and framed
22. leave comments on blog posts i read
23. make an animation - for fun or otherwise
24. have a thorough de-clutter - and continue to do so
25. have my work shown 3 times
26. be braver

i'm feeling really positive about 2012, and am looking forward to ticking some of these things off my list. if you've made any resolutions this year i'd love to read them, do share a link in the comments box ♥

if you'd like to help me cross off #5 i've still got 20% off in my shop til 06.01.12 with code FREEZING

***** g i v e a w a y  w i n n e r s  *****

again a massive thank you for all your support, comments, purchases, kind messages over the last year. and thank you to everyone who entered my little competition. i wish i could send you all a little something, but alas there must only be three winners. i used that clever random number generator to pick and the winners are ... drum roll please ...

. 7 . Rose
. 20 . Zoe
. 5 . Louise

congrats and all that, i shall be in touch to get your details ♥ wishing everyone a wonderfully happy new year x