allsorts

Friendsday ~ Heavenly Homes

As you may know, on Wednesdays I like to shine the blog light onto some of my friends, both here and across the internet. Today I am following my current passion for all things homely and lovely. There are many blogs who showcase their authors' lovely creative homes, and if you know of any more that I don't have links to or have talked about already, please let me know! Here are a few I haven't mentioned yet.

First, the incredibly gorgeous lacy cupboard full of yummy linens belongs to Jane, whose blog Posy is a feast for these Anglophile eyes. Every time I stop by there are more pictures of the life I wish I was livng in England.  Just look at this image of the Trent and Mersey canal!

Her travels in Devon have kept me going back to look at the photos again and again.  And her home is exactly what one would hope for in an English cottage. Its full of light and color and beautiful design. Its quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs to visit.

And this is Yvonne's utterly charming abode in the Netherlands, just look at the heart-shaped cutout in the upper door! And the window box... I'm in love!

Its so quaint and quirky, I would give almost anything to live someplace like that, especially since Yvonne has done it up so wonderfully! And her blog Yvestown is an amazing source of useful links to beautiful things, and chock full of eye candy to boot.

I love Blair's blog, Wise Craft. She is absolutely brilliant at a breathtaking number of things - sewing, quilting, knitting, general crafting, I don't think there is anything she can't do! Oh, and she gardens! Her lovely house is surrounded by charming vignettes such as this one that she sees outside her craft room. Its like a painting on the ground!

The first time I came upon this photo of Kathleen's garden I fell head over heels in love with this shade of blue!

Isn't that amazing? Her blog Liquid Sky Arts is densely rich with saturated color and showcases her own special flair. She has a real eye for finding and creating beautiful things. And I think her garden is one of the loveliest I've ever seen. Gorgeous!

So now I must get busy, I have a heart-stopping amount of work to get through in the next six weeks. The timing as usual is lousy, since my studio is still in mid-redecorating state. It has been painted and the furniture relocated, but there is still a staggering amount of stuff all over the living room floor, and the work table needs a final coat of paint. But oddly enough, the more I have to do, the more I usually get done, so maybe its a good thing. We shall see!

Cheers,

Jenny

Itty bitty cuteness

Aren't these the cutest tiny softies? Not sure where the image came from, I came across it recently and didn't note the source. But they made me smile so I thought I would share...

Thank you so much for all the birthday well-wishes! Still amazes me that I can get birthday greetings from all over the world. This was a mostly card and gift-certificate birthday which suits me fine, as I really have too much stuff and am determined to purge. My son, however, with his budget limited by school expenses offered to do the labor involved with a redo of my studio! So the last few days have been nutzo, and the rest of the house is piled with artsy crafsty things and I continue to try and work in the midst of the chaos. See, it seemed like it would also be a good time to repaint, since I am not feelin' the pink any more. After much angst I ended up with the same color that Alicia painted her workroom, a wondrously vivid aqua that looked much more tame on the paint chip. My primary colors already pop against the walls and the whole thing is making me very happy! I plan on creating such cute and fun things in here!

Oh, I would post pics of the work in progress, but my battery charger is broken! Arg! I'll see if I can find some fresh batteries around here somewhere...

Cheers,

Jenny

It's somebody's birthday!

I stopped myself from typing some-bunny's birthday... oops, I typed it anyway... oh well. ;o)

Yes, that red-letter day has rolled around again. Last year I announced I was *mumble* years old, and now I'm *mumble* plus one.

On a related note... Claire may be having her babino today! Well, today is her due date, so maybe is the operative word. I think that would be cool to share a birthday with her little one!

I decree that everyone should have a great day today!

Cheers!

Jenny

Is she still an illustrator?

I just realized I haven't mentioned a word about work for months! Yes, I am still beavering away at a steady stream of illustration assignments, I just never think of posting about them. Work is... you know... work! And when I'm thinking about blogging, I naturally gravitate towards craftsy type stuff. Not sure why, habit maybe?

So here is something I just finished, although the final art supplied to the client is rather altered from this version, that's why I think its okay to show it:

I liked this assignment, showing a little tree throughout the seasons. It was fun!

Since I sort of gave up on Illustration Friday, I kind of got out of the "loop" of illustrators' blogs, but I was pleased to check back today and see that there have been some changes to the interface.  There are still a gazillion people posting links to their submissions, but you can at least see whether or not they are children's illustrators, or whatever. I might be persuaded to do something at some point...

So now at least you know I'm not sitting around eating bonbons and twiddling my thumbs!

Cheers,

Jenny