The Owl and the Pussycat, next instalment

Happy New Year everyone! I got my pencils earlier today, so here is the next part of 'The Owl and the Pussycat'. Tomorrow I must see what a turkey looks like on Google, and finish the story.

The Owl and the Pussycat, and a bit of DIY

Busy day here! Guess what? I finally put those blinds up! You know, the ones which have been under the bed for two years! Woohoo, I can't believe I actually did it! The kitchen looks really fab now, ( I better take some pics tomorrow, as you don't know what on earth I'm talking about!) I also cut loads of logs, had a sort of tidy of the garage, then lit a lovely fire and had dinner - fabulous!

When I was away, I had this idea to illustrate some Nursery Rhymes, so first up is 'The Owl and the Pussycat', by Edward Lear. I haven't finished it, as I have run out of black pencils - but we're going to get some tomorrow, so I'll finish it then. I also need to find out what a turkey looks like, as a turkey marries the Owl and the Pussycat in Bongland!

Lock up your piglets - I'm back!

Hi Everyone in Blogland! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. I got back yesterday, after a mammoth squishing on a packed National Express bus - I think half the country was migrating to Scotland for 'Nerdy', so seven hours of sitting squashed and hurtling up the M6! Yuk! But, oh how wonderful beyond wonderful to be back with my kitties, and Liz had the cottage lit up beautifully, with the Christmas tree lights twinkling - it's great to be home! I worked hard whilst at mums, and here are a few pictures for you to see, which I hope you like. I'll post up some more later on, and go over and see what you've all been up to, but for now I'll just do this quickly, as I want to cut some wood and generally do some bits and bobs! First up are some rough sketches and I think the rough for Illustration Friday 'Voices', which didn't go up in time, but never mind.

You can click on the images to see them bigger, and read all my mad annotation!

Happy Christmas to my Blogging Friends!

Hi Everyone, I haven't gone yet, ha ha! I go early tomorrow morning. I'll be away for nearly two weeks, yikes! I like going to my mums, but I find it hard to be away from my home and peekycatkins. To say 'bye bye', here are a few images from our cottage, showing some of our Christmas decorations. We had a pre-Christmas dinner on Sunday, so you can see our table! Well, I better sign off for now - with any luck, I'll be on my ibook at ma's, so watch this space! All that remains is to wish you all a very Happy Christmas, full of joy. Thank you for visiting my blog, and the lovely, encouraging comments you have left - doing this has changed my life! Ta-ta for now!

Santa Comes to Fluffville Part Two!

I am off to Hereford tomorrow, on the good ol' National Express (coaches that go all over the UK for not-much-money) and I'm not sure if I'll be able to blog when I get there, as my mum doesn't have a computer - let alone a scanner or broadband! Soooo, I really wanted to get this coloured in, but I won't have time. Here you can see the traced-up drawing, ready for colour (I hope it works!) As you can see, thanks to the wonders of technology, Santa does get to Fluffville, and delivers his presents to the Fluffballs. Phew! Thank Goodness for that!

Illustration Friday ' Rambunctious'

Here is the finished strip! Needless to say, the blinds and shelves for the kitchen are still under the bed (where they have been for the past two years!) I got a bit carried away wanting to finish this! When I saw the word ' Rambunctious', I hadn't the foggiest what it meant! A quick Google and I found ' Active, boisterous, disorderly, loud, raucous, rough, rowdy....' well, I'm not sure the Fluffville Orchestra were that bad, but the audience didn't seem to like them much. Poor Tiddles! I feel that Tiddles is a bit like me - he tries and tries, but it always seems to go pear-shaped! Never mind, Tiddles, we just gotta keep trying!

A Peep inside a Sketchbook!

Hi, come a have a look in here; I have started work on this weeks theme for Illustration Friday, and I thought I would share a spread from my little sketch book, where all ideas take shape - good, or otherwise! I'll try and get the picture drawn over the weekend, but I have other domestic 'stuff' to do, like putting new blinds and shelves up in the kitchen. (Isn't it weird that people really do put shelves up at the weekend!)

Zap! Pow! Another One!

Well, even though I didn't really like my first attempt, I had a go at another strip today - this time, a bit bigger. I still think it would be better to scan an inked image, and colour it in with photoshop. (I make myself laugh, as reading this back, it sounds as if I know what I'm talking about - which I don't!) Anyway, enough waffling, here is Tiddles the Tiger, demonstrating how to make a Christmas Pudding...Hmmm, an oddly oven-baked version!?

Pow! Zap! A Comic Strip!

I, in my infinite lack-of-wisdom, thought I would give the Fluffballs of Fluffville their own comic strip...what I didn't realise is how long it would take, and how fiddly-widdly it would be! I have since seen on the web that comic strip artists do them a lot bigger than I did, and they probably use digital software to colour them in - I coloured mine in with pencils Oh well, ha ha! It took about two days of screwing up my eyes and sharpening my pencils into little pointy points! (If you click on one of the images - sorry, not sure which one - you can see it much bigger)

PS. It's the top one!

IF: Fluffville Fancy Dress Party!

This weeks Illustration Friday theme is 'Similar', which I think is even harder than 'Opinion' ( but then, I think they're all hard unless they say something really basic like 'Teddy Bear' or 'Dog'!) Anyway, the little residents of Fluffville are having a fancy dress party, and there seem to be a few similar Batmen (or should that be bat-mice or bat-pandas?!)

Skiing Pandas!

Here is a little illustration of the Fluffville annual winter ski race! This must be the inaugural one, as there haven't actually been any others! (But I'm told it will be a yearly event!) Don't forget to buy your yummy hot-dog from the Bunny in the van! (You won't believe this, but I really have a hot-dog trailer like that in my garage - another one of my mad eBay money-making ideas!)

Illustration Friday 'Balloon'

What a great theme for this weeks Illustration Friday! Balloons are lovely - colourful, fun, happy! They remind me of summer days, sweet-smelling Meadows and picnics in the sunshine...... I must be imagining all that, because we don't actually have sunshine, well not the sort you can picnic in in your t-shirt! Anyway, that's certainly not the case in Fluffville, as the little pandas are playing in their hot air balloon under a beautiful blue sky (I have actually run out of white crayons!). Oh, to live in Fluffville! (Well, some might say I do!)

Stiff Neck :(

I have got such a stiff neck today (and yesterday). It's horrible, as I'm usually a very energetic person, but I'm just bumbling around at the moment, trying not to move too much! I had a car accident a few years ago, and it's never been quite right, but not usually this bad.....sucks. So, to cheer myself up, I was looking at my Venice pics from the summer - nothing like a Venice hit to make anyone smile! What an amazing place! Full of intriguing images, hidden alleyways and shadows! Ooooh, it's just the best place there is!

Italiano belissimo!

On the theme of nice old things which aren't in any way technical, here is a pic of my coffee maker and my Lucky Kitten espesso cup. This little blue Bialetti makes the most delicious cafe - which just goes to prove, you don't need to spend 100's on a tab-whatsit-looks-like-K9 coffee maker. Mind you, I wouldn't say no to a nice, shiney Giaggia in my kitchen! I got my Bialetti about six years ago, from Umbertide market, and it's still making great coffee! I'm trying to set up my new ibook today, which is so frustrating, as it's completely different to this pc, and I can't seem to get it to recognise my printer. I really like it, though, and I'm sure I'll get there in the end! (Just not sure when 'the end' will be, probably when I'm 90!)