* Friday Treat Time! *

I have to share an amazing film I saw last week called Benda Bilili - one of the most inspiring films I've seen in a long time!

It's about a group of street musicians in Congo-Kinshasa and follows their journey from the streets to performing across Europe. Its out in cinemas now and received a standing ovation at Cannes.

Here's a little trailer for you to watch:



Hope you get the chance to see it!

x*x*x

* Spring Days *

My little characters were so excited this morning - for spring had truly arrived! They clamored to be let out in the garden, so I packed them into my basket and carried them out into the garden...

...and they hurried off to play!
The garden is pretty big for such small friends - can you see where they are?
Oh look - there's Bert waving by the front door.

Buttercup Bunny is talking to the Primroses...

...and sniffing the grape hyacinths.Are there any characters playing in the flower beds?

Is that something by the white hyacinths?
Ah - ha! Hello Fleur Bear!

Here is Pussy Cat Bleu prowling on the Camellia...

...and Berta is dreaming by the pink hyacinth.
Pussy Cat Bleu then pranced over to the tulips...
...whilst Berta climbed up into the Forsythia bush (because the flowers match her little nose)...
...and Hobbes and 'Robber' friend joined in and basked in the spring sun down below.'What a happy spring day!' cried all the characters.

x*x*x

* Audition Bunny *

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately - working on Red Nose Day, my 30th birthday and holiday fun has all meant I've not had time to blog - but now here I am!

For my sister Sue's birthday, I made her an 'Audition Bunny' - she is a marvellous actor and I wanted to make a special gift that reflected her wonderful talents.
This bun is nice and pocket sized to hide in her pocket when she goes to auditions and stuffed with lavender from Provence to calm her nerves! I also made a leaflet to go with Audition Bunny to show how useful the bunny is when auditioning!
More fun to follow!


x*x*x

* Little Red Update *

So I'm progressing with my illustrations of 'Little Red' the Fox - Jon had the marvellous idea that I should make shapes and photograph them, so there is a 3D effect. Here's the start of the new illustration ideas...

...this is the summer scene

And here are my other Little Red's waiting for their scenes to be made:


Fleur Bear was watching all the photo fun under a vase of flowers... x*x*x

Something fun!

A lovely friend, Anna sent me this the other day - its so good I wanted to post this up on my blog!

x*x*x

* Friday Treat Time *

Today, as spring seems to have definitely arrived, I wanted to share this beautiful animation (found by Jon, of course!) that is set in the snow, and is about imagination, childhood and growing up into who you are meant to be...

the silence beneath the bark / le silence sous l'écorce from joanna lurie on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

x*x*x

* Some News & Birthday Gifting *

Sorry I've been a bit quiet recently - this has been due to a rather exciting event - becoming pregnant! Wow!

Needless to say, we are very excited (and a bit nervous!) All going well, baby should arrive early September...

Here baby is, showing mum and dad just how fast they can move their arms and legs (the scan helpfully points out where everything is, in case its a bit tricky to know what's what!):

Beautiful!

As a result, I have been suffering from nausea everyday for the past two months, but as this is settling down now, I've been able to start making things again - hooray! There have been many birthdays across February - here are some little things I have made recently for friends:

Baby Poppet the Owl


Fleur Bear

...and a special Bilbrough birthday card!

I'll hopefully be doing more stuff now - see you soon!

x*x*x

* Friday Treat Time! *

Here's a story to warm you on this cold, cold Friday - a little Robin who has found shelter from the snow in a Co-op shop in Aberdeen! He's so content that he sings by the tills and nibbles on crossiants and blueberries laid out for him by the staff. Click on the image below to read the story and watch a little video of his antics:


Happy Friday!

x*x*x

* Meet Little Red *

Apologies for being a bit quiet recently - after my bout of making hair corsages I have been dreaming of finishing some little books I have been working on - Beatrice the Dancing Bee being one of them! In the meantime, I have been doodling some new characters. Here is Little Red, having been inspired by the changing of the seasons and my love for foxes - they get too much bad press in my opinion!






It might be a small book for small ones - not many words, just pictures of Little Red's adventures in the forest and beyond!

x*x*x

* Fun With Hair Corsages *

I wanted to make a pretty thing to wear this New Years Eve, so I dug up some spare fabric I had in my fairy fabric bag, used a pretty lace ribbon and button and got to work!

I cut out a large circle and then a smaller circle of fabric and layered them with the lacey ribbon and held it all together by sewing a white button in the middle.
I then sewed on two strands of lace ribbon to add another layer, and sewed the back of the corsage onto a plain white headband:
I felt SO extra sparkly with my new hair corsage that I made another one the next day (after a lie in!), with circles of different coloured felt, cut into flower shapes!
Kind of getting into the hair corsage thing now, and am planning ones to match my favourite oufits of the week!

x*x*x