For Evie

When one of your best friends has a baby and you don't know if its going to be a boy or girl, the only thing left to do is make them some kind of sock monster

It ended up being the same size as Evie when I gave this to her aged 6 days old.

whale kissing moustaches

I have now discovered the art of making my own stamps out of lino. it's my new favourite thing in the world.

here is my first print

what do you think? I have thought of about 4 more prints I want to create and mass produce cards and sell them ...and eventually take over the world. you know, the normal things you think about in daydream world :) 

The day I went to Hogwarts

It really felt like my Birthday,  I was so excited I woke up at 5.30am and said out loud to Mark "I'm so excited" 

He told me to go back to sleep.  

We went to The making of Harry Potter studio tour conveniently set in the grounds of Hogwarts and the home to Harry potter series for the last 10 years. I'm not going to go into detail about what's inside as I wouldn't want to spoil it for all the fans who haven't had a chance to go yet, but I do recommend everyone should go! Some of you may know I fulfilled a life ambition and got to work on 2 of the films. One of the reasons I moved to London was to try and find a way to get onto those films and 4 years later here i am! so the whole day was sentimental to me and a nice way to reflect back and be proud to be part of the Harry Potter family...and I also tried Butter Beer!

Other things that happened today:
I got a label maker! Was just as excited about this than when we were driving up to the studio today. Get ready to see a lot of stuff labeled (whether it needs it or not!)

I also got a Harry Potter wand (for display reasons and sentimental value, of course) but couldn't help waving it around and shouting "wingardiummm leveosaaaa" at the worker showing us the way out of the car park. I'm sure I'm not the first person who has done this to him. It's ok, he smiled :)

Back..for real this time!

So, one of my "things" I wanted to improve on in 2012 was to update the blog more....4 months in and Happyy Neww Year!! how's everyone been? sorry for the long absense, seems like things must have got in the way..I don't know where to start. I thought I would update the template of this to feel like a brand new website (its like when you get a new toy!) what do you all think? 

what's new for me is....I got a new pet hamster!!! he's a russian dwarf and his name is Barbosa! named after the pirate from Pirates of the Carribbean. We felt he needed an epic name for such a small guy. i'm so happy we got him, it's the small compromise instead of having a dog!

I have also been trying to spend a bit more time making toys and drawing, been seriously considering possibly selling these in the near future, I will be adding more to the blog, let me know your thoughts on these as they go up, but in the mean time here is a toy I made for my cousin. she's obsessed with pandas.I hope she likes it! 

if you would like to see what else I have been up to, I have been adding pictures to my Flickr account. have a cuppa tea and a cake and have a looksy!

 

Oh hi!

I did it again didn't I!... i blinked and now it's nearly Christmas and so much time has passed and I haven't updated the blog.. so very sorry.. and to make up for it..here is Xylobear

so, what have I missed? fill me in please :)
hope everyone is in good spirits and the pebbles you walk on be merry.. i'm watching Where the Wild Things Are right now. I want a job where I get to wear a crown and costume like Max.

Pink Sewing Machine!!

Well well well, my fault completely but before I even realised, its been more than a month since I have posted anything on here! 

...so how is everybody? all good? What have you been up to? Since I was on here, many weird and wonderful things have happened including 5 Birthday celebrations- one of them was even mine!,and also I  have spent many hours being distracted by my new love, a pink sewing machine. yes it's pink and I love it. So many thoughts on what i can make/create/learn now, I find myself looking at bags thinking "I can make that" 

 

 

....why do i think i'm so invincible now I have a pink sewing machine?!

 

 

 

My awesome boyfriend got it for me from John Lewis. 

The first thing I made was a tote bag for my mums birthday. I was so excited, I found a pattern on the internet and cut away at some material I had. 

Now, i'm not gonna lie- this was a mission to make! It looked so simple but, guess not so simple with my simple mind. The bag ended up being half the size I intended and took me more than double the amount of time I thought it would- but my mum loved it and I felt proud. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of it :(

 

The next thing I make I will be taking a picture- i'm already half way through making a monster, he has teeth and ears, but thats it right now! 

Any tips on sewing machinery would be a huge help, i'm a complete beginner but am completely loving learning how to sew!! 

5 things...

That I wanted to share..

1. new love for pistachio nuts and boiled eggs. (not together) but eating them has kind of caveman ways of peeling the eggs and opening the nuts

2. Mustaches on fingers

3. Rise of the Planet of The Apes. - go watch it. just for the circus orangutang.

4. Finding new places to go on Time Out website like this Mad Hatter Tea Party!.. (I can't actually go, but would love it if someone does and take pictures and show me? thanks)

5. My new DSLR Nikon D70! ...it's not actually new- i'm in the 3rd hand owner..but I still love it!!
I shall update the pictures, but for now here's us with our mustaches :)

what are your 5 things?

Are we RECording?

So who here loves Joseph Gordon Levitt?

how many people know he has an AWESOME production company online? I found this out recently and am completely obsessed.
Basically the way it works is if you have ever had an idea and want help to develop it then this is where you can turn to,
There is a video on his website here which will explain it a billion times better than me

anyways, Joseph and the HitRECord team came to London and did a film screening at the BFI. This was more inspirational than imagined and I was itching to collaborate.

There is a section called Tiny Stories which are stories that are only a couple of sentences long (which I think is the key to what makes them magical)
A selection of stories are getting put together shortly to be published into a book named :Tiny Stories Volume 1

I had to have a go at this, so I put pen to paper and came up with a Tiny Story called Fireflies.
At first, it had no hits, but waking up the morning after to find over 1000 people had viewed it and artwork had been drawn and even a song to go with the artwork had been made I was overly ecstatic!
and then one day, I was on the good ol' Twitter and it had been featured there with this link!!

Can't believe it all happened, I would so love the story to be selected to the book, it gives little creative people like me to actually see their work be made into something.
The whole idea behind HitRECord is so awesome!!! and I am now a new fan of Joseph Gordon Levitt. He rocks.

Harry Potter Experience

i’m soo happy and proud and excited for the whole world to watch Harry Potter!

I had started working on Deathly Hallows part 2 back in September 2010 and loved watching its progress to what it has now become!!! The company I work for MPC have been working on post production for the last 10 years! such an awesome experience to be part of it!

anyone how knows me knows it was a big ambition to get to work on these films as I have always been a massive fan- can’t believe I actually achieved it!

I think in this clip I would have to agree with Hermione- with the experience being “magical”

Mr Pigeon

Photo taken using Instagram. Golden Square, Soho, London

At work we used to have a pigeon visit us everyday. We named him Mr Pigeon. I knew it was the same one as he had toes missing from his left foot and had a distinctive beak.
Anyways he was the nicest pigeon and we used to give him cereal to munch on.
One day he brought someone else with him, Mrs Pigeon!!! He was such a gentleman, he let her have the food whilst he just stepped back and watched. Then when they were done he looked at us and they flew off into the sunset

True.story.

I Have moved now from that office

friend

hello everyone,
I made a friend at the London Aquarium
I don't know his name -or if it even is a "he", but he was sure happy to see me.
Nigel (I've literally just named him that!) came eagerly up to me - which I'm gonna be honest, scared the crap outta me... I thought he was gonna show me his veracious teeth, but instead he put on this beauty of a smile for my camera
I think he wanted to come home with Mark and me, pretty sure my fish Dyson would not appreciate this.
so for now I will let the Aquarium look after him :)

ps, something strange is going on with my account- I have lost a post, and some of you might have randomly seen a picture of a dog and man on a bench.....hmmmm

clouds

I've had a very fun packed 10 days off work recently. In this time I have:


+ discovered 3 parks near my house (yay for having a bike in London!)
+ watched a Royal Wedding and became completely besotted
+ made a Victoria Sponge Cake ...and also some fairy cakes.. and soup
+ celebrated a birthday with BBQ
+ gave someone a bouncy ball (it was meant to be given in March!)
+ took numerous photographs
+ said hello to the fishes and sharks and turtles at London Aquarium
+found a new favourite place in London - Church Street (this will have its on blog entry soon!)
+ discovered Museum of London and checked out their photography gallery.
+ made bunting
+hung out with the best friends in the world
+ broke a jug
+found a better jug

All these can be justified with photos- but for now, here's a doodle I done today.
it's that feeling of being back at work and your head just not quite managing it just yet...

anyone else get that?

Weddings and Ukuleles

At the weekend my amazing boyfriend Mark had the honour of being Best man to John in his wedding to Kathy-Ann

a few reasons what made this wedding so special

*They used bubbles instead of confetti. I forgot how beautiful and fun bubbles are

*Mark sang his best man speech with the help of a Ukulele

*Kathy made her Bride dress and also her bridesmaids!

*The sun was shining and everything ran smoothly- there was even a dog there - Miss Boo

* a lady was wondering around in a bright yellow boiler suit

* there were as many sausage rolls as you wanted.

* I spoke to a few older couples who told me they are still in love after 40+ years together

* the DJ had a friend who fell asleep on the chair all night

*disposable camera fun

*Kathy changed into white wellies so she could dance :)

I love weddings! who's next??!

5 things that made today special

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Been feeling pretty poorly recently, so thought I would write 5 things that made me happy today

1. Whiskers the cat (thats not his name, but I don't know his real name so I have named him that) has returned!.. every morning he used to be at our neighbours window and I would say good morning, but for two weeks he didn't show up...and I feared the worst :( ...until now.. he's back!!
I will draw a picture of him soon, seriously-this cat is full of character! plus now i'm convinced he's had his hair cut

2. the sun is shining and I got a seat on the bus straight away- probably to do with it being Easter holidays and no kids, means I get to sit and read all the blogs on Google reader.

3. Booked my holiday to see my family in California!! cannot wait and already thinking of how much I can pack into my suitcase!

4. Mark surprised me and bought me a little book on Japanese recipes :D

5. last but not least- you took time out of your lives to read my lil list of things that made me happy x

hope you had a good day too!

getaway

I love my life in london, but every once in a while I get the need to escape and go breathe in some sea air or forest mist, and this calling came two weekends ago.
I have a close group of university friends and a couple of themlive in good ol Bristol, that city is full of creative talent and quirky people.
Everytime we visit I find myself more and more wanting to pull out my pens and start

drawing or make something. Especially as Dave showed us his very amazing studio where he works as a freelance story board artist. It's such a good idea if you are freelance to surround yourself with such talent like others-keeps the ideas bouncing and plus you're constantly inspired by what's around you.. As soon as we stepped into the studio my face was in awe at

everyone's personality coming out through their art work.

Next was a visit to a simple yet stunning little vegetarian restaurant called Kino. I had the root vegetable pie- twas delicious! In the evening we ended up at the club Firestation where randomly another old uni mate seemed to have a gig. Of he wasn't my friend I would still love their

music as much as I did. Could not stop dancing plus they had a bonfire in the middle of the outside part to keep us warm.



The next day we went to Wales! To a place called Abergavenny where we drove up to a huge oak tree forest. It was beautiful being surrounded by friends and trees. Such a rare treat and a perfect reason to the camera(s) out! had so much fun. The weather was pefect and even stroked some horses on the way back down!

I love weekends where I get taken out of my London life. Can't wait
for my next one..
let me know if there are any places that you know which are great for
weekend getaways!

surprises!!

It felt like Christmas

The other day, unexpectedly I received two presents!! I'm sure like most people they love unexpected gifts and when they are from such lovely beautiful people it's even more special

First I got mail sent to me through the post to work... and it was from the amazing Sophie with... Stickers!! Sophie and my relationships started from way back when she was a receptionist and I was a runner, many passing by's, exchanging gossip and love for cheesy rock brought our friendship close. Then Sophie, being one to chase her dreams got her golden ticket in the form of a Canadian visa and was whisked off to fulfill her rotoprep life with some weekend snow boarding built in.
Now she is out there I miss her dearly and was having a bit of a rubbish week so she definitely knew how to cheer me up! these stickers are ust my style :)

secondly were presents personally delivered to me by my good friend Alana.
We met back in 2008 when we ended up as housemates in London and spoke of dreams of going to Japan.
luckily for Alana, a brilliant opportunity came up for her to go work in Tokyo for 6 months! which also meant I HAD to pay a visit to the beautiful city. It was one of the best times of my life out there and fell in love with the shop The LOft. Unfortuntately you can't buy anything from this shop online so if you're ever in Japan I strongly advise you to go there. It's full of the BEST stationary I have ever seen! Alana knowing me so well brought these back with her. Cute chopsticks that look like pencils, an all in one rainbow crayon pen and fun fun Japanese food style erasers!
love them all!!! Thank you sooo much guys!! you rock x

Tell a story in five words:

One of the random conversations between Mark and me yesterday that I thought I would share

Tell a story in five words

Abi's; I ate a rock today

Mark's: an explosion happened through pants

and then played it at work...

Michelle : lost in a big world

James: I flew to the moon

Gimme your 5 word stories please :) x

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device