January In A Nutshell...

 It feels like I didn't do much throughout January, but on the other hand I did an awful lot.  This was the last painting in the series of square animal portraits, a raccoon.  Acrylic on board and about to go into my Etsy shop.  I haven't touched a paintbrush since as I have been trying to sort out the finished kitchen.  Once the workmen had left, it was up to me to then bring all the boxes and books downstairs once more, sort them out and find homes for everything.

 This was hampered half way through by a nasty head cold which took the stuffing out of me for a few days. However, as of last weekend, I think we can consider the room done.

 We added a few extra touches - a shelf here, a couple of small cupboards there, and I was able to hang the pictures in some semblance of order rather than willynilly as they were before.

 It's all very white and clean looking - which is what I was after as I am quite an untidy person by nature, so this way I am forced to keep up appearances!

So far it is working very well indeed and I can't quite believe the amount of space we have - I threw away very little considering the amount of 'stuff' we have.  We seem to have gained a fair amount of extra cupboard space - either that or I am being better organised!  Whatever the reason, I am thoroughly enjoying our new look!

Work In Progress...

I can honestly say I haven't had this much painting time in a very long while!  As the kitchen and bathroom refits  take their course, there is not much else I can be doing around the house while it is full of workmen, dust sheets, equipment and mess.  So continuing the vague theme, I have started another animal portrait in acylics on board, a raccoon this time.  I had fun with the background, using lots of glazes, stippling, sponging, dripping...and then rubbing half of it off in order to get the effect of tree bark.  Nearly over-did it, but luckily I have a magic sponge that takes the paint off very efficiently even when it has dried.  We have another three days of work in the house, perhaps I will be able to complete this by the weekend!

The kitchen & bathroom are nearly done - we are in fact a day ahead of schedule thanks to the lovely tiler staying very late on Monday to finish both rooms, and the painter yesterday finding it an easy job - we look after our home, it just needed a couple of coats of paint, not much else.  It's all coming together and looking very nice indeed. I cannot wait to start putting everything back and returning to normality.  I think the dog must be feeling the same way - I bought a crate for her which has been wonderful, a safe haven as well as a means of keeping her contained if I need to pop out.  She's only been shut in it a couple of times for no more than half an hour, but it's good to know the option is there should we need it and that everyone remains safe. Three more days...

Bandit at 12 O'Clock!

With the amount of art work I've had over the past couple of weeks, I felt I had been neglecting my daughter a little.  So when we were flicking through the current issue of Handmade Living in W.H.Smiths today and she showed an interest in a sock-raccoon, it seemed a good opportunity for a little mother/daughter time.

Grey socks were unavailable in the local shops, luckily there was a raggedy pair in the airing cupboard at home. Tempers got a little frayed initially -one of the shelves of books above the sewing machine's storage place collapsed, and then my daughter seemed to lose the ability to cut in a straight line.  However, once we had found a pair of scissors that she could manage, we were off and running. 
I would point out that what looked like a really quick and simple pattern was surprisingly tricky - sock is not a great fabric to sew with.  The sewing machine choked a few times and there were a couple of holes that needed cobbling together.  We got there in the end and after a couple of hours of sewing, stuffing and assembling, Stacie was very pleased with the end result - I have a feeling he will be making his way into her bed tonight!