Chunk...

Whilst tidying (and I use the term very loosely) my corner of the sitting room where I keep various craft materials, I found an unfinished bear.  I don't remember not finishing him - I must have got sidetracked by something else.  So I sewed his feet on, gave him his eyes and nose, stuffed him, and then had to make a slight adjustment.  This is bear 32 Chunk from the Explore.org bear cams and two years ago he suffered a horrendous wound to his nose from a fight with another bear, slashing it open almost to the bone.  It has healed into an impressive scar, so of course I had to include that in my toy!

That also shows that the unfinished bear must have sat in that corner for two years or more - sorry Chunk!  He will be available in my Etsy shop shortly, unless you'd like to snap him up beforehand and save a bob or two - just get in touch.
 

More Sunflowers...

 I had a couple of weeks with no projects and no enthusiasm, so I decided to use up some of the yarn cakes that are languishing in a box in the spare room to make a crochet lap blanket for a friend of mine who has been suffering from long Covid for the past 3 years.  I thought the blanket could use a little brightening up, so sewed some crochet sunflowers on the corners.  I had initially thought to sew more sunflowers all over it, but when I discovered just how thick they made the blanket, I decided against it! I'm hoping this will keep my friend warm and cozy through the winter.

Nothing on the easel - I'm really struggling with the winter blues brought on by horrendous weather and the clock change last weekend.  I find it hard to paint when the light is bad, plus I have no inspiration at the moment.    Hopefully that will change soon before I go nuts!

Reedus...

 This is what I have been working on for the past few weeks.  The client wanted the lemon trees from the background of the reference photo added, but they were a bit sparse so I ended up making up the background which possibly took longer than painting the actual dog!  The dog was quite a challenge, all that curly fur and only part of one eye visible, but I am very happy with how it turned out.  Watercoluor on paper.

I now have no painting commissions at all, which is unusual for this time of year. I do, however, have a few knitting and sewing projects to be getting on with and just hope that no-pne shows up at the end of November wanting a painting done in time for Christmas!

Otis Is Back In The House...

After what must be nearly a year, I'm back to sewing Otis once again. 

This one is taken, but there will be plenty more coming soon - if you'd like to pre-order, just get in touch.
 

How To Spend A Rainy Day...

 It's been HOT!  Last week we had a heatwave in the UK, but thankfully due to a spur of the moment decision 3 weeks ago to book a few days down by the coast, we escaped the worst of it and spent our time pottering on the beach looking for fossils.  We found some good ones!

On our first day I found this - I spotted it due to the urchin shell markings on the one side of it and was then pleasantly surprised to see that there was a sparkly geode on the other side of it.  Mr.B was happy for me but I could see that he was just a little bit envious...

...then on our last day, he found this!  Three sea urchin fossils attached to a rock - each one is only the size of a hazelnut.  I think this one has to be the find of the year!

We returned on Friday to find our house hot and that the garden had survived the extreme temperatures.  Saturday was even hotter and we had to drag out the little aircon unit I bought a couple of years ago in order to make the sitting room bearable.  Yesterday was still too warm and then at lunchtime we had a few hours of very welcome rain.  So I sat and painted the above picture - Otis in his office - and it was fun to be able to complete a painting in one afternoon.  He will be available in my Etsy shop soon.

Next up - another dog commission!

Huffing & Puffing...

I made a puffer fish!  Not my own pattern but from a cute book called Curious Crocheted Creatures.  He already has a new home...
 

Forty Winks...

Here is the bear known as Pepper 821 who lives in Katmai National Park, Alaska, taking a short nap while resting on a partially submerged rock.  This is based on a snap I took recently from the Explore.org web cams.  This has been painted in watercolour on paper and will be in my Etsy shop shortly.

Next up...I really don't know!