In some ways lots has been going on, and in other ways life has been pretty boring. I guess that’s how it always is.

I’m reading the Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer at the moment. Wow.. I am so into it. I [...]]]> Yes yes, I know. I am incredibly crap at updating this thing. Sincerest apologies.

In some ways lots has been going on, and in other ways life has been pretty boring. I guess that’s how it always is.

I’m reading the Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer at the moment. Wow.. I am so into it. I know I’m supposed to be all apologetic for not reading high-brow literature, but seriously, anyone who writes something so appealing and engaging gets my respect.

Life with our little cat is so lovely. She’s becoming less like a kitten and more like a cat every day. Although she still does silly things. When we were on holiday she stayed with Andrew’s sister and requisitioned a feather duster. It’s about as long as she is, and she will attack it and bite it. The funniest thing she does though is when she picks it up with her teeth (like a dog with a stick, horizontally) and walks around with it.

She’s also obsessed with elastic hair bands. She’s also a master at losing them. I’m going through hair bands really quickly at the moment haha. She can just sniff them out. I’ll see her sticking her head inside my handbag, and after a few seconds she comes out with a hair band in her teeth.

Seriously, I can talk about my cat for hours. I took some videos the other week but haven’t downloaded them yet. If they’re any good I will post them.

Hmm what else.. we went on holiday to California at the end of September. It was absolutely amazing. Complete and utter holiday of a lifetime. We took 900odd pictures so it’ll probably be about a year or five before I actually sort through and post any of them. I can’t really think of specific highlights because the whole experience as a whole was just so impressive. We flew in to LA, spent a few days there, drove north along the coast to Malibu, then Big Sur and up to San Fransisco. Then from SF we spent a few days in the wine country, went to Yosemite, down through Death Valley on our way to Las Vegas and then back to LA. We camped for a third of the time which was nice (but cold! Except in Death Valley) and authentic.

OK here’s a picture. It’s absolutely impossible to choose one picture that sums up the whole journey so I leave you with a token tourist shot.

This is a jumper I am knitting at the moment. It’s going very slowly because the yarn is so thin! (knitted on 2.75mm needles) It’s fun though and quite relaxing because it doesn’t require much thought as it’s [...]]]> Aargh je suis très bad at remembering to update! So I present you with a cop out: pictures.

This is a jumper I am knitting at the moment. It’s going very slowly because the yarn is so thin! (knitted on 2.75mm needles) It’s fun though and quite relaxing because it doesn’t require much thought as it’s pretty straightforward. I’m also crocheting a little cardigan which is infinitely more complicated and really have to pay attention to every stitch. It’s nice to have two very different projects on the go at the same time.

This was me all dressed up last Saturday for a friend’s wedding, wearing my crocheted shawl.

In other exciting news, I am going to start taking violin lessons in September! I am insanely excited. I attempted to play the violin when I was little which was a big disappointment, but I feel I am now ready to take this on with more enthusiasm and maturity (lol).

It’s from a book called Stitch ‘n’ Bitch: The [...]]]>

One-Skein Scarf (Crochet), originally uploaded by rrreow.

I’ve recently taken up crocheting (a suggestion by my friend Daniela) and after doing it wrong a lot of times and then finally getting my aunt to show me how to do it right, I thought I’d attempt an actual pattern.

It’s from a book called Stitch ‘n’ Bitch: The Happy Hooker. I find crochet extremely fun! I’ve knitted before, but I seem to always get bored before I finish anything. With crochet there are so many more stitches and possibilities to make stuff look interesting without getting too complicated.

I also find it very relaxing. I sit upstairs and listen to classical music while creating. It’s a nice change because I usually spend too much time at my computer!

I think my next project will be a shawl. Have to swallow the fact that (nice) yarn is incredibly expensive though. The results are well worth it though.

As much as I enjoy painting I’m not that prolific creating it (not because I don’t want to, but usually because of self doubt and other such issues). Beside a few [...]]]> I’m currently taking an online art class which is run by my friend Tam. It’s called World of Whimsy and it’s a lot of fun!

As much as I enjoy painting I’m not that prolific creating it (not because I don’t want to, but usually because of self doubt and other such issues). Beside a few sketches the below portrait is the first ‘finished’ piece I’ve created using the skills and techniques Tam is teaching. I absolutely love the shading techniques she uses, they’re quite easy and produce a subtle but nice effect.

I’m really proud of this one actually! The scanner hasn’t really done it justice though. Come to think of it, I really need to clean it, there’s a ton of dust and little specks on everything I scan.

I scanned it this time, rather than taking a picture of it and the colours are soooo much better this way. The only thing is, that scanning it in three parts and putting it back together [...]]]> It’s been sitting on my desk for a few days, awaiting beeswax and I still need to paint the sides.

I scanned it this time, rather than taking a picture of it and the colours are soooo much better this way. The only thing is, that scanning it in three parts and putting it back together in Photoshop is worse than having your foot run over by a truck.

Painting is kind of like knitting (ya, rly). The actual process is fun, but then afterwards there are certain things you need to do to ‘finish’ it (like getting rid of yarn ends *shudders*) and those are just demotivating and result in having your painting sit on your desk for a week or your knitting forgotten in a bag somewhere.

Anyway, I’m totally babbling because I was waiting for the photos to upload.

This is just a regular ol’ white loaf, [...]]]> I’d just like to share with you this little bit of awesomeness. It is… our breadmaker! Best.kitchen.gadget.ever. Also, if you’re on a budget like us it provides a very cheap alternative to buying bread or prepackaged sandwiches. It tastes great too! The bread, that is, not the breadmaker.

This is just a regular ol’ white loaf, but you can pretty much make anything. Fruit bread (my favourite), milk, wholemeal, cheese & onion, olive etc. We haven’t tried it yet but it can also make pizza dough which saves getting your hands dirty.

Oh and lunch:

If you’re wondering what’s on the right one, that’s strawberry jam and mild cheddar. The standard reaction I have got for that for years has been ‘ewww’ but try it, because you’ll get hooked just like all the others =p

In other news, I’m relaxing on my lunchbreak by watching some Buffy the Vampire Slayer and going out later to view a flat.

I’m really enjoying working on this so far. Working bigger than usual, [...]]]>

Hope & Joy WIP, originally uploaded by rrreow.

Painting this for my aunt. She has two cats called Hope & Joy. Her birthday was earlier this week so I’m a bit behind schedule but I’m hoping she’ll like it enough to see past that =p

I’m really enjoying working on this so far. Working bigger than usual, which is actually a lot easier (I know Tam, you told me that!)! Working bigger I’m not so frustrated with my brushes not doing what I want because the margin of error is much bigger and I’m finally getting to grips with mixing acrylic paints and glaze to get a nice texture that I like working with.

The right cat looks a bit messy and I wish I’d done better on that, but I really struggled with the pattern of its coat (based on what the cat looks like in real life). However I’m VERY pleased with how the one on the left turned out. Also pleased with the girl’s face and her hair. All in all having a very good feeling about this and that’s quite rare for me to feel about my art!