Stamps 'n' Stickers!

We made some new stamps and stickers in preparation for a workshop I will be running as part of BookFest, a children's book festival taking place at The Panacea Museum in Bedford at the end of this month. For it, we'll be making a 6/8 page book out of a single sheet of paper on the theme of "SPACE" or "THE SEA"! 

I got my chief space explorer and his little sidekick to test out the products and I think we got the thumbs up, yay!

2 weeks to go and I still have a bit more prep to do but I'm really looking forward to seeing what the kids come up with :)

Noooooooooooo!

Me upon dealing with the possibility that our littlest one could be giving up his daytime nap. 

No warning, no easing into it, just suddenly refusing to sleep for a whole week. He's always been such a good sleeper...sniff.

And just when I was getting all excited at the prospect of making pictures again. I hope hope hope it's just a phase.

Tortoise

I made a new header for my blog. The duck was bugging me so I decided to go with a tortoise instead. I think it suits my pace these days. Not getting very much done. You'll find out why in my next post... 

Sitting Elephant, Dangling Monkey

Here's a typical scene when I am out and about with the buggy :D 

In addition to the sitting elephant and the dangling fidgety monkey, the buggy is usually weighed down by the heaviest fruit and veg I can find at the market, e.g. half a watermelon, 10 oranges, 10 apples, a cabbage, etc. 

To enhance the whole pleasurable experience, the elephant and monkey take it in turns to make sure I am never bored or idle by constantly letting me know how they are doing.

Library Love

Bedford Library rocks! Whoever is in charge of the children's books department, I thank you! We've come across some real gems which both kids and grown ups have loved and enjoyed. 

From my latest visit:

"Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise" by Sean Taylor and Jean Jullien and "All Mine!" by Zehra Hicks had us all laughing. Both featuring comical birds, the graphic simplicity conveys the humour really well.

"Albert's Tree" by Jenni Desmond. I'm a big fan of Jenni Desmond's work and in this book, I love how she balances realistic observations with her own style of illustration. Beautiful!

"Ossiri and the Bala Mengro" by Richard O'Neill & Katharine Quarmby and Hannah Tolson is a charmingly illustrated tale about a Traveller girl and an ogre. A fascinating introduction to Romani culture.

The last book is "Pierre The Maze Detective" by Chihiro Maruyama, Hiro Kamigaki and IC4DESIGN. We actually ended up buying this book after coming across it at the library a while back. It's AMAZING!! Visually stunning, with a narrative and a maze challenge on each spread, it works on many levels. We love it :)

So between the library and Rogan's Books, Bedford kids (and me) have got it pretty good, yay!

A River

It's been over a month since my last post, oops.

With 2 little boys to look after throughout the summer, I've had very little time or space in my head for much else, but now that the new school year has begun I can start thinking about arty things for me again, yippeeee!

It's so nice to feel those parts of my brain starting to work again.

It's taking a while to switch it all back on though. I want to be productive but end up in a bit of a flap and a panic not knowing where to start and feel like I've wasted my precious hour or so of free time. Today I actually managed to cut and stick down some bits of paper (it's only taken me close to 2 weeks!) so am feeling much better. Hopefully I will have something new to show soon :)

In the meantime, here is a beautiful book I treated myself to. I've been eyeing it up for ages and finally it is MINE! I spotted "A River" by Marc Martin at Rogan's Books a while ago and have been waiting waiting waiting till I got paid to go and get it. Each page is a thing of beauty! I love the colour palette, the detail, the variety, the mood...very inspiring indeed!

Trying to keep young one entertained during Summer holiday Pt 1

I've been chatting with the wonderful Rachael from Rogan's Books about possible workshop ideas for Bedford's children's book festival BookFest, which will take place later on this year. I missed it last year but am looking forward to visiting and hopefully taking part this year!!

I've decided the best way to work out some ideas is by experimenting and having some fun with my boys. Today we used some sheets of colour film I've had for years (and have moved from house to house never quite knowing what to do with them but not having the heart to let them go). I love what my little boy created with some stickers and a magic marker. The blue film is brilliant; perfect for creating an underwater seascape - dark, shiny and transparent all at the same time.

Only 5 more weeks to go...fingers crossed I won't have to rely too much on telly for a bit of sanity and peace in the house and actually be able to use our time constructively to be a little creative. Hahahaaa wish me luck!