Panda drinking tea doodle

I'm meant to be drawing knights and dragon things, but end up drawing tea drinking bears... *sigh!*

Duck goes detective doodles!

The Haberdashery in Crouch End: Steven Lenton Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam

Once Amberin and I had put up her exhibition at Pickled Pepper Books, we nipped in a couple of doors down to the Haberdashery to have a quick peek at Steven Lentons pics that are on the walls in the cafe!

 It was lovely to see them out of the book, and I'll have to go back for food and tea and see the sketches that were up too. I'd already leaned over one customer having their lunch and didn't want to upset anymore!

Pickled Pepper Books Crouch End: Amberin's exhibition!

Today I was a (not so glamourous but warm) assistant helping my wonderful and talented chum Amberin Huq put up her exhibition at Pickled Pepper Books in Crouch End.
Its up for two months so you should definitely go along, her work is just brillo pants. Snap up a few prints! Plus you can have a look and at the gorgeous books within. Such a lovely space!

And we spied this on our way for lunch! AMAZING?!

Back to boys doodle activity pages

To get my hand back in, I drew swords for a colouring in page today.

Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam!

The last of my amazon voucher haul has arrived! It's great! Really like the free audio download you can scan with your phone. Love Nosy Crow for their techy bits and pieces :)

Pooey would be more impressed if it was about cats and not dogs she says. Can't please them all.

Garden update!

Lionel unsurprisingly isn't enjoying the hot weather.

The bluebells are coming on though, and my persian buttercups are flowering.

And the first strawberry flower is out!

 

I also tidied up my window boxes after about 3/4 years of just letting them do their own thing! Separated out the geraniums and the muscari and pruned back all the dead stalks.

The second window box seems to have faired the worse through the winter for some reason, so hope it catches up! 

Bank Holiday weekend

This Bank Holiday we headed back to the shire (Hereford) for Pedro's drummer, Dan's wedding! The Black Mountains looked lovely very early in the morning. 

The wedding was at Madley Church, which is very pretty (but was very cold!) and the reception at beautiful Brobury Gardens. The rest of Peds band played a little acoustic accompaniment before the meal :) Lovely day!

Also whilst I was home I found this pic of me and the uni football team! Ha!!

 And it wouldn't be a trip back to my folks without a pic of my old cat Horatio :) Looking as rough and tom cat as ever.

May garden update!

Well I've planted in a third of my sweet peas, and I have far too many! I'm giving them away to my lovely chum Faith whose getting married later this year and can hopefully use them then.
 Otherwise, lots of things are popping up. The bluebells are appallingly weedy though, they weren't the best bulbs, hopefully they'll put on a better show next year. All the tulips and daffs are about done, the big rose has buds on, as have my little peonies and the climbing roses are coming on steadily.
The lilly of the valley in the hanging basket have buds on, can't wait for those to flower, and I put in a cascading begonia bulb and sprinkled in some lobelia and something else which my mind can't recall! So when they flower it'll be a good surprise!

Pooey and Lionel saga: The latest

Apart from the odd little spat when Pooey launches herself at Lionel in full I WANNA PLAY mood, and all Lionel wants to do is sleep, they get on awfully well now. I've even seen him lick her head! Aah :)

My £50 Amazon Voucher (that I actually won! woop!) books arrived today!

Topped up my collection nicely :)

Lots of my fave illustrators in there. Now waiting fro Shifty Mcgifty and slippery sam to arrive by Steven Lenton! 

My Cat Likes To Hide In Boxes by Eve Sutton and Lynley Dodd

For some reason I keep thinking about this little book I had as a child and how I must get it out of my parents loft along with my old ladybird books.
My cat likes tohide in boxes was one of my FAVES! Especially the cat from Norway who got stuck in the doorway :)

Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty doodle!

Lots on weekend!

I saw Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty at the Wimbledon Theatre this Saturday. I cannot find enough words to describe or explain how AMAZING it was. My fave was the good fairy :)

Such a good take on the fairytale and fab twists.

And then today I went to see British Sea Power play the soundtrack to From the Sea and the Land Beyond. Again, just mind blowing. They incorporated lots of well known songs into the soundtrack but  did them so differently to how you usually hear them. So moving in parts.

                                        

and before BSP came on we managed to see Public Service Broadcasting do a little set of four tracks. I have been in love with this band since I heard Spitfire on BBC6Music. They are FANTASTIC. It was so loud in the hub at the O2!! Loved it, I must see them do a complete set.

                                           

Lionel the house guest cat doodle

Lionel has a problem with his back left leg where at any opportunity he will let it hang out very casually.
Here is an artists impression of how he thinks he must look...

YCN Tell stories, Pick Me Up-AOI Pricing talk and Flying Eye Event at Foyles

I had a busy day yesterday and the day before! I saw Rachel Bright, Benji Davies and James from Made in Me Books do a talk at YCN, which was brilliant. So gooooood to hear how illustrators made it to being published and the winding ways it happened. Very inspiring and reassuring to hear actually! Here's a link to it from YCN (That's my shoulder in the red to prove I was really there! Ha!)

 I then attended the AOI Pricing talk at Somerset House in conjunction with Pick Me Up yesterday, and I managed a sneaky peek inside as I signed up to AOI!

Then it was off to the Flying Eye/Nobrow Press event at Foyles. Such an interesting talk hearing how they got started. I also may have bought a book I can ill afford, but the illustrations were lovely. I really wanted to buy Wild by Emily Hughes but it's not out til June!

Featured in Fake Magazine!

The lovely ladies at Fake Magazine have put up a feature on me on their blog! Click here to have a look!

Pedro's brother and nephew come to stay!

So we've visitors here this week! Youngest nephew is a huge fan of Paddington Bear and optimistically set out in a blue (luckily not a duffle) coat and wellingtons and embarked on a bus sight seeing tour of London, taking in the changing of the guards, a picnic in Hyde Park (where the hyacinths smelt amazing) with marmalade sandwiches and finishing of with a cruise down the Thames. 

It was lovely watching him see a tube train arrive and travel on one for the first time and him dawdling about walking through the stations when you kind of need to be a bit quicker on the escalators!! :D 

Whole new appreciation of how my mam managed with me as a toddler in London!

It took it's toll on the Kirk boys! :D 

More flowers blooming!