My Art Endeavours

22/05/2108 - .... because I didn't have enough colouring books I bought a new one.

This one is all about fairies! It's lovely, can't wait to make this book full of beautiful, colourful, fantastical fairy creatures. This is my first go. She is a sort of floral, natural, forest dwelling nymph. I'm really happy so far.... just need to finish her headdress.






















16/8/17 - Finished piece! Lots of colour! Happy with how it turned out - took a while to get all of the flowers done!

New page with no colour yet - let's see what it looks like by the end of it. This page is a double spread. I'm going to do one page in pen and then one in pencil and see the difference. Pen first! There's a lot of hidden detail in this one - could take me a while.

12/8/17 - So not updated this as regularly as I had hoped to! Or at all for that matter. I've done quite a lot of colouring on and off over the last 2 years, collecting way too many colouring books and letting sit in a drawer for months! I've taken up colouring a lot more in the last month. I've been doing it in the evenings to keep my fingers and my mind busy to stop me from snacking.

I recently visited a friend, who is also one of my bridesmaids and a fellow colourer... and she was systematically colouring through her adult colouring book.... page after page...... which is a weird concept for me. As I'm a flicker througher and pick the picture I like best to do next, but her book looked AMAZING! All the colour and creativity was stunning and the fact that it was every page - a feast for the eyes! I had serious colouring envy. So, I have taken the first book that I ever got to colour.... the book that all the pictures in this blog post are already from and I'm going to work through it a page at a time..... it will probably take me forever to finish..... if I ever finish it but I do find it really relaxing and it stops me from creeping to the kitchen for naughty snacks. Helps with my anxiety at times too..... when I'm stressed - my colouring book is a God send!

Here is the first page of the book...... nearly completed. Just a few more sections to go.

I also completed the picture in the post below from 2 years ago! I must have finished it just after posting and then never got round to posting it. So here it is!

This book will be a challenge and I'm going to try and not skip pages.... even if they don't really take my fancy. Stay tuned for more arty pics.

Megan xx

14/06/15 - I'm putting the date as I will hopefully be updating this entry regularly with progress pictures. I will be posting the updates at the top of the page so it will read chronologically down - most recent post at the top. Hope that makes sense. 

I don't know whether to do all the flowers the same colour of to have them all slightly different? Any advice anyone? I love how this is coming along, the pencils make the picture look really soft and natural. Very pleased so far.

06/06/15:

I finished it! It took me bloomin' ages but it's done. I love it! So much detail in there that at times it made my head hurt colouring it in. 

Now to do a design in my new colouring pencils that I've mentioned before! 

Which out of these two designs do you lovely readers suggest I do next? 1 or 2?

1....

2....

25/05/15 How I spent my bank holiday....

I spent it colouring! Wahoo!!

....and I got a new set of pencils for some of the designs which need to be a little be softer than the pens. Hoping to use them on my next design maybe - will be posting a decision blog when this one is done. 

09/05/15 - Enjoyed a Friday night in with hot chocolate and Tim Minchin on the telly.... oh, and my colouring book! I've said it before and I will definitely say it again! I have a 40 year old soul instead of my actual age of 22.

My Wild Night In! 

05/05/15 - Got a few more little bits done yesterday. Still wasn't feeling brilliant and was finding it hard to concentrate. Think I've recovered properly now so should be able to get more done this week.

I love the difference between the two halves of this page! Can't wait till it's all done. 

Really coming on, I think. Still a long way to go though

02/05/15 - Not been feeling well today. Sometimes haven't even had the concentration to colour. Got a little bit more done though. Nearly half way - need to hit the sheets. I am SO tired!

01/05/15:

More colourful fun! Second project already more fun than the first! This design is so intricate! I love it. 

30/04/15 - So, after chatting to a colleague/friend today about my next project and having a flick through the book we came the decision that I should start a completely different, third, design. This is it:

There is so much detail in this one but I am going to leave the background white so that the individual sections stand out even more. 

Love how this flower is put together, there are so many sections that it allows for really intricate colour work. The only thing is, it throws my OCD out of whack as all the petals have an outline (that is pink) apart from one. It really wound me up for a while but after adding some more details around the flower, it isn't so noticeable. 

Got some of the surrounding detail sorted whilst waiting for Ballroom to start. It's such a gorgeous pattern! I love it. Can't wait to see how it all turns out. :D

29/04/15 - FINISHED! What do people think? Any good?

DONE

So, which one do people like more? Left or right? I can't work out which one I like more? 

I was away with the school this week so got to spend some down time with my art book. This is how far I got. I'm so close to finishing. Tomorrow I think I'll post two new designs that I'd like to do and ask which one my lovely readers (yes, that's you guys) decide which one I should do.

So close to completion

25/04/15 - Got another 'circle' coloured in all the different squares today. Got one more circle and then the corners to do. I love how relaxed I feel when I'm doing this. It's the ultimate time waster but it's brilliant.

It's getting there!

 24/04/15 - Been doing a lot of doodling this evening! Not feeling 100% so I am tucked up in bed with a movie and my colouring book. Very relaxing. Here is how my current piece is looking at the moment.

Getting there!

23/04/15 - I recently bought a colouring books for grown-ups as a time wasting/creative/therapeutic activity... and it is brilliant!

The Book!

I got it from a company that sell books at my work called The Book People, but you can get books like this online and in some stationary shops.

Seeing as I am now hooked I thought I might post my progress through the book on here, ask opinions on my next page and colour schemes etc. I am feeling particularly creative at the moment and am really enjoying working on my first piece in the book.

The First Piece

I really liked the way these ornate blocks are laid out, there is quite a lot of hidden detail that I hope will really jump out as I fill more and more of it in!

Stage One Done!

All the squares completed and some of the middle stars are filled in to. I love seeing how this is all starting to fit together. Still a lot of white on the page to work through though! Loving this, really glad I bought it.

#100happydays Day 43 to 49

Half way.... well pretty much! 

Day 43) Lovely tidy bedroom and new sheets on the bed! Hurray!

Day 44) I was sorting out my car and this little man appears on my drivers seat. Apparently Jasper is being my chauffeur from now on. 

Day 45) Mary Kay delivery arrived!! To read more on Mary Kay, click here. 

Day 46) HUGE PIZZA!!! Said goodbye to an amazing colleague on Thursday. She will be totally missed but it was a brilliant night out and a great way to send her off on her new journey. 

Day 47) TEA! Keeping me going during a really long babysitting session.

Day 48) Caught this little guy having a drink on Saturday morning. I love seeing my garden come to life in the spring.

Day 49) After a long triathlon training day at Eton Dorney, a puzzle in the bath was just what I needed. I was quite pleased with my genius creation of a puzzle board! 

Come back next week for more happy days! 

M xx

#100happydays Week 5 - Days 29 to 35

Another week come and gone! Can't believe we are in the 30s already! 

Day 29) Bank Holiday Monday. Loads of fun and photos taken at RHS Wisley Gardens. You can read my full days excitement and see more photos in my two blog posts from the day. Post 1. Post 2. 

Day 20) Finished the next book on my reading list! Onto The Hobbit now! Follow my progress on my BBC 100 Booklist blog post.

Day 31) More colouring! Lovely time chilling out.

Day 32) Spent the evening sorting out my room - didn't quite get to the end of the challenge but well on the way. Hopefully will find some time this week to finish it all off so that everything is back in it's proper place. 

Day 33) FRIDAY! Alcohol and movie. That is all!

Day 34) Had a really lovely catch up with Ella, a friend from my 6th Form. Always great to have a good chin wag and then had a social dance with Belinda and Mr. R. So much fun, so much dancing... so much water in wine glasses! 

Day 35) FANTASTIC DAY! First of all I went to car boot sale - my first and one of many! Check in with my blog later this week for a write up of my first awesome experience of the car boot phenomenon. Then it was off to London to see my lovely Lizzie, a dear friend from uni. We had the hugest pizzas for small-ish prices and ice cream made with liquid nitrogen and chinchin labs in Camben town. Check out there website here for there address and more details on what they do. Their ice cream is incredible. We ate it whilst watching a narrow boat called 'Muttley' and another boat go up a lock. It was all very chilled out and I feel like Lizzie and I have put the worlds to right a little bit during our afternoon of catching up. 

So there we go! Another 7 happy days! Only 65 to go until the challenge is done for another year!

Check in soon
M xx

A Sunday Spent A-Romping!

One thing I love about Bank Holiday weekends is how my parents always try and spend the day with me and my sister. We spend a lot of time together anyway, but we make a special effort over the weekend to try and spend some quality time as a family. Today we all went for a walk along the Basingstoke Canal with our gorgeous puppy dog, Jasper. (He's nearly 5 but we still call him a puppy because he is so damn cute!)

Introducing Jasper! Our Springer Spaniel cross Labrador pup. Ain't he adorable! 

Jasper likes cuddles, food and very weirdly, he likes peoples ears. If you are sitting down and bend to tie your shoes, he will try and nibble your ears off - undoubtedly. 

Yes, he is licking my face. He was just resting his head on the back of the seat but when I went to take the picture he went for me! Lovely slobber! He's a sweetie but he does like to try and eat everything he possibly can.

This is my sister! Getting her to smile for a photo is tough so these are rare shots of her beautiful, happy face! We were having a giggle today. Since coming back from uni it's been really great to getting to spend more time together and see more of this brilliant smile! 

Here are Sian and Jasper, ready to set off on our walk. The sun came out, it was lovely and warm and we are ready to go a-wandering. The walk was all along the canal so there was lots of prettiness to look at. Plus, some of the houses along the canal are totally massive! It's a really affluent area and they all have fields for gardens, out houses, verandas etc. As we were walking, we saw and old guy and, I assume, his son building a jetty at the end of their garden into the canal! Colour me jealous. 

No filter - the sky was actually this blue today!

A little way into our walk we came across a little family of ducklings! They were so tiny, they could only have been weeks old. I love their little fluffy bodies and how they constantly cheap to their mothers. It's just so sweet!! 

 My lovely family! Being out in the sunshine was great! Lots of giggling happened as well as just general chit chat that we don't always get time for when we are all going about our busy weeks. I really value the time that I get to spend catching up and just spending time with my family. I consider myself very blessed to be part of such a loving, funny, supportive bunch of loons!

Here is one of the mansions I mentioned earlier! This house was beautiful! When we walked past this house Sian decided that this is where she is going to live. 'That's it.' She said 'That's my house.' It was stunning, it had a swing hanging from an old tree over the river. It would be amazing in the summer to just swing into the canal from it! 

As a family, we've been on 2 narrow boat holidays. It's such a lovely way to relax and as you literally can't go more than 4 miles an hour on the water, you are forced to chill out and watch the world glide by. Whenever I see a narrow boat now I get all nostalgic for a holiday on the water. There is something so peaceful about waking up to the sunrise, moored up on a river with the sound of the birds and the lapping water against the boat. 

One man and his dog! My daddy and his favourite child - Jasper. These two are not easily separated! They are very much 'best buds', Jasper gets all jittery if he thinks Dad isn't coming back which is really funny. I think, as a family, we have raised the most neurotic dog on the planet.

We stopped at the pub for a drink and the toilets had this sign in them. Sian and I thought that it was great! Not necessarily true but it made us giggle none the less. 

After the pub the walk moves away from the river and goes through a load of farm land and rolling hills. There are lots of cute little styles and hidden footpaths among woodland. Felt a little bit like I was discovering the Secret Garden. Now there is a film I really want to see again! Such a beautiful movie.

Don't know what it was about these 'footpath' signs but they were so sweet! I think it's because they actually look like little fingers pointing you in the right direction! So sweet. 

All round a lovely walk, a lovely day with my lovely family!

Check in soon

M xx