Boden Bunny and The Great Easter Egg Hunt

boden catalogue and puppets, originally uploaded by Helen Rawlinson.

A bit of fun with Boden!
Other Materials: Cardboard/Cereal Boxes for backing, paper, scissors, gluestick, pen and coloured pencils, tons of sticky tape, lollipop sticks and much patience.
Things learned. Bribery works a treat on boys not much into arty stuff. 'You can use the camera and make a video?'
Cutting out things in advance speeds up the process so boredom doesn't set in after 60 seconds.
OK so he won't draw, but will give suggestions as to how the puppets should look....arms up, down, out to side..... all with good actions thrown in.
Use letters from boxes to create names and write on the backs so we remember.
Get a small friend round next time, preferably a girl, so you're not left on your own finishing it all off.
Lots of storytelling about Stanley, Ernie, Rabbit and Ellie getting on a bus and going to the seaside to hunt for eggs, all on video of course!

Get the full episode on Flickr

Photo Shoot...Lamp(s)

The big one's not for sale.

New Cushions

I had a frantic make before the weekend as I was seeing the family and have promised my sister in law some cushions. So here they are and off they went!
I'm listing as 'made to order' in my Etsy shop for now.
The Wonki Hugs character came from one of the Of Cabbages and Kings Markets last year. I'll dig around to find the name.

Juicy Delights!

I'll be popping these organic mix packs in my shop very soon! You can see the whole set on Flickr

The Gallery Meme: Me

Well this was a tough one so I'll get straight in there:
This picture is Me all over: messy, untidy, disorganised chaos. My studio at it's unfinest.
The working lady....
and then there's Me and Stanley
Having a bit of fun...My crazy lovely boy! Me the Mum.

This was our first joint face painting experience. Getting him to paint my face was a bit of a break through as he's not much into painting and drawing and we had such a laugh.

I hate pictures of myself, so this is a rare posting. I've decided that you may hate them at the time, but looking at them a few years down the line, those small lines and wrinkles don't look so bad! Needless to say, this was me just yesterday, so it's still a bit raw!

Thanks again to Sticky Fingers for setting the task. Of course I've got nothing better to do!

Just a bit of detail:
Face Paints from Early Learning Centre and were a bit rubbish, must look what I'm actually buying and not get Princess colours next time.
Earrings were a great find from Blueberry Park. Karen also has a very cheerful blog here.
Zippy top from my super friend Kate over at Moozlehome Now a teepee queen!
Finally, the gorgeous and accidentally in focus painting is by my old friend Damian O'Brien, who I haven't seen for years and it's about time I did. I can't find him on the web so I'll have to trawl my emails.

See... it's not ALL about me really!

Rachael Howard / Home

Rae and I go way way back to our RCA days and a short stint in India of working and traveling together. I've always loved her work and she was the one that got me filling sketch books on my journeys abroad and not being afraid of messing them up! Now living in West Kirby, I miss my big mate and all her kids, but we do get to spend a bit of quality time together now and then and I know she misses the London life a little too! Having said that, their home is really beginning to look like their own after much renovation work. It is, well, just huge and fab with a fairy tale park at the end of the road and the Marine Lake is just a few steps further. So it's not all bad getting away from London and we'll definitely be visiting again!
Here's just a few pics of her super white space and a bit beyond. Rae had an 'open house' exhibition not long ago, so all her work was still up to enjoy.......

Bobby Dazzlers on the bedroom doors. The mad raggy doll was a Broadway Market find

Teddies sent from London!

Stanley did a spot of picture taking too!
Paintings and work by others are dotted about the house too, love this one by Nicky Bone. Nice to see one of my old collages on the wall, we've done some great swaps over the years.New pencils for the boys!

Bye Bye Liverpool, see you soon!

Rachael's website is home to the Tie Collection and features some funny shots of family and friends. She's just set up an online shop here with more to come I'm sure. Love it all! x

Print Session

I've had a couple of days printing this week. Some designs I've been meaning to get on fabric for a while, whilst new designs are in the pipeline. Sunset Strip, Moroccan tile and Spot. Love the bright red and sage together. The lilac is a new hue. All on organic unbleached cotton at last! I'll be adding to my Etsy shop soon.

The Gallery Meme: Taupe and Yellow

Here's my bit of mid week fun! I'm joining in on a Meme from Sticky Fingers via British Mummy Bloggers!
I took these two photos last weekend. The train journey from West Kirby to Liverpool was full of expectation and all in hues of taupe! The yellow accents were picked up my friend Rae's lovely home! More of that later.

Happy Birthday Eva!

Had fun with making this order last week!
Props thanks to Namolio for the bear and DH Painter for the bird. The dog has been in our home for many years!

Days Away

I've just had four refreshing days away from London life, up in Liverpool and mainly West Kirby: staying with friends I've known for a good long while, having fun with their kids and seeing the delights of the North West! I've got much more to write about this weekend. Our little walk on Mother's Day was a real treat.

Do Something Different

Do Something Different, originally uploaded by martinhanna.

This lovely picture is what I wished I'd taken, thanks to martinhanna for sharing a lovely shot!

Mixed Bag!

I had rather a random weekend of picture taking. First to pick up Stanley from the Barbican after the ever wonderful Aunty Jacquie had him for a sleepover...my birthday treat! Pick up was amidst the fabulously chaotic 'Do Something Different Weekend' and I only managed to take pictures of the pavement outside.
Then it was off to a farm near Waltham Abbey and the highlight was the sheds full of cows!
Finally, I got some more ABCs printed in red, only this time they are on organic unbleached plain weave cotton, which is looking very nice indeed. More pics soon.