Another page for a travelling book

Blackbird feeding on berries

click to enlarge

I've been working on the travelling books pages again this week. They seem to be arriving all at once and now that I have three to do, I've got to get my skates on!! This painting is for Katie Jane's nature themed book. I tried another new technique this time; it's a watercolour painting with a difference! If you're interested - you can read about this on the Artysoulsisters blog.

Giveaway Winner!!!!

Hello! Tia here! It's 'Giveaway Day' on her blog and she's got it into her head that if she lets me out of the bag and into the pot with all the names, I'll find a winner for this little birdie album she's made.



Hmm, personally I'd rather skip the pot and take the bird, but apparently that's not the done thing on blogs.. so here I go...

hold on while I shuffle the little papers ... and pick a winner . Drum roll please !

***********************

Ta Da!

So our lucky winner of the red bird folded album, is Margaret Ann of Water Blossoms!! Congrats Peg, little red bird will be flying in your direction very soon. I really hope you enjoy using it!

And, of course I want to say a really BIG THANK YOU ! to all of you who took part - your support means a lot to me!!

Etsy Shop Re-opening and Giveaway!!!

I'm delighted to announce that my little ETSY shop is open again at last!!

I've been working all hours of the day and night drawing and painting, cutting and sticking, scanning and photographing, editing and listing my items! I've stocked up with some cute little personalised pictures for children, beautiful handmade folded albums and yet to come, lots of gorgeous handmade cards. There's a link in my sidebar - or click on the pic above or banner below to enter my shop.




You're all welcome to browse and do pop in often as I'll be listing new items regularly!! Oh, and if you order now you can take advantage of FREE INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING !




IN ADDITION!!! To celebrate the re-opening of my shop I'm having a giveaway here on my blog!



Just leave me a comment by Tuesday, 27th October and I'll put you in a draw to win this pretty folded album! It's covered in a decorative paper with an oriental bloom and bird motif and tied with a pretty red ribbon. It makes a lovely little journal or photo album - the accordion folded pages are sturdy card stock. This album is not available in my shop at the moment!

GOOD LUCK - I'll announce the winner on Wednesday 28th!!

Illustration Friday FROZEN

Late as usual for this week's Illustration Friday. I've sliced a watercolour in half and put a sepia filter over one side just as an experiment!

Watercolour Amarylis for Ellie

I love books!! I spend hours in bookshops and spend far too much money in them!! I have a vast library of all kinds of art and craft books as well as fiction! Here is a very small part of the watercolour section in my bookcase in my studio! I'm constantly flipping through them for inspiration and a few months back re read one of these and followed the guidelines on how to paint Amarylis.

First I made a quick study- loose with a lot of flicked paint,

Then I painted another portrait more carefully.

I've decided to post them both for you to see, but mainly because I want to give one to Ellie, my Sister in Law! I hope these will cheer you up a little Ellie, let me know which one you like best and I will send you a print in the post! Lots of love, Caroline xx

A big long list of Thankyous!

I've received a super award some lovely ATCs (Artists Trading Cards) recently and want to thank everyone who has kindly sent them to me and share them with you!



Look at this lovely award from Ces. Many of you will already know Ces and I'm sure will agree with me when i say that I don't know how she finds the time to make all the amazing art she does whilst holding down a 'real' job and looking after her family - personally I reckon she has access to more than 24 hours a day!! Ces has so much time for her blogfriends, supporting them with her words and prolific art - you only have to visit her blog to see how busy and loved she is - you can read about the making of the Deborah award here. I am really honoured that she has included me in the roll of recipients. Thank you my friend!!


Next up are some lovely little ATCs from Soulbrush . Joss, thank you for these little gems - my favourite is the beautiful African head! Joss, too is very supportive of her fellow arty bloggers and if you don't already know her I hope you'll head over to her blog to see amongst others, posts with super African inspired art.






And here is the cutest little bunny that I received from Monica who is one of my all time favourite illustrators. I always enjoy visiting her blog - Monica's little characters are adorable! Bunny now has his home in my studio and is well loved! Thanks Monica, hope my ATCs to you have arrived by now!

Another travelling book page

Click to enlarge

'Ocean Bed'

Here's what I've been working on these last couple of days - a page for Suki's travelling art book. I had a lot of fun with this one - you can find out how I made it by visiting the artysoulsisters blog!

Arty soul sisters - travelling books!

Arty Soul Sisters

artwork by Joss Ross (Soulbrush)

I've recently joined a group of like minded arty girls in a new project -the artysoulsisters! We're creating travelling art books and sending them across the miles to each other. We're 9 in total so that means 9 different creative visions in each book - thanks to Joss aka Soulbrush for gathering us all together!

'Purple Haze'
First page of my travelling art book

Front cover image

I've been working on my own book this week. Pop in to the artysoulsisters blog if you'd like to check out how I made these pages and see what everyone is up to!