Christmas Cards

I entered some work I did last year into a Christmas card competition the other day and it came up trumps. The charity in question is The Girls Network who are a fantastic. I also mentor for them and all the money raised from card sales goes towards the charity and helping to inspire and support young women. You can order cards here.

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Birth of a Star. Before. Middle. End

Before (space and some space dust)

Middle (space and some dust and gas)

End (ish) dust and gas swirling around creating the protostar.

This weeks assignment was to illustrate before, middle and end. I ummmed and eerrred about what almost all week then on Sunday, whilst watching Brian Cox wax lyrical about the solar system I thought I'd do the birth of star. I feel like I cheated a bit as I did the whole thing digitally and didn't touch my sketchbook BUT this assignment feeds into our final piece and I have an idea forming around the Aurora Borealis so I figure brushing up my Photoshop, magical sky skills, won't go a miss.

"The pursuit of an idea is exciting as the pursuit of a Whale"

"The pursuit of an idea is exciting as the pursuit of a Whale"

I started an illustration evening course this September. Each week we're given assignments, which is great as it forces me to try new things. Last week we were each given a quote to illustrate. This one isn't my final piece so its a bit unfinished but its the one that came up trumps with my friends.

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Birthday Surpises

Some sketches for the, proverbial, father in law's big birthday bash this weekend. We've rented a house in London town and plan to spend a long weekend eating good food, drinking good beer (or in this case whiskey!) and generally having a lovely time. Yes the whiskey does look a bit like wee, might have to play with the colours a bit!

I Want To Make Soup!

Now the weather is on the turn and the days are getting shorter I want to make delicious warming soups. Watch this space for some lovely autumnal recipes.

Peachy Fresh

Bonus benefit of this healthy eating and drinking lark, lovely peachy fresh skin! Get involved :)

Bee Pollen! (what is it?!)

I was chatting with a couple of friends of mine the other day and one of them asked me what, exactly, bee pollen actually is. After all the general consensus is that bees collect pollen, not make it. After some self-conscious, middle-glass, feet shuffling about the fact we were discussing the addition of bee pollen to our beverages and some hi-jinx about insect cruelty and scrapping bees knees to thieve their hard one pollen swag, I did some research. SO, without further ado bee pollen is:

A mass of pollen that has been stuck together with nectar and honey by worker bees. Wikipedia has this to say on the composition of bee pollen 'the average composition is said to be 55% carbohydrates, 35% proteins, 3% minerals and vitamins, 2% fatty acids, and 5% diverse other components.' Apparently these 'diverse other components' include 'unidentified compounds' so I guess they're a bit like the pills of the health food world. You can read more about the health benefits of bee pollen here.

To make this delicious smoothie (mentioned in my previous post) you will need

1 Banana, sliced and frozen over night (I take mine out of the freezer 20 mins. or so ahead of time because my blender struggles to blitz it other wise).

200 mls Rice Milk

1 tablespoon Peanut Butter 

2 Medjool Dates 

1 heaped teaspoon Milled Flaxseed and Goji Berries

1 heaped teaspoon Bee Pollen! (optional)

Take all the ingredients (bar the magical bee pollen) and blitz in your blender. Pour into a glass, sprinkle on your bee pollen and enjoy :)

I got the original recipe from Naturally Sassy who has heaps of other delicious recipes on her site.

Rave on healthy people!

Conquering the Bloaty Belly

I get terrible 'bloaty belly'. I have been tested for food intolerances a number of times and every time drawn a blank. However I recently tried juicing (just drinking juiced fruit and vegetables to allow your body to detox) for a couple of days. I couldn't do the not-eating-solid-food bit but I tried to stick to healthy stuff. Anyway I ate some cheese on one of the days and felt terrible. SO for the next 2 weeks I'm cutting out dairy to see if it makes a difference. Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted...

Today's breakfast: peanut butter and banana smoothie with bee pollen topping. You can find the recipe here, along with heaps of other delicious recipes. I substituted brown rice protein powder for milled flaxseed and goji berries which you can buy in most health food shops or online here.

Gifts

PaPa Kite. June 2014

Adele. May 2014

An illustration I did for my friend Adele's birthday and another for Father's day. The former depicting what my Pa would consider the 'finer' things in life. Prize amongst these being his hideous caravan!

Congratulations

A little illustration I did for my sister's graduation earlier this Summer. I was so pleased for her and proud. Only 7 more years to go until she's a architect.

Dance Every Day

It will make you feel happy