Jane s jaunt oop north

Well-I am in Cumbria doing Printfest-the good and the great and me are gathered in Ulverston to show our wares.To say I m tired is an understatement.Drove for 4 and a half hours yesterday-then up at 6 30 this morning and then spent 6 hours putting up the show.(I will post up pictures next week).I am now lying on my bed at my lovely b and b eating a giant bar of galaxy and contemplating the private view at 7 this night.There is some fabulous work there-it s very intimidating.Anyway despite my first cock up which was putting the wrong screws in my browser and flapping like a chicken ,I managed to stay calm and actually make quite a good job of it all.I don t know if there ll be much socialising tonight but I m rather looking forward to an early night and a flick through ghastly Ok magazine-don t say i don t know how to live !!!!!

Not such a lazy day...

Well,i started the day by doing a 5 mile run.Every bone in my body said DON T DO IT but i have to say i m rather glad i did.Jen and i are running the Bristol 10k in 3 weeks -3 weeks !!So we d better get a move on.
I then proceeded to spend a considerable amount of money on acid free board to mount my unframed prints on.Richard at Arboreta is always so helpful and charming -i could spend hours in his paper warehouse.You could swoon over the amount of paper that s in there.He even has a special machine that wets brown parcel tape-genius!!!!I then continued from there to Spike Island where i wrapped about 40 prints that are for the Rostra gallery in Bath to take to the Affordable Art Fair.This is boring.When i wrap work i keep sighing loudly.I want to invent a machine where you just post the print through a slot and it comes out the other end all cellophaned and ready to go.You know,the equivalent of those netting machines that they use on Christmas trees.My other secret weapon is my lovely friend Chitra,a fabulous printmaker herself,who has been known to wrap my work because i m too darn lazy to do it myself.Now all i ve got to do is sort out the delivery note.Yawn.

Lazy day

Today started with the best of intentions - get the A-board finished, go to the post office , meet old friend for coffee then work. Completed the first two assignment but was led astray by my erstwhile friend. Coffee turned into lunch, lunch turned into mooch around Pink Lemons and Make, (didn't buy anything but considered a pair of harem pants - can I get away with a pair? or is this a fashion fad I will live to regret?) and by then it was nearly 2 o'clock and i needed a cup of tea. Decided to go home and make a cake but wondered around the garden admiring the blossom. Did school run, then once home felt I ought to redeem myself so started making a batch of flapjacks. Got the sugar out of the cupboard and a giant slug fell out of the bag....so disgusting. Had to wash my hands three times to get the slime of my fingers.

5 girls a parrot and a lemur

Quite frankly I am exhausted.Due to the volcanic dust mullarkey Paul is stuck in Poland and so i had to conduct my daughter s nineth birthday party on my own.So it was me and 5 girls at Bristol zoo.We met some lovely ring tailed lemurs-all those fabulous stripes have inspired me and it s about time i made a break from birds,cats and dogs.We also witnessed a mid air fight between a parrot and a seagull.Now you don t see that every day.

The girls wanted to sleep in a den so i rather cleverly and cunningly created a fabulous tent.It s amazing what you can do by tying 4 sheets together.

An introduction...

Here is a little bit about one of our quieter members! You'll notice that Jane has taken to this blogging malarky like a duck to water, but the rest have been rather conspicuous in their absence! So I'm going to beginning to remedy the situation by introducing Rosalind King. Ros joined Jane and me at our old studio, back in the day, when she was pretty fresh out of college and knee high to a grass hopper. We feel in love with an amazing wall hanging she had completed for her final project at college which mixed images of Indian seed packets with embroidery and bits and bobs. She has an incredible magpie eye for putting disparate objects together to make an intriguing and delicious piece. She also makes bold brooches, handsome hearts and terrific tea towels! You should be able to find the tea towels for sale here and the brooches too.

No more Mad Men

I am bereft.It was the last episode of Mad Men tonight.No more Betty and Don for a whole year !Everything is spectacularly styled-the hair,the clothes,the furniture-even the goddamn cigarette smoke.What will i do now on a Wednesday at 10 pm ,sniff?

Jane s tales from spike

Well I got to do some printing at Spike Island on Sunday.Had the whole place to myself .Thank god the cantina was open downstairs so i could get my usual fix of apricot flapjack.Here are some prints drying on the wrack-not quite right yet but getting there !

Something new

I've been a very good girl today and went to a quiet fig to work on a couple of commissions (still not finished...) and meanwhile made a necklace for myself! I've hardly got any of my own jewellery - a few prototypes, or dodgy things I can't sell - and as my sister is getting married in 12 days I thought I'd treat myself. Here it is!

Jane s defence

Oh dear - yes,no surface is safe when i m about.It s called organic spreading.I must buy a lovely shelf.Just imagine what the inside of my handbag is like.

Tidying update

Well, even though the weather was glorious again today (and I had childcare!) I didn't tidy, and I did work hard. Honest. So here is my 'proper' desk to prove it. I reckon I beat Jane hands down in the Fig Untidy Stakes (2010), but boy can Jane spread. If you're not in the studio she lays claim to your desk and covers it (though not with apple cores, they are strictly for her own desk). This is why I keep mine so messy, to stop the Ormes Encroachment. Honest.

Here are 2 more photos of the inside of Fig.Lovely cushions by Charlotte and 2 of my new mini prints in box frames.I ve spent most of today signing new prints and quite frankly some of my titles are too damn long.Whilst momentarily distracted by a charming customer i accidentally signed one upside down.Boo hoo -there s a dirty great mark on it now where i tried to rub it out.I haven t quite mastered this composition bit -expect there s another huge white space beneath this.Thought so.

Here is a shot of our lovely window.I am particularly enjoying the reflection of the houses opposite us.Look at those cardboard rabbits -i made them with my own fair hands.Meibh of Iota,I swear your cardboard fox terrier is nearly ready !

On the other hand here is my desk Jemima - i have put the browning apple core next to the sellotape to give a sense of scale.I so need a lovely lovely shelf like you.

Before and After - it's tidy up time!

Today was one of those days - beautiful weather, perfect for an early spring walk and a picnic. So I was working, of course. And had paid for child care so there was no getting out of it. I pretended to work hard for at least and hour and then had a brainwave. I would have a tidy up! Kind of working without working. And I put up a shelf! So here is the result....

Sadly I couldn't quite bring myself to tidy the main desk of doom (which you can't see here!) but who knows, if it;s sunny again tomorrow I might just have to do it.