Time Out

After a few lovely days off, I was back in the garage today making some minor tweaks to our printer.
We managed to print our own linocut Christmas cards in time though, which was very satisfying!

Next, we be trying the printer out on more challenging projects such as collographs...

New Exhibition

I've been invited to exhibit some of my landscape pictures at i2 Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, for their Christmas art fair. The show runs from 19th November until 24th December :-)

'Freesia'

Have a Happy Christmas :-)

'Tis the Season to Queue

Shopping to me means food. For everything else, there's the internet. Well, almost everything else... There's still one necessary evil from ancient times that requires standing patiently in a line of sniffing, coughing people in knitted hats.

Yes, the Post Office. Irrespective of the time of the visit, the queue always reaches the door. Apart from anything else, it means that everyone in the queue will get whacked in the back by the door as another victim joins in, breathing a sigh of exasperation as they do.

20 minutes later, I finally get to 'Cashier number Two Please', fully loaded with the collective queue's diseases. I buy 2 stamps for Europe (... and no, there's nothing of value in my Christmas card), which takes about 10 seconds.

Am I now allowed to escape? Don't be silly. The face of the cashier suddenly glazes over (mirroring my already zombied grimace), and launches into a carefully rehearsed sales pitch. I only have 15 minutes of my lunch break left and I still need to get some real shopping. 'Do I need to top up my mobile?' - 'No, I'm on contract'. 'Do I ever use a credit card?' - ' No, I steal everything I need'. 'Do I need insurance?'... At this point, I'm feeling slightly uneasy. Have I upset Cashier Number 2? Will there be a horses head sticking out of the letter box when I get home? The crowd behind are twitching away wildly  and I'm being sold everything I already have and wouldn't go the Post Office to buy, if I did need them.

As I leave, whacking the poor end-of-queue victim in the back and gasp in the fresh air, I can't help wondering how long this venerable institution can survive...

Last Event for 2010

Our last event takes place at Lauderdale House this Sunday for their Christmas Art and Craft Fair. Pop in if you just happen to live anywhere near Highgate, London!

Welcome to Winter

Amidst everyone crashing their cars on frozen roads (I wonder why?), trains stuck in tunnels and runways buried in snow, the one ray of sunshine is that the longest night has now passed. So it's either the start of winter, mid winter, or as far from the sun as our poor little planet will be for another year. Now we can all relax by spending the next few days, preparing, cooking, drinking and generally getting stressed with family. I can't wait! :-)

The Big Shop

Jamie Oliver has a lot to answer for. He's probably singlehandedly caused all the shops to run out of clementines, dark chocolate and Amaretto! Oh the joys of Christmas food shopping, (for stuff you won't look at for at least another year)...

Pre Christmas Quiz

It's that time of year when concentrating on work starts taking the back burner. So if your mind is wandering, try this little cryptic quiz instead! 'What has fallen for you?'

(The answer's in one of my website pictures).

Craft Fair Tomorrow

I'll be at a little Christmas craft fair at Lauderdale House, Highgate on Sunday. It will be less of my work and more a mixture of small christmas gifts from our previous life as 'Wicked Wires'.

We'll have cards, candles, wirework pictures, prints and decorations - something for everyone!

Christmas Cards

Yes, it's Christmas time again! I know the cards were in the shops at the start of September, but when all the cook books, biographies and decorations appear, the slippery slope look seven steeper. Down try to resist. Close your eyes, have a mince pie and a sherry and slide down the slope! ;-)

Time to relax

It's been a busy last few days, but in a nice way, with all the usual Christmas goings on. Now it's time to spend a couple more days relaxing until New Years eve, before getting back into the swing of things. See you in 2009, with the answers to my festive quiz!

Two Christmases

As I have part continental roots, it's a good excuse to have two Christmases! One tonight with my family and one for us tomorrow - why wait all that time to celebrate only the once? ;-)

Merry Christmases!

Lauderdale House Craft Fair

                    My display at Lauderdale House.

Saturday was looking dreadful with torrential rain all day, so I wasn't holding out much hope for Sunday in Highgate... And then as if by magic (and a foggy start), Sunday turned out to be dry and almost sunny all day, although very cold! Despite being a relatively slow day, I was lucky enough to have lots of enthusiastic comments and buyers and I soon forgot about the cold! Thanks to everyone who came along and to fellow artists for their support too (you know who you are!).

Christmas Cards

Weirdly, I feel more Christmasy than usual, and that's despite building a fold up bed for New Year guests (no pressure there!), fixing radiators that don't work and organising a craft fair for this weekend. Maybe it's because I've been printing out lots of festive cards to send to friends and family, and seeing all our old hand made cards and pictures on display locally. Either way, for once, I'm actually looking forward to Christmas!

And in the Old Days...

We've had an opportunity to show a few of our old 'Wicked Wires' pieces from our crafting days, in Potters Bar. Although not part of my photography business, there were a few Christmas cards, decorations, wired pictures and candles left, so we'd thought it would be nice to show them one last time!

Shoehorn wanted

Now we're on the final stretch to the pandemonium we refer to as Christmas, I've added some extra tasks to the list. I've decided to replace a couple of radiators, as well as decorate a guest room and build a bed (yes, I know). And, today, some small canvases turned up for some little paintings I had in mind...  Maybe, I've bitten off more than I can chew?!

Christmas Cards

I'm hoping to get into Lauderdale House in Highgate, London, for one of their Christmas craft fairs, but there's quite a waiting list! In the meantime, I've been printing some cards suitable for the time of year. 'Winter Skaters', above, is the kind of thing. I love this image as it's only a couple of years ago that I was whizzing around that very ice rink in the market square in Brugge - magical!

Official Christmas Time

From now on, it's Christmas. It's been Christmas in the supermarkets since October, so there's no point fighting it. I think we'll get the decorations up now and have a nice long holiday. Turkey everyday, crackers with every meal, 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' every hour on some channel or another, and 'Buy two and get the cheapest free' gifts from Boots. Why wait?!