Do you ever get the feeling your life needs a revamp? I’ve been feeling this way for a while now and, as I’m a firm believer in decluttering your life in order to let new stuff in, I’ve started by revamping my blog! I wrote my first blog post over four years ago under a… Continue reading A few changes around here…
I went for a walk with a friend yesterday and he asked me how my writing was going. It took me a nanosecond to update him: I am half way through writing a children’s novel, I have written three picture books (unpublished), I am waiting to hear back about my fourth (my best, I reckon), and I… Continue reading Less talking, more writing!
If you love books, fairy tales and magic (and if you don’t, what’s wrong with you?!), then you’ll love this. Su Blackwell creates exquisite book-sculptures, like the one above and below. Her cut-out paper designs depict magical fairy-tale forests and houses. I’ve followed her work for a while now and it is truly stunning. Here… Continue reading Beautiful book sculptures
When I was a kid, I collected rocks. (I really did - unusual ones, fossilised ones and ones with sparkly bits in them.) Nowadays, I collect quotes. When the chips are down, people can’t always be relied on to say the right things. A quote will hit the spot every time. But you need to… Continue reading My favourite inspirational quotes
You know how, when you love the taste of a food, you gobble it up and somehow forget to fully enjoy it? Have you ever had that experience with a book? Right now I am forcing myself to slow down and savour reading The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell. Snow. Russia. Wolves. Adventure. A girl called… Continue reading Gobbling up books
Hello. Remember me?! Sorry I've been so quiet lately. Before Christmas consumes me, I thought I'd better post an update! The reason I've been a bit preoccupied lately is due to the hairy dog I drew way back in May. A friend very kindly put him on a t-shirt and a mug for me as a gift,… Continue reading My new business… possibly
I had planned to write a post about my next venture. That’s still the plan but I'm taking a quick detour to share something important. I’m reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. (I wasn’t sure about the book at first but it's just got better and better and now I am ever… Continue reading Stop whining and get back to work
It has been nine months since my first book Oh Sugar! was published and ever since then I have been wondering how well its been selling (Amazon rankings give you a clue but they don't necessarily reflect book sales in shops). Last month I got my grubby mitts on the sales figures! Before I go… Continue reading Sales of my first book
I promised I would post photos showing how one of my paintings emerged over the Bloom True Art course I did in June. ‘Emerged’ is the perfect word. Flora Bowley teaches you to add layer upon layer of paint. Averaging two layers of paint a week, the painting s-l-o-w-l-y transforms before your eyes over 5 weeks.… Continue reading A painting in 12 stages
My 'Bloom True' art course has ended. (Sniff.) It ended almost two months ago actually but it had such a profound impact on me, I’ve been deliberating, cogitating and digesting ever since (hence no blog posts - my brain cells were having a 'moment'). Here are six big, brilliant things I learned from Flora Bowley: There are… Continue reading 6 big things I learned from Flora Bowley’s art course
Katherine Bassford 