June 30, 2005

Addicted

The past week has been very poor for me blogwise. Not just because I was away for a very long weekend, which set me back, but also because I am beginning to realise I have a problem.

Yes, I am admitting here that I will soon have to join 'Bloggers Anonymous'. I am totally and utterly addicted. So much so that my productivity has completely ceased and it is taking all of my focus just to write this post tonight. I blame my pesky husband for introducing me to RSS Newsfeeds. It seemed brilliant at first, but I should've realised that behind the fantastic facade lay an evil demon waiting to get its claws into the vulnerable, nosy and easily distracted out there. My newsfeed list is now growing beyond control and I find myself twitching to check to see if there are any updates and then getting strangely perturbed when no-one has updated there blogs. Maybe everyone else out there has fallen into the clutches of RSS. If so let me know. Together we will get through this.

So just to point out what I have missed, last week I didn't get around to my homemaking extract. This week I have failed to produce anything for Illustration Friday, missed my Wednesday Movie and am determined to get some more homemaking advice up tomorrow. On a grander scale I have a long way to go to finish this site, have various sewing projects on the backburner and my house is becoming dustier by the day.

But on a happier note, I received my print from Claire Robertson and it is just BEAUTIFUL. I am so excited. I was going to photograph it for a post (another task missed) but I decided I would wait until its framed.

Posted by Maxine at 09:34 PM | Comments (2)

June 22, 2005

Movie Night: Sin City

Our Wednesday movie night was bought forward to Tuesday this week and with a babysitting opportunity we couldn't miss, we headed to the cinema. You take for granted simple things like going to the movies, when you have kids. Every time you get a chance to go out in the evening it is a big deal.

So we went to see Sin City. At first, after a few minutes into the film I was feeling a little unsure about whether I would like it. But those feelings didn't last long. It was FANTASTIC. It looked totally amazing and at times it was literally like seeing the comic book illustrations come to life. There were some incredible scenes. It was pretty gruesome at times but then that was to be expected. I can't say that I have ever seen a film quite like this, if not for the stories it is worth seeing for style - amazingly done. I think you could say I liked it! The best person for me in the film had to be Clive Owen, he just fit the character perfectly. But they were all excellent. You should definitely see it on the big screen for maximum impact.

Also strangely enough it tied in quite nicely with this weeks Illustration Friday topic of 'black and white'.

Posted by Maxine at 01:44 PM | Comments (0)

June 21, 2005

Illustration Friday: Black and White

Here is my illustration for this weeks topic 'black and white. There was a number of literal interpretations that I was thinking of doing this week, but as I was working on this anyway and it fitted the criteria I thought I might as well put it up. I still have a few tweaks to do but I have a busy week this week and I am going to England for a long weekend so I thought I better fit it in now.

I am thinking of submitting it to Threadless. It would be so cool to get a t-shirt with your very own illustration on it. Its a worth a try!

Posted by Maxine at 12:14 PM | Comments (6)

June 19, 2005

Claire Robertson aka Loobylu

I am so excited. I managed to buy one of Claire's limited edition digital prints of her illustrations this morning at 8am! She writes the blog Loobylu, which is wonderful and an inspiration. I have to say that it was Warren who introduced me to this site a while ago and since then I have been hooked and totally inspired - in fact it was this site that finally motivated me to write Noodles & Doodles. I haven't taken part in a 'month of softies' yet but its only a matter of time.

She has been working hard over the past few days to get the shop up and running and so I have been checking frequently (almost obsessively!) to see when it was up so I could order one. Especially as there was only 2 copies of the one I wanted called 'Thermos'. If you are looking on her site, it is no longer featured on the shop but it is used to illustrate the shop on Loobylu - its the one with the boy and girl sitting on the tree branch. Even though I know its coming from Australia I will be waiting for the post every day!

Posted by Maxine at 09:40 PM | Comments (0)

Happy Fathers Day!

Here is a photo of Emily and her lovely Daddy and the book she bought him (she picked it herself) for Daddys day. Em has been learning how to drink through a straw recently and seems to have it sussed out now, although we did have to cut it a bit short so that she didn't lose patience and give up!

I don't know why but this book somehow reminded me of Warren, I am not sure what he thinks of that, although it is a really lovely and sweet book so he should take it as a compliment! Thanks for working so hard and looking after us and taking us to lots of lovely (and also slightly weird) craft fairs.

Posted by Maxine at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)

June 18, 2005

Car booty

Finally, now I feel like I am home. In the past week I have been to my first two car boot sales here in sunny belfast! When I was younger, once the summer came I always either went to all the car boot sales as a shopper or had my car there full of stuff I wanted to get rid of. I just don't know why it has taken me so long to get back into it since I moved here. I think over the years that I have lived here car booting has become more popular, but they have yet to reach the epic scales of the ones in England.

I didn't go too mad (there is something about these situations and the fact that things are 20p that makes me go crazy), but I bought a couple of things. A couple of original style noddy books and a dolly bag for Emily, a green vase, some patterned cotton napkins (for the fabric) and these Canadian books. I love the simplicity of these books, the illustrative style and whimsical text. Also they are Canadian so how could I resist?!

Posted by Maxine at 09:15 PM | Comments (1)

June 17, 2005

Homemaking Extract Chapter Four

Furnishing for Comfort and Taste

When you gaze at the empty rooms of your new home, your mind is no doubt busy forming pictures of what it will be like when it is furnished. But pretty pictures are not enough. Your furnishing budget needs careful planning.

One of the first things to do is decide how many rooms you are going to furnish. If you are taking over a house to begin with, it is not always wise to furnish it complete. Later on, you may find that you would like to use one of the upstairs bedrooms as a little 'den' for your husband, or for a sewing room for yourself, so it is always a good plan to leave the rooms which will not be required for the time being.

Colour Schemes
It is difficult to decide whether the question of colour schemes should come before or after the question of furniture buying. Some people like to select furniture first and have their houses decorated to match, but others - perhaps wisely - select their colour schemes first. Here is a suggested colour scheme:

Sitting Room in Fawn, Blue and Brown
Walls: Light fawn
Paintwork: Dark oak
Curtains: Fawn and blue tapestry or deep blue velvet
Carpet: Plain deep fawn to go with tapestry curtains or a patterned carpet in fawn and blue to go with the self-coloured curtains
Upholstery: Fawn background with bold blue pattern
Light Shades: A warm orange-brown. (Avoid blue light shades as they give off a poor light)
Accessories: Orange-brown, blue, fawn and deep brown

Posted by Maxine at 07:38 PM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2005

Wednesday Movie: Punch-Drunk Love

Unfortunately last week I made the mistake of arranging to see my friends on Warren and I's movie night! We were going to try and watch something over the weekend but never got around to it.

So last night, back on our Wednesday Movie night, we watched 'Punch-Drunk Love'. It was a fabulous film and Adam Sandler was fantastic. A quirky and strange tale of how two slightly odd people get together. Even from the start of the film I was hooked. The odd behaviour of Barry (Adam Sandler) was very endearing, even if it involved him completely freaking out and smashing things up, it was done in a kind of innocent acceptable way. His stumbling, nervous energy, and obsession with wearing the same blue suit and collecting air miles tokens was intriguing. Despite his strangeness you couldn't help but like him. The saturated colours of the film, especially his almost royal blue suit and Emily Watsons' red dress, really added to the whole mood. Also, like Magnolia, the soundtrack was perfect and very powerful, leaving you feeling very tense and nervy or happy and elated.

It has to be a top movie and I would definitely recommend it, especially if you like the slightly more off beat quirky films.

Posted by Maxine at 02:26 PM | Comments (1)

June 15, 2005

Illustration Friday: Summer

I could've chosen endless images for this weeks topic, but I settled on what summer makes me think of and what I would really like to be doing right now. Its kinda obvious, but there is something uplifting about the summer, when the flowers start to bloom, the birds start singing and big fat bumblebees bumble past.

There is nothing nicer than sitting outside with your toes in the grass, the beautiful scent of the flowers and a clear blue sky. Now I am looking out of the window and wondering where our summer is. I think I was a bit hasty storing away my winter wardrobe. Well I'm not giving up yet. If I freeze over I am determined to wear my lovely hippy dippy skirts and flip flops.

Posted by Maxine at 01:12 PM | Comments (4)

June 13, 2005

My Lovely Apron

Well I finally found a use for the fabric I bought and made this lovely apron. Although the band and tie across the top is a bit like a bandage but I am not letting it bother me too much because at least I did it! I started off making one for Emily but it was a total disaster.

I realised that it had been a long time since I had tried to sew anything and as well as making it too small it was hardly holding together. I bought these cute little yellow duck buttons too. I will have to use them for something else. Its just as well it was a disaster because when Emily saw it she ran away saying 'no no no nooo' - was it that bad? I called my mom looking for sewing sympathy and she bucked me up and realised I needed to persevere, not give up and practice lots.

I also had something to work towards which always helps. Amongst the many blogs that I read, one called 'angry chicken' (amy) had started a make a monthly apron site! Not only that but this months subject was 'Home on the Range'. How could I resist? Thanks Amy and hopefully my next apron will be a little more polished.

Posted by Maxine at 09:48 PM | Comments (2)

June 10, 2005

Homemaking Extract Chapter Three

The House (continued)

Buying a house is a serious matter. After you've under-taken this responsibility, the property may go heavily down in value, or the wife may find that the district does not suit her health, or something equally troublesome. You have to live in a place some time to know it really well.

The house which appealed to a bride as a charming and romantic nest for two may seem totally different to a wife who has gained some experience of practical house-keeping. And the husband who, in the summer, thought life in the country would be delightful, may find the house too far from his work on a winter's evening.

The ideal plan, really, when you have found a house that you think will suit as a permanent home, is to rent it for a year with the option to purchase.

***

Wise words, if only that were possible these days. This chapter also referred to buying a house for £560! Maybe this book is older than I thought. I will have to investigate...

Posted by Maxine at 01:59 PM | Comments (1)

June 06, 2005

Illustration Friday: Digital

Its not exactly my greatest effort and I suppose its a bit lazy but here it is anyway. This weeks topic made me think of my lovely hubby Warren as he is the Futureboy and his company is called Radar Digital.

I did a line drawing ages ago of him at work and so I used this along with some Photoshop laziness. He works so hard that I imagine sometimes his head feels a bit like this image. Seeing spots before his eyes and the lines of reality and CMS code becoming one big blur. If you are reading this Warren 'Stop working, get a big mug of Green & Blacks organic hot chocolate and put an x-files on!'

Posted by Maxine at 10:22 PM | Comments (2)

So much to do

I am sitting here looking out the window at the glorious day wondering how I am going to fit in all the things I either want to do or need to do. Its the first glimpse of summer I have seen and I feel like I should be out there enjoying it, eating ice-cream or something.

Also my front lawn is so long now that I can forget about mowing it. The weeds are overgrown and its a bit of a jungle. As for the back, it needs a total overhaul since we built an extension, its just about safe enough for Emily to play out there, even if it is a bit on the small size.

I am finding it hard to fit in all the practice painting and illustrating, there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. Or maybe its just my lack of focus that holds me back...or maybe its because I am doing other things - like last night I fetched all of Emily's baby clothes out of the loft and sorted them into age groups, stored them into nice new plastic boxes and threw out ones I didn't want to keep. Was that a worthwhile exercise or a waste of my valuable time? Sometimes I feel that if I could just get everything around me organised then I would have the time and motivation to do all the projects I am interested in.

Posted by Maxine at 01:07 PM | Comments (0)

June 03, 2005

Every Woman's Book of Homemaking

Just in case you are reading my blog for the first time I am posting a weekly extract from the above book, which was published, I would guess in the early fifties (but if anyone knows better please correct me).

CHAPTER TWO - The house

'The old proverb about getting married is equally true of settling on a house - if you do it in haste you may repent at leisure!

Apart from the question of soil and health, there are other points to consider in choosing a house in a certain position: questions of convenience.

For instance, the husband wants a house conveniently situated for work; in some place that has a good service of trains, trams or buses. Almost certainly, if he is a home-lover, he will want a garden, part of which he can use for growing vegetables. He is sure to require some sort of handy recreation. Just in case he has a motorbike and side-car, the entrance gates should be sufficiently large..

The wife needs to be within easy reach of the shops and perhaps a cinema. She will think of the nearness of a church or chapel; the doctor; post office and so on. She will like to live within easy reach of her friends.'

Posted by Maxine at 01:22 PM | Comments (1)

June 02, 2005

Illustration Friday: Envy

I was beginning to wonder whether I would get this done for Friday. I had the sketch all ready last weekend but I haven't had the time or energy to work on it until today. I have always been inspired by other creative blogs that I read, especially the stay at home moms, and the more I try to commit to my creative endeavors, the more respect I have for these people (once my site is finished I will have links to all my favourite places of inspiration).

Emily, now 21 months, is getting to the stage that is practically impossible to do anything creative in the day, especially as she is going through a real clingy phase and I am having to pick her up every few minutes. Its very emotionally draining. So by the time the evening comes, nine times out of ten I am too exhausted to do anything other than veg in front of the tv.

I even installed a demo of Painter yesterday. Somehow I have to find time to use it before my 30 days expire (thats after I make myself stop using paste insides in freehand...very lazy).

Posted by Maxine at 07:41 PM | Comments (1)

Wednesday Movie

Warren and I decided recently that we don't watch enough movies anymore. Its so hard to get the time to fit in everything and by the time he gets from work and we have had dinner its usually quite late. Going to the movies is a luxury with our lack of babysitting opportunities (although I am going to make a conscious effort not to feel guilty asking people in the future).

So we decided to commit ourselves to watching a movie every Wednesday. If we can get a sitter and go to the cinema, great, if not a movie on the sofa at home with lots of munchies will be just fine. Last night we watched Intolerable Cruelty, with George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones and directed/produced by the Coen brothers. As usual with the Coen brothers it was a subtly quirky movie and I have to say I didn't even get annoyed by Catherine Zeta-Jones (not my favourite), of course George was great - especially his teeth obsession - very funny. I really enjoyed it, maybe more so if I wasn't drifting in and out of sleep because I was so exhausted.

Lets hope we can keep this up and maybe even get out to the big screen.

Posted by Maxine at 11:01 AM | Comments (1)