As you can see I have been getting mighty productive around here! Still working on my favourite theme I produced another three canvasses, in the same way as the last. I set out to produce a more neutral palette and somehow ended up with these candy colours! I don't know how I arrived at this but I quite like the end result. The cupcakes are decorated with 'cherry' buttons and bead 'sprinkles'.
Posted by Maxine at 10:05 AM | Comments (2)
Anyone who knows me knows I am obsessed with tea. I simply just can't get enough of the stuff, it is like an old friend, who is always there to sort me out, perk me up and make me feel all lovely and happy.
Last week I went to my friend Susan's house for a night of artyiness and ended up creating these two little canvasses. I have to say I am quite pleased with them and they have inspired all kinds of other things in my head, which I hope to do. It was so enjoyable actually spending the evening being creative instead of being slumped in front of the TV too knackered to do anything except veg out. In fact I was so tired before I went out I didn't think I would achieve anything. But once I got stuck in, I really woke up and felt excited to be creating.
Here is a close up of the two pieces. I built the canvasses up with a variety of texture before painting them and used pages from an old book to create the teacups. I really love the richness of a canvas built up in this way and maybe its the designer in me that draws me to words, not just what they say but how type looks aesthetically on a page. I have a feeling there will be more like this...
Posted by Maxine at 08:58 PM | Comments (3)
Well its that time of year again when Emily, myself and lots of other people/family I know have a birthday. This is such a busy month for us! So above is a peek at what Emily wants this year for her party...any guesses? I know its looks like it could be a number of things but in fact when I asked her what she wanted there were no princesses or fairies in sight. Oh no, my little girl wants a Monster Party! With lots of green things and green icing on the cake too I am told! So I am half way through doing the furry invites and have managed to get hold of green spotty tableware, so I am half way there!
And just look at my lovely cake stand! I was so chuffed to find this sitting in a charity shop window in Derby when I visited my brother last month. I have been looking for one for ages and I quite like this retro wood effect melamine one, even if its not as pretty as some. It will be put to good use very soon.
Posted by Maxine at 08:51 PM | Comments (1)
If there is anyone out there who still happens to check my blog thank you for not giving up on me. I have become totally incommunicado as far as the bloggy world goes and haven't been posting or reading anything. I am totally out of the way of it all and whenever I do sit down to post something I feel like I am totally rushing to fit it in (like now) and so its just not the same at the moment for me.
I really don't know where to start with it all, it feels like I have been away for years. In fact I spent a couple of weeks in England staying with my mom & step-dad and seeing as many of my family as possible. This is cutting a very long story short by the way, I really don't want to bore you with all the details. But just let me tell you this - we tried to have a lovely weekend away (with the kids of course) to a 4 star hotel in Stratford-Upon-Avon. I kind of knew it wouldn't be totally relaxing but I didn't realise it was going to be quite a hellish as it was! A combination of me being sick with some kind of bug and Harrison yelling, screaming, crying and generally being VERY noisy whenever we tried to eat out anywhere, or even just have breakfast. Suffice to say there will be no more hotels for a while. Here are a few picks anyway...
Harrison play shop in moms garden...
My little brother Chris (or not so little at 6ft 7!) and adorbale photo of cousin Ciara & Emily...
A rare and lovely photo of me, mom & the kids
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One of my favourite photos of Harrison and Grandad...
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On another note, I am quite conscious of the way my blog has started to veer towards more family stuff lately. I know this is inevitable with the fact that Emily & Harrison are my life right now and there is not much room for anything else. But this is not why I started Noodles & Doodles. This blog was meant to be for me. To encourage myself to be creative, be inspired by the creative world around me and to spur me on to do the things I always procrastinate about doing. Also, I have a whole other blog dedicated to my family and its just silly having things in two places.
With this in mind, I am going to aim to steer myself back around and get Noodles back on track. I am not going to put myself under any pressure to get this done with any kind of deadline, but I feel better that I am announcing it to myself if not anyone else! This is how I started in the first place! I am aware that my family life and creativity may overlap from time to time, so there will always be some element of family on here. I just don't want it to be the primary focus. Well its a long term goal anyway. Everything is long term at the moment.
So thanks for sticking with me and hopefully things will pick up soon and hopefully I can get back into the swing of reading your blogs too! Sometime soon...I'm hanging i here...
Posted by Maxine at 09:48 PM | Comments (4)
I am a graphic designer & stay at home mom, originally from England, now living in Belfast. I love all things handmade & spend my time being creative by either making bags & accessories or producing original prints, paintings, photography & cards.
