mother's day

red nose day

Alf is living his best life at uni. His building is next door to the ITV and BBC tv studios, his dream come true! He's off to watch Comic Relief being filmed tonight.

Meanwhile, I am going on an M&S food shop and staying in. 

And watching the telly to try and spot Alf.

Yay.

ciao Italia!

We had a favolosa week in Italy! Mainly sponsored by Peroni. And pasta.

We stayed in Bologna and I went to the Bologna Children's Book Fair a couple of days, while Neil lived his best life on a mountain bike.

We caught the train to Venice for the day. And we caught the train to Rimini for another day.

All molto bene and very belissimo!

5 stars. Would recommend.

View from one of our train journeys. Kind of.

not just any Thursday

Today is world book day, kidlitartpostcard day AND happyhaircut day for me.

Woo!

colour palette

New colours for March. Or at least the first week.

I'm hoping that inspiration will smack me in the face in Bologna.

They could change to something all Italian and Springy then. 

that was february

One final word....and a pattern....this could be the endpaper in the book that does not exist. Yet.

Next...March. And a cheeky little trip to Bologna...

telephone

In the olden days you had one of these attached to a wire, often in the hallway. Your mates could phone you on them and you could sit and chat from the bottom step until someone told you to “get off the bloody phone”. Usually because “it’ll cost a bloody fortune” but sometimes because they needed to use it themselves to telephone one of their friends.
If you weren’t lucky enough to live in a fancy house that had one of these revolutionary items then you had to go to a box down the road and stick a load of 10p’s in it to chat. 
Till the beeps went. 

Simple times. 

fussy drinker

I don’t drink milk. I don’t like it. I don’t like tea or coffee either. Or anything less than the very best hot chocolate. I don’t like wine. Or whiskey. Or brandy. Or gin. 
I do like a NiceColdIceCold beer though. And cocktails. So if you’re taking me out for a drink it’s probably best to suggest one of those. 

public transport moan

I caught a bus yesterday. And a train. It was not a relaxing experience. Or a very efficient one. Public transport in this country (with the exception of London) is proper pants.

more words to bore your kids with

 

tortoise

Another scruffy pic from the sketchbook transformed by the magic of computer wizardry.

owl

Here's the owl page in my First Words Book that doesn't exist. Yet.

valentines

Happy Valentine's Day ❤️

It's the only day of the year when anyone sends me flowers. I'm responsible for buying my own on the other days.

long bodied lilac scribble wing

The other half is something of a part time bird watcher.

I am not.

I try to show an interest. 

Sometimes.

But standing in a Tesco car park with a load of blokes in questionable camo gear, dodgy beards and enormous lenses on their fancy cameras is just not my thing. 
So I stayed in the car for 35 minutes yesterday while he went and chatted to the weirdy beardies. 
Apparently I missed a rare sighting of a Waxwing. It was over here from Scandinavia. Eating berries. Obvs. 

This isn’t a picture of it. It looks nothing like this. This is an even rarer Long Bodied Lilac Scribble Wing.

first words book proposal

When my kids were little, and we dragged little books about with us wherever we went to keep them entertained (quiet), I wish they'd looked like this. They were always bloody awful primary bright colours and boring pictures.

Of course I'm guilty of contributing to the world-supply of UglyBrightBooks myself. When I've been commissioned to illustrate them. A lot of publishers "think" that cheapo primary colours and cutesie pictures sell best. It's the safe option. And I need to earn a living.

But if there are any 'more discerning' publishers about who fancy working with me on this kind of First Words book....then please, beat a path to my door promptly! The CoolMoms will thank you.