Thursday 10 October 2024

Love, Peace, Joy, Courage Potion Bottles Pattern: Free Image Download

Image shows a repeating pattern in which hand-drawn potion bottles in various shaed of bright green, orange, brown and blue are labelled, love, joy, peace and courage.
Click, tap or double-click here to
 download and use this image if you'd like

Hello there, and more than anything, in the light of all that some are experiencing around the world  hope that wherever, whenever and however you're reading this, you're safe, happy and finding ways to thrive.

This hope made me wish that we as a species could physically bottle love, peace, joy, and courage potions and send them out at a moment's notice to wherever it's needed. 

This pattern, in all its whimsy,  was the result of that thought. And if the idea speaks to you too, please feel free to download and use this image in your projects if you'd like. (Credit is always appreciated, but never required: my full angel policy is here).

Once again, I can't vouch for the size of download you'll get, as still haven't fathomed out how the blog is processing images these days.

And...

And yes, just to be clear, the idea behind these is potion bottles and jars. So, yes again, I have been thinking about Halloween designs. This year's designs  all are cosy, warm and comforting, but all the details will keep for another post.

For now, am just going to thank you so much for being here, and let those love, joy and peace potion bottles do the talking.

More soon.

Thursday 3 October 2024

My 2025 Floral Calendar May Look Familiar...

Hello there, and hope all is well in your corner of the world. Today I've something to show you, but also a tale of my own blunders intended to make you smile.


Firstly, if you're on the hunt for a lovely floral calendar, full of watercolour flowers at every time of year, this may be the post for you.

Image shows the front of the calendar, featuring blue line and wash watercolourdelphiniums.
2025 Calendar Front Cover



Here's the back of the calendar, showing all 12 images together...


Iamge shows the back of the calendar: 12 smaller images to illustrate each month's flowers.
Back cover showing all 12 images



And a peek in more detail. Some of the months show the flowers in context (like February and July).

Image shows lavender tumbling out of a large terracotta pot, all depicted in line and wash watercolour.
February's calendar image
  transports you
 to lavender in
 a summer garden...



Image shows a line and wash watercolour of whimsical butterflies on a purple/mauve butterfly bush.
July's happy butterflies are in a 
different garden
...



Others show the flowers in even closer detail, (like March and October).


Image shows my line and wash image of bright yellow daffodils in a glass vase.
Bright daffodils await you
in March...



Image shows my line and wash watercolour painting of a cascade of bright orange nasturtium flowers and their green leaves...
And mellow nasturtiums
feature in October...







And if this calendar looks familiar...

And secondly,  if you've been reading here a while, and these images somehow look familiar, you're right.

There is indeed a post from 15th December (!!) 2023, featuring a similar calendar.

Which (as pretty much anyone but me would've realised at the time) is, waaaaay too late for anyone who wants their calendar to start on, oooh, I don't know, something radical like...Jan 1st...:-) :-) :-)...Never mind actually getting it in time to send as a gift at Christmas...

Plus the fact that, as it turns out, though I bought private copies, I was clearly in such a pre-Christmas spin last year, that even if anyone had been relaxed about the start-date...I never actually put the calendar properly for sale in my shop last year. (Basically, the lovely flowers floated sadly in a kind of no-man's land internet ether...).



But...

Having bought those private copies however, I can confirm that this really is a lovely thing. Which, finally, and updated to start on Jan 1st 2025,  you actually have a chance to buy now in my online Zazzle shop, in plenty of time, both for Christmas, and the start of 2025...

On that note, and hoping that this tale of my own complete and unwitting ineptitude has made you smile, whatever your stance on calendars... I'll take my leave.

Thanks so much, as ever, for being here, and for reading down this far.

More soon.

Thursday 26 September 2024

The Secret Life of Tissue Paper...


Hello there, and hope all's well with you.

Today, it feels like time to share something that I only realised recently. Which is that there's much more to tissue paper than meets the eye.

And this applies especially to tissue papers bearing patterns and designs, whether they're more vibrant like my new poppy design:


Or as subtle (and seemingly ever-popular- many thanks to everyone who's bought it) as my watercolour sky and clouds patterned tissue paper...






There are lots of uses for tissue paper

In case you're as unfamiliar with all this as I used to be, I probably ought to explain that whilst tissue paper makes a fine job of wrapping gifts and protecting delicate items, it also has an entirely  "other life, " and set of uses.

Or, to put it another way, anyone who's so inclined can completely change the look of their furniture and other items by sticking thin layers of patterned paper to it.

As I'm *much* more arty than crafty myself, have a look at Do Dodson demonstrating the idea with clarity and a beautiful result in her YouTube video on decoupaging.


If you're intrigued by this decoupage paper idea...

If you're intrigued by this idea, (or already a decoupage paper enthusiast) something I *can* offer you, is an ever-expanding selection of hand-designed decoupage/tissue papers in my Zazzle store.

With Halloween on the horizon as I type, for example, perhaps these ravens are calling to you (sorry, couldn't resist the pun :-) ) :



Or, something even more seasonal:




Finally...

Whatever your preference, and whether for decoupage, wrapping or anything else, you can find my increasing collection of tissue and decoupage paper using my artwork as their design,  here.

Thanks *so* much for reading down this far, and have a lovely week.

More soon.