I painted a couple of cards this week, but I can't show those yet.  I made the gingerbread house today for a friend - we made a real one together last year.

I'm keeping busy selling things online, looking/applying for jobs, writing, etc...  I actually have some work lined up for the end of this month being a film extra - I'm playing a convict!

I've been meaning to post this for a while - I stayed with my sister a couple of weeks ago and we made this fabric house.   I can't take much credit as I didn't actually do that much - just helped with the design and some cutting, while my sister did practically all the sewing.  We based it loosely on the cottage in my Christmas card painting.  It fits a standard square box of tissues - you just lift up the roof to take a tissue.  Appropriately enough, my sister had a pretty bad cold at the time, so the construction was not without a few mistakes!  It turned out slightly wonky, but I think it adds to the charm.

This week I've taken the plunge with a major project I've been wanting to do for some time - making a photo book of the highlights from ALL our family albums... and we have a lot!  To make matters more complicated, we don't actually keep the albums in the house (they wouldn't all fit), so I'm doing lots of hauling heavy cratefuls back and forth.  I started with 1986 and I'm up to 1993, having gone through at least 100 albums so far!  Clearly it's going to be a large book, so instead of faffing about with the photo book software/website, I'm planning to do the whole thing like a collage in Photoshop, and then drop each double page spread in as a background.  Sounds simple, but time will tell...

I want to recommend Lorraine Pascale's 21st century bread recipe - if you generally like food, you'll most likely love this!  Best recipe I've come across for a long time - I've already made it four times this year and it's not getting old.  The recipe is in her home cooking book, but if you look around you can find it online.  It's a ham, cheese and chive recipe, but you can substitute whatever you like - I tend to use chorizo and spring onion.  Also, the recipe is for a large, dinner party sized loaf, so if you want to make a more moderate version, simply half everything and reduce cooking time by about 10 minutes - you'll get enough to go with a couple of meals.

My sister and soon-to-be-brother-in-law were with us for Christmas this time, which was very nice.  I made us lots of cookies for the big weekend, including a small, experimental batch of spicy gingerbread ones.  I used my regular chewy cookie recipe and added an insane amount of mixed spice, cinnamon and of course ginger, along with a good blob of golden syrup.  I thought I'd gone overboard as the dough made my throat sting when I tasted it, but they actually turned out amazing.  Just like real, good-quality gingerbread, except chewier - success!  I plan to make a big batch and build a little house next time!

The cat had some fun presents - loads of treats to eat and some catnip toys that Mum made herself.  He loves them and goes absolutely beserk playing with them all over the house.

I decided my Birthday needed celebrating properly this year, to make up for the last few years of always being swamped with Uni deadlines at the time.  We invited lots of family friends round for a 'Just Desserts' evening.  I made cookies as always (any excuse), but we also whipped up a chocolate pizza, two fruit salads - one tropical and one berry - a rather messy vanilla traybake, an apple pie and a fruit strudel.  Also on the menu was a vienetta (which melted into a mush very quickly), banoffee and lemon meringue tarts, little frozen chocolate things that probably had a much better name, doughnut cupcakes courtesy of my superlative sister, random sweets and Roses chocolates.  Yes, we had way too much and there was a lot left!!!  We managed to shift some things by sharing with work colleagues, etc, but I'm still working my way through the traybake and pizza.  As for the evening itself, I had a great time and I think everyone else did too.  I sort of want to do it again, only with less food!

In other news, for someone who doesn't get along particularly well with technology, I seem to have suddenly acquired lots of gadgets, including a laptop, a Kindle and an iPod.  What an age we live in...

The trees are all decorated and the cat is proudly wearing his festive ribbon.  Mum and I collected some winter foliage from the garden - I added some gold spray paint to a few leaves.  I also made a pine cone star, which took quite a while but turned out well I think.  I went out in search of cones a few weeks ago under cover of darkness (not on purpose - the sun set while I was hunting around under a tree) and put them in hot water and then the oven (on a very, very low temperature) to clean and preserve them.  Next I marked each one with a 72 degree angle and cut along the lines with a fretsaw - not easy!  Then I fixed the pieces together with strong DIY glue and coated twice with PVA.  Finally, I sprayed it gold and gave it an extra coat of PVA.  Tada!  I would have liked to use it as a tree topper, but it's much too heavy for an artificial tree sadly.  Looks good enough on the wall/on a table though.

I'll post the Christmas card artwork when I'm done - I think I'm past half way.

Last week I was fortunate enough to meet the amazing artist, author and illustrator, Peter Collington.  I've been a big admirer of his work for as long as I can remember - I don't think a Christmas has gone by when I haven't read On Christmas Eve, or at least watched the animated film version.   Some of his best known children's books are The Coming of the Surfman, The Tooth Fairy, The Angel and the Soldier Boy, and A Small Miracle (the last two of which have also been adapted into animated films by Grasshopper Films).

Peter and his wife Bonnie were absolutely lovely people, full of advice, encouragement and fascinating stories about the making of the books.  Many of Peter's tales are told exclusively through pictures, and each and every frame of illustration was first composed as a photograph.  Peter's illustrative style involves a great deal of detail and texture, and therefore the reference snapshots themselves required a lot of precision, time and effort.  Every member of the family had a part to play in this process, and in many cases, multiple roles to perform and costumes to don - Bonnie told us about her impressive and eclectic range of characters, including Santa and a gorilla!  Peter and Bonnie's daughter, Sasha, plays the lead "little girl" character in at least four stories.  Friends of the family and a few pets also contributed from time to time.  The books are something like photo albums for the family, with so many memories attached to every page.

Peter was also kind enough to discuss the technical side to the creation of the books and the thought processes they developed from.  He seemed very modest and admitted to being quite shy about showing his work, saying that he himself tends to focus in on little flaws, but he was very confident that if you know you've tried your best, that's all that really matters.  He certainly puts his all into his artwork - the level of detail alone is commendable - and I hope he's proud of what he's achieved.  I really appreciated how down-to-earth he was - he was quick to relate the daunting and monotonous prospect of drawing the same meticulous wallpaper patterns countless times!

I could go on, but I'll wrap it up by saying how thankful I am to have been made welcome in the home of these generous people for an unforgettable, life-affirming day.  They also took a real interest in my sister, who had kindly driven me there, so that was much appreciated.  As expected, I forgot to take a picture (hence the slightly odd painting - not sure what style I was going for there), but I did bring back some great souvenirs - my copies of Peter's books with autographs, a handful of the art pencils Peter uses to try out (as I said, generous!) and a whole treasure trove of invaluable information.  I think the most important lesson I learned was that if you want to create something special, all you need is inspiration, enthusiasm and diligence - take on the challenge and just do your best.

Take a look at Peter's website (www.petercollington.com) for more information.  He's currently looking into creating a graphic novel.  :D

Two or three antique/unusual mirrors were on my shopping list and after grabbing a convex, porthole-style one off good old eBay, I spotted this leafy one tucked away in the village antique shop.  I really like stained glass frames and I've been going for a nature theme, so it seemed a perfect fit.  I haggled a little bit and got it for just less than the ottoman - not bad!

I think the only things left on my list (which I seem to have lost) are a compact/lightweight table and chair, a tea/drinks tray, a small Christmas tree and maybe another cushion.  I was going to paint a couple of walls a pale green, but the white gives off so much light and it's hard to buy paint in the right amount, so white it is!

So now I can get on with enjoying the room, but I musn't get too comfy on the sofa and neglect the workspace.  :P

In other news, the cat's firework phobia seems to be as bad as (if not worse than) ever.  I don't think tonight is going to be fun for him.  I'm giving Feliway spray a try this year, but I'm not expecting much...