Lorna Smith Studio

The return of the KnitTwit

2011-06-21T10:55:00.003+01:00

After only a little bit of deliberation I have decided to re-open my Etsy shop. Thought it was about time to dust off the ol' knitting needles and create some new gorgeous wooly accessories. Hoping to design some new things, with different colours and embellishments so keep a look out.

Getting crafty

2011-05-11T10:38:00.002+01:00

I have been a brave new soul and started up my own business venture of craft parties and face painting for children and adults. The business is called Lorna's Craft Parties and would love you to come and have a look at my website in the making.

Welcome

2010-06-19T11:40:00.010+01:00

Well you know how it goes...new baby arrives and you hardly get a chance to eat let alone blog! However, I thought you should get a chance to meet wee Niamh (pronounced Neev). Niamh arrived, rather quickly (she was born on the bathroom floor as I didn't make it in time to the hospital!) on 3rd May at 01:32am weighing 8lbs 10ozs. Lovely, healthy, very happy and very pink. We are getting into a sort of routine and I get quite a bit of sleep most nights.
Grace has taken to being a big sister like a duck to water and she is very chuffed with her wee sis.

I have also managed to get five paintings to the gallery for the summer exhibition, three of which are below. These three are of the harbour at Tobermory, Mull. The exhibition opens on the 8th July so I hope I sell something.

Hope you are all well. x

Pigging out on Chocolate!

2010-04-04T19:14:00.017+01:00

Well it's that time of year again where you eat WAY too much chocolate and always regret it afterwards. Happy Easter to everyone and hope you are enjoying the holiday weekend. We have had a very creative couple of days here in the Smith household. On Saturday after being out and about at the car boot sale, doing an egg hunt in the local museum, having lunch out, a spot of shopping and a trip to the park (which included a ride on the miniature railway...I'm sure health and safety really shouldn't let 37 week pregnant ladies on but no one said anything). After all that we all sat down (including daddy) for about 2 hours painting and decorating paper plates with different designs and I think they look pretty spiffy.....

I think they will be taking pride of place on Grace's bedroom wall very soon.

After Sunday morning tea and toast, Daddy took Grace to the shops whilst I set out two egg hunts...one for both Daddy and Grace and the other just for Grace. The first was just finding halves of cardboard eggs hidden around the house whilst the second were carefully hidden clues and puzzles for Grace to follow which finally led her to her chocolate egg booty. A bit slow at first, but once she got the hang of it she was off like a flash. Really good fun to watch and will be a sad day when she no longer wants to do treasure hunts. Happy Easter xxxx

Heavy stuff

2010-03-18T17:01:00.011Z

Well as usual I have neglected my blog so I thought I would up date all with the progress of my bump and some photos of what we have been up to recently.

As you can see I am getting VERY big and boy is baby heavy! Only five and a bit weeks to go and we are getting pretty excited. We haven't decided on names yet (we don't know what we are having) and still some essentials to purchase but I have my labour bag packed and some nappies bought so we'll be fine. I'm hoping to have the baby in the one and only birthing pool here in Paisley's midwife led unit, so I have told them that when I am ready to come in they have to chuck whoever is in the pool out! I had Grace in the same pool so fingers crossed. I had the midwife yesterday and all is fine...baby and mum all doing good. My pelvis is still giving me jip but my hubby is doing a grand job of looking after me and a lovely friend of ours is picking up Grace on a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to save me from doing too much. Our neighbours Miss B and Mr S are doing a much appreciated job of taking Grace out with their dogs so she can stretch her restless legs. So many lovely people who live nearby that I have got to know over the past couple of years.Miss Grace and I haven't been very well the past week but we are both thankfully on the mend...so many bugs about with the change in the weather. It is so so lovely seeing the sun out and a few flowers after such a cold and snowy winter.

Playing at Rouken Glen Park and a very big tree!

Homemade fairy cakes on fancy plates

School photo day

Things I like to do with my daddy

I have started three paintings for the summer exhibition at the gallery I used to work for so I'll post them up as soon as I'm finished...hopefully in the next couple of weeks xx

It all comes to light

2010-01-25T19:51:00.004Z

For about a year now anytime I wanted to listen to music on the computer whilst on the computer I have had to unplug the lamp and plug in the speakers leaving me a bit in the dark and straining to see the keyboard! However, just this very minute I realised I had a spare plug beside the TV! Don't ask me why it has taken me so long to realise this....sometimes I'm a bit slow x

I'm enjoying typing along to the soundtrack of 'Juno'...thank you to my lovely neighbour Laura B. for the loan xxx

I have been a busy bee around the house sorting, throwing this and that out, cleaning, making way for the new little person who will be joining us soon. My home is slowly getting there but I still see lots to be done. However, today I took a bit of time out watching two episodes of The West Wing surrounded by ginger cats....my hips needed the rest (so so sore and going to see the physio on Friday thank goodness).

Well the update on the parcel of my two painting commissions that I send back on the 21st December to the USA is that they think it is lost and never even left Paisley! Grrrrrrrr is all I have to say to that.

Well I will leave you with a video of my favourite tune of the moment by Paolo Nutini called 'Candy'. The words are gorgeous and there is the added bonus of the lad coming from Paisley....you see him every so often on the train to and from Glasgow eating a fish supper with his pals. Keeping it real!

That Monday Feeling

2010-01-11T10:42:00.009Z

Not feeling too hot today so taking it easy today. We had a busy weekend doing jobs out and about and in the house. Some would call it nesting, I call it early Spring cleaning :O)

Over New Year we went to visit my folks in France for a bit of r'n'r and had a lovely time. It didn't snow...just a bit chilly x

Despite the cold Grace spent half to holiday outside walking the dogs, feeding the nutty sheep apples, collecting the chicken eggs and feeding the ducks....happy as can be x
If I had room in my suitcase I would have come home with a dog and another cat but I don't think my two ginger lap-hoggers would have been too chuffed!
Well I had better go and do something productive whilst waiting to hear back from the parcel company who still hasn't been able to send my two paintings to the USA. I sent them express delivery on the 21st December and they say it's all down to the bad weather. Not so good considering the delivery time is supposed to be 1-2 days!

Oh and here is the second commission in all it's glory:

A Fresh Start

2010-01-05T09:20:00.012Z

Usual excuses for being away for so long and the added extra of Christmas. Thank goodness that is all over for another year and I wish you all a very prosperous and happy New Year.

To get me going again here are just a few images of what we have been up to the past few months:
Enjoying the Christmas fayre in Paisley

Staying warm with big hairy ginger cats on our laps (What a sight!)

We officially had a white Christmas and the snow is still here....time for it to go now I think.

Enjoyed all the sparkly lights *****

Sis made loads of yummy food over Christmas including this gorgeous chocolate yule log..mmm

and together we cooked our first ever stuffed turkey and it was amazing! Pat on the back sis xxx

....the cooked bird in all it's glory....

....and we ate the lot!

Opened up one or two presents!

Went for a snowy walk on Christmas Day...brrrrrr

It's nice to be back xxx

A Sad Day

2009-11-13T10:02:00.004Z

I've had to close my knitting shop. I decided it was for the best as it wasn't really financially viable (the knitting was taking hours to do...precious hours that I could be painting) and I'm not able to keep up with my orders at the moment. My pregnancy is making me very tired but I am also itching to make things for myself and my home. My sister is laughing at me cause she thinks I'm 'nesting'...grrrrr.

I want to make decorations for the house such as a Christmas tree skirt and a mantel piece decoration. I have bought all of the material I now just need my mum to help me get my sewing machine up and running again. Every time I go to use it it jams!

Last Christmas was pretty stressful with the amount of glove orders I had so I'm looking forward to a more peaceful one. I plan on coming back to Etsy next year with a new shop, but selling something that is quicker to make, but the ideas can wait until the new year.

The Christmas lights get turned on the Saturday in Paisley and the reindeer's (yes real ones) come to town and I'm really excited cause I every year I am working and always miss it. So there are benefits to being self-employed :O)

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the cold weather. I had left my washing out over night on Monday and when I went to collect it it was rock hard with frost. I couldn't even bend it to get it in the washing basket! So we had puddles of water all over the house as it defrosted! Not the brightest thing I have ever done. Love L x

Off to the Framers

2009-11-06T16:31:00.005Z

Finally finished my two paintings that are going into the Christmas Exhibition at scotlandart.com's Edinburgh gallery. The exhibition opens on the 28th November so feel free to drop by and have a nosey if you are in the area of Stockbridge.

Boats on Loch LomondView of Loch Laich from Appin

Some Exciting News

2009-11-01T15:16:00.011Z

I am proud to announce that the Smith family is expecting a new addition to the family next April....
I'm doing good. Just a bit tired and getting annoyed that I can't do as much as I want to. Grace is so so excited and kissing my bump every day!

I am also officially self-employed. I'm just waiting for a letter from the tax man so I can open up my business bank account. I'm very excited but a bit daunted by the whole tax thing but I'm sure that my mathematical genius of a husband will help me out.

As promised here are my three new items that I have added to my shop today. Still more to come (I hope!). I have possibly two craft fairs coming up in November/December so I had better get knitting!

Oh and something scary from the weekend! I spent most of yesterday feverishly sewing and making Miss G's costume but it was all worth it. Grace went trick or treating with her wee pals and came back with a booty of sweets like I have never seen before! She then sat on the kitchen floor dividing the sweets into ones that she likes and ones she doesn't like...all the more for me x

Hubby carved the pumpkin...star job x

New tunes

2009-10-21T16:47:00.003+01:00

Thought I would share some new tunes that I am into at the moment.

First is Alexi Murdoch. Born in London, brought up in Scotland, but now lives in California....such a gorgeous voice to listen too. He really came to my attention when i went to the movies to see 'Away We Go' by Sam Mendes who uses Alexi Murdoch's tunes throughout the movie. I thought it made the movie and I highly recommend it. You can listen to some of his songs on his MySpace page and I urge you to listen to 'Orange Sky' and 'All of My Days'.

The next artist to catch my attention is Regina Spektor. I just heard her on the radio one day and fell in love. You can either listen to some of her tunes on her MySpace page or here is a couple of my favourites of hers from YouTube. Happy listening x

Drum roll please....

2009-10-19T19:23:00.004+01:00

...and the winner is...... Kelly Ann. Hooray! Well done you. My lovely assistant drew the name out of the bunch. Snow White always scared me...along with Pinocchio. I'm much more a Aladdin or Little Mermaid kinda girl and Singing in the Rain is definitely way up there in my top 5 movies of all time.
Thank you to everyone who entered. I promise I'll have another giveaway soon.

Here's a sneaky peak of something new that I plan on adding to my shop soon. I'm now off to watch Masterchef the Professionals....Happy Monday x

Happy days on the East coast

2009-10-17T18:02:00.011+01:00

Just spent the last three days enjoying clear blue skies and chilly climes on the East coast of Scotland visiting my Mother-in-Law in Forfar. We went for a couple of lovely long walks out in the countryside and I had so much fresh air I was going to bed early every night!

On Thursday we all went for a two hour walk around Brechin (not so clear skies but very mild). Grace did a grand job and only really complained about being a bit tired and hungry towards the end, but a story of Cinderella told by mum kept her going!

On Friday we went out for lunch (which took FOREVER to be served to us!) then went for a walk along to the Reekie Linn waterfall. The walk to the waterfall is a very narrow path with a 120ft drop down to the water! So daddy had a tight hold of Grace there and back. Such a lovely walk and such a wonderful view.

PS. This post is dedicated to my fantastic sister whose birthday it is today....happy birthday sis xxxxxxxxxxx

I have a bad feeling about this!

2009-10-14T08:23:00.007+01:00

Well when I was growing up, from about the age of 6/7 years old I watched Star Wars every day without fail.
That is until we got rid of our Betamax Video player and switched to VHS (a very sad day)...then no more Star Wars until it was on the TV again and I recorded it once more! I was born in 1977 (vintage year). The same year Elvis died, Apple Computer, Inc. becomes Incorporated, The Queens Silver Jubilee AND Star Wars was released. I grew up in California and my mum and dad took me to see it when I was only months old and I slept all the way through it (and I think I peed all over my mum!), but I can say I was there and saw it on the big screen.
Every so often I pull out my DVDs and put them on in the background wondering if Grace will take a shine to them too, but she's too much of a girlie girl. I guess it takes time to appreciate the finer things in life.

Remember to tell me what your favourite film was when you were growing up in my previous post to be in with a chance to win a pair of my camel brown fingerless gloves....can't wait to hear every one's choices. x

Pick yourself up....

2009-10-12T20:01:00.006+01:00

....dust yourself down, start all over again.
Pure dance heaven but only watch if you have a spare 7 minutes!

Sorry I've been out of action for so long. Since being made redundant I have no idea where my time has gone to. Grace has been busy at school and I have been trying to finish some paintings. I have finished one of my commissions and have started two new paintings for the gallery I used to work in for their Christmas exhibition in their Edinburgh gallery. Very exciting.

Here is the commission I have finished of Richmond Bridge in London.

To celebrate my coming back to blogland I am going to have a blog giveaway of a pair of my best selling fingerless gloves.

To win a pair of these beauties all you need to do is tell me what your favourite movie was when you were wee kiddie? I will draw the winners name out of a hat on Monday 19th October (7pm GM time). I'll tell you my favourite film tomorrow. Hope everyone is well and can't wait to be in touch with everyone again. L x

All Change

2009-09-10T17:16:00.011+01:00

Well, it's all change in the Smith household. I was made redundant on Saturday and I have decided to be a full time mum and concentrate on my painting and knitting. I was offered a couple of days work with a pay cut but I just decided I would take this as an opportunity to do something that I've always wanted to do. If we start to struggle or I go a bit mental from being at home all the time then I'll start looking for some part time work, but we'll give it a good go. My first week has gone pretty wall and have made a good start on both my painting commissions and the dirty washing mountain! My lovely husband said that he would introduce me to the washing machine (cheeky git!).

So here are my paintings so far (both not finished...especially the top one. A work in progress so watch this space)......

and here is my groovy 80's chick who again dressed herself! Absolutely gorgeous :O)

Going Bananas

2009-09-03T11:01:00.004+01:00

I've just made my second banana bread in just over a week and boy is it yummy! So yummy I thought I would share the recipe with you. I'm not sure where I got the recipe from so apologies for not giving credit where it is due.

100g butter (unsalted, soft)
140g light muscovado/brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 ripe bananas mashed (depending on size of bananas)
50g pecans, roughly chopped (or any nuts of choice)
50g raisins or choc chips
150ml buttermilk or crème fraîche
280g plain or wholemeal flour
1 tsp bicarbonate soda

Cooking time 75 minutes
Oven temp: with fan 160 degrees C/without fan 180 degrees C

*cream butter and sugar
*beat eggs and add gradually to butter/sugar mixture
*stir in mashed bananas, pecans, raisins and buttermilk
*Sift flour and bicarb soda on top of banana mixture
*fold in, don't over mix
*spoon into tin and level top

It is soooo easy and very tasty. I have done this recipe three times and haven't have ANY problems. I have done choc chips, pecans and bananas....and raisins, pecans and bananas.....and this time I did it with wholewheat flour and all have been great. I always use low fat crème fraîche as I like healthy-ish x

Miss G got home from school yesterday and I sent her up stairs to get dressed and this is how she came down! I think the odd socks really set the outfit off!

Spare $25 million Dollars anyone?

2009-08-31T13:50:00.011+01:00

I know I wish I did. My hubby found this article in the New York Times as it is the most expensive apartment/house ever to go on sale in Brooklyn. I in love and it reminds me of the apartment Tom Hanks gets in the movie Big and what a view! WOW x

There are some more photos and you can read the rest of the article here.

Dolly Mixtures

2009-08-27T20:29:00.008+01:00

I wasn't sure what to blog about hence taking so long to blog again. So I have decided to blog a bit of everything.
I'm still knitting away and having fun with new colour combinations. I've had this red ribbon in my box for about a year and have finally added it to a pair of my gloves. However, I think I need to re-take my photos again and I definitely need a model for my gloves. Someone to show my gloves off to their best potential....any takers?

I have also had a commission to knit some arm cuffs for a lady in America who is in the process of having blood transfusions and wanted to have the top of her arms covered up and this is what I came up with. Very soft, pretty and feminine....do you think there is a market for these as I think they are lovely?

Last Thursday Grace and I went to a friend of Grace's birthday party...what a cutie x

First Day

2009-08-19T09:15:00.008+01:00

Don't even ask me what I have been doing the past few weeks as I have no idea! Time has just flown by. Anyway sorry for neglecting blogland.

Miss Grace had her first day at school on Tuesday. I say day in the loosest sense as her first day constituted of a whole hour! and again yesterday, then almost three weeks of half days after that. Breaking them in gently I guess. Anyway all was fine and she enjoyed herself and she looked so so cute in her summer dress.

Five for Silver, Six for Gold

2009-07-30T20:47:00.013+01:00

Winter over Paris by afewseconds

Moonlight - Moonstone Crystal, Silver Drop Earrings by JaneAlexandraCormack

The Simplicity Tote - Canvas by inklore

Deco Divine Marlene Hair Clip by EMbridal

Sonata in Fucsia by ECLETTICA

Illumination by TheNebulousKingdom

Just one hour...

2009-07-22T19:31:00.012+01:00

...is how long my paintings were in the gallery today before someone bought one! It was my small one of Loch Lomond. I'm very pleased and I just need to paint more now.

Thought I would share these photos of Grace I took on the way home today. The sun was shining and the colours she was wearing just looked great with her lovely red balloon. Hope everyone had a lovely Wednesday. I'm off to do some knitting as I have had a couple of unexpected new orders. x

At Last

2009-07-20T22:24:00.005+01:00

I finally plucked up enough courage to submit my paintings of Loch Lomond to the gallery that I work at and they are now up on the website. I am very chuffed and they look great, fingers cross they sell and I had better pull my un-crossed fingers out and get painting some more!

This week has been my first week of Unravelling with Susannah Conway. Have a look at her website to learn more or Susannah's lovely blog Ink of My Fingers. This week is all about feet and I thought I would share my images with you.

I had a gorgeous birthday weekend and was spoilt rotten. I had three blissful days off work celebrating with lots of different people. This cake was bought for me by my hubby's boss! He had a party which coincided with my day and I threatened that I would only come if there was cake, and there was! and everyone sung Happy Birthday to me... lovely x

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-07-17T17:01:00.002+01:00

Having a lovely day. Just been to see the new Harry Potter film which was fab and now off to get ready to go to a party. Hope you are all having a lovely day.

Give Me Some Dinosaur Love

2009-07-14T22:57:00.006+01:00

Hubby likes to put new images on our Mac wallpaper and I thought I would share some of the best ones. RAWR x

Five for Silver, Six for Gold

2009-07-12T14:34:00.000+01:00

I have decided to create a weekly feature of some of my favourite finds on Etsy and the Web. Hope you like my selections. L x

Knotted Line Necklace by Harborside Treasures Designs

Darling Buds of July by Fong's Studio

Weavers by GollyBard

Silver Garden Branch Bracelet by Lillyella

Green, Blue and Black Solid Resin Ring by BuyMyCrap

Iced Gems Set of 5 Recycled Felt Food Sculptures by britishcreamtea

Cut Copy and Create Giveaway

2009-07-09T20:38:00.000+01:00

Just thought I would give a quick shout out to my fellow McEtsy team mate Cut Copy Create who is having a blog giveaway. Check her blog out and you are in for a chance to win a gorgeous photo or illustration. Good luck.

You say it's your birthday

2009-07-09T10:05:00.000+01:00

Pink Sky In Morning II

This is a birthday dedication post to my co-worker Heather Lander who's birthday it is today...happy birthday Husky :O)
As it's her birthday I thought I would do a post dedicated to her artwork. As some of you know I work in a commercial art gallery based in both Glasgow and Edinburgh gallery. We both work in the Glasgow gallery and Heather shows her work in the galleries and does very well. My mum and dad commissioned a large double panel piece for their kitchen which I saw up for the first time this summer and it looks fantastic. Hope you enjoy looking at Heather's work and if you would like any further information you can visit her website or visit the gallery.

Heather is originally from Portland, Maine but has a settled in Glasgow since she attended Glasgow School of Art to study fine art (97-99). Her mother lived in Florida and takes a lot of inspiration from her garden and can you spot the Pelicans?

Zebra Jungle Seated

Pelican in Purple Light

Outline of Pelican

Which one is your favourite? I'm eyeing one up for our kitchen.

Oh Happy Days

2009-07-08T21:27:00.000+01:00

Hello there. Long time no see. We got back from our Summer holiday on Sunday and I have just about recovered! I also have so many photos and stories to share with you I didn't know where to start.

We started our holiday with 10 days in France at Mum and Dad's and boy was it HOT. For a couple of days it got up to 32 degrees in the shade and we had to literally tie Grace down to a chair indoors as she wanted to play outside in the sweltering heat! She had the best holiday ever spending her time between the chickens, the dogs and the ducks. If you asked her what her favourite part of her time in France was it was collecting the chicken eggs, picking up the broody hen Cyrillina (mum and dad thought it was a male chicken and called it Cyril!) and walking the four Cocker Spaniels...total bliss for a four year old x

Fantastic feedback

2009-06-17T08:20:00.000+01:00

I have just sent off my second order of gloves to Australia and have had my feedback from the the first pair, and as you can see from the photo below I think she's very happy with her order!

I'm having a Yart Sale!

2009-06-11T20:07:00.000+01:00

I'm having a Yart Sale on my Etsy shop KnitTwits.... FREE worldwide shopping for all of my knitted goods from 10th til 14th June. Stop by and have a look. L x

Exciting Times

2009-06-09T21:50:00.000+01:00

I've had a very exciting week of creativity and it's only Tuesday! It started off on Sunday night with a two hour mammoth session of chatting with fellow members of Etsy from around Scotland. We are reviving our Etsy group McEtsy with a fervent passion, so watch this space for our new adventures.

I have had my second glove commission order within the past month going to Australia, so I am desperately thinking of ways to promote my knitted wares to the good people of Oz....any ideas would be appreciated.
I have also posted some new items to my KnitTwits Etsy shop, my favourite being these cute pink chunky knit gloves with assorted buttons... cute as a button!

My lazy butt has also been motivated to pick up my paint brushes as I have two commission that have been hanging over my head since Christmas! I thought I would show you how I go about painting one of my paintings with Acrylic paint...
First of all I paint a monochromatic under painting with black, white and a brown (Raw Umber). This gives me my very darks and very lights and helps me plot where everything goes. This is the hardest part for me and the most frustrating...I just want to paint with the pretty colours! But the most valuable. I then do a wash of colour using different colours over different parts of the painting. Here I use the watered down colour straight out of the tube and nice bright colours. This acts as a another base to the paintings and makes sure I get some paint into all of the dips in the canvas. As it is watered down you can see the monochromatic under painting still. I love seeing some of these bright colours creep out when I put the next layer of paint on. These layers give the painting real depth and interest. I have just started adding the next layer of colour. As I have my under paintings it's almost like painting with numbers and is my favourite part. I love colour and will show you how I get on in the next few days.

Hope you all had a good weekend. Get up to anything nice? We went to have a nosy around the grounds of Glasgow University...i want to go back to Uni now! x

Music to my Ears

2009-05-25T22:13:00.000+01:00

Hope you all had a spiffy weekend? It was a bank holiday here in the UK so hubby and I had a extra day off today which was lovely....though we spent half the day cleaning upstairs and the other half taking a trip into Glasgow to buy some holiday clothes for Miss G and I'm pooped!

I thought I would share the gig Mr Smith and I went to on Thursday which took us to King Tut's Wah Wah Hut for the first time (a long standing, and legend of a gig venue in Glasgow). It was like watching your favourite band in your living room! Lovely and intimate and made even better that we were standing on a bench in front of the sound dude...prime viewing. The band we went to see is BellX1....everyone say "who?" An Irish band that do really well in Ireland and rather well in the USA and have been on the soundtrack of The OC, Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill.

The lead singer has a truly amazing voice and great quirky lyrics....just fab. From the crowd at King Tut's who knew all the words to fantastic tunes such as Eve the Apple of My Eye, Bad Skin Day, I'll See your Heart (And Raise you Mine), Flame and Rocky Took a Lover, it's obvious there is a very strong fan base here in the UK. I have added some of their tunes to my Playlist at the bottom of my blog or you can go to their MySpace page. It has been three years since BellX1 last came to Glasgow...hopefully they won't take that long again!

You should also check out Prascilla Ahn. I saw her support Ray LaMontagne earlier this year and I loved her. Again there are some of her songs on my Playlist at the bottom of my page or her MySpace page. Happy listening x

Ramblings of a mad woman

2009-05-20T16:06:00.000+01:00

My favourite ribbon shop (VVRouloux) closed in Glasgow a few months ago I thought "no problem I'll buy it online"...famous last words! I just spent a good part of the last hour trying to decide on which web site to buy from, trying to figure of the tones of the colours, crying at the cost of postage and packaging for a couple of metres of ribbon *sniff*. I don't like to buy whole spools of ribbon as I'm not making that many gloves at the moment and I don't have the money to spend. So I'm at a bit of a loss. All I want to do is go to a shop and have a feel and look at the ribbon... buying over the Internet just isn't the same. I bought some around Christmas time online and it is still sitting in the box it came in as it is much heavier, not as silky, as the ribbon I bought from my favourite shop. Well the up shot is I still haven't bought any ribbon! I think I'll just have to be brave and go for one of the shops I found and pay the minimum £10 order with postage grrrrrr.

The ribbon is for my first order of gloves from Australia! Very exciting the thought of my gloves going to the other side of the world!

There have been quite a few lovely things coming through the post in the past few weeks, one of which arrived this morning from Gorjuss.

This lovely keyring is going on my work keys...something handmade from Etsy to cheer me up on my working days. What makes this even better is that Suzanne Woolcott from Gorjuss lives in Glasgow, Scotland where she runs her business with her husband (read this lovely article from Etsy The Storque on Gorjuss and "Quit Your Day Job".

One of the lovely friends I have made in blogland is Kenneth Anderson who sent me these amazing postcards of his work with an extra special one especially for me. If only I could draw like that by freehand. It's a picture of Grace with her pet Stegosaurus.....when she draws our cat Gizmo they always look like little Stegosaurus cause he's very hairy and spiky! I'm so happy with them and they will be going up on Grace's wall pronto.

I took the plunge the other week and ordered my first set of business cards for my KnitTwits shop from moo.com and I am so so chuffed with them. I think they look fab....what do you think?

I also ordered some labels for my knitted items but they are a bit bigger than I expected (I should have read the size print!!) so I'll keep them for my larger items such as this scarflette I knitted for Grace.

Oh Crumbs!

2009-05-10T04:53:00.000+01:00

Miss G has been watching old kids cartoons on DVD recently and there are two firm favourites coming out tops. No.1 is Sooty and No2. is Dangermouse. Now for my American friends who haven't heard of either of these you can probably watch clips of both of these on YouTube. Grace is loving Dangermouse so much she's asking to dress up as Dangermouse for Halloween (a while to go yet so she'll probably change her mind), but I'm getting all excited at the prospect of making a Dangermouse costume. This brings me to draw up my own 80's retro top 10 favourite kids programmes. What's your favourite programme of your childhood?

1. The Flumps

2. Mr Benn

3. Banana Man

4. Bagpuss

5. Trumpton

6. Fraggle Rock

7. The Wombles

8. The Raccoons

9. Pigeon Street

10. Button Moon

Happy days xxx

Getting all Arty Farty

2009-05-08T21:20:00.000+01:00

I was speaking to someone today at work (I promised you an image of the gallery I work at so here you go) who has just finished her degree in Art History at Glasgow University. She asked my what my dissertation was about, which was turn of the 20th century Scandinavian Impressionist art. I loved doing my dissertation so i thought I would share some of the paintings that I enjoy. Another reason this came to mind today was I came across the paintings and prints by Janet Hill. Janet's interior paintings remind me of the interior paintings that the Scandinavian artists, such as Anna Ancher, Peter Ilsted and Vilhelm Hammershoi loved to paint. It also reminds me of the work by one of my dear friends Caroline Walker, who is currently in London finishing off her MA in painting at the Royal College of Art, London.

"Tea Service" by Janet Hill

Peter Ilsted
Vilhelm Hammershoi
Anna Ancher"Frognal Lane 9.30am" by Caroline Walker

"Frognal Lane 2pm" by Caroline Walker

I have a very special charcoal drawing by Caroline in my hallway and I would love a oil painting to go with it, but I think she has hit the big time now and is destined for great things... keep you eye out for her name in the bright lights!

Easter Madness

2009-04-15T08:38:00.000+01:00

Hope you all had a fantastic Easter and ate a huge amount of chocolate? I know I did and I then spent the rest of the day (and the next day) telling Grace 'NO' to any more chocolate!

My Hubby likes to do treasure hunts (see the post for Grace's birthday in November) and this Easter he didn't let us down. Grace, me, sis and Granny all had to go from room to room finding colour coded cardboard egg parts, until all our parts made four eggs in total. I think my sister enjoyed it a bit too much and beat us all (including Grace) to finding all the parts! Great fun though and Grace loved helping Granny who couldn't find any of the parts!I've been trying to make pouches for the summer months to sell in my Etsy shop and here is my first one and I'm rather pleased with it.

I also knitted these dark gray gloves with a touch of cashmere embellished with a light silver satin ribbon....lovely, soft and cosy.

It's my Hubby's birthday today....32 and still looking fab! So this is a birthday post dedicated to the birthday boy. Grace and I are off to meet him for lunch, then I'm cooking a birthday dinner, followed by a game or two on the Wii I think. HAPPY BIRTHDAY J xxx

The Comeback Kid

2009-04-05T21:13:00.000+01:00

Well after much deliberation and procrastination I have decided to post on my blog again. I think I had a touch of writers block because of course I write so much text on my blog! I've left my memory card with all of my photos on it at work so not many photos to show and tell today.

Talking about work, one of the reasons I haven't been blogging lately is due to the relocation of the art gallery that I work at 4 days a week. For the past 10 years scotlandart.com has been in the southside of Glasgow...tucked away in the a suburb of Glasgow, with regular customers and sales, but not much passing trade. So, a week past Wednesday the gallery finally, after much blood sweat and tears, moved to a very swanky new space right in the heart of Glasgow. The day after we moved we had our first exhibition opening at the new address. Very exciting with lots of people...I even got my hair done for the event! We plan on having a lot more exhibition openings and cocktail evenings. I have been working at the gallery three years this month and it's taking me a while to get used to my new surroundings and my new customers coming through the doors, but I'm getting there. If you are ever in Glasgow come and see me (I'm part of the furniture!).

I have still been knitting and once I have my memory card back I'll post some images of what I have been up to. I have also just come off Etsy where I have been featured on the front page which was a lovely surprise...just the kick up the butt I needed. Thank you Penny Glass Girl.

I'm off to say hello to everyone. It's nice to be back...maybe this will stop me watching too many cop programmes (the real life ones) and Girls of the Playboy Mansion! what am I like. L x

Knick-Knack Paddy Whack...

2009-03-10T22:21:00.000Z

Good evening all. Thank you so much to everyone for entering my blog giveaway and so many kind words about my special pouch. If I had this pouch I would have to buy a lovely mirror compact to keep in it as I think it's ideal for something girlie and gorgeous. Without much ado I would like to announce the winner... congratulations to Windy Cindy xx

I'll be having more blog giveaways soon so please look out for them.

Whilst I'm here I thought I would post some of the tens of photos that my adorable daughter took of the TV one morning whilst I was busy on the computer. It wasn't until I got hold of the camera later that day did I realise how many photos she took! I think they are quite clever, and if you put them altogether would make a great flip book.

Blog Giveaway

2009-03-04T21:09:00.000Z

Hello hello hello. I am so easily distracted...one wee holiday to London and my knitting and blogging gets pushed aside. Yes, hubby and I went off to London for three days whilst Miss G went up to Forfar to visit Granny. It's amazing how much she seemed to grow up in the few days we were aways from her. Her speech is so clear now and appears to be still growing. Such a tall girl...she's only 4 and is wearing 6-7 year old clothes. my goodness.

We had a lovely time in London. I couldn't tell you what we did but we had a lovely time bumming around together.
I know I promised you a blog giveaway in February, but February kind of disappeared on me. You know how it is. However, I am very happy to announce that I have made a special 'Knick-Knack Pouch' (It's only 9x9cm big and my photos make my button look dark blue when it is purple). It's special because it's the first of it's kind and it all came from my head! So to win my very special pouch you have to tell me what knick-knacks you would put in your special pouch? Good luck and I look forward to reading your responses. x Oh and the closing time for my giveaway is 7:30pm (GMT) on Tuesday 10th March.

I'm in love

2009-02-22T19:51:00.000Z

I have found some of the most beautiful silver work on Etsy...want it want it want it. It's by LA Valley Girly (aka Laurel Glendale), who as you can guess is from Los Angeles, California. Laurel makes gorgeous, simple pieces of jewellery at very affordable prices. She also has a blog with some very wise words on making sales and getting noticed in the world of Etsy. These earrings and necklaces are definitely going on my birthday wish list x

Really lovely so please check out Laurel's shop if you are looking for something special.

Hope you all have had a good weekend. My little one is still ill so we are off to the doctors tomorrow. It looks to me that she has a throat and ear infection...poor sausage. I don't think she will be going to nursery tomorrow so she'll have the joy of coming to work with me! Today we just stayed in and made a tent-bed in front of the TV and made chocolate cupcakes and you guessed right that she didn't eat any of them....strange child!

Tuesday is the new Friday

2009-02-17T22:01:00.000Z

I normally have Wednesday and Thursday off so Tuesday is my Friday (I normally work Saturday or Sunday), so I went to the movies with my sis to see "Confessions of a Shopaholic" staring Isla Fisher. Twas good. Amusing but not big belly laughs, but I recommend it if you like to shop and you like good looking English men (it had the very lovely Hugh Dancy...one to look out for I think).

Of course it was based on the books by Sophie Kinsella which I have upstairs in my mini library but haven't got around to read yet....I'll let you know when i do and we'll do a compare and contrast.

I have finished my white gloves order and have added them to my etsy shop. However, I think it is definitely time for something different for KnitTwits and a blog giveaway is a calling. I haven't been blogging as much as I would like as I have been spending my computer time looking up life insurance and pension stuff (very boring) and things to do in London as hubby and I are off for a three day trip next week....very excited. We got such a bargain deal with our train and hotel. Now all I have to do is to decided if I want to go see a play or a musical or the opera? decisions decisions! Any suggestions? Hubby and I used to work in London so we will be revisiting a few haunts.
Miss G has been a bit under the weather recently with swollen glands. So she has been stuck in the house quite a lot over the past week and cabin fever struck on Sunday and she demanded that we make chocolate chip cookies. So, being the good mother that I am, I duly got the recipe book out and all of the ingredients. I would like to point out that mummy was a bit hung over and had the beginnings of a head cold....so mummy wasn't feelin too hot. All of the ingredients were measured and added then whisked together....my electric whisk is a bit old and goes a bit too fast! "Mummy does it go any slower?", "No" said a cross mummy with cookie dough all over the kitchen (I like controlled cooking!). After many nibbled chocolate chips we eventually get them into the oven. After all of this Grace refused, as she always does when she bakes, to eat any of the cookies! strange child. I had three of them with a lovely cup of tea watching "High Society" whilst Grace fell asleep on my lap. bless x

My cold is a bit better today but I think I'll head to bed now read my book (a classy chick lit novel). Tomorrow Grace and I are off to see Bolt...can't wait. Oh and I have added a playlist to the end of my blog. Feel free to have a listen to some of my tunes. I had so much fun making it last night and I have so many more tunes I want to add. Thank you to Georgia B. at Etheral who gave me the idea of creating one.

snow snow snow......

2009-02-08T20:28:00.000Z

Well a touch of snow has finally arrived in Paisley, much to my four year old's delight! I think Paisley has to have been the last place in the whole of the UK to get some. We have had a few sprinkles, but there was finally enough this afternoon for Grace to make a wee snowman, but then the head fell off and it ended up being a rather deformed snowman with a tiny head! I watched and took photos from the safety of our top floor flat kitchen window...very wise I think.

off with it's head.
got the giggles.
throwing snowballs at mummy.
Then over the past few hours there has been more snow (very exciting..."mummy look at all the snow"), so I wonder how much there will be when we wake up tomorrow morning?

Our street
Well, 2009 has started out rather well for me. Not only did I reach my goal weight, but on the same week I finally received confirmation from my boss that I am getting my long awaited (three years) pay rise an a new work title of "Gallery Principal" (I work in an commercial art gallery for all those who didn't know). I feel very blessed as I know people are losing their jobs at the moment. I like my new title though... something different from the norm.

I'm still knitting and getting a few orders here and there, one of which is a commission of white wool and white ribbon...sounds lush and very in-keeping for all this snow we are getting. I'll post a photo of them when they are complete.

Hope everyone is well....any good news out there? I'm staying optimistic so I hope you are too. x

What a difference a day makes.

2009-01-30T16:56:00.000Z

I feel like I have fallen off the edge of blog land. I've been having a bit of a break and my ma and pa have arrived so i thought I had better pay them some attention!

I have been going to Weight Watchers since the end of October to loose some weight that I have been carrying around for the past few years and I reached my goal weight on Wednesday. I'm pretty chuffed with myself. I had to ring a bell to let the meeting know, stand up in front of everyone and tell them how I did it! I got a special keyring and my certificate is on the fridge letting all and sundry know that I lost 15lbs :O)

As I have nothing new to show you I thought I would share this YouTube video that my hubby found the other night. I almost fell off the chair laughing and I think it works better without the sound. Sneaky cat! x

In years to come...

2009-01-24T21:31:00.000Z

...this will be me. Head to toe in my own knitted garb with people whispering "how strange, yet how cool"! You think? I already knit on the train so I'm halfway there x

Humpday Happenings

2009-01-21T16:45:00.000Z

Well, as always we have had a busy Wednesday. This morning was taken up with mummy being a boring poop-head on the computer as I was adding my latest edition to my KnitTwits store....

I then did half an hour on the Wii fit (does that class as exercise?), had lunch, then off we went to Rouken Glen Park with friends to play in the park. Wellies were adorned with coats, scarfs and gloves and a lovely time was had by all. Not only did we play in the playground, but we also took a nice walk to the waterfall at the rear of the park and threw a penny in for a wish. We then fed the ducks followed swiftly by a much deserved fruit scone and a cup of tea. Then back to the car via another quick play in the playground. Miss G is now all snuggled up on the couch watching "MouseHunt" and looking very sleepy, which isn't surprising.

Last night hubby and I went to see a special preview of "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" which stars Michael Cera (Juno and Superbad) and Kat Dennings.

It's all set in New York over one night and a series of events happen whilst they are trying to find a secret gig of their favourite band. If you love New York, music and romantic comedies (this one is a High School romance comedy)...this is the film for you. I loved it. It had some brilliant one-liners ("I love you so much, it's retarded"....hee hee he (I was the only one laughing at that moment!)) and just made hubby and i super home-sick for New York....not that we are from New York, but hubby worked there for one and a half years and we fell in love with the place. We would move there in a heart beat.

And the winner is.....

2009-01-18T20:55:00.000Z

I'm here a bit later than anticipated. Miss G wanted to play a game of guessing what the other one is tracing on their back then drawing it and then a story! However, before bedtime my lovely assistant did me the honours of choosing the winner....

who is.....
...Jeanette....CONGRATULATIONS xxx (contact me on lornasmith77 at yahoo . co . uk with your details for shipping)

A huge thank you to everybody who entered the competition and for visiting my blog and as a special thank you I would like to offer free shipping on any of my gloves from my Etsy shop before the 31st January 09 (Just mention the competition in the comments box and your blog name). Such an amazing response and I hope you all come back again soon. I plan on having one competition a month, so please keep an eye out this time next month for another fab giveaway.

I'll post something soon about the "favourites" that everybody put...there were a few reoccurring ones and interesting ones.

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend...here's to a productive week ahead with a few of your favourite things to help to go by that bit smoother x

Blog giveaway

2009-01-17T20:27:00.000Z

What a fantastic response to my blog giveaway...there is still time to enter as I won't drawing the name until I get back from work tomorrow, had my dinner, and put Miss G to bed! So lets say 8pm GMT (3pm EST, 12pm PST). Good luck to everyone x

Feature Friday

2009-01-16T20:58:00.000Z

Hope everybody had a good week? My week seemed to disappear somewhere...has anybody seen it?! My biggest news has to be that we registered Miss G with her primary school which she will be starting after this summer! Very exciting and Grace is already talking about her school uniform and is requesting a pinafore...do you have pinafores in the US? My only complaint is that it took us 25 minutes to walk to the school as we don't have a car, so I'll have to allow half an hour in the morning just to get there....her nursery at the moment is literally right across the road! My hubby used to live right across the road from his primary school when he was wee and could hear the school bell from his bed and would still be late!

Anyway, I have been busy making plans for my blog and I am going to try and have some regular spots, one of which will be my 'Feature Friday" where I will feature other bloggers, fellow Etsyians, artists, designers etc.

My first to be featured is the lovely Blue Moss. Not only does Michelle have a beautiful blog with interesting bits on crafty items, designers etc., but also a gorgeous Etsy shop showcasing elegant and well made jewellery "With attention to detail each item is handcrafted using a mix of elements that include vintage and found pieces to achieve a truly individual work of art for you to wear and treasure" (as put by the lady herself). Really lovely pieces of art that would make an ideal gift for a loved girly.

Look out for next Friday's feature and more lovely things in between...also don't forget my blog giveaway in my post below. Good luck to everyone and keep an eye out on Sunday for the grand draw! Your comments have had me giggling...lovely x

Some of my favourite things....

2009-01-14T08:22:00.000Z

"...Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens....."

....cuddles from my little girl and reading her a story at bed time
....My mother-in-law's golden syrup pancakes with extra syrup on top...yum

....sitting down with a cup of tea, a big bit of cake (any kind, I'm not fussy!) and watching a good girly film or period drama...girly heaven.
.....going somewhere romantic just with my hubby and not being ill!
.....going to the movies

.....knitting

.....going for a walk in the countryside or beach, getting really cold, then coming home and warming up in front of a fire with a cup of tea.
.....finding in my house a nice pen that works!

What are some of your favourite things....let me know and on Sunday 18th January I'll draw a name from a hat. The winner will receive a pair of my camel brown gloves with plum ribbon as pictured here, but the only difference is that the ribbon will be at the other end of the gloves! Something to cheer you all up and to banish away those January blues x

I managed to bag myself a treasury on Monday and I have filled it with lots of luscious plummy coloured items....here's to the front page of Etsy!

"When the dog bites,
When the bee stings,
When I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel, so bad."

Almost there

2009-01-07T10:20:00.000Z

I have almost finished all of my knitting orders and I can tell you it is quite a relief. Once I am completely done I am looking forward to creating some new knitted gems and getting stuck into some painting. I have two painting commissions for a friend of the family and I have just sold another painting up in Forfar so I need to get another one up there to replenish the stocks!

Another thing on my "to do" list is to design new stationary, labels and packaging for my knitting shop. As soon as I have any ideas I'll post them up for you to give me feedback. I think I know how I want it to look but I just find it hard to get it down on paper.

Happy New Year by the way (I almost forgot!). We had a very quiet but lovely Hogmanay up north in Forfar and we all had a gorgeous walk on Montrose beach on New Years Day. With toasted rolls and homemade soup in the car beforehand whilst waiting for the cold rain to stop. As the clouds rolled away, out rolled the nutters having a New Year dook in the sea! Total madness!!Miss G was playing chicken with the waves and lost! Luckily I had a change of clothes in the car.

I am thinking of having my first blog give away to celebrate the New Year so keep an eye out towards the weekend for that.

Here's to a fantastic, productive, creative and profitable (!) 2009.

Baby it's cold outside

2008-12-29T22:27:00.000Z

I got home today from work and I could not feel my feet so Miss G offered to feel them for me! Made me laugh anyway.

I almost forgot to ask how everybody Christmas was!? We had a lovely time slobbing about in our pj's, eating and playing our new Wii console...and getting eaten by a giant brown paper snake...as you do....

....even Gizmo was getting in the festive mood hiding among the pressies. Spot the cat...

I have had amazing success with my gloves recently and have been featured on the front page of Etsy no less than 5 times! It's slightly overwhelming but I'm very happy to go with the flow of it and give it a go of making my shop a success. My only complaint is that I am so busy with my current orders I'm not getting to play with my new wool that I have bought.....I want to play and I want to play now!

My most resent feature on the front page was from the very lovely MyissaG who makes beautiful crocheted items. These dishcloths look beautifully made and tasty enough to eat!

and here is the front page in all it's glory...

Well, the year is drawing to a close and me and my wee family are off up to Forfar to see in the New Year. Hope you all have great Hogmanay and I'll see you next year! xxx

PS...if anyone is interested in my Christmas top 10 here is the final 4 in my rockin' chart!:
No.4..."Merry Christmas Everyone" by Shakin Stevens
No.3..."I believe in Father Christmas" by Greg Lake
No.2..."All I want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey
No.1..."Last Christmas" by Wham (an eternal classic..!)

I'm in trouble

2008-12-20T17:54:00.000Z

So sorry for not posting anything on my blog for so long. As you all know it's this time of year that has eaten all of my time and I just wish there were a few more hours in the day.

We have been getting in the Christmas spirit today as we went to see the Wizard of Oz at the theatre with Grace, who loved it but I think it tired her out!

I have just written my Christmas cards and I'm looking forward to eating pizza watching the Strictly Come Dancing final tonight on the TV...very exciting and I do hope Rachel and Vincent win.

I have also neglected my Christmas music coundown so I would like to give you No.5 and No.4 today as a Brucie bonus!

At No.6 is a song that nearly always brings a tear to my eye. Such a beautiful song sung by a beautiful lady, the late Judy Garland featured in the movie "Meet me in St Louis".

In at No.5 is a true classic and my second entry by the crooner, Mr Bing Crosby. It's more likely to be a wet Christmas here in Paisley this year, but we can still dream of a white one....These are both dedicated to my dad xxx

I'll protect you from the hooded claw...

2008-12-11T23:07:00.000Z

...has to be the strangest line in a Christmas classic ever! (the Hooded Claw being from cartoon The Perils of Penelope Pitstop). In at No.6 is "The Power of Love by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Such a gorgeous song and was released in November 1984, reaching No.1 early in December that year, but was pipped at the post by Band Aid "Do They Know it's Christmas?" for Christmas No.1.

On the bonny bonny banks o' Loch Lomond

2008-12-10T08:21:00.000Z

I've been told off by hubby for not posting anything of any substance (he doesn't like my Christmas countdown...bah humbug) so I thought I would post my paintings of Loch Lomond. I still need to do some work on the 3rd one, but I think the other two are finished. Let me know what you think of them.

""Inveruglas, Loch Lomond", Acrylic on canvas panel, 60x40cm unframed

"Inveruglas, Loch Lomond", Acrylic on canvas panel, 28x36cm unframed

"Tarbet, Loch Lomond", Acrylic on canvas panel, 28x36cm unframed

A Little dedication

2008-12-09T23:32:00.000Z

At No.7 in the hottest top 10 Christmas countdown in town is one of my favourites and has been on my ipod all year! 'Fairytale of New York' by (the tragically late) Kirsty McCall and the (still going strong) Pogues was released as a single in 1987 and reached #1 in the Irish charts and #2 in the British charts.
I would like to dedicate this song to Ben McFuzzylugs...let me hear you sing!

pa rum pum pum pum

2008-12-07T00:00:00.000Z

Such a wonderful juxtaposition (big word for midnight on a Saturday night!) of David Bowie and Bing Crosby singing this classic and was recorded in 1977 a month before Bing died of a heart attack. I recommend reading this article I found in the Washington Post about the song and how it came about....pa rum pum pum pum.......

Not 'arf

2008-12-05T08:12:00.000Z

Good morning pop pickers and coming in, down two places, at No.9 is "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree" by Mel Smith and Kim Wilde which reached No.3 in the UK charts in 1987 and was released for Comic Relief. So silly, so 80's, yet so good!

A little something to get us in the festive mood

2008-12-04T08:24:00.000Z

I think now it is past 1st December and I've made a good start on my Advent Calendar I am officially allowed to crack open my collection of Christmas tunes...hoorah! So as a gift from me to you I would like to share my top 10 Christmas songs with you over the coming weeks. Right pop pickers at No.10.... Wizzard "I Wish It Could be Christmas Every Day". First released in 1973 by Wizzard, when it reached #4 in the singles chart, famously beaten to #1 by Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody which remained there for five consecutive weeks. I much prefer Wizzard...rock on XX

When there's a will there is a way

2008-12-01T22:23:00.000Z

My beautiful friend and neighbour Laura has shown me where to find the treasury I was featured in and it turns out I was on the front page of Etsy, which is truly amazing, and here it is in all it's glory.

A huge thank you to kaleprimitifs who featured me. She creates these beautiful pieces of jewellery out of Precious Metal Clay and I especially like this delicate flax flower buds & stem captured in fine silver. It would make a lovely Christmas pressie for that someone special.

Knitting the Night Away

2008-12-01T13:33:00.000Z

My KnitTwits shop on Etsy looks like it had a good week as I think it was featured in a treasury then possibly posted on the front page of Etsy as I received over 500 hits on one pair of my fingerless gloves! I almost fell of my chair! It's just a shame that no one told me I was featured as I couldn't thank them....thank you whoever you are.

I've been having lots of lovely comments on my gloves which is so nice to hear and lots of orders so I'm off to do a bit more knitting before I collapse in my bed. Suzanne from Bliss Soybean Candles and Gifts has featured a pair of my fingerless gloves on her blog. Thank you so much for the feature and in return I would like to say how gorgeous your candles look and only wish you weren't so far away as i would have one in a heartbeat! I bet they smell delicious XX

My neighbour commissioned me to knit a pair of cosy pink leg warmers for her friend's birthday and I think they turned out rather spiffy! I wouldn't mind a pair myself.

I'll post my paintings of Loch Lomond this week. My mother-in-law had a look at them and reassured me that they were good, but there is still one that needs a bit of tweaking. How has your week been? Anyone all organised for Christmas? I was just looking at my diary to organise a lunch date with my friend and the days are slipping away before my eyes. I don't really mind though as I LOVE Christmas and I plan on doing all of my shopping online!

It's about time!

2008-11-30T21:11:00.000Z

Hello.....I am still here, alive and well (almost!). I have just had the busiest week ever with an exhibition opening at work (I work in a commercial art gallery) and a tea party today for Miss G who turned 4 this week. Hopefully this coming week will be more peaceful and I'll sleep easier.

Grace had a lovely birthday and her gorgeous Daddy made her a visual treasure hunt to find her box of treasures. Each clue led her to somewhere in the house where the next clue was and the final picture was on the computer showing her where her pressies were hiding (under the kitchen table!). She loved it and had so much fun doing it....thank you Daddy X

Here are some pictures from today's party and the cake that you see Grace with was made specially for her by one of my sister's friends and it was truly amazing. It tasted like a shop bought cake and it looked amazing. Miss G loved it.

Looks like I'm not the only one

2008-11-20T22:33:00.000Z

I forgot to post this the other day. Hubby came home with the Metro (free paper found on public transport routes) the other day with a reassuring article affirming that my knitting is not madness or a bit odd (I knit on the trains to and from work and I get a few strange looks!). The article is worth reading and gives some handy websites for patterns and wool etc.. Looks like knitting is making a much deserved comeback.

Neglect is a terrible thing.

2008-11-19T20:11:00.000Z

I have been neglecting my blog and I think I am having withdrawal symptoms...I'm irritable, tired, anxious! Or I could just be busy being a mum ha ha x I have still been busy creating things but I just haven't had the chance to show you all. On Monday I took a day off work to concentrate on my paintings and to hopefully get some natural daylight...ha! It ended up being the dullest day ever and worked all day with the lights on, but I did get a big-ish painting almost completed and worked on the other two. I'm still not overly happy with them. I should post them and let you tell me what you think, but only constructive criticism would be allowed....telling me they are lovely won't cut it!

Thanks to my beautiful friend next door (LauraBaillieDesigns) I have 4 commissions of gloves and I sold a couple of drawings last weekend. Happy days.

I've started my Christmas cards and busy trying to think of creative things to make for Miss G's butterfly tea party which is a week on Sunday. I thought of butterfly paper chains and butterfly cakes so any other ideas would be appreciated.

Miss G and I are chillin after a busy trip it Ikea and Marks and Spencers who has 20% off everything today...sooo many people! Definitely an incentive to do all of my shopping online this year.

All at once

2008-11-12T16:54:00.000Z

I have been meaning to post most of this for the last week but just haven't got round to it! Such a busy and creative week. It started last Thursday when Miss G and I had a day and home (which is not the norm) as the weather was howling and it was just nice to bum around in our PJ's for half the day. My lovely neighbour Laura gave us some gorgeous beads and wee cardboard boxes and Miss G had a bead set left over from a few Christmases ago so we decided to make more bead bracelets and decorate the boxes with sequins and beads having covered them first in PVA. I must admit that I did most of it as Grace was having way too much fun playing with all the tiny beads, mixing the colours up and spending half the time on her hands and knees picking them up off the floor. But I must admit she did a really good job of finding all the escapees and she is still finding them as she found two more on the chair in the kitchen! Who knows how they got there as we were doing the boxes in the living room!

This beautiful hedgehog was created by Grace at nursery and has pride of place on our mantelpiece.

Grace also helped me make the invitations for her birthday party. It's going to be a butterfly tea party with butterfly decorations, a butterfly shaped cake and butterfly inspired food etc. I know butterflies are a bit out of season but I think it's a shame that her birthday is so late in the year so we thought we would bring a touch of spring/summer into the house for one day before Father Christmas descends on us. As you can see I drew the invitations and Grace coloured them in with her paint set. We had red ones and yellow one and green ones...such a clever wee soul.

Grace had her play mate Leah over today for some creative doings and here are two of the plasticine jungle animals that we created (I did the elephant but Grace added the green ears!). I love plasticine but I get a bit neurotic about the colours getting mixed up!

Since my final year of secondary/high school I have been doing life drawing of some sort so I was thrilled to discover that there was a local drop in class which is only £3 for two hours (very reasonable). I was a bit rusty so i am only going to show you the drawings that I was semi-happy with. I'll try and post my drawings every Wednesday/Thursday so you can see what I get up to. Hopefully my drawing skills will improve and I can gain a bit of confidence. Is there anything you have been wanting to do again that you used to do or want to learn a new skill etc?

Sorry this has been such a long post but I've been dieing to share with you what we have been up to. How has your week been?

Drum roll please.......

2008-11-09T14:57:00.000Z

As you might have suspected I have decided to open a knitwear shop on Etsy. It's called KnitTwits and I opened it this morning with just two items for sale but I have at least another five items to add in the next few days. I hoping to sell fingerless gloves, leg warmers and scarfs, but I have grand plans to learn how to knit big chunky bed socks, beautiful hats and mittens. So as always watch this space.

In all its glory

2008-11-06T20:49:00.000Z

I am so happy with my second Treasury on Etsy and had lots of fun creating it. I got the idea from my magazine Easy Living (see below) that I get on a monthly basis (thanks to my lovely Mother-in-Law for generous subsciption) and they had a gorgeous Christmas Gift Guide with a whole page of Russian themed pressies saying there is a "current vogue for all things Salvic". Anyway, it caught my eye but I think I prefer my fellow Etsian's take on this new trend.

I am still knitting like a demon and still really enjoying it. I am desperate to learn how to knit socks and hats and I am considering opening up another shop on Etsy with my knitted wares so watch this space.Some fingerless gloves still to be finished....

Another Treasury

2008-11-06T11:08:00.000Z

I managed to bag myself another treasury! I thought this time I would do a Russian inspired treasury as every magazine I open at the moment seems to have lots of Russian themes. I hope you like it.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=19366

The Cocker's New Coats

2008-11-01T11:45:00.000Z

I thought I would share this gorgeous photo of my ma and pa's four Cocker Spaniels who have had their haircut. Going from front right anti-clockwise we have Phoebe, Scarlet, Millie and Dexter. Don't they look handsome.

Ghouls, Gigs and Great Treasuries

2008-10-31T21:59:00.000Z

Pumpkin hand carved by hubby

I have had a very busy day today which started this morning at 6:30am finishing making Grace's Halloween costume...what a gorgeous wee pumpkin she made. I made it from two white t-shirts sewn together, which I dyed orange. I then stuffed it with padding and used a stencil and black hair spray/dye (fab idea by sis) to do the face on the front. Grace's tights were adult ones, so they spent the whole day round her ankles! bless XX

Then.... 9am this morning Take That tickets went on sale so sis was on the Internet and I dialled the telephone numbers all the way to Glasgow on a half hour train ride with nae luck. But just as I was giving up hope I called sis and she was just in the process of buying two tickets to see them in Wembley Stadium, London!! We we are off on an adventure next July (so far away) and I'm thinking of making it a wee family holiday for all. Can't wait. This was all before I got to work...and work was pretty busy. No rest for the blessed so they say.
Grace had her Halloween party at nursery so we were all very tired by the end of the day...zzzz

As I said in my previous post that I was very excited to get myself my first Treasury on Etsy and here it is in all its glory. It runs out Saturday am, so check it out before it goes.

I treasure my treasury

2008-10-29T23:10:00.000Z

I am so excited...I have my first treasury on Etsy and I think it looks rather fab if I don't mind saying so myself :O) However, I got so excited that I misspelled 'tartan'! I am a disgrace to the Scottish race and am thoroughly disgusted with myself! Anyway...check out my treasury:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=17909

I'm off to bed...all this excitement has worn me out. night night X

knitting the night away

2008-10-27T22:53:00.000Z

Well, since my holiday in France I have been knitting like mad and I'm really enjoying it. Although I think I am enjoying it a bit too much as I'm not getting any artwork done! I was in Edinburgh over the weekend for my friend's 30th birthday and here are the fingerless gloves that I knitted for her. I'm quite chuffed with them and I'm busy knitting myself a pair.

Part of my friend Katy's birthday weekend was help decorate her dining room chairs. Sounds a bit strange I know, but it all becomes clear when you see the photos. Katy wanted something permanent to remember her 30th and we all had great fun doing it...my contribution were the teacups with flowers.

You've been tagged!

2008-10-21T22:08:00.000+01:00

I have just discovered what tagging is! I have my blonde moments and this was one of them. Thank you LauraBaillieDesigns for tagging me and I thought I would share some interesting facts about me...welcome to the odd world of Lorna...

Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

No.1...I love banana sandwiches with brown bread, marg and a sprinkling of sugar!
No.2...I would love to have a dog, ideally a German Shepherd.
No.3...I'm a huge Star Wars fan.
No.4...I can't sleep if I have cold feet
No.5...I hate shoe shopping..i've got big ol feet!
No.6...I love Christmas time, esp watching Christmas movies.
No.7...I'm going through to Edinburgh this weekend to P.A.R.T.Y!

Ben Mcfuzzylugs crafty bits and dog agility
Laura Baillie Designs
Mademoiselle Robot
Bloom, Grow, Love
Matt Talbert Paintings
Kenneth Anderson's Artwork and ramblings
Lauren Alexander Art

At last!

2008-10-18T16:40:00.000+01:00

"The Pend" Pen and Ink on watercolour paper (now for sale in my Etsy shop)

At last I have pulled my finger out and produced a new drawing! Anyone would think I take hours upon hours producing my art, but it doesn't take long...it's just finding those precious moments to do it is the hard bit.

The sun is shining and it's all cold outside...must be Autumn.....gorgeous! And to get you in the Autumn mood I totally forgot about these lovely photos we took of Miss G and her Daddy's art attack creations done whilst in France. So much fun to be had with some apples and leaves... xx

Lets hit the sales

2008-10-09T22:14:00.000+01:00

These drawings\paintings were $40, now $20. Available from my Etsy shop.

To celebrate Autumn and all that comes with this time of year I have decided to have a SALE in my Etsy shop. I have up to 50% off on my artwork and FREE UK delivery...nae bad at all don't ya think! I nice bit of artwork to cheers up a wall or two this time of year, when the news is all doom and gloom. I think I'm going to boycott the news...far too depressing.

I love this time of year, with the nights drawing in and getting cosy on the couch with a good cup of tea. I think I lived too many years in Aberdeen....It had a strange effect on me. I definitely prefer wearing autumn/winter clothes (much more flattering!). To get me in the mood I decided to start some knitting with the aim of knitting myself some fingerless gloves. However, so far, I have knitted Miss G. some gloves and leg warmers, my mum some gloves and several orders from friends and family for more gloves and a knitted bag. I'm hoping to get my own gloves knitted sometime before spring!

I am still itching like mad with my rash (all over my arms, belly, legs....nasty), so not in a drawing/painting frame of mind, but I had better kick my butt into gear soon before I get lazy...oh so easy to do.

I have been looking at my diary and my weekends are quickly filling up and before I know it it will be Christmas!! Where did this year go? I better get drawing those Christmas cards I have in mind...so much to do, so little time.

Let me know what October has in store for you. Miss G. is sooo excited about Halloween. Keep an eye out for pumpkins...real ones and two legged ones!

Finished at last!

2008-10-03T20:22:00.000+01:00

Today is quite a momentous occasion! I have finally finished my painting of my Mum and Miss G. I think I started painting it about a year and a half ago! It's not bad, but don't think I'll rush to paint people any time soon. This was a Christmas present for my Ma and Pa for 2007, but they still don't have it as I have to take it home to get framed, so maybe this Christmas they will get to hang it on the wall hee hee X

It's all gone a bit conkers!

2008-10-02T21:50:00.000+01:00

Sorry I haven't been posting any art as I had promised, but I haven't been feeling up to it lately as I have acquired a horrible rash that makes me look like I have leprosy! I've been feeling rotten, but trying to make the most of my holiday here in France.

Miss G has been loving the wildlife out here and especially the HUGE conkers...we have never seen so many, and such big conkers ever before. So everywhere we go we collect some and add them to the booty stash.

Hubby and I took a wee trip to Paris on Tuesday and came back yesterday, whilst Nana and Grandad did a superb job of looking after Miss G. She had so much fun dressing up in Nana's clothes....

Whilst in Paris, we came across some likable conkers... then inspiration struck and thought the conkers should live it up, so we showed them the sights and sounds of the most romantic city in the world and here is what they saw.....

The Eiffel Tower.....

A spot of culture at the Louvre....

A tender moment on Point Neuf...

The bells of Notre Dame....

The famous Metropolitain system....

The Pompidou centre for a change of scenery...

...and finally the journey home on the TGV...wheeeeeeeeeeee

I think they had a good time, Paris is such a beautiful city.

Well, I have almost finished a painting for my parents, I'm struggling with a part of it, but it has be to be done before I leave France on Tuesday and I promise to post it before then.

a breath of fresh air.....

2008-09-26T16:35:00.000+01:00

We arrived in France on Wednesday as my folks have lived here for the past 6 years and we come and visit them about twice a year. They live out in the countryside so lots for Miss G to see and do. Here are a few snaps of what we have been up to the last couple of days.

Thursday morning and this is the view that greeted me whilst sitting on the loo! not bad eh?

Miss G and Nana went for a ride on Nana and Grandad's tractor (lawnmower) and she was Nigel Mansell in the making steering all by herself.

We went for a nature walk this afternoon after lunch and here is a view of ma and pa's house from the front field.....

.... and here is the booty that we found on our walk.

I've been enjoying doing a spot of knitting in time for winter.

Miss G and Nana watering the plants....bless X

Diamonds are a girls best friend

2008-09-23T12:49:00.000+01:00

I have been neglecting my blog recently as I haven't been feeling 100% and I am off on holiday to France for 2 weeks to see ma folks so I have been running around like a head less chicken trying to get everything ready.

I am taking all of my art materials with me so I plan on doing some painting and drawing whilst I'm there....so keep an eye out for new treasures.

Whilst I am sitting having my lunch at work I thought I would share with you some of the gorgeous jewellery I have found on Etsy. I'm a sucker for anything shiny and sparkly, so i hope you enjoy them too. Remember to check out everyones Etsy shop.

These earrings from SBJewelry are absolutely gorgeous and are definitely going on my Christmas list.

This cuff is beautiful.....true craftsmanship from WhyCreations.

I have been eyeing up the work by Enso for a while now...simple and elegant.

LauraBailleDesigns has some delicious new necklaces in her Etsy shop right now...worth checking out.

I think my next spotlight on Etsy sellers will be paper....all those beautiful hand bound notebooks and stationary. Handmade=made with love....spread the word!

Playful Spaces

2008-09-19T22:21:00.000+01:00

My husband finds lots of lovely things on the web that he thinks I'll like and I liked this one so much I thought I would share it with you....something to make you smile XXXX

Ghosts and Cream Cheese!

2008-09-18T22:54:00.000+01:00

I know I said I was going to post something else yesterday but time ran away with me (as usual) so here are some lovely pictures of my cheeky wee monkey. We didn't get up to much, just a trip to a different shopping centre...little things :O) However, it looks like Grace had fun.

I think Grace has officially been watching too much Scooby Doo! This is Grace being a ghost...

I would love to say that I paint my lovely paintings in a gorgeous white washed studio, but my studio is my kitchen and all of my work gets displayed on the radiator for analysis and critique from my nearest and dearest (including Grace)...

We had lunch at home yesterday of oatcakes and cream cheese, most of which ended up on Grace's face! Very rarely does Grace let anyone put anything in her hair, but Aunty convinced her to put pig tails in and doesn't she look a picture xxxx

Loving Etsy

2008-09-17T09:35:00.000+01:00

I think I could spend all day trawling though Etsy choosing gorgeous things I would love to buy, so I thought I would share some of them with you. I'll be doing some painting and drawing later on today so I post something up when the mood takes me XX

"Hamish" from Mogwaii....big up all Scottish Etsy sellers. Really love this.

I love good photography and I love this image from ValeriaH ...really beautiful, delicate. feminine.

I really enjoy looking at gorgeous illustrations/graphics so here are some of my favourites that caught my eye....

"Imagination" by Dazeychic

"Head Parade" by MultiplePersonality

"A Life of Love and A Life of Happiness" (1 of 2) by LaurenAlexander

"Hotel City" by Janicej

Anyhow...that's enough for the moment. I had better go and get out of my PJ's and tidy up the tip that i call my home! I have also got a very fidgety 3 year old (almost 4) on my lap watching Tom and Jerry who is making this quite tricky!
I post some more of my favourite sellers soon...especially jewellery XX

Bowled over

2008-09-14T09:24:00.000+01:00

"Bowled Over" Pen and Ink with watercolour

I finished this drawing of Boyle Park bowling green, Forfar, last night but I'm not too happy with it. I think I spoiled it a bit with the watercolour. Hubby said I can't be wonderful all the time...oh yes I can!

As said by my dear mama it is now officially the end of summer as the Last Night of the Proms was last night so I was having a good sing-a-long whilst painting my picture!

Grace watching Tarzan.....

This morning whilst fiddling about with the computer Grace chilled out in her favourite TV spot! She's going through a lovely phase of calling everyone and everything "Baby" and is driving us all mad!

Inspire Me Thursday

2008-09-11T13:57:00.000+01:00

"Make a Wish..." Pen and Ink with watercolour

This is the first time I have done Inpire Me Thursday...thought I would give it a go and I'm pretty happy with my outcome. The topic for this week was breath and this image of my Aunty and Miss G blowing out the candles at my Aunty's 60th birthday came to me straight away. I think I'll try and do more pen and ink with figures in it...I think this is my first!
Here's to many more inspiring Thursdays.

My Beautiful Wee Lass

2008-09-09T22:27:00.000+01:00

My wonderful sister was looking after Miss G whilst mummy and daddy went to the movies (went to see a preview showing of Pinapple Express...very funny). I think they had a good time as you can see.....

......my rock-goth-fairy-princess! rock on!

Tiredness, Trees and Tennis!

2008-09-09T08:18:00.001+01:00

I wasn't feeling too hot last night, but hubby thought it might be an idea to do some drawing whilst I watched the telly (watching QI trying to improve my knowledge of useless information!). So I got out my drawing board and pastels along with my photos of this amazing tree we found in Loch Lomond. Anyone who has been to Loch Lomond has probably seen this tree at Firkin Point.

I'll probably be doing more drawings of this tree very soon. I'm also working on some paintings of Loch Lomond which I'll be previewing on my blog very soon. I also watched some of the tennis on the Internet last night. Once Federer was pretty certain to win I went off to bed. Don't worry Andy...you'll kick his ass next time!

Whilst I'm here....

2008-09-03T16:40:00.000+01:00

Old Aberdeen, Aberdeen (Sold)

The Pend, Forfar (Sold)

Little Causeway, Forfar (Sold)

Glasgow Tennement (commission)

I might as well add post up some of my pen and ink with watercolour drawings I have done. I promise there will be some new ones following shortly. Again...commissions are welcome!

portraits of loved ones....

2008-09-03T16:28:00.000+01:00

Patch (commission)

Mr McKay

Misty (commission)

Thought I would post some of the pet portraits that I have done in the past...so if anyone would like a drawing of their past or present dog, cat, budgie.... commissions are available! plug plug plug.....