Author: Clare at CatsEatDogs

Books I like and some on my wish list!

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Here are some books that I have borrowed from the library and love and a couple which I have not seen inside but I really really want to! Ottolenghi Simple This is a book full of really interesting and delicious sounding recipes like ‘Thai sticky rice with crispy ginger, chile and peanuts’ or ‘Sweet potato mash with lime salsa’ which also are completely doable. The ingredients are not a mystery and the method is straightforward. Breakfast with Beatrice I love me a cook book or even better a pile of cookbooks, even though they are huge and heavy to carry home, I don’t even care! This one also has a beautiful cover (yes, I do judge books by the cover). ‘Walnut pear coffee cake’ and a delicious sounding ‘Belgian waffle’ recipe are on my ‘to bake’ list. Some more unusual ingredients in this one, but nothing inaccessible. Smithsonian Flora I have not clapped eyes on this book but I have seen a couple of peeks on the interwebs and it looks so gorgeous I need to see it! …

Get Messy Art Journal Season of Freedom Beginnings

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The new season in the art journaling community of Get Messy is the Season of Freedom.  What a perfect way to end the year and begin the next, the freedom to create and create what you want! Of course there will be prompts and tutorials to keep us all inspired and working in our art journals, but they will all be freeing (see what I did there!) and full of ideas. I have made my little journal using book rings which hold together a variety of vintage envelopes, recipe cards and plain postcards.  It is higgledy piggledy and that is how I like it. Some pages have been started and maybe finished, I will see where the season takes me. More information on Get Messy can be found here. Happy Friday x

Taking Stock on my Birthday November 2018

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A stock take on my birthday, my 49th year, last one before I make half a century.  Bloody hell, that makes me sound like an ancient relic!  Ha ha, good job I don’t feel like one! Credit to Pip at Meet me at Mikes for the Taking Stock concept, thanks Pip. Here is what I am up to tonight and today. Making : Christmas cake Cooking : Nothing, it’s my birthday! Drinking : Gin and tonic Reading: ‘Unsheltered’ by Barbara Kingsolver Wanting: More reading time Looking: At the light disappear as the sun goes down Playing: The ‘La La Land’ soundtrack, I can’t help myself! Deciding: Which ramen to order for dinner Wishing: I could visit all of my family for my birthday and eat cake with them Enjoying: Wearing scarves, I like winter clothes Waiting: To go the the gym, yes, on my birthday I still go to class Liking: Trying new art supplies Wondering: If I will get used to the massive sumi brushes I just got Loving: Learning all the new things …

Super Saturday – The Creating Edition.

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Are you a creative person? I bet you are.  Creativity is in the air at this time of year, from baking a batch of cookies to choosing Christmas cards all the way to making the cards yourself featuring your own art or photography.  All creative and all satisfying. Currently I have a loaf of bread in the oven with 15 minutes to go until it is baked and I am all ready to go to a sweaty cardio/strength class at the gym, the bread I created (ok, mixed up and baked, which counts right?) and the gym session will dust my cobwebs off and get my brain moving as much as my body.   Later I need to work on my Christmas cards and make a new art journal for a December daily project and make a Christmas cake!   This month in the creative department, I have been hand carving some stamps, I have a small collection of little Christmas trees which I am using on my cards.  I also made a very simple …

Daily Moleskine 2018. October pages

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I thought I had missed a lot of pages in October, so I was pleasantly surprised that most pages are filled as they should be. I did drop the ball for a couple of days and they are as blank as unfilled pages!  Nevermind, I carried on regardless. Lots of pages are covered with inspiration and instruction from Lisa Congdon’s October daily class at Creative Bug which helped keep me going. October saw lots of piles of rocks once I had made some pebble stamps along with botanicals and some stickers and postcards from my Portland trip. Happy Thursday x

A day of indigo dyeing.

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I was invited to a day of indigo and shibori dyeing and I jumped at the chance as I have always wanted to try shibori with an authentic indigo dye vat.  I got a little over enthusiastic with my dye victims and ended up with a length of voile, 2 yards of light jersey, watercolour paper, natural finish wood beads and an old dictionary.  All heading to the dye pot to see what effect it would have! First up was the voile which I folded and scrunched and tied around a plastic tube to hopefully end up with a successful shibori dye pattern.  I had two yards of wide fabric so it took a minute to prepare, then into the pot! First it went this colour Then it went this colour.  The transitions of the dye as it develops are absolutely beautiful.  I could imagine a watercolour paint set in the colours of indigo dye from almost chartreuse to a deep deep blue. I gave it a quick swish in some clean water and cut …

Frames and mini poems. Get Messy Season of Ubuntu Week 5.

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I have now filled a mini sketchbook and we are only at week 5 of the Season of Ubuntu over at Get Messy Art Journal.  Not too difficult really as my little book is only four and a half inches by three and a half! These last pages incorporate prompts and tutorials from the current season and I really enjoyed making them. I will be making another mini journal to carry on this season of art journaling! Happy creating and happy Thursday x

Practicing with my sumi brush and ink in an accordion journal

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  I wanted to practice using my sumi brush and my sumi ink with no pressure but on nice paper and in a small journal so that I wasn’t worried about having to fill a whole book. So, I folded a piece of Arches hot press watercolour paper into an accordion journal, grabbed some ink and a cup of water and got to work.  I filled the little book really quickly in fact it was only waiting for the ink to dry which slowed me down. Talking of slowing down, I also made a conscious effort to go slow as I used my brush. I experimented with adding water to the ink and using it full strength.  I am often guilty of rushing through any artistic endeavour and I am aware that if I slow down I do much better. Because of this I made sure I used the brush to it’s full potential (and my ability), with just one brush you can get nice thin lines and juicy fat strokes too.  Add some water …

Mini art journal for week three of Season of Ubuntu at Get Messy Art Journal.

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‘A shaft of sunshine falls like a fattish man across the countryside.’‘Insects hum and in a fountain water splashes the unthinking happiness of her look.’ I have rushed into the ‘Season of Ubuntu’ party clutching a gas station bunch of flowers and a bottle of cheap wine as I arrive at week three. I have been working on my art journaling and art in general but nothing specific to the new season at the Get Messy Art Journal community. My tiny journal has been neglected until this week and I have had a good time filling some pages.  The journal is four and a half inches by three and a half with some fold out pages included. It is a small journal page wise with only ten pages/twenty sides. I have been adding all of my current favourite things, collage, pebble stamps and found word poetry and just letting myself get on with it without any restrictions. The good thing about using a small journal with only a few pages is one is soon full. …

Ephemera from my Portland trip

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  While I was in Portland Oregon a couple of weeks ago, we visited a fabulous upcycle shop in downtown Portland called ‘Scrap‘. It is a huge space full of all kinds of creative materials from crayons and brushes to photos and National Geographic magazines via fabric and paper.  Tubs of stamps, barrels of pens and boxes of vintage ephemera. I of course found some vintage National Geographic mags and some ephemera from the 1900’s. The graphics on the matchbox tops are so good and the peacock looks like he is a bit cross about something! Always looking for the vintage papers! Happy Monday x