Watercolor Wonders

I do adore watercolours, and every so often (usually prompted by Pinterest) I’ll go out onto the vast plains of Google to track down some that make be happy. Yesterday’s find was so fantastic that I had to share the treasure trove with you. It’s the work of a brilliant illustrator by the name of Penelope P. Neal. Do check out her blog, linked below and her work, it’s all so lovely!

Fairy Wren

I had made a little pencil sketch of this lovely little fella earlier and thought I’d play around with it on Illustrator. He’s such a delight to look at that I wish I could find one in my garden, but they (Maluridae) are residents of Australia and New Guinea. Do look them up if you have an interest, they come in some wonderful, rather electric colours (so I haven’t actually done them any justice in my dark and humble version).

An Ideal Bookshelf

A combination of my love for all things bookish and whimsical painterly designs – is a fun project by Jane Mount. According to her site ‘Jane paints portraits of people through the spines of their favorite books: the ones that changed your life, that defined who you are, that you read again and again’ – how wonderful is that? And though initially part of a larger project, Jane now has an online shop and will paint your books or you can buy prints of other sets in her shop. Do check it out.

My Only Fish

Moving Horse

Quote of the Day

And We’re Back!

Back from a nice long trip back to the homeworld, which is where we got a picture of this little fella. This picture really encapsulates the heat and colour of Karachi for me – and the ubiquitous mynah with it’s cocky attitude really drives it home, so to speak.

Will share more findings from Pakistan soon, for now I’m busy holding on to the thought of 34 C temperatures while looking out the window at the chilly UK rain.

Tell Me A Story

I love stories. I believe we are all storytellers and that is what separates humanity from the rest of the natural world. Imagination. To be grossly reductionist, I would maintain that we are all beholden to narratives, those we create, those we believe – and without them we get lost. And that in itself as a feature of (wo)mankind is fascinating.

And just today I came upon a website that’s just perfect for all us story-tellers and story-lovers – it’s called Cowbird, and in their own words:

Cowbird is a small community of storytellers, focused on a deeper, longer-lasting, more personal kind of storytelling than you’re likely to find anywhere else on the Web.

 

Click through and either pick a picture or type in a key word and be transported to a land of a million little stories, the kind we’re all made up of! I’ve a feeling I’ll be wandering through these for a while.

Infographic Proposal

Since I have posted on infographics before and it is Valentine’s Day after all, I had to share this little find – click through to see an infographic proposal by the clever Drake Martinet to his beloved Stacy Green.

Made to Measure

I’m sure I’ve complained about nothing ever fitting me on this blog before, since it’s something I whine about a lot in life. Though I’m sure it does lead to my shopping a lot less than I’m capable of (cue husband’s sigh of relief here), it is a pain when you find yourself without a winter coat for the third winter running and anything and everything off the high street makes you look like a tween raiding momma’s closet. People on the other end of the scale (!) seem to have a number of options with numerous stores catering specifically to sizes larger than the ‘average’ – ever seen a store dedicated to the petites? Doubt it (but if you have PLEASE tell me where). Searching for sizes 4 and 6 in the UK is a thankless job – especially when each size varies greatly from store to store. So imagine my delight that someone far more mathematically inclined than myself has taken this problem on. Anna Powell-Smith, a freelance software engineer with interests including fashion hacking, cartography, data-journalism and open historical data wrote this article for today’s Guardian. Computer Programmer + Fashion Fan = A website to beat the sizing madness. Check it out thwarted shoppers.