Take a look around my newly refurbished courtyard and kitchen garden...

I have had the most wonderful day today so I thought I would share it with you. It began with an early morning browse of a local garden centre where some new plants accidentally fell into my shopping basket.

I then spent 4 hours gardening, it was bliss. Just me and little Lexi out in the courtyard rearranging the pots and planting up new flowers.  (The black boards are for the children to draw on with chalks)

 I'm really keen on teaching the boys all about growing our own fruit and vegetables so we have a separate area for our little kitchen garden.

I decided to build up my own staged area using old bricks, I'm so pleased with how it turned out! We have all sorts growing now.

Next week the works begin on our conservatory, I'm so excited I cannot wait to have a new art studio space over looking the courtyard, I'm hoping to have a space for customers to enjoy a coffee and cake in there too.

Falling in love with gardening, our new garden planner & some garden bargain finds

I'm back today with a post about my little courtyard garden. I've mentioned before about how hard i find it having such a small courtyard compared to the beautiful garden we had in our previous family home but this year we have started to really put some effort into making the small space work for us.

I have saved up since we moved here and have taken out a loan to get a conservatory put up where the old one fell down, yes fell. When we moved here there was a strange lean too that collapsed one stormy night. It left behind damaged ground work, and a big mess leading to the courtyard so i think this is one of the reasons we haven't been out there much until now. Now we know that the conservatory is starting next week we have really been putting in some effort and it has made a real difference. This corner is our veggie patch, which as you can see Finley is very proud of. We have lots growing at the moment, peppers, lettuce, sweetcorn, mangetout, courgette, tomatoes, leeks, raspberries, strawberries and probably more that i have forgotten about!

I found this amazing bargain online, a garden planner & journal that i would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys gardening, especially growing fruit & veg. It is about A4 in size and has plenty of room for notes and planning. It has been a great help to us and hopefully we can look back on it together as we fill it up with things we learn about gardening alongside what we are planting etc

Another bargain was our little 4 tier green house you can see, just £15.28 and free delivery - ours has a pattern and sold out but i think there are still clear ones available.

Links below to some of our Gardening bargain finds: 

4 Tier Green House - here  

Garden Planner & Journal - here

Gardening tools - here

SAA Poppy Challenge : Watercolour Florals

When I joined the SAA just over a year ago I mainly did it to encourage myself and challenge myself. I wanted to learn new techniques and push myself artistically.

Since I finished my art & design degree I have felt a little lost, like I need a new academic challenge in my life (If you know me well, i know what you are thinking, that crazy lady has enough on her plate why add more she will just get herself more Ill) It may sound strange to some but I find that I cope better with my mental health when I am under pressure, when I have a challenge to focus on, a goal and a purpose. Having any small amount of time on my hands allows me too much thinking time, that is when I find myself at my worst.  I'm therefore looking at further qualifications to complete in the arts feild. I've totally gone off of the point of this post now..back to the point..

The SAA has been a great source of inspiration and this recent challenge I found in the SAA 'Paint' magazine was to paint a poppy which then gets donated.

I enjoyed working on this and chose to explore two different styles, one a sketch and watercolour finish. The other an abstract style, again in watercolour. Both of these have now been donated, if you'd like to find out more on how to get involved follow this link.

I have set up a new blog specifically for my journey into Botanical Art & photography after realising this is my most loved focus, you'll find more on my journey over there. 

 I'd love to know what you think of my poppies?

Watercolour Flowers for beginners : My journey into Watercolour art

 Hello everyone,

I hope you are well and have been enjoying the sunshine. It has been a little hectic here, half term for my sons so we have been super busy as a family and of course in the shop so i haven't had as much time as i usually do.

I have been making time in the evenings though for myself, just an hour each evening (when i have enough energy!) to get creative and test out new arty ideas after being inspired by my trip to see Alison C Board. 

I have found that my main interest is abstract and floral's. I enjoy just playing around with the colours having no real plan and letting whatever happens happen. 

I have created a new blog for me to share my love of Botanical art & photography, you'll find my journey into it over there. 

I think the best florals i have managed are the ones i sketch first, i'm not sure why but i prefer the way they look.

These are just a few of the pieces i have created over the week, please do take a look over on my instagram page where you will find many more.

My painting medium of choice for these was Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolours, it was my first time using these as i only purchased myself the sketchers set at the start of the week. They are fantastic colours and the set is perfect for using at home and taking out and about. 

I'm using a very basic cheap sketchbook for these pieces as they are rough drafts, the notebooks only cost me about £1 each and are not the best quality but are fine for experimenting in. Once happy with the designs i will recreate them on good quality watercolour paper. 

Crafters Galore Encore : June Challenege

Hello everyone, 
Today i have another project i created for the Crafters Galore Challenege. 

I used a Digi Stamp from Sparkle & Sprinkle called Puppy Girl  to create this cute bookmark.

As always it is anything goes over on the challenge blog so pop over and get involved.

Click here to enter the Crafters Galore Challenege.