...it's a boy! (Just as I suspected thanks to fun pregnancy dreams). We're pretty excited!
Just wanted to share!

I've been apprehensive about making any overambitious goals or resolutions for this year because I feel like I have no idea what to expect from this year, but broad ambitions always seem to suit me best, so these are a few things I feel as though will be unchanging throughout the year.

+ In line with wanting to learn new skills, I'd love to put together a tool box for myself and challenge myself to make some fun bits and pieces for around our house. I think I need to redefine 'spending my time wisely' as enjoying whatever I'm doing and not feeling guilty about other things I'm not doing - down time and productive time being as important as each other. The idea of motherhood is something I've been wondering about how I'll adapt to, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes. I am a bit introverted and antisocial by nature so I think that pushing myself to meet new people would really benefit me. Any overarching ambitions you're bringing with you into the new year?

+ In squid news, somebody is quite enjoying stretching their limbs out in my belly, especially when I'm about to go to sleep. I don't think I'll ever get used to that feeling!

1 hello holiday rosy red bow pin
2 supayana cat print petal collar dress
3 asos sketchy cat maternity t-shirt
4 oasap color block tweed coat
5 sandgrens milan swedish clogs
6 stella's shoppe i'm acute baby onesie
7 the little pineneedle red heart collar clips
8 little otsu annual weekly planner
9 silver promo handwriting silver name ring

I've been trying to make one drawing each day lately. Last week I did some quick sketches of eight drawings I wanted to make (one for each of my family members). I have four and a half finished drawings (some have taken at least ten hours each with about 300 layers) and three and a half to go. I won't share the others until I've given the prints to their recipients in case they are sneaky and read my blog.

The handkerchief drawings are for one of my step sisters. I'll get the above drawing printed as an A3 landscape poster - here's a big version of it if you'd like to see some of the details. Although I'm just printing them onto paper an Instagram follow suggested that getting them printed as real handkerchiefs through Spoonflower is an option! I have a big collection of vintage handkerchiefs, some of which we used as bunting at our wedding picnic. I'd like to decorate the baby's room with handkerchief bunting when those nesting hormones kick in.

I used some of Pugly Pixel's floral clip art in three of the drawings too.





I get asked frequently what graphics tablet I use - my parents bought me a graphics tablet when I was sixteen (six years ago!) and I still use the same one - it's a Wacom Graphire 4. It's pretty basic compared to what's available these days but when it was given to me it was brand new. My parents have a Wacom Cintiq, where you're actually drawing straight onto an LCD screen that you plug into your computer (they got all the fun toys once I left home!). Because I know that it's totally unlikely I'll ever be able to upgrade, I'm trying to get the most out of the tablet I have.

If you're considering getting a tablet just to play around with - second hand Graphires sell on eBay for around fifty bucks and mine really does everything I need it to. Getting used to using the pen and steadying your hand comes with time but it's worth the perseverance! I think practicing your handwriting on the tablet is one of the best lessons. It's really fun downloading new Photoshop brushes and trying them out with the tablet too.