Happy 21st Birthday Zach

Wishing a very happy birthday to my brother Zach, who is 21 today! I can't wait to spend the day with you and our family and friends, celebrating your special day. I hope you enjoy your day and like all of your presents! Love you lots xxx

Sunday painting: Sam & Suzy Moonrise Kingdom

Hello lovely people, and an extra special hello! to my new followers.
I thought I'd share with something I've been working on lately, and if you follow me on Instagram you've no doubt seen some sneaky peeks! Recently, Mark & I watched Moonrise Kingdom and fell instantly in love. I think it's probably a bit of a Marmite film, some will love it and others won't understand the fuss. Sam and Suzy are the two protagonists of the film, and quirky ones at that.

As soon as I saw their characters, I knew I'd have to illustrate them. Here are some of my progress shots from start to finish, I did this over a couple of days so the light varies in the photos (sorry!). I've been having some issues with the scanner, which does my illustrations no justice at all. If any creative folk have any tips, I'd be endlessly grateful :)

As I've mentioned before, I'm hoping to start my own Etsy shop in the not-too-distant future. I hope for Sam & Suzy to be available in a range of ways, but until then I hope you enjoy my little illustrations.

p.s. I'm struggling a little with my giveaway and what I should actually give away... what do people think of a similar giveaway to last time? Custom illustrations, only this time with something a little extra.

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OOTD: Monochrome Markus Lupfer & Vera Meat

Bowler hat - Helene Berman Ebay £7.50
Textured zip-up jacket H&M £2 via carboot
Full skater skirt Warehouse £17 sale (was £45)
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof ring Vera Meat via Asos £13.95 student discount & sale (was £52)
'found' tshirt Markus Lupfer adopted from mum's wardrobe, originally via Ebay

This outfit is from a couple of weeks ago, when Mark & I went on a date night to see Monster's University (which is awesome!). I fell in love with this jacket when I saw it on the carboot sale, but sadly being a size large it is a bit too big for me and therefore not very flattering at all from the front. This is one of my favourite tshirts, and Markus Lupfer another favourite designer. My mum has the white 'lost' tshirt which compliments this one, but I adopted this after the white applique turned slightly grey in the wash - hurrah for me, one mumma bear's loss is a great gain to me.

A little while ago, I won a £50 Asos voucher thanks to the lovely Sarah at Temporary Secretary. One of the things I chose to use the voucher for was this Vera Meat ring, I'd had my eye on it for such a long time and couldn't resist it at a fraction of it's original price. Thank you again Sarah!

What do you think of my first try at monochrome? :)

p.s. This is my 200th post!! I have a 150 follower giveaway planned for September :) hello lovely followers!

Instax photos from our staycation

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Cadbury World with the little people

When Mark & I were on our holiday with my family, we took my littlest brother (Phoenix) and sisters (Phoebe and Indigo) to Cadbury World. The journey didn't go without hitches, it was pouring down on the way as it was the night/morning of the terrible thunder storms. There were roadworks through Birmingham, and we were delayed a lot. The children got restless in the car, but after finally arriving all was well again, and luckily the time restrictions had been lifted on that day.

We were given a few bars of chocolate each to get us started and we were on our way! There were lots of helpful and interesting facts being read out by special screens, pressing buttons, and people in fancy dress. All the children thought it was a lot of fun when we were sitting in one area and the benches shook us like the cocoa beans are shaken! It was a really fun day out, and I'd recommend it to anyone, even if you don't have any little people to take! We took lots of photos, ate lots (mm melted chocolate! with wine gums in Mark's case!), went on a special car ride, wrote with chocolate, jumped up and down on an interactive floor breaking bars of chocolate up, pretend surfed, bought souvenirs from the gift shop and spent time in the amazing play area (sorry, I think the play area is little people only!).

Are you craving chocolate now? I am!