This blog is not so much about the recipes as it is about inspiring you towards a wholistic approach to life. What we eat, how we play, who and how we love...these all play into who we become.

RO-072-004 Norwegerpulli Laura Titelmodell/Cover model Rebecca # 83 In harmonischen Farben gestrickt ist der Pullover mit Jacquardmuster. Diese sind nach den Schemazeichnungen einfach zu stricken, auch die Abnahmen für die Rundpasse sind mit eingezeichnet. Material 200/250/300 g ggh Topas / 018 - Goldoliv 100/150/150 g ggh Topas / 024 - Dunkles Glasgrün 100/150150 g ggh Topas / 043 - Jeans 50/5050 g ggh Topas / 038 - Curry

The original shot by Mohammad was just begging for a parallax animation. The text is from the Wiki page about Nasa and the image is by Mac Rebisz. Art Link: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/LbePA

Free crochet amigurumi patterns... Great ideas about amigurumi dolphin and step-by-step crochet tutorial are here. You will have no trouble crocheting the free amigurumi patterns on our blog and you will have a great time.

Rebecca Strickson’s work as an illustrator and do-er of things based in Peckham spans hair, women, their darker sides, and the finer details.

Collaborative art is a fun, unique way to encourage a group of people (kids or adults) to work together and create something beautiful! Group art projects can take so many different forms and there is no right or wrong way to make art together. Ready for 28 of the best group art project ideas?! The

Find out how I made a botanical mandala print on fabric using the flower hammering/pounding technique. Follow along with my steps and create your own printed mandala… and find out what I learnt from my experiments. It’s lots of fun and the possibilities are endless! You can learn this fun technique from Samorn Sanixay who...

T oday's post is all about building a portfolio, and it's a timely one for me. Even though I've had a working portfolio for over a decade, I'm in the middle of a career shift so I'm currently doing all the things I'm sharing with you today - planning, building, editing and soon, presenting. Whether

This month, we’re talking about COLOR PALETTES and I’m changing things up with a casual Q+A. Be warned - I’m no color expert. In fact, I weaseled my way out of color theory class in college! I’m not discussing color wheel, terminology, or psychology of color, but simply my experience. A couple wee

Lago di Ledro is a hidden gem in Italy. Check out this post to find out the top fifteen best things to do in Lago di Ledro.

Note: This painting is currently displayed at a local gallery in San Antonio, TX. Please reach out to [email protected] for availability. Created as part of - An Era in Time Collection This painting features soft shades of terra cotta, blush, taupe and sienna contrasted with a deeper shade

Germany is a wonderful place to explore and there are many great destinations to see. Here are my favorite day trips from Düsseldorf!

Before having my third (and FINAL!) child and finding that I no longer have time to brush my hair let alone do anything else, I used to run a 6 week evening course on how to write and illustrate children's books. Being a fan of reuse, recycle and re-hashing old material I thought I might blog the course so that anyone out there who might be interested in taking up this noble profession (which according to my husband amounts to little more than 'colouring in') can glean what they may from my musings. The first three weeks are how to write a picture book, the following three are how to illustrate one. Obviously this is, at best, a brief introduction to the discipline but I hope it might serve as a starting point for a few who may have the talent and inclination but be a little lost on where to begin. I was at that point 14 years ago when I started self-teaching myself by reading just about every article I could lay my hands on and quizzing any professional who didn't take out a restraining order. There will be homework! If you chose to do it, great, if you want to send it to me for my perusal please do and if I get the time to get back to you then we'll both be doing well. Picture Book Writing Course Part 1 What Makes A Good Picture Book It's Tough! True story; Dr Seuss was at a dinner party when he met a Brain surgeon, the brain surgeon said ‘oh, are you that guy who writes those little books for children? I’ve always thought that when I had a free afternoon one Saturday I’d love to write one. Dr Seuss replied, ‘ ‘Ahh yes, and I’ve always thought when I had a free afternoon one Saturday I’d love to do a little brain surgery’ I'm not suggesting that what I do is brain surgery (it's actually more like rocket science;) but there is a misapprehension that it’s easy to write for children and get published. I thought so! Until the harsh realities and rejection letters beat my optimistic spirit violently down. The truth is that writing picture books is a particular artform with it’s own rules and requirements - it’s a craft that takes a long time to master - (and clearly I am in no way near to mastering it yet). It is also an EXTREMELY competitive field. I spoke with a small publisher a few years back who told me they get 100 unsolicited (i.e. not through an agent) manuscripts a week - of which 2 a year might get published. It took me 2 years of hard slog to get illustration work and 8 years of writing picture book manuscripts before one was published - and this is quicker than many. So why do so many people think they can do it? 1) Every parent/grandparent/teacher/aunt with a grain of imagination has made up stories to adoring children and thinks they would be good enough to be published. Unfortunately kids love the attention of anyone making up stories for them whether the stories are any good or not. We all have the ability to make up a story, but this doesn't make us all writers. I can make beans on toast - doesn’t make me a chef! 2) People think their book will change the world! People often get into writing children’s books with projects they are truly passionate about - pets, family anecdotes or memories, or a moral they wish to impart and then take it terribly personally when they hit their first wall and refuse to compromise or take advice. 3) People think it’s easy because unlike a novel, it’s short! But just because there aren’t many words doesn’t mean there isn’t much story. Children's author Mem Fox once compared writing picture books to ‘writing War and Peace in Haiku’. A slight exaggeration, maybe, but one of the most difficult books I've ever written is Zoo Girl - and it's told in only 20 words! But trying to get the story right first, with emotional ups and downs, cliff-hangers, a strong beginning, middle and end, character depth etc. and then condense that down and tell as much as I could in the pictures rather than the words was an immense challenge. It's easier to ramble. As this blog entry is proving. 4) People think it pays well - true if you have a big hit like The Gruffalo but this is exTREMEly unlikely and many books go out of print after their first print run so the writer gets no royalties and may be paid an advance of just £1000 - £3000. Why do most people fail? The fact is that most would-be children’s writers have no idea what they’re doing. They simply haven’t taken the time to learn about writing for children. Let's face it, you wouldn't try to fly a fighter jet without first taking flying lessons. So why do so many people think they can write a children's book without first learning how? (I admit this is a terrible analogy - no one, so far as I know, has ever died a horrible plummeting death from trying to write a picture book without the proper training, but you get my point.) So what’s the secret? Simple - In order to get your picture book published, you MUST find out what publishers are after and then give them EXACTLY what they want. And, the good news is, children's book publishers are desperate for good children's books, because, as I’ve said, most of what they receive is rubbish! Children’s books like anything else are a business (a really fun one, but a business none the less) and as such we need to be creating products which will be appealing to the target audience - not just the children (although they should ALWAYS be at the forefront of our thinking) but the publishers, editors, booksellers that all come before a child even sees it. Hopefully in this course you'll get a strong idea of what publishers want, and how to create it and present it to them. It's also worth saying at this point that if you can overcome the odds, do the research and break into the business - it's one of the most rewarding, enjoyable and fun jobs around! This first session is What Makes a Good Picture Book? - If you don’t know this, how are you going to create your own one? The only way to do this is to research - know your market, love your market, visit libraries and children's departments in book shops, start collecting picture books that catch your eye (charity shops are a great source). If you don’t love children’s books, if you think they're beneath you, if you're scared of being stared at as you spend hours in the children's section of the library, leave now, this profession is not for you. Different kinds of picture books: I regularly get emails from people who have written 'a children's book' and when I ask what kind of children's book and what age it's aimed at they're a bit stumped, or the material in no way goes along with the age they tell me it's aimed at so you need to learn the difference between... mass-market activity books, board and novelty books, Early Readers, picture books, YA novels etc. etc. You'll get to know these by visiting those libraries and bookshops again and seeing what's in each section, holding them, looking at the blurb on the back, etc. In this course it's high-end trade Picture Books we're interested in - these are generally - 32pages, 12-14 full colour spreads, with full-colour, quality illustrations, and original tales told in less than 600 words. But within picture books there are of course different genres, for example; Humourous (eg. Dave, The Monkey With the Bright Blue Bottom, Olivia, Naked Trevor) Action adventure (eg. Gruffalo, Where the wild things are, ) Snuggly bed-time story (eg. Guess How Much I Love you, I love you Daddy, Cub's First Winter) and lots more besides, and many books of course span the whole lot. But it's worth thinking about what kind of book you want to write and which market you'd be aiming at. Characters Your picture book will need a main character and generally these are; Children - the same age or a little older than the target audince (which for a picture book is usually between 3-6 but can be much wider) Animals - usually young animals or an older animal with a child-like outlook Creatures - monsters, fairies, robots etc. Adults - very rarely the main character (Percy the Park keeper is an exception but he looks quite chubby and child-like! There are other notable exceptions but i think best to avoid as your main character) ok to include parents, teachers, doctors etc. - Adults children have come across in their own lives. Inanimate Objects - Again, there are notable exceptions but generally I would avoid writing your picture book about Simon the Stapler or Billy Banana. It's old-fashioned, it's dull, it's of little interest to publishers. The important thing is your picture book needs at least one character the child reader can identify with - so whether it's a robot monkey or bespectacled duck make sure they make choices and deal with emotions like a 5 year old child would. So what makes a book work well? THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS TO EVERY RULE HERE by generally a great picture book must be; Original - publishers are looking for a new hook or concept Well written - we'll go into more detail about this next week but each word must be perfect. Beginning, middle and end - Straight in, exciting progression, pleasing ending Fit nicely into 12/13 spreads with action on each spread Attractive and entertaining to children and adults Children/main character solving their own problems, not adults stepping in to 'save the day' A Simple idea told clearly Engaging characters GREAT ending We will be looking at this list and going through it in more detail next week but for now; Homework! 1. Look at a selection of (fairly recent) picture books and as you read them and study the illustrations ask the following questions; What kind of book is it (funny, adventure etc.) What’s the basic plot? What is the atmosphere of the book and how is that conveyed? Why and how do the images and text work together? Is the book appropriate for its audience? Why? Is there a character the child can relate to? What is the child meant to gain from the book, if anything? Is there an underlying message or moral to the book? How does the narrative work - is there a definite beginning, middle and end? 2. Come up with 3 vague picture book ideas - include a main character and a rough plot line. Next week - How to Write a Picture Book

For all you Howdy Doodats. This past issue of Flow Magazine featured drawing tutorials from a couple of different artists, and I was honored to have been asked to do one. If you're not familiar with the Dutch Magazine, check it out; it's to die for. The international issues are availabl

Väggpanel DIY Vår bröstpanel i matsalen blev verkligen pricken över i, i rummet. Panel och list är målad med en obruten vit, precis som alla snickerier är målade med i huset. Fiskbensparketten som är original är vitvaxade Nästa projekt tror jag blir vitrinskåpet ni skymtar här, hoppas kunna bygga in det så det ser mer […]

If you're in the mood for a hearty and satisfying sandwich that combines tender hot beef with the irresistible meltiness of cheese, you're in for a treat. This Cheesy Hot Beef Sandwich is a comfort food classic that's easy to make and even easier to enjoy.