Watercolour sketches and the beginnings of a bag

Where have the last few days gone? I blinked and I missed them! Firstly I would like to welcome my new followers, it's a very nice feeling to see that little number rise by a few each time I log in! Also, thank you for all your lovely comments, I've really enjoyed reading them, it makes all the hard work worthwhile.

I've started combining a couple of days into each comic strip diary to cut back on the time it takes to draw!

 

Reunited with the sewing machine

In my last blog post I told you that I was off to the shops to restock my wardrobe. Well, I came back with a lovely daisy dress, a t-shirt, two tops and a cardigan. This definitely constitutes a successful trip in my book as I hate shopping and normally talk myself out of buying anything!

The 'mash' bag for beer brewing that I sewed for Sam was a bit trickier than I thought! It needed to hold up to 15kg so the seams had to be fairly strong. It is basically a cylindrical shape with a circular bottom which was really hard to sew, especially given that the voile fabric was slippery. He's started brewing some beer with his friends tonight so I'll keep you updated on how the bag fares!

Here's a photo of me making it. I told Sam not to get me in the picture because the faces I was pulling as I was trying to keep the seams together are probably not suitable for public viewing!

Tricky slippery seams

After finishing Sam's sewing I was finally able to start on a bag which I have been itching to make since I bought some corduroy fabric in Malaysia. I used a bag that I already have as a template. So far I have only finished the strap but I'm very pleased with it! I'm taking step by step photos which I hope to turn into a tutorial if when I finish it! This is all I have to show for my efforts at the moment!

Corduroy strap lined with pink cotton

Today has been an equally busy day! Sam and I are (finally) moving out on our own tomorrow ("yippee!" say our parents)! We've spent the last four years to-ing and fro-ing from each other's house so it'll be nice to finally live in the same place! Here's what we've been up to yesterday and today:

Painting, packing and beer brewing

I achieved my mission of buying a very fine, waterproof pen, so put it to the test on a couple of little watercolours. The first one was this flowery snail.

I think I'll call her Celia...

I put the watercolours aside for this next one. I wanted to put the fine line pen to the test this time so drew this giraffe using hatching for his pattern. I love how tiny the lines are! Perfect for Diana Evans' 10 Minute Warm Up!

I'll call this one Geoff...

It was an absolutely beautiful day yesterday so it was lovely to be able to get out to Babbacombe where Sam did a spot of fishing (is it still called fishing if you catch nothing?) and I did a watercolour sketch of the Cary Arms pub. I'm linking this up on Paint Party Friday.

The painting and the pub for comparison

The Cary Arms, Babbacombe

The finished sketch

Sam 'fishing'

While we were away there was a landslide which resulted in half an uninhabited house slipping down the side of the cliff. It was rather shocking to see!

Landslide in Babbacombe

The weather has been rather grey today so it was a good job we had packing and furniture shopping to keep us busy. I've spent this evening on a new project I'll blog about it in my next post, but for now I'll leave you with this little teaser...

Fine feathered friend

Today I've joined the following linky parties: Snappee Turtle, The Shabby Creek Cottage, I Gotta Create and A Creative Princess.