2012 Faves

READS

Out of the 30 books I read in 2012 (see my GoodReads profile) I gave 5 stars to :

TUNES

Most played tracks on my iPod:

Paradise - Coldplay

Turn Up The Love - Far East Movement

Small Bump - Ed Sheeran

Young Blood - Birdy

Mind Your Manners - Chiddy Bang

Never Let Me Go - Florence and the Machine

TELLY

I was glued to:

Derren Brown The Experiments

How I Met Your Mother

The Voice Australia

The Block

Snog Marry Avoid

FLICKS

Saw many, adored these few:

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The Hunger Games

Brave

We Bought A Zoo

LAYOUTS

Less scrapbooking was done in 2012 but these I'm most happy with:

What were your tops for twenty 12?

Day 6 Drawing + Holiday Fun

Another hot guy for today's art work.....Channing Tatum.

He was the sexy bad boy in Step Up but I really fell for him in Dear John opposite Amanda Seyfried.  Oh god I love her too (filing that one away for a future portrait......)

Challenges were the slight distortion of the face resting in the hand and all that dark shading along the side of the nose. I don't think the irises are quite right either....

How's the hols so far? Keeping the kids amused?

In the heat of the day we've been Scrabbling.....

and Mario Carting......with much shrieking and squealing when I'm playing and invariably falling off cliffs and into boiling lava 15 times a game......FUN!

In the late arvo the girls hop in the pool (that pool is the best purchase we've ever made!!!) and there they stay until I drag them inside for dinner.

The vegie patch is producing wildly.

Lots of TOMATOES, BASIL and RED ONION for yummy salads and pesto.

And some gorgeous plump EGG PLANT...

.....grilled with olive oil and salt - divine.

What else can I cook with these ingredients?? Recipes anyone?

Drawings #4, #5

For Day 4 I decided I wanted to draw a male......when I mentioned this to my good buddy Linda during a FB chat she put in a special request - her celebrity crush Robert Downey Jr.

So this one's for you Linda!!!

Was good to draw a more natural eye with no makeup - and to try my hand at facial hair.

Today I blew up a photo of  little Cleo - the tabby kitten I got for Mum earlier in the year.

She's much bigger now - but I think this drawing captures her youth rather well!

Drawing fur is HARD!

A really sharp pencil is essential (I sharpened mine every 30 seconds) - for repeating thousands of tiny hair strokes.

Does anyone know how to do white whiskers??? That one had me stumped.

Thanks for popping in!

xxx

Drawing #3

Started this one last night and finished this evening....

It's the dazzling Bollywood superstar Aishwarya-Rai. I've always loved this woman. Call it a lady-crush, I don't care. She is the most stunning female on two legs in my opinion.

This is my source photo....

And more Aish pics just for the heck of it.....

See what I mean?

Hope you like today's artwork!

xxx

365 Drawings 1 & 2

Blame it on the watermelon/lime/vodka slushies I consumed on NYE.

Instead of the usual "lose weight" resolutions of New Year's past, I set myself a challenge.

365 drawings.

One piece of art per day.

Am I mental or just slightly nuts?

I'm thinking either or both.

Whatever, I'm pretty sure (if I can do this) my drawing skills will improve dramatically.

Worth it? Absolutely!

My Day 1 drawing.....

 .......I posted on Facebook yesterday and got 32 likes! Which for someone with 100 friends is quite a lot I'm thinking. 

I'm working on my "realistic eye" skills.

Watching this You Tube clip really helped.

Day 2.....

......the stunning Mrs Obama. Such a great face to draw!

Got a bit carried away with the eyes though - on the freakishly largeish side.

Still like it though - has a cartoonish vibe.

Join me on my mission if you dare!

xxx

Old & New Xmas Traditions

There we go.

Xmas over for another year.

How did you spend yours?

I love reading people's Christmas blog posts to see how other families "do" Christmas.

 

Our family Xmas traditions:

 

A real tree - put up only a few days prior to Xmas before all the needles start to go crunchy.

 

Our main Xmas meal is eaten on Xmas Eve so the women of the house can relax on Xmas Day.

 

 

 

 

Everybody dons paper hats out of the Xmas crackers - and other relevant (but crazy) headwear and accessories.

 

 

We check the night sky for Santa's sleigh lights, sing along to the Carols on telly then put out Santa's snacks.

 

 

 

Then we usher the kids off to bed - and wait.............

 

1.30 am (I swear Santa had no more than 10 minutes to sneak in and out) the lights in our bedroom came on and 2 excited girls dragged their sacks in to show us!!!!

 

Thankfully convinced them to go back to bed and come back when it was light.

 

 

Frenzied unpacking of Santa sacks on the loungeroom floor at first light. Lots of knick knacks and "needed" bits and pieces like new school bags, textas, games, books....and nail polish and makeup for Kate.

 

Grandparent's are woken and we all gather around the tree. The kid's raid the pressies and hand them out. Adults take forever to open theirs as all eyes are on the kids reactions as they rip into their gifts.

 

The big pressies come from us....this year it was iPod Touch's all round.

 

 

A yummy brekky of yogurt, fruit, croissants, bagels and juice.

 

 

When we're spending Xmas at home it means that family are here too......we often congregate under Grandma and Pop's caravan annexe and relax.

 

 

Or get everyone involved in our latest building project.....

Our rustic freestanding pergola is looking fab!

 

 

2012 sees the start of a new Xmas tradition.....

playing in our new pool!

 

 

 

Hope your Christmas was a blast too!

xxx

Xmas Chaos

Having Xmas at your house?

Me too.

 

A few visitors perhaps?

We're expecting parents AND parents-in-law.

 

Cleaning up to make the place look nice?

Putting up the decorations?

I wish.

 

Just over 5 days til Xmas -

and this is how our place is......

 

 I can hear you politely say....

"It'll be nice when it's finished!"

Yes. OK.

 

But in the meantime.........

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!