This Week I...

...had my first week at my new job.

I'm a teaching assistant at a primary school and my first task was to decorate this display board.

I am a master of sugar paper.

The staff were very impressed. Well, I do have a Fine Art degree.

I spent a lot of time sorting things in my bedroom this week and I came across my old Talkboy!

You know, like Kevin has in Home Alone.

And even better than that, I found the cassette tape that I used with it.

Oh boy.

One side starts with me and my friends, at I think middle school age, doing little skits and then I must have just left it recording when we were hanging out practising a play by the sounds of it.

The other side is all me and my sisters doing various radio interviews as different characters. Between these are little 'sponsor messages' where I would switch to the high pitch setting and sing made up jingles.

Then right at the end is a recording of my oldest sister - unknown to her - singing in her bedroom.

I do remember standing right outside her door to catch her singing on tape.

I was so sneaky!

Did anyone else have similar childhood shenanigans?

This Week I...

...had my last shift working as a 'beverage assistant' on New Years Day.

During the three months I had this job I got into the habit of taking a photo of my dinner - provided by the care home - as long as there was noone else in the lift with me.

My friend kept telling me to get Instagram to make use of this habit but that's too much of a commitment!

Instead, you all get to see a selection of the collection here.

You are welcome.

I start my new job on Monday. I'll be a teaching assistant at a primary school.

I think we can all agree that I'm better suited to this job then washing up for 10 hours a day.

Also this week I did an awful lot of shopping. Mostly to buy new school-appropriate clothes, but I also popped in to Hobbycraft as I needed some more paint.

I made use of their 3 for 2 offer on canvases and bought 4 pretty big ones.

This led to the following exchange at the till:

Cashier: 'Have you got a big art project coming up?'

Me: '...Yeah, I guess..'

Cashier: 'Is that A-level or GCSE?'

Me: 'Oh, um, no, it's my own art practice.'

Cashier: '...'

I'm a fine art graduate! AND I'm 23!

Aye aye aye!

How was everyone's week?

Our decorations are all down now, how about yours?

This Week I...

...celebrated Christmas!! Yay!!

Who likes my Cookie Monster pyjamas?

Many Christmas movies were watched, Christmas songs were sung and a lot of food was eaten. And is still being eaten. Does anyone want a mince pie? We've got quite a lot.

My sister gave me a sword ruler!

I think we can all tell from this photo who the favourite daughter is.

Christmas Day, Boxing Day and the 28th were spent with family which was lovely.

On the 28th there were so many of us we had to gather in a church hall as we wouldn't all fit in my cousin's house.

What festive things did you get up to this week?

This Week I...

...had the Annual Gift Exchange with my friends, for which I made all these Christmas cookies!

They were a hit, even with some of the snowmen's dodgy noses.

On Saturday we took my Grandad and my sister, who's home for Christmas, to see my exhibition at Radlett, and then to see the open exhibition I have a piece in at the Museum of St. Albans, organised by the University of Hertfordshire.

And on Sunday I helped out at the Art Centre's Christmas Crafternoon making fun little decorations.

How was your week?

All ready for Christmas? Only 3 more sleeps!

This Week I...

This week I was quite busy with boring stuff, but I had a fun day on Saturday.

My Mum and I started with a trip to the Scrap Store.

They had loads of tinsel up for grabs, and grab I did!

I got this cool blue, pink and gold tinsel. I don't where I'm going to put it yet because our tree is strictly red and gold.

Then we moved on to some shops to pick up a few Christmas presents.

I bought myself these gloves.

They look like Christmas puddings you guys!

In the evening my Dad and I put up the Christmas tree whilst watching CMA's Country Christmas.

Loved it!

What did you get up to this week?

This Week I...

...put up my exhibition at the Radlett Centre with my Dad's help.

The exhibition features over 20 of my paintings and it's really great to see them all hung together.

It's up for almost a month which should be plenty of time for lots of people to have a look, and maybe even make a purchase.

Also this week I finished a few extra things for my stall at the Letchworth Arts Centre's Christmas Craft Fair.

What do we think of the elf on the stocking? I like the pom-pom on his hat.

Thanks for the photo Lizzi!

On Thursday my friends and I had our 7th Annual Bring and Share Christmas Dinner.

This year we had additions like asparagus and a cheese board. We're getting fancy!

I'll share my contributions to the dinner next week.

How was your week?

What Christmassy things have you been up to?

This Week I...

...have been preparing for my exhibition which goes up next week.

So much work!

When I'm earning the big bucks I'm going to employ someone to do all this and I'll just do the paintings.

On Saturday I had a table at my local Christmas Fayre.

I did quite well considering it was a community event with things like tombolas and raffles, as opposed to a craft fair.

The person who had the table next me didn't turn up so I was allowed to spread on to that table which was great.

My best seller was definitely the Christmas stockings. I've made so many!

Now that it's December are you getting into the Christmas spirit?

Does anyone have their trees up yet?

This Week I...

...have been a little under the weather with a stinkin' cold that's been slowing me down.

But do you know what made me feel better?

Finding out one of my best friends got engaged!!

Lizzi is no stranger to the blog. You'll have seen her featured in a lot of my paintings.

Last week she went on holiday with her boyfriend to New York and he popped the question.

She announced it to us girls whilst out at Cafe Rouge and the people on the surrounding tables were startled for sure by the sudden screaming. We're so happy for our friend.

I didn't get a photo from that night - too much excitement and chocolate pudding - so I thought I would share this one of me and Lizzi at the start of our friendship.

It's the Letchworth Arts Centre's Christmas Craft fair time again and my parents very kindly set up my table for me on Friday as I was working.

I took this photo on Saturday and one item had gone already! These crochet Christmas lights were hung on the front of the table, but have since been sold.

And on Saturday I went to see The Butler.

It is so good.

I first heard about the film during Danny Strong's interview on Kevin Pollak's Chat Show which is my current go-to podcast.

Has anyone seen the film? Did you notice Danny's cameo in it?  

This Week I...

...didn't do that much of interest.

I did my usual three days at work. Still not a fan of 10 hour days.

And they gave me some uniform trousers that look like clown pants.

 I did make some more stockings.

And started another little project.

And I discovered that cup holders in cars also make fantastic muffin holders!

Who had a more interesting week than me??

This Week I...

...mostly worked and mass-produced things for upcoming craft fairs, which doesn't make for very interesting photos.

I did however receive some interesting deliveries in the post which I'll share with you.

I'll start by saying that I wasn't sponsored or anything by the companies mentioned - I wish, right! - I'm just a regular customer.

The first thing was these new business cards I ordered from Vistaprint. I only have business cards with a photo of one of my miniatures on so I thought it was about time to get some with a painting on.

Since my Beach Feet painting was so popular at the recent exhibition it was in I chose that image for the cards.

Vistaprint had a great deal on where I got 250 business cards for something like £14, and free delivery.

They even threw in a free business card holder.

They do try to sell you more things at every stage of the checkout process which can get annoying, as do the many emails after purchase with more offers and things to buy, but it's worth it to get the great deal.

I also got some greeting cards printed with three of my paintings on. This one, this one and this one.

I looked around on a few different photo sites and found that Photobox had the best deal as they had a 3 for 3 offer on card packs. 

This meant I got 3 packs of 10 A6 size cards, for about £23, and that includes the delivery.

They also come with envelopes which is incredibly useful as I don't have to worry about finding envelopes to match the size of the cards. 

And the images came out really well on the glossy card.

So how was your week?

Anyone making their own merch?

This Week I...

I started the week with a trip to the Scrap Store.

Man, I love that place.

I picked up a lot of fabric and zips, and also some wooden bag handles which I'm hoping to use soon.

On Saturday I did my first craft fair of the season. It went really well.

The venue had three rooms full of stalls and although I wasn't in the main room, I was in the warmest room!

And on Saturday evening I went to see some fireworks with my friends.

There was lots of 'ohhh'ing and 'awww'ing.

How was your week?

This Week I...

...survived working 3 days in a row.

30 hours in 3 days? Nailed it.

On Wednesday my sister invited me and my parents round for dinner and to watch the Great British Bake Off final. The final was aired on Tuesday evening so we all spent the day avoiding media to keep the surprise. Unfortunately the radio was on at work at it gave away the winner.

My sister surprised us with these GBBO masks. That girl cray.

On Thursday I went to the private view of the New Maynard Gallery's Open Exhibition, which I have two paintings in.

This one...

 ...and this one.

The private view had a great turn out, yummy nibbles, and the prizes were awarded by the Mayor of Welwyn.

The Mayor!

How was your week everyone?

This Week I...

 ...had a dentist appointment in London so I used the opportunity to see a special exhibition at the Science Museum on 3D printing.

It showed some of the cool things that people are using 3D printers for like making mechanical hands, and organs, and little music boxes.

Pretty darn cool.

My best friend from uni came to visit and I don't think we stopped talking the whole time she was here. Not even while we were eating these delicious burgers. Those chips were so good guys!

And I found out one of the paintings I put in the Letchworth Art Centre's Open Exhibition has been sold!

So that's exciting.

How was your week?

This Week I...

 ...used my two days off to do a painting.

I picked a beach photo because, you know, that's my thing.

On Thursday after work I went to the private view of the Letchworth Art Centre's Open Exhibition as I have two paintings in it; this one and this one.

 My Dad also put two of his photographs in the exhibition.

He wouldn't pose next to his pieces so this is the best photo I got.

And on Sunday we had a little camp reunion in Milton Keynes and we went on a walk past this fancy pagoda and thankfully the rain stopped and the sun came out.

How was your week?

This Week I...

...did some baking.

More courgette cakes. Yummy.

And in the background are the mini apple crumbles my Mum made.

Also yummy.

I've been doing a lot of sewing this week so it was a good job I scored this bag of various cottons at a jumble sale on Saturday.

The whole bag for 50p! Love jumbles.

I also started a new job this week, but I don't have a photo for that.

 I'm a 'beverage assistant' at a local care home, which is actually just a lot of washing up.

I work 10 hours a day, 3 days a week. Which means I still have lots of time for my art and my craft. Yay!

How was your week?

This Week I...

 ...finished the covers for these DVDs I put together of all my video files.

There's one of all my videos from university, one of all my family videos and one of all the videos of my friends which is 70 minutes long. We watched that one while we were at Centre Parcs. It was entertaining and a bit cringey in places as I think the earliest videos are from when we were 14.

It's a lot easier to share the videos with people, and I'll be more likely to watch them, now that they're on dvd instead of just random files on my computer. In a few years when I've got enough videos I'll be making volume 2 dvds!

Also this week my Mum and I went to a local school fete and I scored these shelves at the car boot.

I'd seen them at a car boot in the summer but they were asking for £5 each. Considering I didn't know what I was going to do with them, I just wanted them, I couldn't justify buying them at that price.

Then this weekend they were being sold for only £2. I couldn't pass up that bargain, even if it means the shelves will stay in the loft until I move out.

What's new with you?

This Weekend I...

My regular 'This Week I...' post is a little late because I just spent the weekend at Centre Parcs with my home girls.

We did Adventure Golf, which was pirate themed! 

I rocked climbed.

We went to a roller disco.

The skates I picked out had light up wheels!

My friends kayaked. 

We went to hula-hoopa-size.

This is what hula-hooping 3 hoops looks like, but I got up to 5!

And to top it off we won the quiz on the last night!

How was your week?

Ever been to a Centre Parcs? What activities did you do?

This Week I...

...made a lot of little cakes for a family gathering.

Delicious.

Aenoch Eagach 2 by Peter Goodfellow

After my dentist appointment on Thursday I went to the British Art Fair at the Royal College of Art with my Mum, as I got in free with my Art Fund card.

It was full of galleries representing their artists and trying to sell expensive art to fancy rich people.

I think my favourite paintings were by Peter Goodfellow.

Just as we were done looking around the fire alarm went off so everybody had to leave. Just a little bit of excitement to end the day.

And since my dentist is right near Oxford Street I popped into H&M before my appointment and picked up this dress for only £5.

Boom. Bargaintown.

How was your week?