Merry Christmas everyone!

The festive season is most definitely upon us and it's time for me to write my Christmas cards. I'm already late with the Australian ones but that's OK, after so many years of sending them late it's now traditional to receive those ones sometime in January.

In this blog post I just want to say...

MERRY CHRISTMAS to one and all!

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https://folksy.com/shops/StephanieGuy/collections/251467

https://folksy.com/shops/StephanieGuy/collections/251467
https://folksy.com/shops/StephanieGuy/collections/251467
https://folksy.com/shops/StephanieGuy/collections/251467

My #Inktober sketch diary for October 2015

Have you heard of #Inktober ? It's a challenge to do ink sketches throughout October and happily fits perfectly with my October sketch diary entries :)


Such a lot happened in week 40. Rory-dog had his first birthday which we celebrated by making sugar-free carrot cake muffins for him :) We had 2 noone-will-want-to-nick-these bikes-for-uni to fix up; I had my first German class; and we had the big uni drop-offs too. Exhausting!

week 40

My first empty-nester week was made more bearable by having Rory-dog to sleepover at the weekend. He's a darling.

week 41

Week 42 was a quiet one. I'm learning to knit and you never know, with a following wind I might just have a cushion cover done by this time next year...

week 42

 My children live in the laptop now.

week 43

Week 44 was such a fun time! Rory-dog came to stay for a whole 5 days - we were BOTH exhausted by the end of Sunday.

week 44




You can catch up on previous entries here:

Making a miniature dolls house picture frame

How I make my miniature frames

ACEO: image size 2.5 x 3.5 inches, overall frame size 4.5 x 3.5 inches


What I used:
  • A mini mitre box (I got mine from my local hardware store for around £3.50)
  • 2 screws, a screwdriver and something to secure the mitre box to (I used our portable workbench)
  • Wood glue
  • A junior hacksaw with new blades
  • Beading 
  • A corner clamp (I made mine out of lego)

Warning and disclaimer: this project requires the use of sharp implements. You are welcome to follow my steps at your own risk - do not attempt this project unless you are over 18, in full possession of your faculties and fully competent with a hacksaw.

Using my secured mitre box and the junior hacksaw, I cut the end off the beading at a 45 degree angle. 



I then measured the beading against my miniature artwork and marked off where the next cut needed to be, making the beading 2mm smaller than the painting at both ends to allow for overlap. I then cut the beading at a 45 degree angle so that the inside edge is longer than the outside edge.


To get the opposite sides exactly the same length I used the first piece to measure and mark the opposite one.


I repeated this for the other two sides, checking for fit as I went along.





Using lego I built a 90 degree wall. With a thin layer of glue on the cut edges, I pressed them together whilst keeping them both pressed against the lego walls - this means that the frame will be square.


The team decided we needed some packing to hold everything nice and tight






The team making an ACEO sized frame:








 I think the workers did a great job, don't you?

 






I'm on the front cover!

My miniature Monet is on the front cover of this month's Dolls House and Miniature Scene magazine!






And I got a wonderful write up from the press team over at Folksy (the lovely British company who host my shop):


 
Stephanie Guy on the front cover of Dolls House and Miniature Scene 
We were very excited to spot artist and Folksy seller Stephanie Guy on the front cover of the November issue of Dolls House and Miniature Scene magazine.  
Stephanie is a professional artist who works in watercolour, oils, acrylics and ink, and specialises in Dolls House and Miniature Paintings. She works to commission and can take on orders for personalised paintings. She has a regular column in Dolls House and Miniature Scene magazine, which is the most popular dolls house magazine in the UK and is published by Warner. 
You can see Stephanie’s full collection of miniature dolls house paintings in her Folksy shop - she even has miniature spooky Halloween scene if you are decorating your dolls house for Halloween! in her Folksy shop 

How fabby is that? I'm a very happy bunny today.

Sketch Diary September 2015

Welcome to my inky world!

The first week in September was taken up with rescuing the disastrous blackberry jelly-jam with bottles of liquid pectin. Thankfully I had three days with the part-time pup to help me recover :)

week 36

Ah the weather was kind during week 37. We borrowed my dad's touring caravan and took it off to the Peak District for a few days.

week 37

Highlights of week 38 included a couple of days with Rory (the borrowed dog) and singing in the church choir at a wedding on the Saturday.

week 38

On the 21st September my new super duper 15mm thick yoga mat arrived - I am the envy of the class :D

week 39
The last week of the month was a busy one. Rory was 1 year old so we made him a set of special birthday muffin cakes - basically carrot cake without any sugar. Yum said Rory and wolfed the lot down, paper and all. Lots of bike repairs happened during the week in anticipation of the university drop offs, which were on Thursday for my son, and Saturday for my daughter. They've both settled in really well.



You can catch up on previous entries here:

Sketch Diary August 2015

Here's my sketch diary for August, another fun filled month in the Guy household!


Highlights of week 32 included a trip down the mines at Castleton and a walk along Froggat Edge in the Peak District at the beginning of the week, and a night at Derwentwater Youth Hostel in the Lake district at the end of the week.
week 32

Week 33 was very tense, Thursday was A level results day - thankfully the results were AMAZING and daughter Kit is now packing for university :) At the end of the week Rory (our part-time pup) came for his first overnight stay.
week 33

Week 34 was fun, we went to a friend's 50th birthday party on the Saturday
week 34

Week 35 contained the disastrous jam making experience. I was making blackberry and apple jelly but I think I measured the sugar wrong and had to take an emergency trip to Sainsburies for liquid pectin to sort out the vast quantities of blackberry and apple juice that I had made :')
week 35


You can catch up on previous entries here:
I do hope you're enjoying your peek into my world.

Summer sketching

Over the summer I organised a sketching club for my local art group. It was very much easy come, easy go, with no commitment required and I think that it worked out very well.

Week 1 was at our local woodland, Ruff Woods near Edge Hill University in Ormskirk. It turned out that I was billy-no-mates for this one - it was cold, the venue didn't have toilets (which ruled out all of the older ladies) and not even the elusive red squirrels put in an appearance. Speaking of toilets, ahem, I'm not sure what's going on at the end of the path...



Week 2 was at one of the club members houses and I'm ashamed to say that none of us sketched a single thing despite it being a gorgeous morning - we spent all our time drinking tea, eating toasted teacakes and chatting!

Week 3 was a miserable day and it was quite amazing that 4 of us turned out at The Hayloft, which is a farm shop and tearoom in Lydiate. We took shelter in the barn with the peacocks and peahens, but barely made it to an hour before we retreated into the tea room for brunch. This sketch is no-where near finished, I need to go back on a sunny day. Unlike the others, which are all sharpie, watercolour and oil pastel, this one is in watersoluble wax.


Week 4 was at another club member's house. Again the weather was appalling so we sat in the conservatory. A little sketching and a lot of chatting and delicious biscuits washed down with gallons of tea.



Week 5 was at the local allotments right by the church where we meet. Again I was on my own, probably because the church hall was not open and there was no toilet access. I found myself attracted to this wheelbarrow housed in a makeshift shed.




I missed week 6 as  I was away in Bakewell so I sketched the local fish and ducks, viewed from above at the bridge by the car park..



I'd enjoyed the whole sketching thing so much that I decided to take a still life along to our regular art club meeting. I asked my facebook followers what I should take along - the only stipulation was that it must be small enough to carry in my bike basket - and this was what I came up with.



I'm very pleased with how the sketching club progressed, and how my own sketching style has developed. For all of these sketches (except the peahen) I used watercolours, iridescent oil pastels and coloured sharpies. I really like the loose expressiveness of this style and will be interested to see how it develops as I do more.

I'll definitely organise something similar for next year, choose venues that all have toilets so that everyone can come along and join in the fun.

Sketch Diary July 2015

July was a super fun month; wedding dress shopping with my niece (carefully leaving the actual dress chosen out of the sketch or life would have been not worth living), my daughter passed her driving test and we had a lovely fortnight in Cornwall followed by a few days in the Peak District. A thoroughly spoilt time!

week 27

week 28

week 29

week 30

week 31

You can catch up on previous entries here: