Been A while... Oops!

Well I do have the excuse of moving in with my partner and having all of that stress followed by no internet for a fortnight... I can tell you now that for someone who works from home that was a very testing time! I hate being so dependent on the internet but alas, it's part of the business!
It's all sorted now though and work is finally getting back to normal and I'm settling down in my new home (which I adore by the way!)

It's been very weird for the past few weeks as it hasn't quite settled in that I've moved out... I keep thinking I'll be packing my things and leaving soon. Oh the joy of not having to pack bags on a weekly basis!
Although I do actually kind of miss that side of my life. When I first met my partner and visited him weekly it was really stressful. Living out of a bag and never being in one place for too long was mind muddling at the best of times but I finally got used to it all over the past year and now that I'm not moving... well you'd think I'd be relieved and I guess I am a little but at the same time there's a little weird bit of me missing the little weekly adventures. I am a weird one at times!

Anyway! I may have been quiet online recently but I haven't been quiet in my actual life!
I've had to leave my desk at my parents due to it just being too big to get in here so my awesome dad found some left over pieces of MDF and made me a fab Beast cage (tiny little desk for my beast of a printer) and I got to paint it up. Apparently I have a really big obsession with peacock colours at the moment.
Below is the base box of it, there is a sliding drawer that fits inside to take my smaller printer/A4 scanner, so this is how it looked before I got my paws on it...

And this is how it looked at the end. I got to use my amazing teal paint again and the top is covered in a fun holographic vinyl sheet which just looks amazing, especially when the light hits it and you get the rainbows. Unfortunately Beast will be covering most of it but I know it's there :P

The shelf that goes inside is also covered in a super shiny purple vinyl sheet that makes it look more like metal than wood. All in all I am very happy with my new little work station.

I don't really tend to work at desks, I love desks and love to set them up and make them look good but at the end of the day you're more likely to find me either on the floor, bed or sofa whilst I'm working. Yes I know one day I'm going to regret working like this when my back gives out but at the same time I just can't seem to work at a confined desk. 

So my little work station is mainly to just hold my printers and laptop and sketchbooks so I don't leave them lying around all over the place.

In other news the sun has finally come back to the UK and we have some amazing hot weather, this time of year always makes me crave veggies and fruit... well I am a vegetarian but there's just something about hot weather and fresh food... and when it comes to fruit I cannot refuse strawberries... ever.

So when my mum wanted a baking session I jumped in with strawberries and cream cupcakes!

This was the only time they looked good... the strawberries were so fresh they kinda slid off eventually! :P Not that they lasted long... my diet of trying to eat well kinda went out the door last week with the amount of baked goods I nommed on!

I have also still been working on artwork for the quiet weeks... even though I just made it sound like I spent the whole time making cakes and painting desks and making them shiny... my inner magpie got a bit excited ;)

I came up with a little rat design which led to a little idea of a rat dancing with the stars. Rats love shiny things and love to stash them away for themselves, my idea came from this little sketch of Astrid the rat letting her stars go in to the dark sky to lighten up the world but not wanting to leave her shinies she spent every night dancing with them. Yes, silly little story but something that I've been inspired by so I'm hoping to actually turn this in to a proper painting later on.

And a wonderful pet commission has also taken up a lot of my time. I was really obsessed with getting this pup design right and put a lot of work in to every aspect of her design.

It was worth it in the end though as I'm in love with it! I want to say it was probably my favourite commission so far. And I just couldn't get enough of her cute little bow. Unfortunately I forgot to get a picture of the final piece before sending her off to her new home so this is the best pic I have of her.

It was such a pleasure to work on such a lovely portrait.

I also have new business cards turning up soon after a lot of nagging from my mother who was desperate for me to get some printed properly. I spent an hour or so making up some designs and I'm happy with the results, just can't wait for them to arrive! 

There are so many arty things going on this week, it's all kicking off with my imagination and I'm in my busy bee element. Expect some new products, new designs and more activity over on my etsy shop.

All in all, life is pretty good right now! 

Have a great week!