Happy New Year & Book Challenge

Happy New Year!!!  First post of the new year and a new reading challenge begins.  The aim is to read (or listen to) 52 books.  Last year I exceeded that and have 75 books on my list (some which were audio).  I don't know how many I'll read in 2016 but I'm sure going to try for 52.

Here is the 2015 list - 

1.Claiming Victory - Beverley Watts (kindle freebie) 3* because I liked the characters

2. The Next Always - Nora Roberts 6* I always enjoy her books easy to read

3. An Appetite For Revenge - Jennifer Jennings *3 being generous here 

4. Fractured - Dani Atkins 10* definitely worth a read keeps you guessing till the end

5. Fat Chance - Nick Spalding - currently reading 

6. The Perfect Man Sheila Flanagan - audio - 8* enjoyed listening to this one it was light and funny.

7. The Story of Us by Dani Atkins. 10* I really enjoyed this book as much as Fractured. The twist and the end is always surprising and I didn't even guess it correctly. Having read Fractured I knew the ending was going to be something else altogether.

 8. Summer Holiday - Penny Smith eaudio - 7* easy listening. Story was a bit far fetched but the characters were enjoyable.

9. Jack and Jill - James Patterson

10. Final Account - Peter Robinson 

11. Cross - James Patterson.

12. The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club - Duncan Whitehead *0 absolute pants luckily it was a freebie. Story is unbelievable and the ending is abrupt.

13. The Rectors Wife by Joanna Trollope - I'm going to give it 7** really good story and you could relate to the characters and the emotions that the story emulated. Worth a read/listen.

14. A Dedicated Man by Peter Robinson -(audio) *7 really enjoyed listening to this book. 

15. Pop Goes The Weasel - James Patterson 10* (audio). I got really involved in this one. It had all the drama and intensity of a movie. The ending is left open as if there is another book/story to follow (I'll have to find out what the follow up book is).

16, A Necessary End - Peter Robinson (audio)

17, The Case of the Missing Boyfriend (book 1) - Nick Alexander

18, The French House - (book 2) - Nick Alexander

19, Me Before You - JoJo Mayes

20 The Case of the Missing Boyfriend and The French House by Nick Alexander - I thoroughly enjoyed both books

21 As good as it gets - Fiona Gibson

22 They Curvy girls club - Michele Gorman - enjoyable read about how a group of friends deal with losing weight, the impact on their lives as they move on with their lives.

23 Gallows View Peter Robinson - audio - usual story easy to listen to while working

24The Hen who dreamed she could fly - Sun Hi Hwang - hmm not sure about this one it was easy to read but really didn't see the point of it. Maybe I'm not looking deeper into the story. If it had been any longer I wouldn't have bothered finishing it. Happy to pass it along if anyone wants to read it.

25 There's more to life than cupcakes by Poppy Dolan - Easy read enjoyable.

26. Cupids Way – Joanne Phillip easy read/romance

27. Gifted and Talented – Wendy Holden –easy read

28. Mum on the Run – Fiona Gibson 

29. Baggage Claim – Amanda Tu - easy read

30.Kiss the girls – James Patterson –audio

31. Coming out – Danielle Steele – audio

32. The Confession – Charles Todd – audio

33. The Doris Day Vintage Club – Fiona Harper

34. A Walk In The Park - Jill Mansell.

35.The Unpredictable Consequences of Love by Jill Mansell (audio)

36. Echo Burning - Lee Child audio

37. Don't Blink - James Patterson.

38. I Alex Cross - James Patterson -audio

39. The Affair - Lee Child - audio

40. The Visitor - Lee Child - audio

41. Persuader - Lee Child - audio

42. A Place Called Here - Cecelia Ahern -proper book grin emoticon

43. Gone Tomorrow -Lee Child audio

44. Eyes on you - Kate White- gripping thriller audio.

45. Love from both sides - Nick Spalding (book 1 of 4) Hilarious laugh out loud moments and a couple of teary bits. Highly recommend it if you haven't already read this.

46. Love and Sleepless Nights - Nick Spalding - book 2 of 4 - just as good as the first one with laugh out loud moments.

47.Love Under Different Skies Nick Spalding 3 of 4

48.Love Among The Stars Nick Spalding 4/4

49.Postcard Killers - James Patterson & Liza Marklund

50. Deal Breaker - Harlan Coben

51. Take A Chance on Me - Jill Mansell

52. To the moon and back - Jill Mansell

53. Fairchild - Jaima Fixsen

54. Incognito (Fairchild book 2) - Jaima Fixsen - didn't find this one as enticing as the first.

55.Gone For Good - Harlan Coben

56. Just One Look - Harlan Coben

57. The Innocent - Harlan Coben

58 Promise me - Harlan Coben

59 Hold Tight - Harlan Coben

60 Long lost - Harlan Coben

61 Play Dead - Harlan Coben

62 ~Caught - Harlan Coben

63 Live Wire - Harlan Coben

64 Stay Close - Harlan Coben

65. First Sight  - Danielle Steel

66. The Tides of Memory - Sidney Sheldon

67. Unril You - Jennifer Mcnare

68. After You - Jojo Moyes

69. What Stays in Vegas - Beth Laborte

70. Love You Better - Natalie K Martin

71. Christmas at Tiffany's - Karen Swan

72. The One plus One - Jojo Moyes

73. Restoring Grace - Katie Fforde.

74. Crooked Little Lies by Barbara Taylor Sissel 

75. Bad Boy - Peter Robinson

29 Faces Art Challenge Day 6

Day 6 of the #29faces art challenge - Acrylics on acrylic paper, background colour from cleaning off surplus paint off my brayer- need to go back and re-do the hair and add some texture it looks too flat.

Happy Friday 

Anita

29 Faces Art Challenge Day 3

Day 3 of the #29faces art challenge.  I started painting this one with Derwent's graphic tint pencils but they didn't like the gesso and left grainy bits which made the whole thing look 'dirty' so I went over some of it with acrylic paint.

Join in with the challenge on the 29 faces art challenge blog.

Thank you to everyone for visiting and leaving a comment.

Anita

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Update

Okay so this post is going to be photo heavy since I haven't posted any updates on my 30 day challenge.

I'm still working on these

Day 4 & 5 or 30 Paintings in 30 Days January 2015

I didn't get time to make anything for day 4 as we had visitors and by the time they went it was late and it had gone dark.  Therefore I made 2 paintings today.  Well one is a mixed media painting in my altered book and the other is a study of an eye in watercolours - Daler Rowney pan set.  One of my goals for 2015 is to master pan and tube watercolours.

Mixed media painting in my altered book

Watercolour eye study

There's a whole host of artists taking part in this challenge from all over the globe check them out here on the Slices of Life blog.

January Art Challenge

30 Paintings in 30 days.  I enjoyed this challenge last year so I'm doing it again this year.  Last year my theme was faces.  This year I'm having an open theme - we'll see where it leads to who knows I might produce a masterpiece hahha.

Here are day one and two as you can see they're not brilliant but they were already sketched out (found among my stash).  They are ATC size 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

You can see what everyone else is creating on Slices of Life blog by Leslie Saeta who is hosting the challenge. 

Anita 

Create Art Every Day November Day 1

New month, new challenge.  November's challenge is to create art everyday - check out the details here on the Create Every Day blog.  I did this challenge back in May of this year and found it a little difficult to create something new everyday.  So for this months challenge I have decided to work on one piece of art which will eventually be left in a public space to be picked up and taken to a new home as part of "FLOOD the streets with ART".  The day of abandoning the art work is 28th November or as it's known in the USA as Black Friday.  There are nearly 4000 participants from all over the world.

So this is what I have started today and hope to work on everyday and have it finished for the 28th.  It will be a mixed media piece.  The colours aren't quite right as it's more pink than orange but that will probably change as I work on it.  It measures 12 x 9 inches.  

Anita

52 Book Challenge Update

Earlier this year I joined a facebook group where the challenge was to read 52 books by the end of the year.  This challenge was started by the lovely Fiona from The Sewing Directory.   I won't have achieved this figure but it's certainly made me read more this year than I have done in the last few years.  I'm really enjoying being part of a group where the sole intention is to read and suggest books you've read - it's little like a book club but without the intense breakdown of each book.  It's also made me look at and read books by authors I would never have picked.  I've still got a long way to go but to date I've read 23 books and nearly 3/4 of the way of book 24.  I still have a pile of books on my desk waiting to be read - yes I still like and read proper paper books.  I did give into buying a kindle for convenience when travelling but there's nothing like a proper book. 

So here is my list so far it's quite a diverse list- 
1. Cross Stitch - Diana Gabaldon
2. Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
3. Nothing to Lose - Lee Child
4. Dodger - Terry Pratchett
5. Fault in Our Stars - John Green
6. Manuscript from Accra -  Paulo Coehlo
7. The Holiday - Jane Green
8. 31 Dream Street - Lisa Jewell
9. Where'd You Go Bernadette - Maria Semple
10. Divas - Rebecca Chance
11. Memento Mori - Muriel Spart
12. 61 Hours - Lee Child
13. The Hat Shop on the Corner - Marita Conlan Mckenna
14. The Best of Times - Penny Vincenzi
15. Dragonfly In Amber - Diana Gabaldon
16. Voyager - Diana Gabaldon
17. The List - Joanna Bolouri
18. A Walk Across the Sun - Corban Addison
19. About A Girl - Lindsey Kelk
20. The Nothing Girl - Jodi Taylor
21. Family Magic - Patti Larson
22. The Moonglow Cafe - Deborah Garner 
23. Game of Thrones book one - A Song of Ice and Fire -George R R Martin
24. Game of Thrones - book two A Clash of Kings  - George RR Martin - currently reading

Anita

#blogtoberfest14 day 21

Challenging Colours

It's week 5 of the Summer of Colour 4 challenge hosted over on Twinkle Twinkle Like a Star.  With only one more week to go I and some of the other artists are already getting withdrawal symptoms.  

This weeks colour challenge was Royal Blue, Red and a splish, splash or dash of light blue.  Now lovely as the colours are on their own they were a definite challenge to me.  This really isn't a colour scheme I would ever choose to use.  But as this was a challenge I went a head and did some research and then played with the colour palette and this is what I came up with. 

I tried to keep the design element simple by using my all time favourite - hearts.  I used neo-colourII as the main colour medium.  Then I stamped the face and swirly leaf design in the light blue.  I still think it needs some other elements adding to it but for now I'm happy with what I've made and it fits in with this weeks challenge.

Red, Royal Blue & Light Blue

Rubber stamped images by PaperArtsy and Woodware.

To see what the other artists have created with this colour challenge why not pop over to 

Twinkle Twinkle like a Star 

Anita 

Art Every Day and Gritty Jane's 40 Portraits

I've not really kept up with posting everyday for this challenge because I've been busy with a couple of commissions.  I have been creating every day and I'm including the commissions as part of this - I can't show you them as they are for presents.  I can however show you a couple of drawings I've done in the last few days.  They're what is described as whimsical and they are part of another challenge on facebook called "Gritty Jane's 40 Portrait Challenge". Fortunately there is no time limit on this one so no pressure to produce something everyday.  You'd think I had enough to do coming up to Christmas - but hey I like a challenge and I've met some amazing artists on my "challenge" journey.

#1/40

This one is in my altered book.  I gessoed the page but I found that watercolour and gesso do not like each other.  

#2/40

This one is on water colour paper and is painted with inktense pencils and neo colours.  The white highlights are acrylic and I've added some stamped images to fill in the background.

Fancy a challenge? Here are the links to both pages - 

Art Everyday Month -blog

Gritty Jane's 40 Portrait - facebook

Anita

Quick Sketch.......Day 6 #AEDM

A very quick post from me today.  This is a sketch which I'm still working on I started it a few weeks ago to keep up with the daily drawing so I don't slip back into bad habits.  It needs cleaning up but I'm not happy with the mouth so I'm going to re-work it.  I added some of the background today in work.  It was too cold and wet to go out in my lunch hour.  Can't say I'm a fan of the cold and wet weather.  

I may take a few elements out like the bobbles on her dress I think it's to similar to the background.  Luckily it's only at the pencil stage.

Pop on over to Art Every Day Month to see what everyone else has been up to.  There's some fabulous artists out there.

Anita

3 Eyed Green Monster

Since the 29 Faces Challenge finished I've had a bit of a withdrawal week or 2.  However I've joined in with a daily drawing thread over on ATCsForAll and this weeks challenge is to draw Halloween monsters or Autumn scenery.  The challenge starts on a Thursday so we have the weekend to draw something.  There are no prizes and you don't have to draw everyday.  It's a group of people who want to practice their drawing skills, get feedback and generally get support and encouragement and most importantly have FUN.

For my card I drew (or attempted to) a monster but I think it's more of a cute monster than a scary monster.  Its painted with Polychromo pencils with a hint of white acrylic paint.  The background was coloured using Pro-markers.

Here's my monster with her 3 Eyes.

Have a great weekend

Anita

Angelberry and Robin

Here is my card for the Fairy Time digi-stamp challenge over on the Polkadoodles blog. I was sent a lovely free digi-stamp called Angelberry and Robin.  I printed our one image onto acetate and one onto cardstock. On the acetate wings I've added sparkly glitter which has tiny little stars in it.  I painted the card image with inktense watercolour pencils added the same glitter to the skirt edge and the boots.  There is a tiny gold heart brad on the skirt pocket and pearl gems as buttons on the jacket.  I was going to sew on some red beads in the hair but after cutting out the card image it was too fragile to put a hole in the card so I've added some red paint.

So here she is Angelberry and Robin.  I hope you like what I've done with her. If you'd like to see what other artists have made with their stamps then pop on over to Polkadoodles blog.

Happy Thursday crafting

Anita

29 Faces Art Challenge.

September is nearly upon us and I've been thinking of challenging myself into doing something for the month.  I came upon this site a few weeks ago but had completely forgotten about it plus when I first read the challenge I thought "no way am I going to be able to do this as I'm not very good at drawing faces".  

Funny how these things happen isn't it?  Because just this morning I posted on my facebook page that I should challenge myself in September and this afternoon one of my art friends posted on facebook if anyone was going to join the challenge.  So that was that sorted :)  

So the challenge itself is to draw a face each day for 29 days.  It was started last February which happened to be a leap year.  I've only just come across the article so won't go into it but why don't you pop over and have a read its very interesting 29 Faces Art Challenge.  As you can see from these Artist Trading Cards and Inches my face drawing skills definitely need to be improved.  

So who's going to join in the fun?