Introducing Smudged It's Forget-Me-Not alphabet. Last weekend A painted the flowers and I put them together into letters, so it's a real team project. It's strange how you picture a project in your head when you're just starting out and somehow in the process of creating it it evolves into something different.

Happy Monday!

Isn't it weird how when you start a project you get completely absorbed and determined to finish it. Ok some get left by the wayside, or paused half way but generally single-mindedness wins through and TADA you finish. That's how I feel right now having spent this entire week working on an illustration /print project. I even have the square eyes to show for it!

So other than working on this project, which will be unveiled tomorrow, I've found a new favourite lemon drizzle recipe (all hail queen of baking Mary Berry), baked some healthy orange and carrot cupcakes and another barbrif loaf. Also we have flowers in our garden, dotting the green with bursts of colour making it feel like Spring.

Staying on the food track (anyone else starting to feel peckish?) today we had one of our favourite's roasted chicken which we cook in a brick. Yes a brick. It may sound strange but trust me if you want tasty, moist chicken every time this is the answer and it is oh so easy.
L's highlight of the week: Finishing the illustration/print project!
A's highlight of the week: Food! Roast chicken, beef bourguignon and two homemade pizzas.

Have a lovely week x

Kicking off our new weekly illustrations posts, which we hope will add a splash of colour to your Monday's A has painted a watercolour wedding bouquet.

Happy Monday!

How is there only one week left in February? A has spent the last few days painting away as... drumroll please... we've decided to start posting a new illustration every Monday, so look out for our first artwork post tomorrow.
Another week filled with art, DIY and cooking, it's funny since beginning this blog and writing a weekly summary it becomes really obvious what you do each week and the moments that bring you joy.

A's Highlight of the week: Turning the old airing cupboard in L's room into a wardrobe.
L's highlight of the week: Well not banging a nail into the centre of a water pipe... being almost finished with my cupboard, I've always wanted a walk in wardrobe and it is so close to becoming a reality!

Have a lovely last week of February x

Wow that title sounds melodramatic, but for me my relationship with my skin has felt a little like a roller coaster relationship; we've had our ups and downs, trials and tribulations, on the way to understanding one another.
Basically up until the age of 18/19 my skin was pretty prefect, I had the odd spot but it was generally clear and wasn't something I was self conscious about at all. The only makeup I wore was eyeshadow and mascara, I never used concealer. Then about half way through my first year of uni my face erupted. I can't remember it beginning, the first few spots piling up, red marks left behind as new spots popped up. The more frustrated I grew at my skin the worse it got. I'd pick at my skin and make it worse, use products to try and fix the problem and feel my skin burn and tingle, all followed by slapping on as much foundation and concealer as possible to try and mask it.

For the second and final years of uni I hid behind makeup, rarely leaving the house without makeup as I felt so self conscious. Towards the end of uni at the end of my tether I started researching and really trying to understand why my skin was breaking out so much. The photo above is my skin at pretty much it's worst, since then there have times when it's calmed down then flared up again but now it's much better. The scarring has faded and I have way less active breakouts (currently two). I know my acne isn't the worst but it is something that has personally hindered my ability to feel comfortable in my own skin and in all honestly has been a real struggle.

Having spent years reading blogs of people with perfect skin I've felt a little disheartened, so I thought I'd share what I learned, what helped, what made it worse and where I am now with my skin in a few posts. This initial post was pretty spontaneous, I was wondering what I wanted to write about this week and having spent the day running errands with only a little tinted moisturiser on it occurred to me how much my relationship with my skin has changed over the last five years. So here I am bare faced at my worst and now; spots, acne scars and all hoping that maybe writing about my experience might help someone.

L x

*Edit - I've added in a photo of my skin now so you can see the difference/improvement.

Not much beats 4 o'clock and afternoon tea. A quintessential English pastime that is really still quite new; it was only brought into fashion by the Duchess of Bedford in the 1840s who always felt a bit peckish around 4pm. We don't change into our long gowns, hats and gloves, as she and her friends used to do, for tea time but I do enjoy Lapsang Souchong and L is partial to English Breakfast. The Duchess would have bread and butter followed by cake and it was the Earl of Sandwich who thought to put two pieces of bread together with a filling in between - hence a 'sandwich'. Although I am partial to a cucumber sandwich every now again in the summer, a delicious tea time snack such as a piece of freshly cut bread (or toast) with butter and honey is (at the moment) my preferred treat.
Our cupboard is currently hosting a little collection of honeys. These two were bought from a French supermarket. One is from lavender flowers in Provence. Both are delicious and creamy... the pot on the right is finished now. It didn't take long!
And from the From Field and Flower honey stall in Borough Market, London we have these two raw honeys. The company sells English honey too, we just happen to have picked Italian ones. At the stall it is possible to taste from each of the honey jars, which we spent quite a while doing, starting with the mildest flavoured one first and going along the row. We picked three we loved the taste of and promptly devoured the pot of Heather honey, leaving these two: Apricot and Linden Tree. Can't wait to open them as they are deeeelicious!
Eating the honey made me think of a photograph I took of a bee with full looking pollen baskets on it's hind legs. The bee was busy visiting the flowers in the garden I created in a previous house. Here he is pictured with a climbing pink rose called New Dawn - an absolutely fabulous rose. I think I was having a cup of tea in the garden at the time!
A

As Monty has contributed to our header (yes, that paw print is his) and featured in our first GIF, we felt he deserved his very own post and introduction.

Born December 2006, in time for Christmas, Monty only came into our lives the following March when L found him. Determined to have a dog, she had saved up the money herself and on seeing him we decided he was the one. Running backwards and forwards between us he seemed so cute .... little did we know just how much energy a Sprocker has! The battery never needs recharging.

And what a difference having a dog has made to our lives. The conversations that have been struck up with strangers, the discussions about food, the healthy daily walks, the wagging tail and bouncy welcome when we come home. Having had Monty for almost nine years, it is hard to imagine how our home felt complete prior to his arrival.

This week I (Alison) have been playing with watercolours and working on more drawings of Monty, re-drawing a few times trying to get them looking right. Also studying calligraphy, repeating the alphabet in different styles and mark making - a brilliant way to spend Friday and Saturday evenings!
The DIY continues, slowly but surely. Sometimes it feels very slow. The walk-in cupboard was measured and a plan drawn up. A rail was bought, holes drilled - twice in one wall as the first ones didn't work (don't ask!) - and put up. Lengths of wood were cut to support the shelves. We did this with me as the clamp, standing on the wood and L using the electric saw. L became a dab hand last summer using the electric saw to cut down every shrub in the garden that had been left to grow into a tree. Next job, drill holes and make counter sink for screw heads.... next week.
L's Highlight of the week: Baking sweet potato chips and ginger oat cookies, this Waitrose recipe is great.

A's Highlight of the week: Eating the sweet potato chips and ginger oat cookies. Seriously. Delicious!! And from Deliciously Ella's first cook book I made Pea and Cannellini Soup - yum!

It was a fun week. All this creativity feels good for the soul. It has been a few years since I did any painting and drawing and I had forgotten how wonderful it is to get lost and absorbed in creative projects.

Have a good week. Ax

Over the last few weeks mum and I have been busy working on illustrations and designs for prints. It's been great fun to crack out the pencils, watercolours and just have fun being artistic. Sometimes everything feels a little too serious so it's been lovely to go back to exploring our creativity.

What do you think of my watercolour dungarees? They make me miss Summer.

L's Highlight - Planning and starting converting the old airing cupboard in my bedroom into a wardrobe, so far we have batons for the shoe shelves and a clothes rail.