I burn for you

Yesterday we bought last minute tickets to see Johnny Clegg and I have been blown away. I have always liked this guy, I guess it's because his Best Of is the very first CD we bought in the 90's, my older brother picked it, so I've heard him so many times. But also I like who he is, his energy and what he does, I guess the world needs people like him.
Yesterday we had the feeling the stage was only filled with joy. I was very happy to hear all the songs I had been dancing on when I was young. I even got a present in the end, when he performed the very last song (Dela) where he says "I burn for you" many times. We were in front of the stage, a bit on the side, and at some point he came right in front of us and danced a bit, then raised his arms, of course everyone did the same around us, I was blissfully smiling. The lights were on him, and then he pointed at me and sarted singing again: "I burn for you", looking into my eyes... People around were looking at me. Then he looked at my man, me again, my man, smiled and sang "and I burn for you too" pointing at him. That was a great moment. I just felt as if he had heard the thoughts floating in my head. This is what I like the most in life: connections, even extremely short like this one.

Right after the show, the security guard came to me with a smile, picked the playlist sheet from the stage and gave it to me.

Now I hope you have a nice week-end!

winter in my mailbox

I love getting mail from abroad! I got this cards set yesterday from Hanna Konola, and although I did order it (here), it felt like a lovely little surprise. I'm in love with those cards. The small yellow sticker said have a nice day!. How could I not?

cloudy

I am very pleased to see my illustrated calendar featured in Bloesem's Weekly Gallery. Thank you Irene!

I love Happiness by Goldfrapp and this video makes me love it even more. We have a friend who looks so much like this jumping guy I just pretend it's him.

My little finger [also wearing a white suit :)] seems to be alright. Thanks for your comments!

upside down

Slow walk along the canal after a looong work day.

I have just managed to cut a very little bit off my little finger while slicing cucumber, but fortunately my man arrived and rescued me (he made a bandage).

I hope everyone is going well!

the give-away is over

Time to announce the results! I have drawn a name from the comments (using random.org found via Pikaland): the lucky Jane will be receiving these soon! Congratulations!

Thank you to everyone who participated, it has been a pleasure to read all your comments, and also to see what your favorites were. It has been a lot of fun, so I might do another one some time before the end of the year!

100th

I have been sorting some files and found this picture again. I love it. This is when we danced rumba. Catherine took the picture. She is the friend who told us "it's time to go now, everyone is waiting for you" right before going to the town hall to get married. It was the strongest moment. I got onto the rack of the folding bike my man was riding and go!

I thought this would be a good picture for this 100th post (it went pretty quickly!). Also, this is your last chance to post a comment here and maybe win 2 prints from the animal alphabet!

And last thing that makes me happy, apart from the little chocolate cakes I have just baked: I bought my ticket for Sigur Ros' concert in Paris in November! Yeepee!

I hope everyone has a good evening, and thank you for all your comments, I enjoy them so much!

a few days in the sun

We have just come back from a few days in Wales and had a great time there. The weather was awful on the first evening (we got stuck on the road which was flooded) but then sunny all along until we were back in London. We went on Skomer Island where nobody lives (except a few volunteers and lots of birds and rabbits). We saw many seals and dolphins, which made me happy. We also spent some time in a beautiful garden and in small cities on the coast. We got lost a few times as places names are pretty difficult to remember and spot on a map (as you can see on the blue sign they look more like a bad scrabble draw) but getting lost is also funny and allows you to see things you wouldn't otherwise. I have been able to try my new camera and you can see all the pictures here.

I hope you are all having a lovely week-end.

Don't forget to leave a comment on the previous post for a chance to win 2 of my animal alphabet prints!

And also: *thank you* Jane for your post on my calendar, and thank you to Absolutely Delish for the feature about my work.

shop update – Hurray Tuesday

My 2009 calendar is ready. See some of the illustrations here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Some new prints are also available (here and here).

Free shipping from now until Monday 25^th August 12pm GMT!!

And last but not least, I am launching a give-away! Here is how it works:
- Leave a comment to this post and tell me the 2 prints you like the most from the animal alphabet (available in the shop).
- Deadline is Monday 25^th August 12pm GMT.
- I will pick up a name from the comments at random on Tuesday 26^th.
- The person will have to send their mail address quickly, so that I can send them their favourite prints!

Now spread the word! And have a lovely week, I'm off to Wales tomorrow.

detach

(Illustration Friday)

blue monday

Today has been hectic and everything took ages. I am therefore postponing my shop update until tomorrow.

Have a lovely evening!

he he

Chocolate and banana cake.

[Sandra had the simple but excellent idea to show bigger images]

peek

It's getting dark here but I have almost finished my calendar, and it's coming out pretty nicely! I just need to do some more print tests. I should be on time for tomorrow's shop update. I can't wait to show you the illustrations.

ps: the previous post was called mess because I was going to speak about the mess on my desk, but then forgot. I guess the mess is also in my head.

mess

This makes me want to bake a cake. My rythm at the moment is 1.5 per week. Can't help it, I just love cake and it's so easy to make.

Yesterday's wedding felt a bit strange. I didn't know the couple very well, but know the bride had been dreaming about this for years, and it all happened suddenly because -that's what we suspect- she is pregnant, which was not exactly their plan. We had a lovely evening but this was still in a corner of my head.

Sweet news now, Anaïs Massini has just launched her website, which is not complete but there are already plenty of good things to see, especially les ailes d'Anna (click on n.1). I love those illustrations.

I have been looking at butterflies on Flickr and found some cool ones. My man says they are scary when you look close. I like the fact they are a kind of small monsters, and also that they can be furry.

Have a lovely Sunday!

dive

See it bigger here.

I don't know if I will be able to finish the calendar within the time frame I set myself! The trouble is I have so many other things to work on. Oh well we'll see. For now I have to make sure I'm ready for the wedding we are attending tomorrow -first English wedding! Can't wait to see what it's like.

Life is damn good. I hope you have a great week-end!

Images

Today I have been wandering in the flat to try my new camera. It feels great! It's a Nikon D80 and I can see the difference (it's not difficult when you have worked with a 3 million pixels compact for months -my mum must have bought it 40 years ago, I swear). These are the first shots [see them bigger here]. I can't wait to get through all the explanations and make it mine.

I am still working on the calendar and it's a hard process: when I come up with new illustrations I really like, I start thinking the previous ones are not good enough any more. And the list of months I still have to illustrate never gets shorter.

I hope everything will be finished over the week-end, as I aim updating the shop on Monday, with a little surprise as well!

I hope you have a great evening and then Friday, our last step towards a great week-end.

hurray!

We have received our cameras! One big and one very small to take with us discreetly. I'm so happy, we are going to be able to take good pictures now.

The illustration is about connections. See it bigger here. I have also updated my blog a little bit (colours and little drawings). I am very happy with those warm colours. It's only August but we are having such a poor weather...

Today is Catherine's birthday. She helped me a lot (with a few others) to prepare the wedding. She's a star. Joyeux anniversaire Catherine !

And I hope you have a nice evening.

1 month

Today we have been married for one month, and it's so good! I can't wait for the next things to come, and there will be plenty. Next week we're off for a few days in Wales -a kind of pre-honey moon! We are finally leaving London early September, and off to Italy, Sicily and Tunisia in October. We have booked our Sahara trip and will spend 7 days in the desert, the two of us with one guide and 2 camels! It will be amazing!

And before this we will hopefully have found a house, in which we could move in in November. I have just received Lena Corwin's Printing by Hand and am eager to try a few things in our future home!

Have a lovely evening everyone!

new week

I hope the week starts well for everyone. My calendar is now getting somewhere, I'm happy. I hope I can finish it this week!

I have just discovered Hanna Konola (via Rare Device) and I love her simple and subtle style. That's my sweet discovery of the week-end.

Have a lovely week!

goûter

When it comes to having a snack (in French the word goûter is dedicated to the sweet snack we have around 4-5 o'clock when we are kids -but we still say it), I think cake and hot chocolate are the best. Especially when the weather is like now: grey and rainy.

I am working on my 2009 calendar and hope it will come out well. Octavien is now moving to Florida. Thank you very much for your nice comments lately! They make me happy.

I have just discovered Papaver Vert's shop and she sells great felted wool bowls (my favorite are these and these). They look great and come in a nice range of colours. She has a blog too and you can find her at Rose and Radish and Rare Device.

I also like Djurdjica Kesic's jewelry: this is funny and I like the idea of wearing pebbles as gems. Her little houses are lovely (found via Eleanor).

I hope you are having a lovely week-end!