This week's word

I sold my little flat today. It's such a relief and I'm so pleased, but it definitely feels a bit end of an era-y.


So, in honour of lots of hard work on Saturday giving away furniture left right and centre, this week's word is going to be 'empty'

Let me know in the comments if you'd like to join in, and I'll do the usual round-up in my post on Friday. New participants are always welcome!

Sunday Sketchblog #20

The cat, Vince, this week. You can guarantee that as soon as you want to draw or photograph him he starts galloping about, biting things, so quick pen sketches are the only option

Oh, look! #12

This week has been about...

Dorset countryside // The Summer Exhibition at the RA

Surprising phone boxes // Sending the first wedding savethedates!

(find me on instagram: timballoo)

... finding out where monsters get their supplies . I can't decide whether I want Zombie Mints or Cubed Earwax... (via lost at e minor)

... learning that mermaids don't exist.

Week Word: Character

Katy chose this week's word, character.


It's a bit of a difficult one... you can give someone a 'character' like a reference, and houses can have character. Both good things. But character actors tend to be the more... unusual looking ones and if you hear someone's face described as having character it tends to mean they're fairly advanced in years. Not that being old or unusual looking is a bad thing, but it could be a fairly loaded compliment!


Similarly you often hear children described as being 'a little character', but I'm not sure that isn't just a polite way of saying they're a bit of a brat...


How odd. No one would want to be described as 'characterless' but I've struggled to think of a way you could tell someone they had character without it sounding a bit... insulting.


Nonetheless, a 'good' character must be something we all want to develop. I found this quote on Pinterest this week, and it seems a good way of summing up the good things about character.

And some characters I've drawn recently...

Visit Katy to see her very different characters!

Coffee Break

I spotted these young ladies having coffee a few weekends back when we were in Balham and thought they were perfectly posed for a coffee-loving illustration.

For Balham Fans ( surely everyone - it's the Gateway to the South!) we were in Bertie and Boo at the time. Usually far too many buggies that cost more than my bike in there, but the coffee and food are lovely and sensibly priced and it feels nice to support local businesses.

Exciting Post

Getting post is nice. I'm always excited when an envelope arrives that has handwriting on rather than the address in a plastic window, so I try to remember to send cards to my friendsandrelations in the hope that they also can get excited.

I don't like sending rubbish cards though, which can often mean lengthy visits to the larger branches of Paperchase trying to find something both suitable and entertaining. So I've recently started drawing my own. You can buy a pack of eight blank cards for the price of one proper one, so it's the economical choice, and at least this way I won't have chosen the same design as someone else!

This was for Nick's birthday. It's the recipe for his favourite pudding... Making it into a card we could stick on the fridge afterwards and therefore have no excuse not to make seemed like a gift that keeps on giving!

A card for some lovely friends who recently got engaged in Morocco...

And one for a new baby.

Sunday Sketchblog #19

You can tell I'm not up to anything very exciting when the best thing I can find to sketch is my lunch...

Despite attempting to be frugal and sensible and healthy and make my lunch each day, I do end up eating quite a lot of sushi. It's surprisingly hard to resist when there's a sushi place at the bottom of the building where I work, and it's sort of good for you...


Have a look and see if Emma's been doing and drawing anything more exciting recently.