Illustrating Frames

I had a flash of inspiration and wanted to draw a little frame.
Probably because I actually love framing pictures.
I even went one step further and imported the drawing into illustrator and converted it to a vector drawing using image trace. Whoohoo. Sounds impressive, right? Well it is not really but it does mean I can do a bit more with the drawing if ever I should want to.

Here is the original drawing with some colour added framing Stella on her bike:

Here are two versions the converted drawing. Cool, right? I love this stuff!

Do you like it? I feel like drawing some more now :-)

Pasta with Tomato, Chicken and Spinach

The weather continues to annoy me.
I'm sick of the rain.
I want sun.

But since I have no control over it whatsoever I guess all I can do is accept the rain and go on with life. I had chicken and spinach and wanted to bake a pie. But then I got distracted and ran out of time so I ended up making a pasta dish instead.

A big tin of peeled tomatoes, chicken breasts cubed, lots of freshly washed spinach, onion, a clove of garlic, one carrot diced, olive oil and seasoning. That was all it took. Of course fresh basil from my herb garden and lots of grated Parmesan completed the dish.

Hope you have great week ahead!

Barbies!

The weather is strange.
Some days it is really hot but mostly this week it has rained. And I mean buckets of rain falling out of the sky, drowning my newly sown grass in front of the house and all my little plants in pots outside.

I looked out of my bedroom window and it looked like a swimming pool on top of our roof.
It is summer but it sure does not feel like it with all this rain!

At least the girls have their Barbies. We even bought them a Barbie campervan second hand a the annual neighbourhood jumble sale. They love it, and it keeps them quiet so I love it.

Hope you have a sunny weekend - I have plans for a barbecue so lets hope the weather plays along!!

Happiness Soup

It feels like forever since I last made Nigella's happiness soup. And somehow I missed it.

The comfort of a bowl filled with beautiful courgettes and rice, steaming hot.

The slight hint of lemon and the beautiful yellow colour from the turmeric.

Yes, it was high time for some happiness.

Cycling in the Woods

It is funny how Heidi is able to forget how to cycle.
You literally have to teach her again from scratch every time she gets on her bicycle.
It is funny, but it is also pretty annoying.

Hopefully we can practise a lot this summer so that she can start cycling to school with me. That would be amazing!

Stella on the other hand has taken to cycling in a big way, even though it is with side wheels. She just looks ahead of her and peddles like crazy. She also waves at everyone we come across... at least she's having fun!

Here's wishing you a fun filled weekend and a very happy 4th of July! :-)

Snacks!

We had ourselves a little party last week. Just the husband and myself.

Lots of snack type food.

Melon with Parma ham.

Hot little peppers stuffed with creamed cheese.

Garlic bread.

Olives.

And we even opened the champagne, the good stuff we've been saving.

All to celebrate our new house.

Cheers!

Stella the Artist

She loves to draw and paint.
And of course as her mother I love everything she produces, same as with Heidi's artwork. Except Heidi produces a LOT of artwork whereas Stella is much more controlled in her production process. She'll make one piece and it will be really good and then she's done.

I love how she creates and enjoys the moment. My sweet little artist.

Hope you have a sunny and productive weekend!