Things that make me happy.

Among the many things that have made me happy lately are Dexter's strange talent to play the piano, swirly colourful lollipops, collecting sea shells, rapiers and little crabs, receiving pictures of waterlilies in the middle of the night from a dear friend, vanilla & cherry cupcakes (my new favourites!), cuddling with Dexter, bubblegum vending machines, peacock feather earrings, my granny's old camera and playing backgammon on the beach with my favourite boy.

What have made you happy lately? ~

Giveaway winner!

Thanks to everyone who participated in my first giveaway! And thank you for the song suggestions, I listened to all of them and already have some favourites. Anyway, the winner this time is Brooke, so congratulations, lady! Please email me to claim your prize and to give me your mailing address :)

xxx,

Lily

See you soon!

Read of the month: July

Harry Potter takes a very special place in my heart. Ever since my mom bought me the first book, I've been crazy about all things magical. I was 11 when it all began and ten years later (oh my!), I feel exactly the same. I planned to read the books once again (not that I haven't read them a couple of times each) before the last movie came out, but I only managed to finish three. Now I am reading "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" and I'm trying to find the rest three books in English so I can read them, too. Do you know a good site that has shipping to Bulgaria? Because I cannot seem to find one... Thank you!

What's on my memory board?

Since I reorganized my memory board, I thought it would be a fun thing to share.

I love to keep my memories close to me, that's why I store them in boxes, put them in frames or pin them on boards. Every little thing that I keep reminds me of something beautiful and special!

My memory board is full of fun photos. I have old-time photos of my mom and dad, pictures of Lazar long before we met, photos with my best friend in our favourite photo booth, my very first dog and cat, even Dexter's somewhere there, too. I keep a drawing made for me by a dear friend, funny notes, tickets of first-time experiences and a tiny book about friendship. I also have a golden padlock that used to keep my diary safe and a Ying-Yang badge that I wore in high-school. I keep a special Hogwarts letter that I made when I was about 12 (and crazy about Harry!) which reminds me of lovely times when all I could think about was magic. After seeing the last Harry Potter movie (I cried like a baby during... the whole movie), I pinned the flyer to remind myself that, indeed, it all ends.

I think I need a bigger board though. There are so many new and precious memories that I need to keep! How about you, do you like to keep your memories close? I'd love to have a glance in your Pensieve! :)

She.

This is a quick illustration I finished a couple of days ago. I am thinking about redecorating my room in Rousse and I might actually take off all posters and put framed pictures instead. This one would surely look good on the wall above my bed, I think.

What have you been up to lately? I am currently working on a very fun project called Make art a part (of your life) and I am actually pretty excited. You'll be able to see it very very soon!

A place that melts my heart.

This is one of my most favourite places around my hometown. It's a very beautiful park called Teketo and it's surrounded by breathtaking scenery.

Me and my boy come here a lot. We ride pedalos and eat vanilla ice-cream. We feed the animals and sometimes play scrabble in a little wooden hut. Dexter loves the place, too! He is a bit afraid of the frogs that jump around the lake but he really enjoys the company of a female bear that seems to be in love with him and offers him her food. (she is in a cage and Dexter runs around it like crazy.)

It's a lovely place to be all year round but it's just perfect now when the lilies are blooming!

Watermelon July.

When I was little, summer wasn't official until we made watermelon lanterns. Well, I announce this summer is now... official!

Last night my boy helped me carve a watermelon lantern (is this our new summer tradition? I think so!). We lit a candle inside, put it in the garden and drank watermelon smoothies in the soft pink light. Yes, we are nerdy like this. But kind of romantic, too.

A Little Giveaway!

Ha! You've guessed it! The last animal of my African set is... a zebra!

I just couldn't miss featuring one of the most beautiful animals! This illustration is my most favourite one because it took me only 2 hours of work (the Cheetah took me more than six.) and because to me, it's the most realistic of them all. Which one do you like best?

In other news, to celebrate summer, I decided that I would host my very first giveaway. Yay! You could win all four illustrations of my African set (1, 2, 3, 4). I am sure they would keep you great company!

To enter this giveaway simply leave me a comment below with your favourite song at the moment! (I will listen to them all, I promise!). This giveaway will be open until the end of July so you've got plenty of time. Good luck! :)

Cheetah

Although Dexter has been hyper active lately and keeps distracting me every single time I sit behind the computer, I managed to finish number three of my African set. Yay!
This cheetah literally took me forever to finish. (Partly because of Dexter, of course). My initial intention was to draw a tiger, but the details were quite familiar with the ones I will be using for the fourth illustration, so I took your advice and did the cheetah instead. It's for all of you, cat lovers! :)
While I am still working on the last illustration, you can see the Giraffe and the Rhino, or even try to guess which the last animal of the set will be. Ok, I'll give you a hint: it's black and white. Is that too easy? :)

Rhino

Thank you all very much for helping me pick up different and favourite African animals. I've already assembled the "perfect four" and all I need to do is... finish the sketches. The set will be ready in a couple of days, I think.

The Rhino took me some extra time, though. I was concerned it didn't look like a rhino at all, so I made four or five sketches, all from different angles. I think you can tell what animal it is now, can't you? :)

xxx

Read of the month: June

Here is another one of Nick Hornby's books that I really enjoyed. ("About a Boy" was magnificent!). "How to Be Good" is about a man who wants to be good, to help people and to save the entire world, and a woman, who once knew she was good, but is not that certain any more. It is all about how hard people find it to know how to be good, to understand what good actually means.

Although the end is a bit unsatisfactory for my taste, the book does offer food for thought. And it certainly makes you think whether your ideas of good are right.

What do you think, do you know how to be good? Or, like me, you are still learning?

Giraffe

When I finished this I immediately thought it would look great in a set of three or four. It's been awhile since I've drawn sets so I thought it would be fun. Could you help me pick the other two or three animals? I was thinking about a lion, but I'm not pretty sure I could use the same technique there... I'm making some sketches of elephants and zebras, too.

Please do tell me what is your favourite African animal! I might not have think of it and it could be just the one I am looking for! :)

Have a peaceful Sunday!