Gryffindor Owl

I decided to have another go at the pattern in the beautiful 'Owl Know How' book to make another super cute owl! I used some of the loverly wool felt from Open Drawer, so I think this one turned out a little nicer than my last attempt.

I made him for my friend Jess' birthday, and she's a total Potter-nerd (three cheers for Potter-nerds!) so I thought I'd give it a little Gryffindor twist, and I went for subdued Gryffindor colours, dusty pink and pale yellow...

He's still a little flat here!

And here he is all filled out and with his Gryffindor scarf. Go Gryffindor go!

I'm a fan of the layered wing feathers. 

Jess decided to call him 'Errol' after the Weasley's old owl. Let's hope he holds up a little better than Errol did though!

Owl Know How Owl

So, I know I've posted about the Owl Know How book quite a few times recently, but it's super worth it if you can get your hands on a copy, because not only is it whimsical and adorable and lovely, but it comes with a pattern to make your own owl, and I did exactly that!

It was really straight forward and fun to make. I did make one little adjustment and decided to embroider a more detailed face, in a style similar to Cat Rabbit's own owl creations. 

And here is the owl with Ernestine and Jerome, my other Cat Rabbit friends. What should I call the owl I wonder?

You can also pick up the book, and even an (vastly more impressive) owl of your own at the Owl Know How etsy store. Wonderful!

Owl Know How

Of all the happy things that could happen, the incomparable Cat Rabbit and incredible Isabel Knowles have collaborated on a children's book called Owl Know How. There's a launch happening tomorrow at the Atrium in Fed Square where I'm hoping to pick up a copy of the book. To see more of their collaborative escapades, observe this beautiful video that featured at Cat Rabbit's solo exhibition last year.

Pastel Easter Egg Manicure Tutorial

Tomorrow's April 1st, which means it will be Easter faster than you can say 'hot cross buns', so how about an Easter Egg manicure tutorial? 

Step 1: Gather your colours and materials. I'm using Mellow Yellow by Sally Hansen, Shine On by Kit, and Sweet Pea by Australis. I thought pastels would look cute for Easter eggs (although the yellow might be a little bright to really be considered a pastel. I would also have liked a white to do some dots, but alas I didn't have one.) I've also got scotch tape, a Sally Hansen nail art pen, a tooth pick and a small paintbrush (although I imagine a nail striper would have been better, but alas again, I don't own one). 

 Step 2: Paint all your nails your chosen base colour and allow to dry (I'm so very messy with my nail polish, hehe). And do make sure that they are COMPLETELY dry, to avoid making the mistake that I made, and prematurely putting tape on my nail. What a mess that was!

Step 3: Take a piece of scotch tape and cut curved shape that roughly follows the curve of your nail, to create the stripes of the Easter egg. Place about a fifth of the way down your nail and press the edges firmly down so the second colour of polish won't seep underneath. 

Step 4: Paint on your second colour and gently peel off the tape. The next thing I did was flip the tape around so I could paint a second curved stripe at the top of my nail, as pictured above. 

 Step 5: More stripes and dots! I used a paintbrush to create this middle stripe, so it's not as neat, but you could definitely do it with tape if you had the patience, which I didn't, haha. Using my third colour, I then added in dots using a toothpick.

Step 6: Experiment! The great thing about Easter eggs is they come in all sorts of gorgeous colours and patterns, so I had a bit of fun varying the size of the stripes, and got my nail art pen involved to do some zigzags as well. 

 Step 7: Seal with a quick drying top coat and enjoy!

Apologies for the messiness of my nails. I tend to be incapable of painting my nails without also painting a good portion of my skin as well. Sadly, my supply of nail polish colours is fairly limited, so I'm not too sure about this result. I think some more delicate pastel shades such as pinks and blues might have looked more Eastery, so I'd love to see if anyone tries this out in different colours!