A little bit excited...

Yep a little bit excited as tomorrow we're off to Scotland for a well deserved weeks holiday.

We've hired this little cottage just on the edge of the Galloway Forest, theres myself, my partner Dave and my son Brandon going and we've lots to look forward too!  Dave works in Dumfries & Galloway so has been reccying lots for us to do, including visiting Kagyu Samye Ling - a Tibetan Buddhist Centre.

Myself and Dave have been to before and loved the place, so   Im not regligious and dont really follow a faith but this place seems magical, there just seems a tranquil, peaceful feel about it, really can't explain i think its something that you have to go and see for yourself.

 

 

Were also going to hopefully go and see some Red Kites feeding, as part of a breeding programme for these stunning birds, definately a perfect photo opportunity as well as having a go at the UK's longest zip slide, at 820meteres i cant wait, yep im some sort of  height freak!  Ive done quite a few aerial courses including the 100ft high one at the Climbing Centre in Edinburgh and a zip slide of the Transporter Bridge in Middlesbrough, at 225ft high over the River Tees the vertical climb, well it felt like one was the worst part,  though i found this one a bit slow!

 

So the cars all loaded, just need to put my paints and some of my new brushes in that i received today from the amazing Kyla over at Limelight Co, Australia. She held a competition on facebook that i entered along with a lot of over facepainters and as usual you think youve not got a chance of winning so you can guess the surprise at winning this set of fantastic brushes, especially as theyve just more or less hit our shores here in UK.  So ive decided to split them, the more petite, finer brushes i will use with my acrylic painting for Tinks Things and the rest for my face painting with Tinks Faces.

 



 

Sorry its not a great pic, taken on Blackberry with very shaky hand, think it was the excitement :-))

 

Ooh and one more for today.  Dont know if you remember but ive been following Blueberry Heart blog and decided that id join the Autumn/Halloween swap, well today i found out my partner for whom im to swap a box of goodies with, and its none other than the lovely Blueberry Heart lady herself, Kerry!  So im now off on a hunt for some gorgeous bits and got lots of ideas of lovely things to make! But sorry im not going to tell as i know she follows my blog and would hate to spoil the surprise.

 

So hope you all have a fantastic Bank Holiday weekend whatever youre doing and ill pop back soon!

 

Sam x 

Not a bad day considering....

Well after a bit of a let down  this afternoon my day has ended off with the most gorgeous sunset but more about that later.

I was booked in this evening to face paint at a wedding at Brancepeth Castle. So had spent all day ensuring kit was clean and everything was shipshape for the gig.  For some reason id had a funny feeling about this one, dont ask what it was there was just something. Anyway waved bye to Dave with the promise of supper when i came in (was due in about 10) and headed off, thankfully Brancepeth is only about a 15 minute drive from where i live.

Drove down the drive to the Castle and was starting to get a bit alarmed about the lack of cars in the car park, maybe they're parked somewhere else i thought. Walked through the grounds to the main entrance were the silence was deafining, maybe theyre in marquee out the back i was thinking or maybe not! Anyway a yound lad answered the door, i explained i was booked for a wedding party giving the brides name, nope no wedding tonight, though we did have one last week but he couldnt recall the name, really, right, just that ive been booked for the 18th August!

Mmmm maybe id got the date wrong, nope my booking process is one that sends them the date that they asked for, leaving blanks in for them to fill additional details so they have to read the date to get to the next item. Maybe the wedding didnt go ahead, in which case it would have been nice to have been notified, especially as id turned down several bookings for todays date, knowing that i was out most of the evening.

Anyway lets not dwell on that as i wont be chasing it up! 

But one thing is that i was able to spend much more needed time with Dave (my partner) as he works away Monday to Friday in Scotland.

So one phone call later, quick change of clothes, camera in bag and off to take photos.

As you may i know i became the proud owner of a Canon EOS 550D, a gift from Dave, and neither of us have any camera knowledge at all, well not the technical stuff.

Where to?  Luckily we live in the most gorgeous part of the North East, Durham...theres so many places to explore that we are spoilt for choice, so much gorgeous landscape that you cant always take it all in... so we popped up to Waskerley, for those that dont know the area, just imagine vast heather moorlands as far as the eye can see and the most amazing views.

Theres a little reservoir that weve been to before and is stunning!

Lovely friendly residents....

No one around for miles...bliss!

Except some crazy blonde, ahh that be me then.

After a lovely afternoon playing with camera we then stopped off at Stanhope for fish and chips, felt like a real tourist sat on bench in square eating them in the sun.

 Yep we do get the sun up here in the North.

And to top it off the first stunning sunset, now i know the summer is coming to an end and that the amazing autumn colours, sunsets and rises are around the corner.

Oh yeah we managed to find an extra to pose in our pics, one of the neighbours cats sat on the fence post waiting for supper in the fields where we live

Hope you too have a nice, chilled weekend

Sam x



You paint BUMPS...

Thats the normal reaction i get when i tell people that as a face and body painter i also do gestational painting (bumps).  Not everyones cup of tea  I know but for those that i do get the privilege to paint it is a special experience and one that i see celebrates pregnancy and is of course a gorgeous keepsake for after when that special bundle of joy has appeared.



What sort of things do i paint on them... well anything they want!  It may be something special and meaningful to them, inspiration from a painting, anything really... but each and everyone will always come with spots (my little trademark in face and body painting) and glitter.

Does the baby like it...of course! Usually they stay fast asleep, but sometimes you get the odd foot and hand moving out, which normally happens just as ive put the brush to skin and i get the random squiggle :-))

Why do people get it done... from the ladies ive painted its a keepsake of their pregnancy and normally something to surprise their partners with... you wouldnt believe how many 'flash' their husbands after the painting.  Ive painted at baby showers, whilst their partners and children have been their, usually  painting the little ones as well so theyre included in the experience and even when i working both full time and any face painting jogs, impromptu paintings usually quite fun (have a look at the halloween one).



Autmn/Halloween Swap...

Have been following this blog at Blueberry Heart for a while and love it, especially as theres a 'Autumn/Halloween Swap'.  Ive seen these on lots of blogs and never joined in, probably because i didnt have a blog. Anyway ive signed up for this and cant wait to start gathering and making gifts for it.  So if youve never done one, well join me in my first, id say the more the merrier!

Surprise..

Well i got home yesterday to find that my gorgeous boyfriend had a surprise for me...something that i have wanted for ages but never seem to find the spare money to buy... this ....

....a Canon EOS 550D.  Ive wanted a 'proper' camera for ages, especially now that im selling my bits and pieces and more so for my face and bump painting. Also i just love taking photos, doesnt always matter what the subject is but i love nature and architecture. Im quite lucky as i work full time in a park with a gorgeous lake, wildlife and now we have some watersports with the likes of kayaking, sailing, canoeing...so be prepared for some, if not lots of my new pics.

Here Goes...

Well heres my very first post on my very first blog, feels quite scary!

Im hoping that i can share with you the things i create, my ideas and hopefully share lots of things that i like and hopefully you will too!

A little about me… i live in a little village in Durham, England with my partner and my son. Apart from the human loves of my life my next one is crafting, especially painting… im a professional face painter with my own business and for the past year have also been painting wooden bits in decorative painting style amongst others – think im finding my niche now.

My inspiration comes from all around, especially nature and architecture and i love taking photos of flowers, insects anything really whilst im out and about, especially where i work… a bit more about that later…

Ive just found out after many years that i now like to bake, sweet stuff of course, so unfortunately you will be subjected to my successess and failures (well the burnt bits) of my journey through the sweet stuff.

I hope you stay around and keep popping in.
Samantha (Sam) x