The Girl And Her Cat

This Little Stories collection is all about finding comfort in everyday things, celebrating them, and unwinding. Unwinding is a hard word for me. I tend to reprimand myself for sitting around and doing nothing, but it is so important for any work. So, when I struggle with focusing and need to unwind, I let my mind wander while letting my hand do some easy work.

This is another set of the daily photos of simple, everyday things I took between Feb. 2020 – Feb. 2021. They possibly represent my version of unwinding better than I could ever do with words.

Simple 365 – Set 7

Please Click on the image thumbnails to see the photos and read the captions.

I also created a page with all the previously shared photos from Simple365. I will add more photos to that page as well, as I share them here.

Little Memories

I learned to play chess from my grandfather. He and I used to play every night after having dinner together. If I had too much homework, he would always wait for me so we could spend that time together. These are his fountain pens. I love to jot down little thoughts and notes with them. My love for printing and book making is a credit to him.

A Little Story

Mr. Nigel Forsythe Castleton is the proprietor of the Lost Pages Bookstore. Owing to the bookstore being in a very old stone building, it is very drafty and cold, even on the warmest of days. Mr. Castleton loves nothing more than to spend his days in the bookstore, but the poor thing is always very cold even though he is made of wool. Luckily, the bookstore has a wonderfully big fireplace, where he keeps a fire going at all times. He pours himself a glass of ginger wine and sits by the fireplace, perusing those lost pages.

This time he is visiting his friend who also has an antiquities book shop full of books of magic and alchemy. He loves the old city of York, so he has decided to spend some time there.

I have knitted and introduced Mr. Castleton before, but if you are new here and don’t know him, he is a very gentle fellow who loves all things books.

A Not So Little Celebration

Winter is a celebratory season at our home with tons of birthdays, starting with Charlie. He celebrated his 18th birthday very recently. Even though he is not allowed, he loves to sneak in sweets made of dairy. For his birthday, he got a special treat – a very sizeable portion of cheesecake.

He was looking up at my husband to sit with him while he enjoyed his birthday cake. They have a very special bond. Although Charlie is a perpetual kitten, I thought I paint this dignified version of him for my husband.

Little Journals

Growing up as an only child, I have always lived most of my days in the worlds of stories and books.

Hand-binding books for those stories while listening to an audio-book is one of my favourite ways to unwind while staying mildly focused. This moss green journal was the very first 3″ x 4″ journal I made for myself with a special drawing theme in mind. I look forward to starting on that soon.

(handbound by me pocket journals are available in my shop)

Girl And Her Cat – Wandering Pages

I painted the Girl and Her Cat stories in little 2″ x 3″ books. This is the last set of paintings from the the Girl And Her Cat – Wandering Pages book.

Please click on the image thumbnails to see the pictures and read about their wanderings –

You can see the full Wandering Pages book here.

The Girl and Her Cat decided to become lost in the mist for a while, visiting the land of the snowy owls. It is also time for me to go on my winter hiatus. I wish you the most magical holidays with lots of rest.

Thank you so much for being here with me and for your most lovely and encouraging words. I will be back around March.

See you then,
-Soma

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page. Please pay a visit to some of them.

P.S. The Ink Torrents Graphics shop remains open. I will continue to mail orders, as always. You can also purchase quilting patterns, which you can access immediately via Instant Download. I will also be available via email. Thank you for continuing to shop from my store.

A “little” decision

I have a small announcement to make. Last month, I have officially closed my Etsy shop. With all the recent seller policy changes over at Etsy, I felt like I was losing my identity as an artist there.

Ever since I opened my shop here at the website in 2020, you gave me the confidence to make this decision with your continuing support and purchases from my shop here.

Most importantly, I can keep in touch with you more directly. I always enjoy the interaction that I have with you here.

So, from now on, this is the only place where I will sell my quilt patterns, cards, prints and journals. Thank you so much for continuing to purchase from my shop here. It means a lot to me.

A little warmth

I really like Thea Colman’s knitting patterns at Ravelry. They are beautiful and very well written. This one looks intricate but it is an extremely easy cable pattern to follow. I made this one with extra long ribbing, so my husband’s ears will be covered completely and keep him warm when we travel to cold places in winter months, which is something we do often.

The yarn came from Shropshire. We were meandering around the small villages there when I happened to spot a small yarn shop. I was looking for some English wool. The lady at the shop was so helpful. With her help I got three skeins of this 100% Bluefaced Leicester wool, reared, sheared and spun in Yorkshire. The yarn is wonderful to knit with and softened as I knitted with it.

The combination of the pattern and the yarn made for such an enjoyable knit, and the smile on my husband’s face made it extra special.

A little drawing

Last December, we were visiting one of my favourite places in the Sierra mountains. I wasn’t in much of a mood for gallivanting around the mountainside this time. I saw a tree outside the cabin window with its wild-looking trunk and branches. It was so peaceful to sit by the window-side and a warm fire, sipping hot chocolate and drawing the time away.

I probably will paint this one day as part of a landscape, but for now it is a finished drawing in my sketchbook.

Little bookmarks

Specially since I started book making, the amount of scrap paper I have lying about has increased. They are too small for any significant project, but not small enough that I can toss them in the recycling bin without feeling guilty. I use them for playing with colours. Recently I started making little 1″ x 4″ mini bookmarks out of them. The four botanical ones went to their new homes. I have the flying birds at home now. They are all painted using Van Gogh watercolour on leftover papers from the pocket journals available in my shop.

A little Girl and Her Cat

I have of course also been painting in my little 3″ x 4″ blue books. Here are some more of the adventures of The Girl And Her Cat from the Wandering Pages book. Please click on the image thumbnails to see the pictures and read about their wanderings –