My Sunday Photo... Woodland Walk

The light seems to play such a huge part in our lives at this time of the year. 

Whether it's the lack of it light with the shorter days or that when it does shine it hangs so low in the sky, casting it's long shadows. 

We have had incredible sunrises, which we can witness without having to set the alarm clocks to an unearthly hour... and the sunsets have been spectacular. 

It's an incredible time for photographers to get out and enjoy.

This photo was snapped whilst walking my dog in the local woods. 

The forest floor is completely covered with leaves, which seem to cushion each footstep... like walking on a sprung floor. 

The colours are spectacular especially in the beautiful sunlight.

I'm linking up with Photalife once again and Mersad's Photography - Through a lens

Thank you for your visit and I hope that maybe you'll join me over at my new website

Denise Allan

I've still got lots to workout and it's really pushing my technical abilities to the limit, but hopefully I'll get there. It's a good mental workout for sure.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone

Poinsettia...PPF

Good morning everyone from a beautiful crisp Aberdeenshire in Bonnie Scotland! 

It may be cold outside (minus 6 when I first woke up to be precise) but it's bright, sunny and looking beautiful.

This week I was determined to have a completed piece of artwork to share 

with the Paint Party Friday group.

I know I should have warned you and checked if you were sitting down first... but I've actually managed to finish something!

What more could be in fitting with all the festivities happening at this time of year, than to have a gorgeous poinsettia to add such a fantastic pop of colour.

I thought you might like to see it's progression and therefore show the first stages of under painting.
The wise owl is keeping an eye on my work and making sure I do a good job.

Here's the final piece with gold embellishments, although I'm not too sure that they show up very well in this photo.
Very festive huh?

Anyway that's it for today as that amazing sunlight is inspiring me to get busy.
Not sure with what just yet, but I'm sure I'll come up with something!
I'm also linking up with Sunday Sketches
But one more thing before I go...

Drum roll please...
... I have some exciting news!
I have launched a new website Denise Allan that I'd love you to visit, because quite frankly I'd hate to be over there all alone.
'Neesie Natters' has been brilliant for the last ten years
(which quite frankly I can't believe it's been that long since I started blogging)
but I felt it was time to come into the light with my own website.
I will miss certain aspects on this page and therefore I'll run the two in conjunction initially, because quite frankly I'm really nervous about this change.
Neesie Natters previous posts are all over there along with your comments, so you'll feel at home.
I just hope it all works and I can continue to be your friend and have our chats.

I'll pop the kettle on and hope to see you over there...
Click here to be transported

My Sunday Photo... Sunset (again)

I'm away yet again this weekend and therefore didn't think that I'd be posting. But how could I refuse to share this stunning sunset! I'm linking up to the My Sunday Photo over at Photalife

Have fun everyone and thanks for stopping by. 

I'll return the compliment as soon as I can. 

Snowy scene (wip)... PPF

We've woken up to a white wonderland this morning. 

No snow, but Jack Frost came to visit during the night... so everything is covered with white dust and twinkling in the sunlight. 

A perfect morning.

The current temperature as I type is -3 degrees celcius! 

So it's appropriate perhaps that my wip is a wintery scene.

I'm sorry that it's still a wip, but I just can't seem to find enough time these days to complete a piece of work in one go! 

There has been a major leaf clearing exercise... I adore having so many mature trees around us, but the downside is the amazing amount of leaves that fall.

Anyway, that's my brief post for today because I'm off for a girlie weekend!
Woohoo!

Have fun and enjoy your weekend.

Thanks for visiting and I hope to catch up with you soon.

In the meantime, I'm linking up with the Paint Party Friday and Sunday Sketches

My Sunday Photo... a last fling

Today was a beautiful day and one for getting outdoors and enjoying it even if it meant raking up fallen leaves. 

I do have a leaf blower, but I thought I'd have the satisfaction of a good workout. 

Two birds with one stone and all that.

But as usual I got distracted... the robin watching with keen interest at my handywork... ready to scoop anything of interest. 

The geese flying overhead... the few clouds drifting across the sky and of course all of the plants putting on the finale. There blooms still bright and catching the sunlight.

I thought I'd just randomly take a few shots to let you see what's still adding a splash of colour.

There were lots more but I was supposed to be doing a job after all.

Maybe I'll snap a few more tomorrow if the weather stays good. 

I hope you liked them...
I'm linking them to the My Sunday Photo over at Photalife
Mersad's through my lens
and Wednesday (On Tuesday at image-in-ing)

Have fun everyone and enjoy those beautiful autumn colours.

Thanks for your visit and I hope to see you again soon.

Busy Elves and Backgrounds... PPF and Sunday Sketches

Not much to show for this week's Paint Party Friday link I'm afraid... as I've only just started painting this background.

I'm enjoying coming in from picking up gazillions of fallen leaves and spending a little time adding a touch a little at a time to this piece. 

It gives me time for a cuppa and a quick thaw out!

I then leave it to dry whilst going outside once again to battle the tons of potential leaf mould!

It's not an ideal way to paint, but at least I make some progress this way.

How do you manage to fit in time for your painting? 

Or are you more disciplined allocating the time?

We're also going up a gear here, with the Christmas preparations. 

I know... I'm only just waking up to the idea that it is going to arriving too, so I best start preparing.

We are not quite in our Christmas Elf workshop yet, but we have started.

As you can see below 'the supervisor' is keeping a close eye on my progress.

There's spreadsheets, stickers and packaging... quite skillful for a little pooch!

We haven't quite ventured into the Christmas outfit's yet, but no doubt that'll happen soon.

The orders are beginning to flood in so it's all hands to the pump.

So I'll get back to spinning plates and juggling time.

(I'm making a commitment to myself that I will give my art more priority)

Have a fun weekend everyone and maybe I'll see you over at the PPF link up. 

Click here
I also want to link up to the final Sunday Sketches from England
Alexandra over at Blue Chair Diary heading back to the USA to rejoin her family and fur baby.
The time seems to have flown by for us, but I'm sure Alexandra is desperate to arrive back home.
Unfortunately, good old Blighty is sending her off with a terrible cold. 
One of the perils of the British weather.
Bon Voyage Alexander and Michael... have a good and safe journey.
See you from the other side of the pond. 
Enjoy your homecoming.

(I've enjoyed having my logo on display) 
Thanks for visiting and I wish you a wonderful week ahead everyone.
Toodleloo for now

Seeing Double... A Rainbow

There is one word that is guaranteed to get me running and everyone in my household knows it.

No, it's not fire or help (although obviously I wouldn't ignore either one of those) but 'rainbow' gets my immediate attention !!!

I run whilst grabbing my phone and camera and dash outside to capture their magic. 

Heaven help anyone that is standing in my way... I'm like an American Football Wing Back with intent!

Everyone knows that if the word goes out... 'rainbow'... then get out of my way!

Here's one such rainbow that I managed to capture on Sunday morning.

It seems to be the season for rainbows... they're giving me quite a work out with their numerous appearances.

I'm hoping that one of these days I will actually find the pot of gold, but it seems to be very illusive at the moment!

I'm going to link up with 

Mersad's Through My Lens Blog

Wednesday (On Tuesday at image-in-ing)

Monday Morning Blog Club

There are some fabulous Autumnal photographs over there if you'd like to take a look.

Have a wonderful week.

Sunday Sketches... Brown Bear

I had another play today and decided that I'd do a little more drawing. 

Due to the cold weather my son suggested that I should draw a polar bear. 

Now I know it's gone chilly, but it's really not that chilly... yet!

I thought that a polar bear would make me feel even colder, so I decided to draw a brown bear instead... using the watercolour pencils once again.

I started with under painting, so that I could add multi-layers of colour for his fur. 

This particular journal isn't the best, but it's handy for playing.

I can try different things without becoming too precious about wasting good quality paper.

I'm using the kitchen table... as I'm still embracing the 'hygge' way of life. 

(If you'd like to know more about hygge then click here to see my previous post)

I'm sitting between the wood burner and the Aga.

I'm like a cat and always seek out the warmest place in the house on days like these.

We are coming to the end of Sunday Sketches from England, so please nip across and visit Alexandra's blog. 

There's always lots to see.

If you click on my design below it will automatically transport you over to her place... but before you do that... don't forget to let me know that you've been here by leaving me a quick comment.

Oh yes and one more thing... don't forget that the Not On The High Street TV advertisement that will feature my daughter's grumpy owl Christmas cards airs tonight, here in the UK. 

It will appear during the Tutankhamen programme, but keep your eyes peeled as they say, because you'll have to be quick to spot him!

Have fun and enjoy your Sunday everyone and I wish you a wonderful week ahead.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll look forward to seeing you again soon.

Tutankhamun.

Tutankhamun.

Cutest Critter... My Sunday Photo

It appears that winter has arrived.

The temperature today hasn't risen above 4 degrees celsius... so obviously I haven't been out for a photo shoot. Instead I chose to embrace the new craze of 'Hygge' and stayed cosy and warm next to the fire.

For those of you that might not have heard the word 'hygge' before, it's the Danish lifestyle craze... it's the word of the year apparently.

(a little like Feng Shui that became so popular a few years ago).

In essence, hygge means creating a nice, warm atmosphere with fires, candlelight, cosy blankets and not forgetting eating and drinking comfort food with friends and family.

So for my Sunday photo this week, I delved into my huge collection of photographs and came across this little chap.

He's one of my favourites and used to be a regular visitor to our patio when we were staying in Canada a few years ago.

Cute critter isn't he?
I'm linking up as usual with Photalife link.

Have a cosy weekend and I hopefully will see you again soon.

Goldfinch... Paint Party Friday

Hello... I'm back.

Phewph... October was quite a month and I certainly wouldn't want to go through that one again.

As you can imagine I haven't had any time for art, but yesterday I decided I needed to start... somewhere.

I was finding it difficult to even contemplate what to draw and was feeling worse for procrastinating. 

So I decided to just start and see what happened. 

This little chap is what appeared. 

We have lots of birds visiting us each day and the Goldfinches are the most numerous.

I used my Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils and once again wasn't really too enamoured with them. But at least I made a start. 

Hopefully I can now get back to my other projects.

Here's a photo from a previous blog post showing some of the hungry little feathered visitors.

I do have some exciting good news to share with you.

My daughter has had one of her designs featured in the new Not On The High Street TV advertisement. 

I think it's a great advert and have attached it below, just in case you haven't seen it yet.

See if you can find a Grumpy Owl card in there.

As it's Friday I'm linking up with the Paint Party Friday link.

I'll try my utmost to get to visit everyone that has visited here in my absence.

Thank you so much... it means such a lot to me.

Toodleloo for now and I hope to see you soon

xoxo