A is for Amber #AtoZChallenge

Today kickstarts the A-Z Blogging Challenge! The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Colours. I'll be doing a variety of posts, including haikus and poems, arts and crafts, fashion and beauty, recipes and more!    

For the letter 'A' I have chosen the colour Amber. Amber is a warm colour between yellow and orange. It's named after the precious stone of the same name made from fossilised tree resin (the one that features in Jurassic Park) and is used in lots of decorative objects such as jewellery. Cat's eyes are often described as amber and it is also a popular girl's name.

This Pinterest board shows a wealth of amber-inspiration. Keep reading to discover the symbolism behind this colour and see my amber-inspired artwork!

 

Cover Characteristic (29) Cats

Today I'm joining in with the Cover Characteristic meme hosted by Sugar and Snark. Every week the author chooses a theme and you have to pick five of your favourite book covers featuring that object.

Today's cover characteristic is Cats.

This is another great topic for me as I love my feline friends and there are some gorgeous covers out there.

Cover Characteristic (28) Dogs

Today I'm joining in with the Cover Characteristic meme hosted by Sugar and Snark. Every week the author chooses a theme and you have to pick five of your favourite book covers featuring that object.

Today's cover characteristic is Dogs.

I adore dogs, so this is a great topic for me, although I usually avoid the books with sad endings!

Cat Thursday (3) Sleepy Cats

Cat Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by The True Book Addict that celebrates the beauty, wonder and hilarity of cats! The idea is to share funny or cute cat pictures and videos that you may have come across, or even pics of your own beloved kitties. Hop on over to The True Book Addict to sign up with the Mr Linky if you're taking part.

There are few things cuter than a cat curled up and sleeping peacefully. They can sleep all day if left to their own devices, and often in the strangest places and positions. Check out this gallery of entries for a competition to find Britain's cutest sleeping cats.

And here are some sleepy cats belonging to me and my friends and family:

Cat Thursday (2) Cats Sitting in Strange Places

Cat Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by The True Book Addict that celebrates the beauty, wonder and hilarity of cats! The idea is to share funny or cute cat pictures and videos that you may have come across, or even pics of your own beloved kitties. Hop on over to The True Book Addict to sign up with the Mr Linky if you're taking part.

Cats love to sit in strange places-on cars, inside boxes and on high shelves. They seem to squash themselves into the smallest spaces imaginable and don't always look very comfy. Check out these funny pictures: If it Fits, I Sits. Below are some pictures of my cat and my mum's sitting in some odd places.

Cat Thursday (1) Cute Vids and Pics

Cat Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by The True Book Addict that celebrates the beauty, wonder and hilarity of cats! The idea is to share funny or cute cat pictures and videos that you may have come across, or even pics of your own beloved kitties. Hop on over to The True Book Addict to sign up with the Mr Linky if you're taking part. 

W is for Wildlife

Today I'm continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I'm doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.

For the letter 'W' I have chosen Wildlife.

There aren't many species of animal that are unique to the UK because of frequent glaciations and former land bridges connecting us to continental Europe. A few endemic species are the Pied Wagtail, Irish Hare and Scottish Wildcat. We also don't have many mammals here compared to continental Europe due to the short period of time between the last ice age and the flooding of the land bridge between Great Britain and the rest of Europe, so only those species which crossed before the creation of the English channel (or those introduced by humans) exist in Great Britain.

Book Blogger Love-a-Thon Mini Challenge 4: Mash-Up

The fourth mini challenge of the 2014 Book Blogger Love-a-Thon is a Mash-Up. For this challenge participants are asked to mash-up their bookish life with a non-bookish hobby, passion or talent that they have in real life.

I'm passionate about animals, so I've decided to list my favourite animal characters from books.

B is for Birds #atozchallenge

[Carion Crow by Aomorikuma, GNU FDL]

Today I'm continuing with the Blogging from A-Z Challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of awesome bloggers. My theme is: Elements and features of speculative fiction and entertainment. So throughout April I will be blogging about characters, objects and themes that appear in sci-fi, fantasy and dystopian series. Today's post is all about Birds.



Birds (both real and fantastical) are a prevalent symbol in religion, mythology and folklore throughout the world, so it's not surprising that they often feature in fantasy novels. Here are some examples:

King of the Jungle

Here's a rare thing: me attempting digital art. I did it on 01/04/10 but it's taken me this long to put it up. It was originally a pencil sketch, but I scanned it into my computer and painted it in photoshop. I'm a leo and lions are my favourite animals, so I love drawing them. I think this one turned out quite well.