Sunday Buffet

Book cover dilemma - no you can’t help

This week saw a birthday cake, a book cover dilemma, a windy photoshoot, oh and we flung open the doors to the Good Ship Picture Book Course!

Birthday cake inspired by Yoshimoto Nara

Pie LOVES the artist, Yoshitomo Nara, so Gerry printed out one of her favourite paintings of a child watching a house burn down with a look of evil delight on her face. He found an old ‘ice fountain’ birthday candle in the bottom of the cake decorating box and hey presto we had a terrifyingly realistic house fire. What a way to celebrate a birthday!

It reminds me of when I was a child and in the middle of the night the wooden village hall over the road from our house went up in flames. It was both terrifying and exhilarating. I loved it so much I am surprised I didn’t become a pyromaniac. There’s still time…

So I’ll be keeping the cardboard cake decorations on the bookshelf as a memento of Pie’s birthday —and my happy childhood memory of an arson attack on a village hall.

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I am trying to design a book cover for Salty Dog, the book

Katie Chappell

and I have been writing together. Sometimes book covers come easy, sometimes it’s a right old fight. I would show you the ideas so that you can help me decide but I’m probably not supposed to. It’s for the best really, I don’t want you lying awake at night worrying about it.

Here’s a nice picture of Salty and his Pals at bedtime instead.

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Last week we, the Good Ship Captains, had a photoshoot with

Katie Chappell

’s photographer sister, Sarah Chappell.

I am not crazy keen about having my photo taken. It’s weird, but when there’s a camera around I have a habit of developing three double chins. Not in real life of course, I have a neck like a swan you understand. But Sarah got the angles just right. Barely any chins.

Some pics for the Good Ship website and one for the book Katie and I have written together

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The Picture Book Course doors are open!

If you join this week you get extra bonuses!

BONUSES, YOU SAAAY? 👀

Yup, if you join before the 4th of July, we'll treat you to some special bonuses...

INSTANT ACCESS to our magic Anchoring Your Ideas So They Don’t Fizzle Out Workshop & PDF — It'll be right there in your welcome email so you can watch it as soon as you join.

Aaaand Salty has put together a sticker pack for all our lovely early birds.

— mmmm stickers!

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Kitchen Playlist This Week

Nothing. The kitchen speaker has broken. Actually, I got a new phone and the new phone and the old speaker hate each other and will not speak. Even my teen can’t mediate between them. So I dunno what we will do. I am ignoring it for now.

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Things I enjoyed this week:

This Winifred Nicholson postcard that sits on my bookshelf. The one peeping out is by the lovely

Jo Overend Illustration

.

Pie left us this note the other day. It’s a keeper.

I love my old Yoko Mini Mart 20p t-shirt, it is one of my favourites. But it was looking very sad and washed out. So I bought myself a new one. Here it is, laid out with ma’ holiday togs. I am asking myself if that was a mistake though. Sometimes when I buy a new version of an old thing I carry on wearing the old one. There’s always something special about the old washed out version, the O.G. Maybe when the new one has been hanging around long enough I will be able to accept it. That has happened every single time I bought a new pair of wide leg blue cords. I am on my tenth pair I think: I wore them as a child, I wore them at art school, I wear them now, they are my uniform of choice. But I always begrudge the new version until they become old and then I love them. Ha! Do you do this?

What have you been up to this week? Do you ever buy new versions of old clothes?Any good Sunday plans?

Bye for now.

Helenx