Gentle Waves and Tranquil Days; watercolour,2018. Eagle-eyed regulars have already noticed that I've changed the name of my online merchandise store from Spooky Cute Designs to something more direct.  There was nothing wrong with the old name, as such, but had become rather misleading.  The store's earliest designs tended to be teddy bears wearing a witch's hat, or the ever-popular Beelzebear designs or similar, and while many of these items are still available, (printed onto T-shirts, bags, household furnishings, posters and more), the majority of the store's merchandise now derives from my art and photography, plus the range of items for writers which remains popular.  Therefore the old store name was misleading to new clients.  I only changed its name recently but sales are already improving. One of my nieces recently posted on Facebook that she was thinking of combining her two YouTube channels into one.  As I said to her, a hazard of having any kind of websit

Poppi and Emily enjoying an indoor sunbathe. Eagle-eyed visitors to this website will have already noticed the change of title art, which uses my latest oil painting, Liverpool Waterfront .  That's the thing with websites or bloggy places - it's fun to change their look now and again, tweaking this, twiddling with that, casting off something which has perhaps grown a little dusty in favour of something sparkly new. I have been considering starting a Patreon site.  In case you've not heard of Patreon before, its a way of sharing exclusive or advance work with a group of subscribing patrons, who agree to support the creator's work from as little as $1 per month.  The aim is to build a growing number of patrons in order to allow the creator to become self-supporting and thus be free to create more stuff.  I already attract revenue from my books, from merchandise at Spooky Cute Designs and through my articles on Hubpages but with this Patreon page I'd be posting

. Presenting 'Art Gallery #3', which features my oil and watercolour paintings from 2016, plus a couple of drawings.  Not exactly a prolific output but in my defence it had been a busy time, what with finishing my fourth novel, Fabian , and completing my second NVQ Level 3 course.  This video doesn't include my sketches done in Birkenhead Park - they'll keep for a separate video which will appear eventually. I hope you enjoy looking at the video.  If you like any of the paintings, you can purchase them via my online store, Spooky Cute Design s.  They come as quality prints, (framed or unframed), on t-shirts for men and women, greetings cards and a wide variety of items.  Payment is secure with PayPal, and international shipping is available.  Browse the store for further details. Anyway, guess whose birthday it was in February 17th!  Richard gave me two wonderful art books:  Artists Painting Techniques, edited by Bob Bridle and others; and Van Gogh:  The Complet

Watercolour study of oak leaves. I'm typing this while waiting for a builder arrive.  An ominous horizontal damp patch has appeared along our dining room wall.  Judging from the ridges in the plaster beneath the new-ish wallpaper, this has been a recurring problem for some time. So next-door's builder came in to offer his opinion, and he pointed out that the damp course along that section of the house is too low to the path so it can't do it's job.  One option would be to jack-hammer out a trench "soak away" beside the wall and hope the old damp course would then work ok.  He recommended that it would be easier to simply install a new damp course.  The spoiled plaster needs to be replaced, which means the radiator has to come off first.  Also, an original Victorian downspout has rusted through quite badly and needs replacing with a new plastic one.  It's a pity to lose the historical one but carbuncles of rust are bubbling through the paint along its

Pen & ink drawing by Richard Cosgrove-Bray I have just arrived home from an enjoyable walk with my dogs through the meadows between Hoylake and West Kirby, which stretch around Gilroy Nature Park.  The spring sunshine was bouncing off pools of water lying half-submerged beneath drooping tussocks of winter-bleached grass.  A small flock of goldfinches was flitting around the bare trees.  The birds are back early after wintering abroad.  On the duck pond were the usual mob of Canada geese, mallards, coots and moorhens, plus a large flock of redshank who prefer the pond in the flooded field on the other side of the public footpath. Richard and I are still waiting for the conveyancing on the house sale and purchase to complete.  I went into our estate agents' office on Thursday to enquire into the delay, and asked if the process usually takes this long - 10 weeks and counting, now.  The delay has been caused by our buyer's buyer, who had to wait for a divorce settleme

More gifts for writers at Spooky Cute Designs:   http://www.zazzle.co.uk/AdeleCB I was asked, today (again),  how a person goes about writing novels.  My reply of, "It depends" probably wasn't all that helpful.  In my defence, at the time I was busy attaching a rebellious strand of millet to the inside of a budgie cage while dear ol' Archie was trying to discover if my fingers were edible.  How's that for gratitude.  And I'd given him fresh water, too... Over time, every writer develops their own way of working.  Otherwise, they tend to give up and do something else.  There's no right or wrong way; only the way which works for each individual.  Some people plan every chapter in great detail before they even consider starting work on the text.  Other people plan nothing at all; they just start writing and see where an idea takes them.  Others fall somewhere in between these two.  How do you find which way works for you?  Easy - get writing and discover

Also available in other styles for men & women. Exclusive to Spooky Cute Designs: www.zazzle.com/AdeleCB 

One of my t-shirt designs has been chosen by Zazzle With Pizazz. See it here:  http://zazzlewithpizazz.blogspot.com/2011/01/liverpool.html#comment-form

Torrential rain gives me the perfect excuse to stay close to the computer and write more of Fabian , which is coming along smoothly.  With this novel, I'm aiming for a little less dialogue and more direct action.  The feel of the novel is more tense than with the others, but just as dark - but there's little point in my blogging too much about this yet. Meanwhile, in Maison Cosgrove-Bray, we've had some antique furniture delivered.  This meant our downstairs rooms looked akin to a stage set for Steptoe & Son .  Our cats had a marvelous time mountaineering, and seemed convinced that the temporary chaos had been created for their benefit.  Now order has been imposed, some of my pottery collection, which has been in storage for years, is on display where it can be viewed and enjoyed.  Beauty serves no purpose when buried in the back of a cupboard under spare computer cables, incompatible (or more-trouble-than-they're-worth) PC programs, clay modelling tools and an

Flying Witch T Shirts Zazzle.co.uk Not just for Hallowe'en...!

This adorable gay bear is one of Spooky Cute Designs' most popular items.  He's available on a wide range of t-shirt styles and sizes, and also on other items too.  Exclusive to Spooky Cute Designs, he can be found only at http://www.zazzle.com/AdeleCB