Merry Christmas

My little peanuts bis

My little peanuts

 

Introducing Elias and Alvise, my twins, born on October 7th 2011!  <3 <3

Birthday card + joke

I couldn't possibly have found a better occasion to use this little riddle than my nephew's 7th birthday, could I? I'm so glad I remembered (the joke, not his birthday!), and so proud I got it done a good week in advance! That's a big feat for me! And I'm hoping to get it sent off today! Exploit number 2!
So? Why is six afraid of seven?

Dogs admiring the sunset

This is a little gift I painted to wish Ornella a very happy, healthy, smiley, and especially comfy birthday, since, after over a week without access to it, her new redecorated bathroom should be ready today! And I hope this watercolour painting will match the lilac tiles and accessories!

Me in letters, Part 2

And the Alphabet info goes on, continued from where I left it in yesterday's post.

Job - teaching

Kids – two on their way

Live – Isn't it funny to live in a high-heeled boot?!

Mother’s quirk – the way she waves is pretty hilarious

Nickname - Nina

Overnight hospital stay – just one week until now… in 3 or 4 months will have to go in for a nice reason though

Pet peeve – how can people still throw rubbish from their cars, leave their litter lying around, not separate their waste?

Quote from a film – A home for the bees, a hive for the buzzing bees! Can you see my eyes? If you can, then my hair’s too short! Down to here, down to there, down to where it stops by itself! Tu du du tu tu

Right or left-handed – boring old right-handed

T.B.C.

Me in letters

A few of the blogs I regularly read have been sharing personal information in the form of the alphabet, and this inspired me to give an illustrated version of my A-Z.

Well, as it is, A-I to start with.

Age - old enough to have a good excuse to need a biiig cake to fit all the candles

Bed - no matter how big or small, I always end up squeezed against Chou

Cake - tarte au citron meringuée

Dog - one, a really special friend: Balthazar, a.k.a. Balthi, Balts, Baltiboy...

Edible delight - cherries, but  I've had my fair share this year, I don't mind it's the end of the season

Favourite colour - green, green, green, green, any shade of green

Gold or Silver - neither nor, although I do love earrings

Holidays - across all of Italy, across all of France, all the roads lead to BROCAS!

Instrument(s) I play - no musical ones anyway

T.B.C.

Tables

With the Bologna Children's Book Fair only 24 days away - actually D-23 to its opening but I won't be going till the Tuesday-, every single table in my house has been put to use for my getting my work ready for it. 

A l'approche du Salon de livre pour enfants de Bologne (J-24), j'ai mis toutes les tables de chez moi à profit pour la préparation des travaux que je voudrais y présenter. Celle de la cuisine jusqu'à celle de mon atelier, en passant par celle du salon... Toutes y sont passées! Toutes, sauf peut-être celle qui s'y prêterait le plus: mon bureau, toujours en vrac!

Et pendant ce temps, pendant que moi je turbine comme pas deux, regardez comment les autres membres de la famille se prélassent cruellement!

Con l'avvicinarsi della Fiera del libro per ragazzi di Bologna (tra 24 giorni), ho monopolizzato tutti i tavoli di casa mia. Da quello della cucina, a quello dello studio, senza dimenticare quello in soggiorno... Tutti tranne quello magari più idoneo: la mia scrivania, incasinata al massimo!

E mentre io mi uccido di lavoro (eh sì cosa volete, scrivendo in italiano mi viene anche spontanea la vostra leggera tendenza all'esagerazione, ha ;-)), guardate un pò come gli altri membri della famiglia esprimono la loro compassione - rilassandosi senza nessun pudore!

The kitchen's:

 

The living-room's:

 

My study's:

All of them, except the one that would ideally be most suitable for such things...

My unruly desk:

!

And while I'm trying to work as hard as pos' 

look at how the other household members sympathise:

 

Have a nice Monday!

Très bon lundi à tous!

Vi auguro un bel lunedì!

Suicidal tendencies

If ever you're looking for innovative ways to kick the bucket...

S'il vous arrive de chercher des moyens innovants de vous casser la pipe...

Semmai cercate nuove strategie per tirare le cuoia...

I know jogging can get addictive... But... Jogging in fog so thick it's as if you're driving in candy floss????!!! Isn't that plain crazy?

Je sais bien que le footing a tendance à obséder qui le pratique, mais de là à braver du brouillard aussi épais que de la barbe à papa???!!! Danger public, va!

D'accordo, correre diventa un'ossessione per tutti gli aspiranti maratoneti - e son tanti -, ma così tanto da uscire quando la nebbia  è così fitta fitta fitta che ti dà l'impressione di guidare nello zucchero filato???!!! Da pazzi e basta!

Charis and Kleo

And here are the characters of the previous post again! I thought I'd also show you this, as you've already got to know Charis and Kleo!

Et vu que les présentations ne sont plus nécessaires, j'ajoute un autre petit portrait des personnages du post précédent!

Ormai li conoscete: ebbene sì, sono loro - Kleo e Charis - presentativi nel post precedente!

Happy Birthday Gloria

 

Gloria's my sister-in-law. It was her birthday the other day, so here's the card I made her. 

She couldn't not be in the company of her two beloved dogs, Charis, the giant, and Kleo, the smaller one.
At first I wanted to draw her riding on Charis' back as a reminder of the unfailing comment "Is that a horse or a dog?!" every time someone sees her for the first time, thus the outfit.

Voici la carte d'anniversaire que j'ai réalisée pour ma belle-soeur, Gloria. Elle y est bien sûr entourée de ses deux chiens adorés, l'énorme Charis et le plus petit Kleo. Mon idée de départ c'était celle de la faire chevaucher Charis, d'où le costume de jockey, pour rappeler l'immanquable comparaison à un cheval que les gens font quand ils voient le bestiau pour la première fois.

Questo è il biglietto di auguri per mia cognata, Gloria, che ovviamente si trova in compagnia dei suoi adoratissimi cani, Charis, quella gigante e Kleo, quello più piccolino. È vestita così, perché originariamente volevo rappresentarla che stava cavalcando Charis per ricordare l'immancabile quesito della gente che si chiede se non si tratta di un cavolo piuttosto di un cane!

Happy birthday Kaliope

 

 My niece Kaliope turned 9 beginning of February. So I tried to include lots of things she likes in her Birthdaycard: elephants, toadstools, high-heels, the colour green and the colour purple - even if it appears purple isn't her favourite colour anymore, blast!

It also gave me the opportunity to experiment with Photoshop: up till now I've always preferred traditional media to digital. 

Ma nièce Kaliope vient de fêter ses 9 ans et pour l'occasion j'ai essayé d'inclure un maximum de trucs qu'elle aime dans sa carte de voeux: un éléphant, les talons hauts, les amanites tue-mouches, le vert, le violet - même si depuis peu ce n'est plus sa couleur préférée, mince alors !

C'était aussi un petit tremplin pour tester photoshop, vu que jusqu'à maintenant j'ai préféré les techniques traditionnelles au digital.

Kaliope, mia nipotina, ha compiuto da poco 9 anni, e quindi ho voluto inserire nel suo biglietto di auguri tante cose che le piacciono: un elefante, i tacchi alti, i funghetti, il colore verde e il viola - anche se non è più il suo colore preferito, mannaggia! 

L'ho anche preso come un'opportunità per fare un pò di esperimenti con photoshop, visto che finora gli ho preferito le tecniche tradizionali.

Blogwarming post

Well well well... I've finally made it: I've finally opened my very own blog! It'll be the place for me to share my drawings and thoughts. Drawings and thoughts inspired by my everyday life, so you'll need to have a little information about this everyday life of mine, in order to have an idea of what I'll show here. Well, my posts will be divided into 4 categories: 

1) School as a teacher. I have been thoroughly enjoying teaching English and French in Italy for six years now. I work with tiny children, older children, teenagers, adults, OAPs, beginners, experts... you name it, I teach it! And that gives more than a few crunchy anecdotes to tell!

2) School as a student. I'm in the third and last year of a course in illustration, and will exhibit the results of my efforts!

3) Animals. They're what I like drawing better than anything else, so they can't not be the centre of my blog.

4) Food. Ranking second favourite, it has to be here too! 

There. That's me! I'd better not write too long posts, or else I might reconsider my great idea to write in English, French and Italian.

Enfin ! Ça y est ! Depuis le temps que j’y pensais, j’ai enfin réussi à ouvrir mon propre blog ! J’ai l’intention d’y partager mes dessins et mes pensées, inspirés de ma vie quotidienne. Non, non ! Ne bâillez pas ! Je vais donc vous donner quelques infos sur cette vie quotidienne qui est la mienne en guise d’avant-première rapide de ce que vous trouverez ici! Alors, j’ai décidé de ranger mes posts dans 4 catégories différentes, qui représentent chacunes un aspect de mon quotidien : 

1) L’école en tant que prof. Ça fait 6 ans que j’enseigne le français et l’anglais en Italie et j’adore. Je travaille avec les enfants, les ados, les adultes, les seniors, les nuls, les experts... de tout! Et du coup j’ai tout un tas d’anecdotes croustillantes!

2) L’école en tant qu’étudiante. Je suis en train de faire la troisième et dernière année d’un  cours d’illustration, et le fruit de mes efforts peuplera ces pages!

3) Les animaux. Ce que je préfère dessiner dans l’absolu. Le pivot de ce blog.

4) La bouffe. Numéro 2 sur le podium de mes préférés. Je glisserai des recettes testées et approuvées, ainsi que des recettes illustrées par mes soins! 

Et voilà. Tout ça c’est moi! Et il vaut mieux que je m’arrête là, parce ce que si j’écris un roman à chaque fois je doute que je respecterai ma bonne resolution d’écrire en trois langues !

Eccoci qua finalmente! O meglio eccoMi qua! Ce l’ho finalmente fatta ad aprire un blog tutto mio! Ci condividerò disegni e pensieri miei. Disegni e pensieri ispirati alla mia vita quotidiana, che mo vado a descrivervi brevemente in modo da sapere cosa vi riservo di bello! Dunque, i miei post verranno divisi in 4 categorie, ognuna delle quali rappresenterà un aspetto di questa mia vita : 

1) La scuola come prof. Da sei anni insegno con passione l’inglese e il francese in Italia, con persone di tutte le età, livelli e orizzonti. Ho quindi un sacco di anedotti più che simpatici!

2) La scuola come studentessa. Sto ultimando un corso di illustrazione e i miei sforzi li mostrerò qui!

3) Gli animali. Non potrebbe mancare qua quello che mi piace disegnare più di qualunque altra cosa al mondo.

4) Il cibo. Secondo preferito soggetto della mia arte, ci sta pure lui.  

Ecco chi sono! E adesso mi fermo perché triplice lingua significa tempo triplicato e bisogno di tre volte tanta energia!