MEET BEANIE!

Our menagerie has expanded! Say hello to Beanie, our Sphynx kitten.

I didn't think I'd ever get to  be a cat owner again, as my boyfriend is very allergic to cats... but one day we started talking about hairless cats - maybe they wouldn't be so bad - which led to visiting Sphynx cats to see if he'd be okay - which led to reserving a tiny black and white kitten (because it is impossible to "just visit" kittens, without falling in love!).

So in December 2019, we paid a deposit to reserve our new Sphynx, who we would collect three months later when she was 16 weeks old. Back then, we had no idea what the next few months would hold and so alongside all the pandemic anxiety, I was also super stressed about whether we'd actually be allowed to go and get her! But we got her just in time, and it meant there was at least one upside of lockdown - we had loads of time to bond with our lovely new kitten.

It's coming up to a year (!) since we got her and she is just the perfect girl, I am utterly obsessed. I've never met a cat so friendly and brave - there is zero aloofness in this kitten! She's like a little cat-dog cross, she's super social, she loves people and other animals, she wants to be cuddled all of the time (they call Sphynx velcro lap cats and it is totally true!) and she is never phased by anything!

We have fully embraced insane Sphynx owner life, so we do treat Beanie like a mini dog. Last summer she hung out with us in the park on sunny days (she was the very best girl, saying hi to loads of surprised dogs and little kids), we went to the Highlands and even took her on holiday with us! She calmly slept through a 5 hour drive, walked on her lead on a big ramble through the forest, and even visited Urquhart Castle - much to the lols of the other tourists there.

Being hairless means she NEVER SHEDS, which is honestly a delight, and makes me wonder if I could ever go back to a moulting pet. No more endless lint rollers! 

I've always wanted a dog, but couldn't really justify it because of flat-living-life, but honestly I think Beanie perfectly fits my pet-loving heart - she's just amazing!

Owning a Sphynx is a little more high-maintenance than other cats. Firstly, she was pretty pricey - we had to save up for a long time, but it felt worth it as she was the only kind of cat that wouldn't trigger allergies (worth noting that there's no guarantee you won't react to a Sphynx if you are allergic to other cats, but it worked out for us). 

They aren't completely hairless - she's covered in a peachy fuzz which means she's super soft to touch, but she does need fairly regular baths as she gets a bit grimey! Luckily, because she's an angel, she is incredibly chill about bathtime, so it's actually pretty sweet when she gets her bubble bath. You also have to clean their ears pretty regularly (those big ol' ears get grimey too) - I just use cotton buds and coconut oil. 

Sphynx have a slightly higher body temperature than other cats (which is great in the winter, but in hot days it can feel like you have a sentient hot water bottle stalking you), but they do get cold easily which means on colder days she has to wear little jumpers to keep her cosy. 

We also feed Beanie a pretty varied diet of wet and dry cat food and raw meat - a high quality diet helps maintain the oils in her skin. 

Pints in the park with Beanie

I just could not recommend a Sphynx more, they are such brilliant creatures and she has brought so much love and joy to our lives!

If you'd like to see more of Beanie, I made her an instagram (of course I did), and you can follow along here: sphynxbeanie

GROWING OUT A PIXIE CUT

Three years ago I cut all my hair off and it was great! I did it on a bit of a whim (I'd lingered too long in long bob territory, and I was bored), and I didn't regret it for a second, although I was a little concerned about what a faff it would be when I fancied long hair again. 

Everyone is pretty universally agreed that growing a pixie cut out is The Worst... but I'm here today to tell you that the internet is wrong, it's totally easy, you should definitely chop your hair!

2018 vs 2021

Here's how I went from short short short to shoulder length hair (yes, lockdown helped). Hope you're ready to see loads of photos of my face! 

If you are just looking for my main tip, it's this: go to the hairdresser loads! More than you usually would! It might seem counter-productive, especially if you are trying to grow your hair out, but it means you'll navigate the choppy world of regrowth with dignity (and minimum kirby grips).

September 2018 / October 2018
February 2019 / April 2019

After I first got it cut I started going to my hairdresser approximately every 8 weeks, to get it reshaped and to top up the colour (I'm naturally ginger, but as you'll see, I like to just bounce around different red tones). The whole point of getting it cut short was to keep it short, and as I'd never had haircut below my chin before I was excited to try out all sorts of crops and bobs along the way.

I'd say probably most of the year (Feb - September) I kept it pretty close to the original pixie length, then in October I started to think about growing a bit more hair for winter (short hair is cold!), which meant letting the sides grow in a little for a 60ish bob. This round bob was maybe a little bit awkward (little round cheeks and little round hair combine), so I think this was possibly the trickiest stage... but really, it was totally fine.

At the time I joked about having Princess Diana hair, but looking back I really like my Feb 2019 hair! My hair is pretty thick and feels like it grows quite fast, so I definitely was saved by regular haircuts which kept it neat and in shape - if I'd just let it do it's own thing, I imagine it would be pretty terrible, but this stage was plain sailing! I kept it roughly around this length for the rest of the year.

May 2019 / July 2019
October 2019 / December 2019

Loved my summer 2019 hair! At this point I felt like I'd got through the worst of post-pixie life (which again, WAS FINE), so now I was just making my way through various bobs, mixing up the colour, sometimes wearing it straight, sometimes letting it naturally go a little wavy.

In December 2019 I figured it was time to start aiming for the long-side again, although after a couple of years of minimum styling, I was not super thrilled about having to spend ages drying my hair again.

February 2020 / May 2020
July 2020 / September 2020

Then 2020! I started the year off with a slick sharp cherry red bob, ready with loads of plans of how I could do cool dip-dyes and vibrant shades so I wouldn't be bored getting it past shoulder-length, and then lockdown kicked in. I've been working from home all year so I have properly embraced my natural wavy hair, I actually like the pale ginger it's faded to (is it my natural colour? Who knows) and it's had peace to just keep on growing, and is pretty happily past my shoulders again.

Was growing out a pixie cut much easier than I thought it would be? Yes! Is my hairdresser a superstar? Yes! (She's Linden at Dean Jones in Edinburgh, and I would highly recommend her!). Would I cut my hair all off again? Yes! But maaaaybe not when we are in total lockdown.

DIGITAL DRAWING

As well as working on my painting skills, I have been trying my hand at digital drawing and it is SO MUCH FUN! I'm lucky enough to get to borrow my boyfriend's iPad Pro which has Procreate on it, a very cool digital illustration app.

When I first started drawing digitally I was RUBBISH, and seriously overwhelmed by all of the available brushes and tools. You draw onto the ipad with an apple pencil, and it has a screen cover which feels like you are drawing on paper, but it's still pretty intimidating if you don't know what you are doing. Thanks to lockdown, I've had lots of time to practice though, and while I've still got a long way to go, I'm pretty happy with where I'm going!

The beauty of digital drawing is the magical delete button. If you do something wrong, or it doesn't quite look right, just delete it! And you can copy and paste, resize, use fancy texture brushes, whatever you like! 

I've found because I've been working on using traditional media (watercolours and gouache paintings) as well as digital drawings, progress I've made in one area has really benefitted others. I've practiced anatomy and capturing likeness in my paintings, which makes faces look better in my procreate paintings. I've experimented and stopped being afraid of making mistakes digitally, which means I can take what works and apply it the next time I paint something. It's been such an amazing learning tool!

Another fun feature of procreate is that you can see a timelapsed recording of your art - which is very helpful if you, like me, are making it up as you go along, and then can watch it back to see what did/didn't work! You can see a timelapse of my Valentine drawing on insta here.

I'm a big fan of bright and bold colours and characters, so I draw a lot of cool girls, but it still feels like such a novelty to produce something that actually looks like a person. I have been trying to wean myself just off painting pinterest models (this video made me think about the references I'm using), although it is easy to get suckered in by the beautiful styling! 

I think my next challenge is trying to get more confident in digital techniques (up until now I've used the same approach, whether it's paint or on screen), and work towards finding that ever elusive 'style'.

HOW TO: BAKE A JAPANESE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

I am a pretty lazy baker these days, but I had to share this recipe for my new favourite cake! This is a beautifully light and soft sponge (which was decorated for my SnowRunner-loving boyfriend, construction vehicle decoration is optional!). I actually doubled the recipe below to make a mega cake, so scale up if you want a cake with height!

Heads up - this recipe involves leaving the cake to rest overnight before decorating/eating, so if you are looking for a cake to bake today, you will have to skip this step. 

You will need:

Cake 

• 3 large eggs
• 115g caster sugar
• 100g plain flour
• 40ml milk
• 25g unsalted butter

Syrup

• 60ml water
• 30g sugar

Icing

• 300ml fresh whipping cream
• 20g sugar

Start by preheating your oven to 170°C and grease and line a 7 inch cake tin.

Separate the egg yolk and egg whites (it's actually easiest to do this with your hands!).  Place the egg whites in a large clean bowl and then, using an electric mixer on medium speed, gradually add the sugar into the bowl. Beat the egg whites and sugar together until stiff peaks form.

Still using the mixer, add the egg yolks into the egg white and sugar mixture. 

Then, using a big spatula, gently fold the sifted flour through this mixture until it is all mixed in. Be careful not to over-mix at this point, you want to keep all of that lovely air in the batter! 

Take a small bowl, and mix the milk and melted butter together. Now, take a small amount of the egg white mixture and stir it into the milk and melted butter. Mixing a bit of the batter with milk and butter stops the dairy from deflating the batter - the mission is to keep your sponge as airy as possible! Then add the milk/butter/batter to the rest of the egg white mixture and stir until its all mixed in.

Pour the cake batter into your cake tin, and bake for 35-40 minutes (you'll know it's ready when a skewer or sharp knife comes out of the cake clean). Resist the urge to open your oven when it is baking!

Once the cake's done, drop the cake tin onto your kitchen counter (this breaks the steam bubbles inside the cake and means your cooled cake will have a better structure). Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely. When it's cool, wrap in clingfilm and leave at room temperature overnight - this makes for a tastier cake!

The next day,  slice the cake in half (I chose to double the recipe and used two separate cake pans so I skipped this step). Mix the water and sugar to make a syrup, and brush this onto the two cut sides of sponge. 

Whip the cream and sugar until it's nice and fluffy, then decorate your cake. In the middle I layered cream, then sliced strawberries, then more cream, and I piped cream on top. Enjoy!

PAINTING (AGAIN!)

This blog has been many things, over the years. It's weird to look back at old posts (my first post was TEN YEARS AGO!) and see a snapshot of baby Juliet, and try to equate that with where I am today. I'm definitely less comfortable about sharing all my woes (I keep my over-sharing in person, these days) and I've (obviously) grown up pretty considerably in the last decade, but otherwise I feel pretty similar. I'm just making my way through the world, trying to have a nice time! 

One thing that has stayed pretty consistent over the years is my enthusiasm for making art... although my ability has been pretty inconsistent! It has been the real light of my lockdown though, and as I have nothing else to chat about, I thought I'd start sharing my drawings here too (but you can also follow me on instagram if you'd like!).

I've been painting pretty much every week of the pandemic, and I've worked really hard to learn new skills and get better. One of the ways I've measured how I'm improving is to return to old pieces and re-paint them, so I thought it would be fun to show off two of the portraits I had previously blogged about here: 2018 Creative Goals

One of the biggest differences I've made is learning how to actually draw a human skull - I am finally getting a better grasp of anatomy and it is really, really helping. Before I used to try and sketch based on the picture in front of me, now I sketch out shapes to map out what the skull and jaw look like, and how the features fall into position. 

I've also started painting on a bigger scale (one of the joys in having a hobby I talk about a lot, means my Birthday and Christmas presents were filled with incredible art things!), so now I have a proper table easel to use and lovely watercolour paper, so I have more space to fit in details, and a much better canvas to work from.

2020 vs 2016

And here's how I'm improving! I painted the left portrait last summer, so I already feel like I've grown since then. I've still not exactly cracked how to paint hair (although I am SO much better than past Juliet who avoided it completely), but it's been so rewarding - especially during the pandemic - to feel like I've got a creative outlet and I'm achieving something. I think I would have seriously struggled over the last 12 months if I hadn't found art again.