Hello to everyone who sees this!
I had not been online since Christmas, but I spent that time surprisingly well, mostly reading (which is always a good pastime for me). Nothing special or outstanding happened, but I do prefer peace and quiet over any exciting emergencies.

 Now when my winter holidays are over (why do they call such a nice thing "break"?! It is always holidays for me), I am intended on returning to dA and my creative activity. 
I have so many things to do in February!
 manage my dA notifications (I have got over 1500 of them since Christmas)
 make entries for the January rounds of the two designer challenges I am participating in (eloqyn and SportyPeach9891, please do not worry or take offence, I will catch up as soon as I can!)
 continue working on my dress-up project
 make some worldbuilding/lore art for my fantasy world (anyone interested in seeing gods/deities/spirits?)
 write a ranting journal about colours, to find out if there is any one other than me obsessed with them so much
 Oh, I say! It seems I have actually set few certain goals for myself (must have got inspired by DeeryDeerth's New Year resolutions journal ) 


 What were you doing during the winter holidays? Did you spend that time well?

In any case, I hope you have a nice day 
         

Some unrelated, but equally important, things I felt like sharing with anyone passing by.

 First of all, musicmermaid is making another of her wonderful collaboration projects, this time dedicated to the ever amazing The Little Mermaid. If you are interested and want to participate (which I earnestly recommend), you can learn all the details and sign up here.

 Another thing I wanted to tell for a while. Since I am not often online, and in fact not often happen to get access to computer at all, it prevents me from dedicating as much time to my personal projects, be it drawing or writing, as I used to. But instead, I will try to post here as many sketches as I will be able to manage. Because "life is brief, and when it's gone", nothing is left of a person but their creations. And I do not want all of my ideas to fade away, without even trying to share them with someone. DeviantArt is more or less all the society I have, and I know there are some wonderfully kind people who are ready to bear with me... I beg your pardon for all the complaining.
 
   And now on a lighter note. The last but not least. As it is stated above, I am currently reading (re-reading) A Night In The Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny, a very nice book I have recently discovered, and to me, it is about as good as can be expected of a Halloween-themed story. It just has everything right! The proper atmosphere, gloomy, yet not too scary. A touch of humour, less bitter than it is peculiar to him (oddly enough, it was his last written book). And the general air of the light amusing play, as one of the personages says, "it was fun". Not for nothing the event around which the story evolves is called The Game.
The Game happens when " ...a number of the proper people are attracted to the proper place in the proper year on a night in the lonesome October when the moon shines full on Halloween and the way may be opened for the return of the Elder Gods to Earth, and of how some of these people would assist in the opening of the way for them while others would strive to keep the way closed. For ages, the closers have won..."
An array of well-known media characters gather together to take part in the Game, and each of them has a familiar. There is a vampire with his bat, a cursed man (called Jack, a kind of mix of Jack-o'-lantern and Jack the Ripper) and his super smart dog, a crazy witch and her cat, a Druid and his squirrel, a pair of grave robbers with an owl, and a drunkard monk whose pet snake took after him by eating overripe fruits (one of my favourite scenes is when the snake tempts the bat to try some of these fruits and he gets drunk and babbly as a result).
They all settled in the same place in the countryside near London, and with such newcomers as a werewolf and Dr Frankenstein, there is no wonder that the local vicar declared his strange neighbours "unnatural" and "wretched individuals" whose activity "will threaten the safety of humanity", and the Great Detective has come from town to investigate all the oddities and crimes happening there during the unquiet month.
All in all, in my opinion, the book is a light entertaining read; plus it has a lot of Easter Eggs and finding them is a treat on its own.
I am glad that I came upon it, for I have never believed I would ever find any respectively themed creation so perfectly fitting my notion of a Halloween mood. It really feels like fun, a true celebration.

 Do you celebrate Halloween? If you do, what books/films/etc convey your impression of it?

        
So, indeed it does! I have not been on dA for - I cannot believe it! - for three months! I have got over 4000 notifications! While the most of them is just the mentions about my pixel gems being used in the other deviants' comments, journals etc, there are also some nice pictures from the dollmaking groups I am a part of, as well as comments to my own works. I shall catch up with replying and commenting as soon as I can!
 Once again, it feels great to return on dA with its inspiring atmosphere.
I cannot wait to get back into creative work, there is so many ideas asking to be brought into life!   

 My most exciting summer experience was buying two watermelons and two melons within three last weeks.
If not to count some actually bad pencil doodles of random things. Although I will probably upload them anyway
After all, DeviantArt is an art community and to me "art" is first of all something drawn/painted  

 And a heartfelt greeting to my dear watchers whom I missed so much!
How have you been?
 Had you had any interesting things happened in your life during the summer?
  I bet you had, and those were much exciting than mine ones       
         

Have a nice time of day,
 
Hopefully you will hear from me soon,
 
 :bademoticon:   :bademoticon: 
       Best regards,
            Anna  
                

 

 

           

Just to say hello and wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

                          
 
            
    

    
       Best regards,
             Anna