German! :D

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

Ich verstehe ein bisschen Deutsch! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Ich bin Engländerin, und woher kommen Sie? Sind Sie Amerikaner?

Why Black Cats are Considered Witch Cats

Hello, O Viewers of this Blog!

Remember to enter my Hallowe'en Banner Contest! There are only *checks date* four days left!

Anyway, today I decided I'd post about black cats. 

I have three black cats, one very dark brown cat, and one black-and-white cat. In stories, black cats are often the companions of witches. But...why?

In Medieval Times, when people really believed in witches, this association sprang up, because of the way a black cat would suddenly appear from the shadows, hinting that they might have magical powers. Any cat may have found shelter with an old woman living alone, and she would welcome the company of the cat. In addition, black was considered an evil colour. 

Although it's fun to read about witches with black cats in stories,  black cats are just as friendly and playful as any other cat.

They do look rather mysterious, though, don't they?

Once again, remember to enter the Hallowe'en Banner Contest! Even if you've already entered, more banners will be great!

My Bucket List

I don't think this has changed, but I feel like redoing it anyway.... A bucket list is a list of things you want to do or achieve in your life, by the way. Kind of like your life goals. 

These are not in any particular order. 

1. Meet my pen-friend, FrostWolf, and her sister, Amelia0308. Also their real-life friend, Leafa.
2. Meet some other awesome friends who I made contact with on the Internet. (MangoShapedSpace and QuinnTheCat/vms915, I have you in mind!)
3. Get a story with my own illustrations published. 
4. Get married and have children. This is so important to me...I think about it a lot. 
5. Get horses! <3 li="">
6. Assuming no.3 comes true, have a positive quote by a really nice author on the back of one of my books. 
7. Get a gypsy caravan. 
8. Be a hermit, three times, each for a couple of months: once on at a Buddhist monastery, the second time in a cave in the hills near my grandfather's house, and the third time on a Scandinavian island. 
9. Illustrate somebody else's book. 
10. Design the cover for somebody else's book. 
11. Assuming I achieved no.3, receive a letter from somebody who has read my book and likes it. 
12. Get a tortoiseshell cat and name her Spice. 
13. Make a blog (when I'm grown-up, of course) about how to be a good parent.
14. Once again assuming no.3 comes true, get an award on one of my books. 
15. Have the name of one of my books in somebody's "Favourite Books" list on their Blogger Profile. (Not counting people I know well and are probably just doing it out of loyalty.)
16. Create things which will become family heirlooms. 
17. Live to a hundred and receive a letter from the Monarch. 

What about you? :3

Etymology

Hello, children. Are you sitting comfortably? ;b XD

I just love etymology! It is so fun! (Etymology is the study of the origin of words; photo meaning light and graph meaning design, for instance.) 

It is so fun to think about how tele means far off, and it goes at the beginning of television (far off vision), telephone (far off sound), teleport (carry far off), telepathy (think far off), and so on! Transport: carry through. Etymology: study of true sense (of a word). 

It's so fun to work out what words mean! Did you know that graphic design means "design design"? ;)

Guess...

Hello! :3

As several of you have been wondering what is coming for the Other Creations section of the Dawn's Creations page, I decided that I'd ask you to guess, and then you'd see how close you were...

So, comment your guesses! If you get it right, I'll mention this on the page. :) 

~Dawn Woodlands~

Bye for a bit

Hello fluffits! :D

I'm going to my granddad's house for 9 days, and I won't be able to post...not that I post on here much anyway anymore :( I'll be doing some drawing with my granddad though (he's one of my artist relations) so I'll have some drawings to post when I get back! :D

Bye for now!

Music, Thoughts, and Moods

Click here to enter my CONTESTS!

   

Click here if you would like me to make you a free GRAPHIC!

Hello readers! :)

I'm sure you know that music affects one's thoughts and mood. 

For instance, if you were feeling low and depressed and suddenly you started singing Jesus Wants me For a Sunbeam, you'd be likely to perk up and the spring would come back into your step. 

Different sorts of music are good for different things. Low, gentle, monotonous music is good for falling a sleep or going into a sort of trance-like state. Merry music makes you want to run about and dance. Merry music is also good to have playing while you do chores. 

Music is also good for writing. The music you're listening to also affects the sort of writing you'll do, so before you start it's good to choose a particular sort of music. If something like following someone at midnight is going on in your story, then a sort of tune like the Pink Panther tune would be ideal. Or, if your characters are going on a peaceful walk through a green field, then a sort of birdsong-like music would be good. Whatever's going on in your story, don't listen to music with lyrics as it won't help with the creative flow. 

Thank you for reading, and have a great day! :D

PS. I made a new signature to match the header! If you would like something similar, click here.

Kiny's Madness, New Header, and See You in a Few Days

**Kinyonga here! :3

I've taken over SilverDawn's blog! >:D Mwahaha!

Now....erm....this is boring o.o

Heh...well, just to say: we iz about to LEAVE FOREVER!

Well, not quite forever. We're going for a couple o' days to our granddad's house, where we won't be allowed on the computer (Law 96, section 3, established by the dreadful Mum). 

We should be back on ze computa on Saturday.

Do you think I'm weird? :)

Thought so.

So do I.

But then, I think you are weird, too.

So hah.

Ok, I give up. I surrender my hold over this amazingly annoying and boring blog for the price of one peppermint. Agreed, Dawn?**

Nuuuuuuu! I will nevah give you any more peppermints! But now I've got my blog back! Hah! >:D

***Grabs laptop* Oh yeah? Liar! Now, where was I? Oh yeah, the next thing I'm going to take over will be...PLANET EARTH! :D I know, I'm so awesome! When I have it, I'll throw everyone off it and into space. Where you can all go and get sucked into some black hole - good riddance to bad rubbish.

 BUT I WANT TO RANSOM THIS BLOG! I HATE IT! And, no, Dawn, you can't have the computer!

So, a peppermint for control over the blog?**

No! Half a peppermint :)

**In your dreams o.o So, one peppermint?**

No!

**Ugh. Blithering human. What then?**

A Howrse something.

**Something meaning...?**

Hmm...a Howrse foal?

**Male or female?**

Female.

**Done. GIMME :3 Ok, I now surrender my hold over this blog!**

Phewwwwww! I now have my blog back!!!! :) :) :D Have you noticed that big sisters are sometimes just a little insuportables? (That's a French word, meaning "infernal" pretty much. :b)

Anyway, on to what this post is actually ABOUT. Have you seen the new header? :D I designed it, and I'm rather proud of it. It's based off the design of a shop I saw once XD Do you like it? :3

Oh, and what Kiny said is true. We're going to our granddad's house for about four days (hopefully more :3)  and we won't be going on the computer, partly because we want a nice electronic-free few days, and partly because Mum doesn't want us on the computer either. ;)

See you in four or five days! :3

Summer Holidays

Greetings, all things great and small!

The summer holidays have BEGUN! :D OK, I know, for some people they started ages ago - but yet, guess when they start for public-schoolers in England...at the end of JULY! >:0 I know, drastic, eh?

Well, for me, they have began. In some ways, it means I will have more time for blogging and such - but I will also be going camping and visiting my granddad and stuff like that, in which case I will not be able to go on at all.

Oh, and in August I'm going to be very busy helping my family pack away the contents of our house - yes, I mean ALL OUR STUFF - to get our house ready to be let when we go to Africa in August. Yep, easier said than done. 

But throughout June and July - as well as part of August - I shall be mucking about and enjoying myself :D

What are you going to be doing these summer hols? :D

Coming Absence

Hello, small-and-smelly people on the computer! (Those of you who are looking at this from tablets or mobilephones are not included in that frightful insult.)

Only joking! XD None of you, big or small, on the computer or otherwise, are smelly. At least, I can't be sure of that...O.O

All right, I'll stop fooling about. :3 Tomorrow, the day after, and possibly the day after that I will be absent from Blogger and Howrse and Email and generally absent from the Internet.

I am going to England for two days! :D We fly by aeroplane to London tomorrow, then on the same day we go and see my best friend (it'll be her birthday, you see!!!), and then the day after tomorrow we go to London, go to the dentist, and spend the night with our granny, before coming back home to France the next day. ^.^ I think that's our plans, anyway.

So, see you when I get back! :D Have a good time, and don't do anything I wouldn't do! X3

PS. Why am I fooling about so much in this post? :b Perhaps I'm just in a jokey mood - why did the skeleton cross the road?! XD

SCREENCAST WON'T RECORD!!!! >:(

Meep!

OK, sorry about the title. XD I was just one peeved fluffit when I wrote that. And I still am. 

OK, a while ago, do you remember when I made a video on doing manipulation on MS Paint? Well, I decided to remake that video - better. But screencast-o-matic won't record my voice!

It records the video without the sound. And yes, I do have the volume on, and yes, this is the computer I usually make my videos on. 

Do you know what the problem could be?

Thanks!

Summer comes to The Diary of a Writer and Artist!

Hello readers! :)

I've made a new sort of watery theme for this blog - now that summer is here! :D

It makes me just want to go for a swim - what about you? :3

~Dawn - Signature Coming Soon~

Meep

Hello everyone! :D

Sorry I haven't been posting that regularly recently. I'll try and do better, and it will be easier now as my father has come back from a three-week trip abroad for his work, and he's brought back the laptop I usually use. :3

I'll post some of my drawings later today probably. They're on the upstairs desktop computer without Internet you see, and I have to go into the whole kerfuffle of putting them on a USB stick and taking them onto this computer, but I will do it! ;)

Also, look out for a few changes on the pages top tabs in the near future! :)

CLICK THE LINK! AN AWESOME BLOG IS AT STAKE!

Meep!

CLICK HERE NOW, AND COMMENT! KINYONGA'S AMAZING STORY BLOG IS AT STAKE! IF THERE AREN'T ENOUGH COMMENTS, SHE WILL DELETE HER BLOG!

I was pretty hysterical there XD But, honestly. You HAVE to click that link, and comment, or else Kinyonga/Fauna will delete her story blog! 

This is a post on this blog...this is a post on this blog...this is a post...this is a post...POST

Hello fluffits! ^.^

Sorry about the post title. I couldn't think what to make it since this is going to be one of those comments when it unravels as I start writing. 

Firstly, what do you think my next contest should be? Enter my current ones here while you have the chance! Go on...click it! You know you want to! X3

Continuing, do you like posting about life lessons, advice, and whatnot? Click here, comment your email, and become a contributor, NOW!

Moving on, I'm making a video of how to make a header using MS Paint. It'll go through all the steps of making a good header. It'll probably be included in my next post. :3

Sorry for this not-very-interesting post. 

My Bucket List

Hello fluffits! ^.^

A few weeks ago, I was talking about bucket lists with my sister, and Amelia0308 and vms915's posts on bucket lists encouraged me to post mine! :)

Well, for starters, why is it called a bucket list? What's it got to do with a bucket? Oh, and if you didn't know what a bucket list is, it's basically a list of stuff you want to have done or achieved when you die. XD Cheerful, aren't I? Here's mine. 

1. To get married and have children.

2. To finish and publish my stories. 

3. To draw something I'm really proud of. 

4. To go to Norway.

5. To learn Danish. 

6. To see a polar fox.

7. TO GET A HORSE!!! That's my heart's desire. 

8. To perform an equestrian act in a circus. 

 9. To meet my pen-friend and her family. 

They're mine! X3 What about you? ^.^ 

First Post in a While

Hello everyone! ^.^

Firstly, thank you for following, MetroLeafs and MisterChunkybuddy! :3

Well, I'm sure you've all realised I haven't posted in a while. *Checks when last post was.* *Looks relieved.*

Oh, that's all right then. :3 I thought it was more than a week ago, but it was only five days ago. ;)

 Carrying on, I want to see 14 comments on this post (one from each follower) saying their answers to the following questions:

• Do you think this blog is good?
• Where does this blog need improvement?
• What extra pages would you like to see on this blog?
• Do you think my drawing is good?
• How can I improve it?
• Do you think my writing is good?
• How can I improve it?
• Am I nice?

Please be absolutely honest! Do not try and spare my feelings!!! 

Thank you! :D

Spring has SPRUNG! And more

Hello!
For starters, will be changing my pen-name to Dawn.  If you find it hard to kmagine me as that, think of me ax Silverdawn until you're used to it.
By the way, please excuse my typos; I am using my dad's tablet and ighas a  trickh ln screen keyboard.
Anyway, spring has sprung!  :D not that it hadn't already, but my garden is REALLY beautiful now. :) yep, we are back home in France.  I have to sweep the floor now, .

-Dawn

Not again???? D:

Hello fluffits! ^.^

I...may...have to change my pen-name again. 

*crowd gasps*

I know! First Filly Wood, then Philly Wood, then Philly Woodlands, and now maybe Dawn Woodlands. :( Why, you ask? Well, apparently, according to recent research on the part of moi, Philly means something else, especially with Woodlands after it. 

Should I change my pen-name? You see, the pen-name I use on these blogs is the pen-name I'd publish my stories under if such a day ever came, so it would never do to have a pen-name that would be ridiculed. 

Please comment what you think! :3

~Miss Woodlands~

PS. All right, sorry about what I signed this post as XD But I don't know what else to put as we don't know my pen-firstname. 

Just another fuzzy little post :3

Hello fluffits! ;)

Today, I decided I'd do a quick post on mixed subjects. For starters, I would love to make some art for whoever happens to be looking at this blog! *crowd groans* I'm not very professional, but I can make some lovely headers, signatures, book cover designs, and similar things! Read on! ;b

Here are some examples of things I can make...

Book cover designs!

 

(Don't worry - I make them longer now.)

Headers!

Click to enlarge.

 

Signatures!

 

 

 

Or I can word random pictures with random writing! :b

There are endless possibilites of what I can make, actually! And, to plead people over, EVERYTHING is now free! :D :D :D

Here is how to order your own:

Post a comment saying the following:

a) Whether you want a header, signature, book cover design, or just a random banner.

b) What you want the writing to be, and wherabout on the picture, as well as what colour, font style, etc.

c) What you want it to look like. If you have specific pictures, include a URL to them, please.

Within a week (unless I have no access to the computer, but this is uncommon and you will be warned beforehand), your order will be complete, and I will post it on this blog, or email it you (if I know your email)! :D

Thank you, thank you, thank you vrey much! :D I may actually start a graphic design BUSINESS when I'm a little older, so it's great if I can get a little practice. :)

Anyway, changing the subject from my advertising *crowd perks up at once*. I unclosed the secret of a magic trick back in March (how long ago that seems!), and I thought I'd do another one. But first...

DO    NOT    LOOK    AT    THIS   IF   YOU   ARE    NOT    GOING  TO   PERFORM   IT

 Hope that doesn't seem harsh, but it is disrespectful to unclose the secrets of magic tricks, apart from to other than budding magicians who will keep the secret themself. Now for the trick! :D

• The first thing you need are two tissues.
• Then, close one of them in your hand. It must be  out of sight from the audience.
• Tear up the other tissue.
• And then, carefully so the audience can't see, swap the torn tissue into the place of the untorn one. 
• The audience won't be able to believe their eyes!

Try rehearsing a few times before you perform.

Have a nice day! :D