Lesley McLean
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lmclea2.bsky.social
Lesley McLean
@lmclea2.bsky.social
Writer & editor of greeting cards and jokes; artsy-crafty; reader, especially of crime thrillers - like to post reviews too!
We hope you have a fab-BOO-lous Halloween! Don’t forget to share your themed ideas with us @TheColourCoop on Insta #fabboolous👻 #halloween #halloweenvibes #halloweenart #design #illustration #fun #funny #pun #wordplay #ghoul #ghost #spell #eye #pumpkin #writer #halloweenfun
October 31, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Have a holly Jolene Christmas! Here’s my latest punch needle, a gingerbread Dolly for the top of the tree. A Xmas tree-topper, punched with embroidery thread, finished with sparkly (fake) gems and stuffed with love. The back is felt with a loop to go over the top of that lonesome pine #punchneedle
October 2, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Wee tea time walk since I’ve been in all day doing ‘stuff’. Could hardly see for the lowering sun but there were some pretty fluffy clouds #littlefluffyclouds #autumnsky #methley #eveningwalks
September 28, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Love being back doing National Gallery Talk and Draw sessions. This month we concentrated on Millet’s The Winnower. Quick shape sketch, drawing the figure out with a rubber, & finally using colour to add life. #nationalgallery #nationalgallerylondon #sketch #draw #art #pencilsketches #mentalhealth
September 26, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Our prompt is toadstools - it won’t be long until a forest of fungus pushes up through the ground to say hello. Check out more @thecolourcoop on Insta. Share yours and tag us 🍄 #toadstool #mushrooms #mushroom #fungi #fungus #toadstools #chanterelles #foraging #autumn #september #penart #illustration
September 6, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Little bit of Sunday sketching - Edinburgh’s old buildings stepped up the hill. Not sure if I’m done - need to live with it a little bit 🤔 #edinburgh #scotland #sketching #drawing #blackpen #buildings #architecture #historicbuildings
August 31, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Thanks @goodhousekeeping.bsky.social for using my teeny tiny book review in your October issue!
August 30, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Guess that’s why they call it the blues… inadvertently only read books with blue covers this month. So many 4-star reads - I must be feeling the book love!

In photo, book covers for:

The Rush - Beth Lewis ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cover Her Face - PD James ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Dead of Winter - Stuart MacBride ⭐️⭐️⭐️
August 30, 2025 at 10:21 AM
What says Christmas more than a Tina Turner tree topper?! 😂 My punch needle music legends all start off with a gingerbread template. So, who’s next? I’m thinking maybe Freddie Mercury, or Amy Winehouse? 🤔 #punchneedle #needlepunch #handcrafted #christmas #treetopper #decoration #legend #tinaturner
August 24, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Saturday morning was brought to you by the letter P for Pilates, plus Pirates in a chapter or two of @dougskelton.bsky.social Ship of Thieves, and Pastel de Nata at De Oliveira’s - aaaaargh! #pilates #pirates #piecesofeight #jonasflynt #historicfiction #pasteldenata #potuguesepastry
August 16, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Such a lovely day at Globe Arts experimenting with folk art and learning about pattern with @lindsay_loves_to_draw (on Insta). Happily recommend! #folkart #pattern #painting #gouache #watercolour #art #GlobeArts #Marsden #chicken #rooster #cockerel #hen
August 14, 2025 at 3:46 PM
It’s 1898 in the frozen Canadian wilderness, when 100,000 prospectors looking for gold migrated to the Yukon over just 3 years.

The Rush by Beth Lewis is the story of 4 women who, through choice or circumstance, end up in lawless Dawson City.

It’s the story of a murder…
August 10, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Yes, it’s Ozzy, the bat-biting Prince of Darkness immortalised in punch needle! Because why wouldn’t you want the heavy metal legend as a gingerbread man treetopper?! #punchneedle #needlepunch #treetopper #gingerbreadman #christmas #ozzy #ozzyosbourne #blacksabbath #legend #heavymetal #rock
August 8, 2025 at 7:55 PM
And breathe… little stretch of the legs to kick off the weekend #methley #yorkshire #august #summer #clouds
August 8, 2025 at 5:29 PM
The purple people pleaser himself takes his place in my legends line-up! Prince is my latest gingerbread man Christmas treetopper. Made using punch needle, fabric and felting #punchneedle #needlepunch #embroiderythread #prince #gingerbreadmen #christmas #treetopper #legend #purple #bowie #eltonjohn
August 2, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Happy Yorkshire Day everyone! #YorkshireDay #yorkshire #godsowncountry
August 1, 2025 at 7:14 PM
July reads
City of Vengeance - @dvbishop.com - fantastic historical crime fiction on the streets of Florence in the 1500s ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️
The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer - @ragnarjok.bsky.social - if Miss Marple lived in modern day Iceland ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️
Redemption - Jack Jordan - least said ⭐️
August 1, 2025 at 5:03 PM
It’s Sunday, so here’s a pile of pigs for ya! #pigs
July 27, 2025 at 2:58 PM
OK, so I made my Bowie Christmas tree topper, then Sir Elton, can you guess which purple prince of pop is next up in the old punch needle hoop? 💜 #punchneedleart #needlepunch #bowie #elton #prince #christmastreetopper #crafting
July 26, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Oops, Lego, I think you meant Game Boy… didn’t you? #typo #autocaption #oopsy
July 26, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Murder at the Black Cat Café by Seishi Yokomizo, is a rediscovered classic, out in the UK in 28 August 25. Based in post-WW2 Japan, we’re treated to 2 stories (the first featuring detective Kosuke Kindaichi) - the titular Black Cat Café, and Why Did the Well Wheel Creak?

Yokomizo was undoubtedly…
July 26, 2025 at 10:24 AM
This was such a difficult choice, but here they are. The 4 bad boys I probably listened to most 📻
July 25, 2025 at 6:51 AM
A word in your shell-like! It’s Friday fun and games at the seaside for @thecolourcoop on Insta #design #illustration #cartoon #fun #funny #colourpalette #theme #shells #cockle #seaside #beach #joke #humour #writing
July 25, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Q - should I eat my chocolate raisins when they happen to have little faces? A - hell yeah! #funfood
July 23, 2025 at 9:17 PM
In The Wedding People by Alison Espach, divorced and depressed professor Phoebe Stone is planning to kill herself in a posh hotel. Trouble is, the hotel’s all booked up for a fancy, week-long wedding party where the bride’s planned for everything… except Phoebe.

For a book that covers…
July 23, 2025 at 9:06 PM