I wanna go, I wanna go!!

Anyone coming with me?

One of my favourites...

I love finding quotes. I have pages of my collected favourites, words that seem to say all that I am struggling to eloquently express or to give me a little encouragement through whatever the day brings. Its like finding people that get it, who seem to read my mind and have written exactly what I need to read. Like finding gems. I go through phases, I guess depending on where I am at in those moments but this one is currently forefront in my mind:

"The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself." ~ Anna Quindlen

Ok, carry on!

Bank Holiday Goodness

On Monday we took a road trip to Dunwich a lovely suffolk coastal village just south of Southwold. The National Trust run Dunwich Heath, an area of the cliffs covered with beautiful yellow gorse, soon to be purple heather, forests and streams. There is a path down to the rugged coastline and the beach that is covered with interesting washed up treasures. Its one of my favourite places to go. Plus it helps that there is a lovely tea shop up on the cliffs where you can treat yourself to tea and cake after all that beach walking! 

So we walked and sat and watched

and took polaroids (I have to find a scanner!) and chatted and discovered hidden bluebells

and breathed the sea air deeply and played with abstracts and had an indulgent cream tea 

and wandered through the heather and listened to the birds and friends joined us and we had a happy day! 

I am sure It wont be long before I drift back there.

I have something to tell you...

Its not an unusual declaration but one I feel inclined to share...

you ready for it...

you sure?

Ok, here it is...

I am in love with spring. Yep its true. I can't get enough of it. Its just so beautiful. And I am very happy to share my days with it.

Just thought you should know.

Room to explore

About 2 years ago i got my first DSLR. I have loved photography for a long time, probably stemming from my dad’s love of being behind the lens and the beautiful images from my childhood that he captured and are now treasured. I was given a Kodak Advantix for my 18th birthday... you know the ones where you just drop the film in and then it sorts it out for you. I was so pleased with it! My own camera! It came on camping trips and to murder mystery parties and before long I had boxes and boxes of pictures.Then when I turned 21 I was given my first digital camera and that was it.. me hooked! As the years went on my Nikon Coolpix and I shared a lot of times together, big memories, like our move to Long Island and the road trips to Washington and Niagara Falls. The Nikon recorded the trips back home for weddings and Andy’s graduation and provided memories for me to hold when I returned to being 3500 miles away from family and friends.

Anyway, to cut a very long story short, whilst I loved my Nikon with all my heart,  I found I wanted more. I was ready to explore more with my photography... along came the Canon 400D... and it makes my heart sing! It goes everywhere with me. In the past 2 years there have probably only been 2 or 3 days when it has not been by my side. And finally I could explore. And with that has come my abstracts. I just love playing and creating and letting the camera see what it wants to see. I know a lot of people don’t really get it. Can’t see what they are meant to be looking at. Think its not artistic because it was created in a few seconds. Or just don’t like abstract stuff anyway. Which is completely fine, its not for everyone. But for me its about letting go. About being free and capturing a moment, a feeling. Most of them involve me jumping around or dancing in the sunshine. Letting go, giving up creative control and allowing the camera to show me what is there. I love the mystery in them too, that only I know the moment that the image is talking about. I love that others may see their own moment in the image or their own emotions. They leave room for others to explore too. See what they want to see. 

So what do you think... have I tempted you to give it a go for yourself? 

finished!

Ok so you know I said I was collecting buttons for a project? Well I finished it yesterday and thought you might like to see....

Yep... Its a button lamp! I have threaded my favourite buttons onto a lampshade frame and now I can look at them all the time. I found this lamp base in TK Maxx (one of my favourite shops) and it was super cheap... bonus! Then I collected the buttons (I already had quite a few but I picked up some bargains from ebay too) and voila!

It was a lot of fun to do, searching through the button tin and selecting the right ones in the right size and it was so simple! And I think it has turned out quite cute. Although it took far more buttons than I thought it would... 254 in total.

Plus It casts some cool shadows when lit!

I keep looking at it, trying to choose my favourite button, favourite row. And when I have looked and looked at one section I can just turn it around! winner.

So... what do you think?

In awe...

I stumbled across this amazing music video today. Its 'I Don't Know' by Lisa Hannigan. Not only is the music beautiful but the paper art is stunning. It totally tempts me to go find the scissors and huge sheets of paper! The final creation is revealed in the last few moments so keep watching! Hope you fall in love with it like I did!

Go on... treat yourselves to a few minutes of soothing goodness...