it's the simple thing's in life that make me happy ...

stouffurs mac & cheese ...

perfect for Jacob's room ...

animal crackers ...

discovering a wonderful bookstore ... 

Jacob!

it's the simple thing's in life that make me happy ...

getting things ready ...

love this shop ...

& this shop ...

the macaron vs cupcake debate ... 

26 days to go!

it's the simple things in life that make us happy ...

apple pie & vanilla ice cream ...

getting in some reading time & a new book ...

i love this print ... 

one of my favourite & one of the prettiest blogs out there ... 

some time to just relax & be me!

it's the simple things in life that make us happy ...

one week closer ... 

yes it's a tote ...

if it's a boy ...

love supernatural ...

excited about the craft fair this weekend!

market day ...

There's something incredible special for me about market day in France, i'm not saying there aren't markets around the world that have the same feeling i just have yet to experience them. Market day in a French town is about more than just the food, it's the experience. The narrow streets packed with stalls & people, voices loud telling the world what they have on offer (when this is done in French it sounds so much better) & of course the opportunity to try everything first. Sometimes i think you could have your lunch right there at the market without having to buy a thing. They sell more than just food but it's the food that i love. I love the presentation, i love the colours, i love the smells, i love the total lack of anything resembling mass produced & with the sun shining down on you it's a little slice of French heaven. 

cherries ...

So one of the things i love most about france are the markets ... all that fresh food on offer. I wish i had a market to do my grocery shopping as opposed to the commissary (anyone who knows me knows how much i detest that place) ... so the next few posts from Provence are going to be devoted to markets & food. & we all know how much i love my food! i must clarify that i am not a huge fan of cherries it's just they were perfect for photographing & the reason you get to see 5 of them is that i couldn't pick one i liked the best so instead figured i'd just devote an entire post to them & let you choose! 

petit four ...

inspiration ...

As you read this i should be somewhere between my home in western Germany & Aix-en-Provence in the south of France. Am spending a week with one of my closest friends & her sister-in-law before she moves back to the states. This is a girls only, fun filled action packed vacation full of food, history & shopping. Oh & yes the camera came along too! 


To keep you occupied when i'm gone i have a series of posts lined up, by some wonderful people (more about them later) on the subject of "Inspiration", starting with me! 


& i have absolutly no clue where to start with this topic ... i mean to me it's just a thing that i get randomly (in the shower, driving the car, eating dinner & often at moments when the camera isn't handy). It's funny that i'm trying to find inspiration to write about inspiration! Anyways i did what i do when i get stuck ... search the internet (which we could possible add to my list of things that give me inspiration). I learnt that the word "inspiration" literally means "breathed upon" (how cool is that). Poets such as Shelley & Coleridge believe inspiration came to them in the wind or in visions ... I'll tell you Freud's ideas or Marxist theory but they are really not as pretty (& i am an "artist" after all). The internet also lets me look at pretty pictures which i am a big fan on (go figure).

So now we get down to the nitty gritty ... what inspires me?


1. Women such as Dickie Chapelle who was fearless, a one of a kind & incredible lady. She opened up doors for women in combat photography & she did it with guts & in style (pearl earrings in Vietnam ...). 


2. World renouned photographers such as William Eggleston & Martin Parr who introduced me to photographing the random things we see every day, bold colours, simple composition & interesting angles. Ansel Adams for the sheer beauty of his work, & Richard Avedon for putting the sole focus on the subject, no distracting from the people in front of his lens. 

3. & more recently the work i am seeing on etsy, fine art photography that flows over into all kinds of genres, pictures that don't stay in the box. & the people who go along side them who are kind, & smart & looking to succeed in a an unforgiving industry. You see a photograph & you know what you like or don't like & sometimes you walk away with an idea, maybe it was the angle they shot out or the way the light falls but it's calling out to you to try it & not copy but make it your own. 

4. i am also inspired by other artists around me working in different mediums ... graphics, screen printing, textiles ... the list in endless, & their skills amazing. Also a little envious of this one, taking classes is on my list of things to do.

5. Friends & family, movies & books, the landscape & my home.

So maybe the answer to the question is that everything around me inspires me. The small, simple, hidden, delicate & tourist inspire me ... random, unique & interesting things inspire me. Everything & anything inspires me to take pretty pictures, achieve my dreams & be the best i can (well try to). 

ps. this bowl of ice cream inspired me (not to mention tasting really really good)!

more cupcakes ...

yes i made cupcakes again ... & yes i cheated & made them out of a packet ... but they were so worth it!

taking a time out ...

You ever feel like you need a break ... a time out ... some space. Not from anything in particular more like everything. A chance to breath. Life has this habit of getting a little hectic & you need to escape. Well i need a day to myself & so Thursday i took that & headed to France.

We are lucky enough to be only an hour from the French border, & whilst France is one of my favourite places to be i really don't spend enough time there. So off i headed (with a minor detour to be blogged about later) & after much driving through the French country roads (they were gorgeous & spring is slowly starting to appear) I arrived in Metz. & whilst the clouds were dark & moody at times the rain managed to stay away.

I had a wonderful afternoon wondering around the city, just me & the camera. I can't lie i did a little shopping along the way but it was more about taking photos than anything. I need to explore & photograph everything & everything along the way.

France is one of those places that is filled with details ... i know everywhere is really but i notice it more when i'm in France. Everywhere i looked there was something.

& of course being in France i had to get my crepe!

More photos can be seen on my previous blog post ... Metz.

some fruity goodness ...

3/100 (my breakfast)

in the theme of nicole & her homemade treats ... oh & 2/100 as well

A fellow member of my Homefront Team on Etsy, wonderful chef ( i just bought her Caramel & Belgium Chocolate Covered Apple with sprinkles 4 pack & all round kick ass women ... Nicole ... runs a wonderful blog full of tasty treats & recipes. & i love her recipes & finds (not to mention the photos that go with) so here following in her giant foot steps i have created by 2/100 (for the 100 photo project) & i have a delicious recipe to go with.

take 2 frozen waffles ... place in toaster ... toast until golden brown ... whilst the waffles are being toasted get out your choice of ice cream (i prefer french vanilla or vanilla bean) ... place the first waffle on the plate ... put your ice cream on top of this waffle ... & then add the second waffle to the top to complete the sandwich ... cover with as much syrup as you feel necessary ... eat whilst hot!

orange - inspiration avenue weekly challenge

This weeks "weekly challenge" in Inspiration Avenue was "orange". So here i was a little stuck for a while, i mean whilst many would think Halloween with this i don't, being British & all. Orange to me is bright & bold, it reminds me of summer, my second cat Sandy (if you hadn't already guessed he was one big ass ginger tom) & one of my favourite t-shirts. (if you want one check out Palmer Cash ... they are awesome, & i really cannot begin to describe how much i love to shop with them!!)

So i went back through my work to see what i already had, & nothing was really orange, or stood out to me. I mean i had some stuff i took out & about but nothing that screamed orange.

September is here but Autumn isn't appearing & as i said I'm not such a fan of Halloween, although i might still go out & buy a pumpkin for some photographic fun. & so i went literal ... i went an actual orange. Started photographing that on a bright red chopping board & then remembered i had some orange paper so ended up with the orange on orange paper & well I'm not sure you can get more "orange" than that. Although in taking the shots this isn't the one i thought I'd end up with but then that's half the fun of editing ... isn't it?

So anyways here's my submission for this weeks photo challenge ... hope you like it. & you have until Sunday to get your entry in ... have fun people!

the lone blue cupcake ...

yes i know more cupcakes but he's all alone!

Cupcake Thursday

So today was "Cupcake Thursday ... which for those of you don't know about today, Thursday & i made cupcakes. Anyways it all started many many moons ago ... well actually 2 days when this lady contacted me asking if i had any photos of cupcakes. Well i didn't but i was all about getting some & i also had this cupcake recipe i'd been wanting to try so figured i'd spend my day off making cupcakes. & thus "Cupcake Thursday" was born. I'm not going to lie, it won't be a weekly thing or possibly even a yearly thing but it was fun (& messy) & at the end of it i got to eat cupcakes so really who can complain?

more macro lens ... i really can't get enough of it!

Ok so here's a few more macro shots ... this is way too much fun!!

This cricket(?) was chillin by my front door ... check out those eyes!

A few images of the various cameras in my collection.

Finally a photo of "Damn-it" my other cat, she hates the camera!

... but we all know how much cujo loves the camera!

Mmmmmmmmm golden oreo!

Some images of a vintage toy airplane we bought in Bayeux.