Photo Prompt

When I saw this project on the wonderful Savoring Details many, many weeks ago I told myself that I would love to join in. However I am amazed by just how many weeks have flown by and I have never got around to taking part. But as part of my New Year goals for 2011 was vowing to pick up the camera more I decided it was about time I joined in the weekly project.

The idea is that the incredibly talented Melissa and Kristi set the weekly photograph prompt and they take a picture which symbolises that word for them personally. It was originally set up as '2 Photographers, 1 Inspiration' but others, like myself, have admired their truly amazing photography and decided to take part.

The photography prompt for this previous week was 'Dreams' and this was week 23 (you see I told you I had been meaning to join in for ages!) So here is my first week, I am hoping that the project will encourage me to improve my photography skills and ensure I actually pick up the camera in 2011!

If you would like to find out more and see the previous weeks pictures I have linked the top picture to Melissa's blog and added a little button on the side also. I am really looking forward to this weeks prompt already which is 'your favourite shot of 2010'.

Things to live by...

I found it very difficult to make the list above this year and decided to simply make it a list of goals rather than resolutions really. Often my resolutions can be very negative and I wanted my 2011 list to be positive, so no 'stops' and 'don'ts' here.

Goal 1) I absolutely loved this one last year, as I mentioned before, so I decided that I must continue it for another year. It doesn't matter whether it is a small jam jar of daisies from the garden or a big jug of shop bought tulips, I vow to have real flowers in this house.

Goal 2) I think I mentioned before that during and after my blogging break I very rarely picked up my camera and believe it or not, until my after Christmas post I took the grand total of three photos over Christmas itself. I hope to use Flickr more to organise my own photos and I have a couple of projects in mind to inspire me to improve my own skills. Watch this space!

Goal 3) I feel a little stupid that two of these goals are the same as last year but they are ones I begun to achieve and wanted to continue. My main aim for goal three this year is to streamline the contents of our house, to improve storage and keep clutter to a minimum.

Goal 4) Big things that happened last year made me realise that it is the little things which can hugely affect my mood no matter what is happening in the grand scheme of things. So for 2011 I vow to enjoy the little things whether they are arranging items on my hall table so they are pleasing to my eye, planting seeds and watching them bloom, visiting a favourite shop or spending a hour or so with a niece or nephew. It can be the littlest things which make the biggest memories sometimes.

There you have it, my not so grand goals for two thousand and eleven. I really am hoping/needing this year to be a good one which is happy and joyful so fingers crossed and full steam ahead! Hope your wishes for the new year are off to a good start.

January 2011

read: Kirstie Allsopp Homemade Home
flick through: Country Living USA
listen: Adele's new album 21
eat: Roasted Vegetables
drink: Coffee, coffee, coffee
wear: My new Field Coat
quote: "age is merely a number"
prepare: To be positive in 2011
be: Reorganising and tidying
looking forward to: A fresh year ahead
sitting: By the fire
dreaming: Of the first shoots of Spring
excited about: Birthday treats

Out with the old, In with the new

(via Tumblr)

Goodbye 2010 and 2011 I welcome you with open arms!

Thank you to everyone who has visited this little blog in 2010 - you have all continued to amaze me with your kindness and friendship. I wish all of you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2011!

Happy New Year to one and all!

Once again

Hello friends, I hope your Christmas festivities have been amazing and are continuing right through to the New Year if possible too. So last year, around this time, I wrote a post entitled 'where does all the time go' and vowed this year would be different but look here I am having done the same all over again! I thought on my return I would take time to share a few little glimpses of my festive happenings with you before we proceed headlong into the new year.

My darling husband was sent into the ditch at the bottom of the garden to gather this gorgeous holly on Christmas eve. He even battled brambles and blackberry bushes to find the pieces with berries on for me. I also added a few extra berries from the hedges to brighten it up a little more.

As many people I think, I am spending these last few days of two thousand and ten thinking about the past year and looking back at the resolutions I set myself.

1) I probably did this for about fifty percent of the year but I am sorry to say I gave up a little in the cold, dark months.

2) I am pleased to say that I did carry on with this one and I am so happy I did. I think I will continue with it next year too.

3) I partially achieved this - I sorted all my photos into monthly folders, I stopped saving hundreds of pictures onto my laptop by joining Pinterest instead and I wrote a weekly to do list in my yearly notebook. However, I still have lots I want to do, especially on the computer.

4) Oh dear, oh dear. My husband has kept on at me about this one all year and I am very ashamed to say that I have yet to even open the pack with the pen in!

5) This is also a source of embarrassment as I have not really made an effort with this one. To be fair I have been on a fairly strict diet for quite a bit of the year which included cutting out most carbs, processed sugar and a significant amount of dairy so it has not always been easy to maintain variety.

How about you, did you stick to your resolutions? I am off to think some more about making this year's ones those I will stick to! Here's hoping the last few remaining days of 2010 are merry and bright for one and all.

Happy Christmas!

Wishing you all the very merriest of Christmases and the happiest of New Year's!

24th December Advent Window

Boxed in

I hope your week is turning into a good one and you are all well on the way to being prepared if you are celebrating Christmas. As I think I have mentioned before we are spending Christmas Day at my in-laws house and this year, once again, I have the job of creating table gifts for the guests. Last year I made a different style box for each person mainly with the enormous help of Martha Stewart! I foolishly forgot to take a photograph of them last year and still get annoyed at myself when I think about it. They included things like a mini Egyptian tomb for a nephew who got a Playmobil mummy figure inside or a wrapped parcel for the men complete with stamps and a slice of cake box for my sister in law.

When I offered to do the same again this year I decided to make them all a similar style. Last year I had spent far too long making the boxes and if I remember correctly I was still making them on Christmas Eve so I decided this year to cheat a little and buy the boxes to use as a base. I cannot tell you what is inside but these are what I came up with for the outside:

The men have mini-ties and collars on the gold boxes.

The ladies have a pretty ribbon with some buttons (see I said I would use them lots). I wasn't sure whether to add a gift tag or not but then thought about adding the card name on top. Marta (this wonderful woman is one of my biggest sources of inspiration I swear) inspired me to attack the glitter!

The children's boxes were turned into little reindeers complete with a shiny red nose and a tiny ribbon if it was a girl.

We only have something little inside with a value of about £5 and then some chocolates but it adds a little extra to the table decorations too. I know I have read that a few of you are making your own crackers this year and would love to hear if anyone else has table gifts as part of their Christmas dinner too.

23rd December Advent Window

I am really looking forward to Christmas dinner - roast turkey and all the trimmings! Do you go traditional or have something entirely different?

22nd December Advent Window

What do you leave out for Father Christmas?

All wrapped up!

I have mentioned my 'wrapping theme' lots of times on here and never really explained I know, so today I will explain what I mean. Each year I try and follow a colour scheme when I wrap my presents, I adapt the decorations according to who the present is for but try to keep to the colours if I can. This year I decided on a Scandinavian style theme of pale blue and red and the images above are some of those I saved into an inspiration folder on the computer.

I also had a zip wallet that I saved magazine cuttings in but after reading about Marta's fabulous Christmas file I decided to create my own. The photos below show some of my clippings for this blue and red theme.

And this is what I came up with as a result - the first set are ladies gifts.

I always find that it is the ladies who appreciate pretty ribbon and decorations more (apologies if you are a man and love them too) so I am more elaborate in their wrapping.

I usually use thicker ribbon on these and add a little extra. I was inspired to add cinnamon sticks and berries by the picture below.

For the male presents I followed the same principal but used thinner ribbon and simply tied a bow to keep it plain and try not to be too fancy.

When it comes to the children I usually try to use cheaper paper and ribbon as I know that all they are concerned about is getting the wrapping off as quick as possible. I am under no illusions that one of my six year old nephews is going to remark about the pretty wrapping paper!!

So for the children I went with pale blue paper, red and white bakers twine and a gorgeous dinky paper button from the excellent 'The Gilded Bee'.

I know it is probably entirely for my own benefit that I wrap theirs in the same theme but I do like the look of them this year. I bought plenty of the buttons and hope to use them lots next year for other gifts.

Do you wrap in a colour scheme? I often see lots of pretty paper when I have decided on a theme and have to stop myself buying it all but I do enjoy all the presents piled up together in all the same colours each year. And scarily I think I already know what I want to do next year!

21st December Advent Window

Is it just me or does it look like all these snowmen are looking at Father Christmas flying through the sky?

Little cards of fun

Happy Monday to you all, I hope you are reading this after a lovely weekend and looking forward to this last week before Christmas. I spent a lovely long time yesterday looking around festive posts and pretties online and I particularly loved all the cards I came across in my virtual travels.

Here in England we don't have a family holiday card as such which includes a family photo and I think is this is such a shame. There have been some gorgeous personalised cards available this year and I wanted to share a few of my favourites with you today before I shared my own handmade cards.

(Country Heart)

This card could easily become a decoration for the following years.

(Violet Pickles)

I love the simplistic illustration on these personalised family cards.

(Rifle Paper Co.)

The ornate detail on this illustrated card is gorgeous and Rifle Paper have an endless amount of beautiful designs don't they?

(Olliegraphic)

I would absolutely love to send these and really considered it this year but the shipping cost sadly made me reconsider. Aren't they super cute?

For my own cards I always try and make my own for immediate family each year. I wanted to have a blue and red theme to match my wrapping this time and bought individual cards and envelopes from my favourite stationery shop Paperchase. However, I had the decorations for the front of the card in my mind from October but held off from buying them because I was hoping to see them in store and save myself the shipping costs. Of course when I came to order online, as I hadn't seen in store they no longer sold the product - typical! So I had to have a little rethink and ended up going with the Santa and Drummer designs below attached with a little dainty ribbon.

I forgot to take a photo of the opposite combination (red cards/blue ribbon) but I was pleased with both colour ways. I also hope people can detach the decorations and add them to the Christmas tree next year. How about you, what do you send as Christmas cards? I have so many inspiration pictures saved in a folder and always find it hard to make up my mind. Would love to know what you do each season.

20th December Advent Window

I couldn't resist!

19th December Advent Window

The fourth candle is lit.

18th December Advent Window

Is your letter all signed, sealed and delivered?