The year of living dangerously
I've been musing on what to write about for my last post of the year but i'm finding it hard to look backwards because my head and heart are so firmly focussed on the year in front of me. I'm really happy to let go of 2008; it's been a year that's tested me and unravelled my emotions, with depression and health issues dogging me more than i'd have liked, yet even though i'm spending the last day with blocked sinuses and a killer headache, i can see how much stronger I am than i was this time last year. In the last 12 months I've embarked on a brief love affair, moved my entire life to a new city where I knew no one and started teaching a course that feels like it's going to go somewhere special. I gave up smoking (twice – i'm on three weeks and counting). I joined a gym and reconnected with my body. I fell back in love with film thanks to my delightful vintage cameras. And i met one of my comedy heroes! Not too shabby for 365 days.
2008 was all about being brave and looking back I think i've honoured that word; this year it's going to be about being visible, about putting myself out there – my art, my words, my heart. No more hiding away, no more fear of rejection or failure, no more excuses. I look forward now more than I look back; I want to enjoy the quiet calm of living in the moment while keeping my heart open for the love that I wish for in my life. And for that love and success and abundance to find me I have to be visible, i have to be seen.
So, no more hiding. A lot more going out, being out, living OUT LOUD.
What's your word for 2009?
Home sweet home
Well, the Blurb books were a massive hit – they teared-up as they read the dedication page, and i teared-up watching them, so all in all, a great success! Less great was the flu-y cold I've had all week, so most of Christmas was spent wrapped in blankets while shivering and aching on my mother's sofa. As lovely as it always is to go back home, I am so happy to now be back in Bath. I LOVE my flat, I love having all my books around me, and oh thank the gods, i love my bed so much. I don't think I ever realised just how much of a homebody i am until yesterday afternoon as i danced and twirled – okay, it was more of a shuffle – around my flat, unpacking, lighting incense and generally cosying into my lovely nest. Four months on and Bath is now my home. *Cue a big contented sigh* Going to spend the next few days recuperating, making my e-course website and watching a lot of DVDs. Did you have a good Christmas?
Mail love
I predict that there's going to be a lot of letter writing in January: the Royal Mail commemorates ten icons of British design on their new first class stamps.
I heart paper
Suki notebooks, £10.77 from Plumo
Do Something print, $12 from Orange Beautiful
Letterpress Valentine No.3, $3.50 by Thomas Printers
December
December
The year dwindles and glows
to December's red jewel,
my birth month.
The sky blushes,
and lays its cheek
on the sparkling fields.
Then dusk swaddles the cattle,
their silhouettes
simple as faith.
These nights are gifts,
our hands unwrapping the darkness
to see what we have.
The train rushes, ecstatic,
to where you are,
my bright star.
~ Carol Ann Duffy, from Rapture
A Year of Dreaming
I'm writing this on Sunday 21st and feeling like Michael J Fox writing into the future; by the time this post is published, the recipients of this book will have it in their hands, so its safe to give you a sneak preview. This year I made each member of my family a book of our life; whenever we get together I take photos, and I wanted to put some of them together with images from the past. Dotted throughout are poems and quotes that mean something to me – its been a real labour of love, stitching together this photo quilt. One of my greatest pleasures is going through old photos albums, but it seems that more and more of my images are stuck on my computer, so i wanted to create a new kind of family album, one that tells the story of us, pulling together the sparkling moments we've shared. And who doesn't want to be in a book? It's a perfectly formed 7" x 7" and was printed on premium paper via Blurb.com – this is the third book i've ordered from them and their print quality seems to be improving each time. I fancy i'll be doing this every year now, and I can't wait to see the new faces that join us in the pages… Merry Christmas!
Photographers I admire #3
Aya Brackett – simple, quirky, stylish
14'Standard – quiet, thoughtful, tender
Tethered to the sun – playful, naughty, never dull
'The camera is my tool. Through it I give a reason to everything around me.' ~ Andre Kertesz
For December Views
My secret address book
[I'm loving our pairing today]
Some of my daily, weekly and monthly clicks, in no particular order, each having varying degrees of usefulness, but all catch my eye.
This Joy + Ride
Studio Violet
Pure Blog
The Habit of Being
Flak Photo
Alexa's top 90 design weblogs
Blog.SpoonGraphics
Da Font
Paper Cameras
Ladies Who Launch
OddPodz blog
Ordinary Courage
The Dieline
Particules
* And the winner of the giveaway is… Jeanine!
Toast
I've been in love with the Toast catalogues for ages now, and wouldn't you know it: there's a Toast store five minutes from my house. I keep popping in there to run my hands over the scarves and choose the things I'd buy for my fantasy home. The term eye candy was invented for their catalogue, always shot in such a way as to make you want to live in Paris or the highlands, or wherever they are, wearing cashmere socks, babouches and floaty nighties. I love the way they blend traditional styles with vintage finishes and that lovely chic simplicity that's so popular right now. Check out their video from the last catalogue shoot, and order your copy here. (It's always printed on such nice paper too.)
I recently found the website of the stylist who worked on their home catalogue for winter 2007: Twig Hutchinson. Don't you just want her to style your entire world?
Detox
Taking part in December Views has been like having a blog detox, and I'm loving it. I've been thinking about what I want to post and have really enjoyed sharing some of my inspiration and the things I find as i trawl the internet. As I said to a friend the other day, there's so much out there it can be rather intimidating and leave you feeling like you just can't compete with it all. On the other hand, it can be a shot of inspirational adrenaline in your arm and set you off on your own path of creativity. I don't know if I'll be able to keep up the daily posting, but there's definitely going to be some January Views happenin' round here. I like the discipline and focus, even if i'm not spilling as many beans as i usually do :)
I want this book – his sales pitch sold it to me even before I saw it.
There are a few gems in this blogger's Christmas mix.
Looks like the rest of the day is going to be spent on Jango
Staying warm with huge mugs of this tea
Just discovered this new version
I'm not bothering with a tree this year but if i was i'd want it to look like this one (i love her collections too):
