grainy film and a graveyard

It's been a busy few weeks, and a very busy weekend, so I'm trying to snatch the odd half an hour here and there to have some quiet time; to get out of the house and walk and take photos and not think about costing, and VAT, and projected sales, and bank account balances, and deadlines. To just clear my head and press my inner reset button so that when I step back inside I feel a bit calmer, and less like my head may just explode.

there is a tiny church with an even tinier graveyard along where I like to walk - every time I come here I think it would be the perfect backdrop for a photoshoot (add it to my neverending list of places I'd love to go and take 'proper' photos one day!)

can you spot the teeny tiny crescent moon in this photo?

How do you recharge your batteries when you don't have time for a day (or even a night) off? Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

a park and a parasol...

During a brief interlude in the rain, we made a dash for a nearby park. It was a welcome break from the CRAZY  amount of work I've had lately - in case you don't already know, I have just made the big decision to join notonthehighstreet.com. Although my shop isn't open yet (I will be sure to blog when it does open) I have been super busy behind the scenes deciding what products to sell on there, retaking lots of my product photos, redesigning packaging, ordering supplies, and generally getting myself organised. Add to that two very busy craft fairs, a presentation I have to prepare (I'm going back to my old primary school for their young enterprise week to give a talk about running your own business), plus the day to day running of Ladybird Likes, and I am just about ready to drop. Butl, I'm going to stop complaining because I actually LOVE my job, and wouldn't trade it for the world.

The main reason for our jaunt was to take a few photos of Phoebe with her new parasol - it's so gorgeous, these photos don't do it justice at all! We had fun larking about, and I made a video which I might post on here at some point.

the great escape (part 2)

So here are the outdoor shots from my brief jaunt to stay with my dear friend Lucy. I stayed the night and the following day we went on a three hour walk with her dog Onion who, it would seem, is not a dog but rather a bottomless pit of energy. Seriously, I was dead after the walk. And it wasn't just a walk... oh no, there was snow involved people. And hills. Plural. But nah, in all honesty I enjoyed it. Poor old Jasper can only walk for about half an hour before he is pooped!

 we even saw cows! they smelt pretty bad, but they look so cuteeeee

 these signs ALWAYS make me this of Alice in Wonderland

 ugh such a beautiful forest - I need to live near a forest as I'm pretty sure I could spend the rest of my life in there taking photos and building forts

Thank you to my dear friend Lucy for letting me run away from my life for a few days, and for putting up with my need to go in every single charity shop within a mile radius! xoxo

the great escape (part 1)

A couple of weeks ago (ha, how many of my posts start like that?!) I went to stay with my bestie Lucy for a few days to escape the city and have a break. I was burnt out, having been working non-stop since about October getting ready for my Etsy shop opening. You may remember me mentioning Lucy before on my wee blog - she owns and runs Creighton's Chocolaterie along with her parents out in Leighton Buzzard. So obviously I spent some of my weekend hanging out in the shop, sampling the good....

yeah, so this chocolate bar was inspired BY ME! I'm obsessed with peanuts and chocolate, so Lucy made this chocolate bar in my honour. It tastes like a chooclate and peanut butter whoopie pie which, in case you've never had one, is basically incredible. Ignore the fact it says 'nutter' in the title - I suggested simply naming it 'the zoe' (like 'the rachel' haircut) but apparently not...

 Valentine's Day window...

 ...and Valentine's merchandise (wish I liked white chocolate!)

for some reason some of these photos have a greenish tinge - any ideas why? pretty sure it's not they type of film as I've used it before... maybe the lighting?

 BEST HOT CHOCOLATE EVER - I couldn't even finish it, it was so rich and chocolatey (I had already consumed half the chocolate shop by this point and it kind of pushed me over the edge!)

 I stayed at Lucy's new pad, which she has made look amazing! She has the BEST taste, particularly in art prints, and I had to take a few photos to show you my favourite bits of her house....

these prints - on their own they are ace, but together they are perfection

 painted ceramic flying geese - her living room has a kind of peach and gold vibe, but with added bits of colour

 you all know how much I love crochet blankets, and Lucy has her own little collection going on too - plus look at the plush birdie which she MADE herself (there is literally no end to her talents)

 THIS = AMAZE

 uhhhhhhhhhh need this need this need this - can't stop thinking about this light fitting and how I could incorporate it into a photoshoot (ps. look at the bits of peach and aqua walls in the background - ahhhhhh)

These are the 'indoor' photos from my time away, and tomorrow will be the 'outdoor' photos featuring, wait for it, SNOW. Yup, these are kind of old, so there was still snow when I took them! HA! xoxo

I left my heart in Malvern...

Waaaaay back in cold January I went to stay with my bestie Emma for a couple of days. Well I totally fell in love with Malvern, partly because of the beautiful scenery and partly because of the amazing charity shops! Here are a couple of shots from my trip - I hardly took any photos due to spending most of the time in charity shops or bookshops!

working on an embroidery on the train journey

 I can't remember where this was but I do remember there were good charity shops there...
(EDIT - Emma has just informed me this was in Ledbury. Sorry Ledbury, I know it's no fun when people forget your name...)

bright pink shop fronts = my kind of place

 the most beautiful handmade quilt you ever did see, and I got to sleep underneath it

 love these old fashioned charity collection boxes they had outside the shops

 the hills (so weird seeing big hills when all you're used to is the London streets)

 cute signage by the bucketload

So I'm pretty much ready to move to the countryside now, and looking at these photos has only made me realise just how much I miss it (and how much I miss Emma!) Has anyone out there moved from city to countryside? Or from countryside to city? How did you find it, and which did you prefer? xoxo