A Woman's Work

Whoops a daisy!

2011-06-30T21:15:00.005+01:00

Haven't we been a bit pants at updating the blog! There's sometimes just not enough hours in the day. I know I don't speak just for myself when I say it's been a busy few months.

Nicki's been a good girl and has been getting up to date with paperwork and other important (read boring lol) jobs. There's talk of a 2012 calender though so that's something to look forward to!

Sarah Leigh has, as usual, been taking some gorgeous photos. I'm sure she won't mind me sharing this one

The Camille's Appeal t-shirts are available to buy online now.

Me? I'm in the middle of a refit at the shop. I'm starting to see an end to it now but we've got a fair bit to go. My stock room/office has been moved and I'm getting new pigeon hole units built and they look fab. I keep looking at this picture and thinking "wow! I look like a real wool shop!"

So, ladies, I've got the ball rolling again. Who's next?

Do you still need a 2011 Calendar?

2011-01-07T18:26:00.000Z

Just a quick blog to let everyone know the Camilles Appeal calendars I wrote about in November have almost sold out! I'm down to the last dozen and these have been reduced to just £5 incl post.

All profits from these calendars go to a very worthwhile charity www.camillesappeal.co.uk, a charity close to my heart.

JANUARY SALE - 50% OFF original selling price of £10

NOW ONLY £5

BUY HERE

Size: Double A4

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

If you would like to buy a copy at this great offer price,
BUY HERE
or visit The Camilles Appeal Calendar page at www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk

Camilles Appeal is the children's brain tumour charity specifically focussed on the support and welfare of children under the age of five. More information about the charity can be found at http://www.camillesappeal.co.uk/

I'm busily noting all of my bookings and appointments on mine right now. I'd be completely lost without a calendar. If you don't have one or know someone who still needs one, why not buy one of these? It's only £5 and is helping to make money for a great charity.

______________________________________________________________________________

http://www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk/ a children's portrait photographer based on the Norfolk Suffolk border in East Anglia.

Proud to support http://www.camillesappeal.co.uk/

______________________________________________________________________________

AFTER A BIT OF A BREAK, A WOMANS WORK BLOG WILL PICK UP AGAIN FOR 2011. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT?

Get organised for 2011 with a new calendar...and make a real difference too!

2010-11-14T21:51:00.000Z

I wanted to tell everyone about a project some of us have been working on - a 2011 calendar. It's been so much fun working with other photographers to come up with the best design and photographs for the calendar. The best part, though, is that it's all been for a brilliant cause. All photographs, development time, design work and admin etc has been donated without charge, so 100% of the profits will be going to http://www.camillesappeal.co.uk/, a charity close to my heart.

We're at that exciting stage where the final design has been approved and we're waiting for that knock at the door when the printer delivers them. In the meantime, we started taking pre-orders for the calendar this week. At just £10 each and they are literally selling like hot cakes already.

Buy here through paypal

Here is a sneak peek of how the calendar will look:

Layout

Size: Double A4

And here are the photographs we have chosen to represent each month.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

You'll notice some of these photographers are other A Woman's Work contributors and others are friends who know the family (al-be-it through cyberspace) and want to do anything they can to help this charity. Every little helps...

Project managing this has been really interesting. Everyone's been so keen to help and some of the photographs were even taken specifically for this project. I think it's great, particularly as we only started a few weeks ago. It just goes to show what a few 'mums with camera's' can do when motivated by such a worthwhile cause. The calendar design and print company http://www.thecalendarcompany.org/ has been great too, providing the layout for free and often working with me late at night to get the design just right.

If anyone would like further information about the calendar or if you would like to buy a copy (or two or three...), visit The Camilles Appeal Calendar page at www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk

Some suggestions I've heard so far is that they would make great gifts for relatives or those you would usually buy a bottle of wine for, or even for teachers.

Camilles Appeal is the children's brain tumour charity specifically focussed on the support and welfare of children under the age of five. More information about the charity can be found at http://www.camillesappeal.co.uk/ . Even if you're not interested in a calendar, it's worth looking at the website.

Now all I need to do is buy a copy for myself so I can get organised and start making a note of my 2011 bookings.
______________________________________________________________________________

http://www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk/ a mum and children's portrait photographer based in Suffolk, East Anglia. Proud to support http://www.camillesappeal.co.uk/

Camille's Appeal

2010-11-13T13:20:00.004Z

The extremely talented Nicki MacRae has launched a greetings card in support of Camille's Appeal.

A pack of 10 cards with envelopes are priced at £5 and can be purchased here.
£1.50 from each pack will go directly to Camille's Appeal.

Speaking as someone who has the ability of cutting peoples heads off in many a photo, I take my hat off to the fabulous photos that have been taken for the Camille's Appeal 2011 calendar.

The calendar is £10 and can be bought here. 100% goes to Camille's Appeal.
For more info and month by month photos, please look at the Sarah Leigh Photography blog.

At Last!!!!!

2010-09-29T14:57:00.004+01:00

She's got it! My daughter has finally sussed it.
I'm one step closer to retirement (I'm only 34 by the way!)

Not bad for a just turned 9 year old :)

Vicky x
The Wool Shop

I'm like a child at Christmas

2010-09-06T10:25:00.004+01:00

I do get awfully excited when new yarn arrives........... even if it is 6 boxes at a time!

This is Can Can by Rico Design.

Granted, it doesn't look much when it's on the shelf...

But the finished item is fab-u-lous!

These are photo's from my phone. I'll get a better picture soon seeing as I've found my camera cable!

Deliciously Yorkshire Awards

2010-08-10T07:00:00.003+01:00

I thought I'd let you all know about the Deliciously Yorkshire Awards.

Deliciously Yorkshire stand for everything that's great about Yorkshire food & drink and every year hold a competition to find the best that Yorkshire can provide.

This year Lippylicious Cakes have entered!

I'm putting it down to a moment of weakness, but the entry form has been sent in and, well, the proof will be in the pudding, so they say! I'm not going to say much about our entry, that information is strictly hush-hush until after judging has been completed.

Judging starts on 24th August and leads up to a fantastic awards ceremony held in November at Rudding Park, Harrogate.

Wish us luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Recent Wedding

2010-08-03T07:00:00.004+01:00

Just a quick post to show off a couple of pics from a recent wedding.

Vanilla and lemon cupcakes with white butterfly wrappers, decorated with butterflies and silver balls and displayed on one of our acrylic stands.

Instead of a top cake we used a small arrangement of flowers with gems and sheer organza.

A proud Mum & Dad were very happy the day after,

a wonderful day had by all.

More creative kids ideas...

2010-07-30T07:00:00.000+01:00

Following on from the creative kids post I did on Monday, my children have come up with another idea that I would like to share with you all. This is very easy & uses up all the annoying little bits & pieces that just seem to accumulate (like odd hair slides, broken necklaces, feathers, pipe cleaners, beads, hama beads, small lego bits etc). Basically anything brightly coloured and small that has no other use.

They're very simple to make & this activity keeps them entertained for ages.

Send them on a 'treasure' hunt, looking for all the little bits & pieces they can find. Under the bed, in wardrobes, in the bottom of toy chests etc. If they can't find enough then pasta or shells or leaves can also be used
Get them to sort them out into piles or pots of different coloured 'bits'
Get them to choose the colours they want on their frame
Get 2 sheets of strong A4 card & cut a rectangle out of the centre of one piece to form a frame shape.
Put loads of PVA glue onto the frame & let them arrange the decoration in whatever inventive ways they want to. Older children can even try making designs with a mosaic style frame
let it dry then find a picture to put in it.

Now I have two lovely frames, I just need two new photo's to go in them. What a good excuse to get my camera out :-)

________________________________________________________

http://www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk/

Portrait photographer based on the Norfolk Suffolk border, specialising in natural portraits of children and families

Fun with food!

2010-07-28T07:00:00.005+01:00

Thanks to Sarah Leigh's suggestion I thought I'd share a little tip about having fun with children during the school holidays. My speciality isn't paint though - mine is FOOD!

As a household we do eat plenty cakes & cupcakes, well, I do need someone to taste everything, but I also let my children (aged 3 and 4) make decisions about meals and a very popular choice is pizza made with their own little hands. It's not as complicated as it might sound either as you can buy ready made pizza bases from the supermarket, both small and large. Also, it takes up more time than you think - a great way to keep children's attention for about half an hour or more without really trying!

Instructions:

Adult job: Chop, slice and grate lots of different toppings and pop them on plates and in bowls ready for little hands to get messy ;-)

For example: Ham, bacon, chicken, salami, chorizo, sausage, sweetcorn, pineapple, mushroom, cherry tomato, green/red/yellow pepper, herbs, mozzarella cheese, goats cheese and regular hard cheese. These are simply examples, if your children are like mine there's probably not a lot on that list that they'll eat! But then, this can be more about having fun than healthy eating...

Adult job: Score the top of the pizza base with a sharp knife, this helps the sauce stay on the base. (I place the bases on greaseproof paper on a baking tray).

If your little ones are able they can add a few spoons of passata (pureed and sieved tomatoes) or pasta sauce (there's really no difference but the pasta sauce comes with 'hidden' vegetables like tomato chunks, mushrooms and pineapple) on to the base, if not, this might be another adult job.

Push the sauce to the edge of the pizza base, this stops the base burning.

Right! Messy fun time! Let the children lose on the bowls & plates and let them make up their own pizza. I tend to give them one topping at a time otherwise you'll end up not being able to distinguish between the bowls as the contents get mixed up ;-)

You might need to give a little guidance about not putting all the toppings in the middle of the base and making something to rival the Eiffel Tower!!!

Cook, slice and serve! I cut the pizzas into small 1"x1" pieces which are easier to eat.

Tonight we made 2 pizzas, 1 with sliced hot dog sausage and cheese and 1 with sliced hot dog sausage, sweetcorn, cheese and tomato chunks....

And of course having fun with food doesn't have to be kept to the school holidays - getting them involved in food preparation is a great way for children to learn about food and at the same time learn about being independent! It doesn't have to stop with pizza either - tortilla wraps are also great but for little hands but it's best to half or even quarter the tortilla first. A great meal and cheap too!

Have fun!!!

Helen @ Lippylicious Cakes

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS ARE HERE!!!

2010-07-26T08:00:00.002+01:00

School holidays have started, so the usual panic of what to do to keep the kids occupied for nearly 6 weeks has started in lots of households up & down the country. My answer to that is to get creative. Most children like getting messy - glueing and painting, creating and generally using their imagination in an expressive way.

So, not a photography post from me this week - I've let my children come up with some ideas...

Their playroom is now an art gallery. Decorated using pictures created by my 2 & 6 year olds, a whole wall is now awash with colour. I love it!

This isn't as awful as it may first seem. They had loads of fun painting outside and once dry the pictures are all bluetacked on one wall. They even got to choose where each picture went. If you don't have a playroom, then a room you're planning to decorate or a spare bedroom will be fine. Just somewhere they can keep the pictures up for a few days. My 6 year old has even invited a friend over to view her 'exhibition'.

If you don't have the space for a full wall 'exhibition', then what about trying one of these ideas:

Get a pack of coloured chalks & let them do some pavement art on your patio or pathway in your garden. Let them go completely mad & don't forget to take a photograph before the rain comes.
Do a series of footprints on paper, cut them out and lay trails on the floor around the house or bluetack a display around a door frame in their bedroom.
Junk modelling is always good fun. Give them your old cereal boxes, toilet roll tubes, yogurt pots, some masking tape and set them a challenge (biggest robot or create a zoo animal)
Get creative in a clean way. Invite all their friends over with their lego & get them to build the biggest tower/funfair ride/elephant/house EVER!
Lend them your camera (under supervision of course) and have a photo day. Kids seem to love cameras & so long as you give them plenty of interesting things to photograph then it'll keep them busy for the day. Increase the activity by printing out their best photographs and making a collage of them.
A baking day. Make some biscuits and let them go wild with some icing.

I'm sure there are a lot more great ways to get creative with the children & I would like to invite the other a Womans Work contributors and fans to share their ideas. Come on, get creative with the kids...

____________________________________________________________________

http://www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk/

Photographer specialising in natural photographs of children and families in East Anglia.

Did you solve the mystery?

2010-07-23T15:49:00.004+01:00

A week has passed since I posted the mystery knit so how did you get on?

I totally forgot to take pictures at stages through the knit but I'll remember next time!

Personally, I think the hat came up a little on the small side and it was quite firm so I'd probably use 4mm needles if I knit it again. I think the 6 rows of the pattern are really funky & you could use it on anything you fancied really.

It's been a bit quiet on A Woman's Work, some lazy beggars had the cheek to have a holiday ;), but do keep checking in to see what we're up to.

Oh, just in case you didn't know The Wool Shop is having a bit of a clear out and there's quite a few bargains to be had (& there will be more added over the weekend) - keep an eye on the specials page.

Vicky
x

Something for the weekend

2010-07-16T19:18:00.004+01:00

How about a wee bit mystery knitting?

This pattern isn't a massive knit and shouldn't be a mystery for too long. I was going to go for a bigger project and post some of the pattern this week and the rest next Friday but I thought I'd keep the first one simple.

So, this item is suitable for a 6 - 12 month child & you'll need approx 50g DK yarn for the main colour, 25g for the 1st contrast and 25g for the 2nd. You'll also need a pair of 3.25mm and 3.75mm needles (old UK size 10 & 9).

Abbreviations -
MC - main colour
CC - contrast colour
K - knit
P - purl
rep - repeat
st(s) - stitches
sl - slip
tog - together
M1 - make 1

Let's cast on......

Using 3.25mm needles and main colour (MC) cast on 10 sts
1st row (wrong side) - Knit
2nd row - K2, M1, K6, M1, K2 (12 sts)
3rd row - Knit
4th row - K2, M1, K8, M1, K2 (14 sts)
Continue to increase this way until there are 24 sts on the needle ending with the increase row.
next - K 8 rows
Cast on 12 sts, knit across these 12 sts, K to end (36 sts)
next - K 8 rows
Break off yarn and leave these sts on a holder.

Using 3.25mm needles and main colour (MC) cast on 10 sts

1st row (wrong side) - Knit
2nd row - K2, M1, K6, M1, K2 (12 sts)
3rd row - Knit
4th row - K2, M1, K8, M1, K2 (14 sts)
Continue to increase this way until there are 24 sts on the needle ending with the increase row.
next - K 9 rows
Cast on 12 sts, knit across these 12 sts, K to end (36 sts)
next - K 8 rows
next row - cast on 29 sts to front of this piece, then knit across stitches on piece on holder (101 sts)
next - K 5 rows

You'll probably have some idea what your knitting now so lets add some colours :)

Change to 3.75mm needles

1st row (right side, hopefully!) - Using 1st CC, *K1, sl1 purlwise with yarn at back of work, rep from * to last st, K1
2nd row - using 1st CC, *P1, K1, rep from * to last st, P1
3rd row - as 1st row but using 2nd CC
4th row - as 2nd row but using 2nd CC
5th row - as 1st row but using MC
6th row - as 2nd row but using MC
These 6 rows form the pattern, continue until work measures 10cm from beginning of pattern, ending with a wrong side row. Break off both contrast colours and continue in main shade only.

next row - *K2tog , rep from * to last st, K1. (51 sts)
next row - *P2tog, rep from * to last st, P1. (26 sts)
next row - *K2tog, rep from * to end. (13 sts)
break off yarn, thread through remaining sts, draw up and fasten off. Join back seam.

I'll post a photo here next Friday of the finished item but please feel free, in the mean time, to pop a picture of your finished item on my wool shop facebook page.

Vicky
x

Try something new and make your day (and hopefully theirs too)!

2010-07-15T17:46:00.016+01:00

Trying new things is half the fun of being creative, but when someone asks you to do something as important as photographing their wedding, a new challenge can suddenly seem rather daunting.

Wedding season is upon us and two good (possibly very crazy) friends have asked me to photograph their weddings next month. I'm also getting more and more calls about weddings for next year. So, my dilemma...do I say no & stick with what I know, or do I grab the bull by the horns and try something new?

photographed by Sarah Leigh Photography, July 2010

Of course I said yes. After burning the candle at both ends reading hundreds of articles/blogs/books on the subject I decided to sign up for a wedding photography course (courtesy of www.photo-training.co.uk). Not only did I get a lot of useful information about the key types of photographs to take and how to pose people for the more formal shots, but was also able to photograph a really great couple, Peter & Amy.

At the end of the day I had so many lovely photo's it was difficult to shortlist, but wanted to share just a few of my favourite photographs from the 'happy couple's' big day:

Introducing the bride - Amy

The groom - Peter

The wedding

Going on this course really made my day and gave me such a confidence boost. Combining a few formal photographs with my usual more candid style will create a lovely momento of the happy couple's big day. Now roll on August so I can put all of my new found knowledge & enthusiasm into practice.

So if you are given the opportunity to try something slightly different, even if it's a little out of your comfort zone, I would say 'go for it'. If you're not 100% sure about it then get a little help through courses or articles, but give it a try.

____________________________________________________________________________________

www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk
Photographer based in East Anglia, specialising in natural portraits of babies, children & families (and now taking bookings for weddings!)

What's on my mind?

2010-07-13T11:38:00.004+01:00

Certainly not cakes, that's for sure.

This is not a cupcake post either.

I find I've nothing to type,

nothing new to tell you

and no new images to share.

There's one reason for this...

I am well and truely, 100% obsessed with Edward Cullen!

As a late entry to the whole Twilight Saga I'm way behind most but very quickly catching up. I watched Twilight last week, read the book on Saturday (yes in 1 day) and watched New Moon on Saturday night. Tonight I'm off to watch Eclipse and I can't wait!!!

I feel like a teenager with a crush!!! LOL!

Tomorrow I'll have all the books so I guess there'll be no baking thoughts for the rest of the week!

A friend passed me the link to a site the other day and I thought I'd share some favourite quotes from the list of phrases you can have printed on to anything from a badge to a t-shirt:

"Twilight... it's not just for teenage girls dammit "

"TEAM EDWARD except when Jacob is shirtless"

"Yes, I'm in love with a cold, sparkling, fictional vampire. So?"

"Forget a knight in shining armour... I want a vampire in a shiny volvo!"

http://www.cafepress.co.uk/

Ah well, back to dreaming.....................

Helen @ Lippylicious

How to make 18 four year olds pose for a group photo.

2010-07-12T21:15:00.006+01:00

I had the "pleasure" of photographing my son's playgroup last week for their end of term photograph. Have you ever tried to get 18 four year olds to look in the same direction, not fidget and smile. Not an easy task. They are a great bunch of children and to give them their dues they did very well, but still it was hard work. The worst attempt, before I had a genius plan, was this one.

So how can I get them to sit still and stop looking around and being bored, for want of a better word? Get them to do the opposite, so then followed a series of much silliness. Starting with "wave your hands in the air and shout Silly Sausages"

"Put your hands on your heads"

"Stick your tongues out and say Silly Sausages" Now there's a feat!!!

Finally, followed very quickly by, "put your hands down nicely and give me your best smile" Bingo, job done.

I don't think its too bad. They are all looking, mostly smiling and sitting nicely. I've had some good feedback from parents and some orders already.

Definately a trick to use in the future. On thursday in fact when I have the other playgroup in the village to photograph.

Wendy Mayflower Photography xx

Odd balls....

2010-07-08T14:02:00.004+01:00

No, not the Sex Education show! Odd balls of yarn. What do you do with them?

If it's an odd ball of DK or 4 ply you can always knit a baby item. A ball of furry eyelash yarn can be used to trim something. Sometimes you can land lucky and find a pattern that needs several colours and the ones you have actually go with each other!

Or you can throw caution to the wind and just start knitting!! That's what I found myself doing with this cardigan for my daughter and it makes quite an interesting knit when you're nearing the end, hoping you won't run out of a particular colour.

The problem I have now is I still have some chunky yarn left and I'm wondering if I can get a cardigan for my niece out of it...

Vicky x

http://www.thewoolshop.co.uk
http://thewoolshop.blogspot.com

We don't just do cupcakes

2010-07-05T14:18:00.000+01:00

It's funny, but every so often orders continually arrive for the same products and the last few months its been cupcakes! Not a celebration cake in sight ;-) Not that I mind of course!

I recently found myself making a loaf cake as a reminder that we're about other bakery items too! Unfortunately, that also meant I had to eat the moist, fudge chocolate loaf afterwards. Oh the things I have to do...

Hey ho, on with the next cupcake order!

Helen @ Lippylicious x

Staying Positive.

2010-07-02T09:02:00.003+01:00

This is something I'm really struggling with at the moment. I think I have come to this new venture at the wrong time. The global recession has made people very careful with their money. People seem to want something for nothing and are not willing to pay for the time and effort a craftsperson puts into their work.

I really thought I had a wide range of work that would appeal to many people. There are a range of subjects and products at many different prices. From £1.75 for a hand made card to £20 for a large framed print. But that doesn't seem to make any difference. People are just not buying. They see my stall, glance and walk by or they stop a while, enthuse over the pictures, say how lovely they are and then leave.

It is incredibly frustrating as I love my pictures and really want to make a bit of money from them. I have put many hours and money into taking the photographs, editing to make them look their best, printing, framing and preparing them for sale, yet still I'm getting nowhere. I know other crafters are having similar problems. People are browsing but not buying so its not just me, but its very hard not to take it personally.

I did wonder whether I'm doing the wrong type of fairs, but what are the right ones? I've done quite a lot of charity fairs, which, although for a great cause, don't always induce people to spend money on the craft side of things. There are often tombolas, cake stalls, raffles etc. which people are more inclined to spend small amounts of money on "for the cause" then don't have the money to spend on anything else. So maybe I should stick to the designated "craft fair". This in itself causes other problems. Tables at these fairs are often expensive and there are not many local to me, thus travelling is involved. So there is the risk of forking out for an expensive fair and getting up at stupid o'clock to get there, and potentially still not selling anything. With the finance for this venture coming entirely from our household budget, which is not looking entirely favourable at the moment, it is hard to justify the risk. There is not a lot of support from the "household" either. I can understand its hard to see me come home from a whole day away from my "responsibility" as a mum having not even covered my petrol costs let alone the cost of the table, but a little bit of interest and support for something I am really passionate about wouldn't go amiss.

So where do we go from here? Who knows? Is there a magic formula? No-one's told me yet. I guess I just wait and see. Try the fairs I can afford and get to easily and create a deadline. If I'm still not selling by christmas I guess I should do a serious rethink. Should I change my approach? Try a different angle? Is this the right thing for me to be doing? Is it good for me/my family for me to be doing this? Maybe I should just find myself a "proper" job!!!

So, back to staying positive. When everything seems against you its very hard to stay positive about it all. I guess all I can do is keep plodding along and hope for the best. I'll keep you posted!!

Wendy, Mayflower Photography xx

Hay Fever Sucks

2010-06-30T15:40:00.009+01:00

I'm not a huge fan of Scottish summers. It's not just the muggy heat I dislike, or the skinny malinky grey skinned men who insist on stripping off who think they look like this

but actually look more like this

It's the blooming hay fever that really gets to me. I know I sound like a moany old trout but the last few days have been terrible. Even my light therapy stick things aren't working great (they've worked wonders the last few years & I would, usually, highly recommend them).
Here they are in action, lol.

So, I've not really got anything to tell you craft wise but I've had a moan, hopefully you've had a laugh at my rudolph nose and we've all had an ogle at Sawyer....... it's not all bad ;)

Vicky x

http://www.thewoolshop.co.uk
http://thewoolshop.blogspot.com

Busman's Holiday?

2010-06-29T10:00:00.002+01:00

So what's the first thing a baker does on holiday?

a) Unpacks, slaps on the factor 30 and bakes in the sun

b) Nips to the nearest pub for a fried breakfast with chips and a pint

c) Takes a trip to the local panaderia to see what delicious cakes & pasties are on display

Well for me the answer is 'C' but I'm sure there are plenty 'A's and 'B's out there! It may sound obvious, but different countries produce different delights.

In France it's mainly madeleines, sweet bread like brioche and puff pastries such as mille feuille.

Cakes soaked in syrup or honey like baklava are traditionally Greek and definitely for those with a sweet tooth!

In Morocco fekkas (similar to biscotti)

and m'hencha (almond pastries) are the

perfect compliment to afternoon tea.

Standing at the counter of the panaderia I'm faced with a difficult decision. Do I go for:

Magdalenas (buns) ideal to eat for breakfast with cafe con leche, melt in the mouth mantecados (crumble cakes) after lunch, or perhaps some simple bocaditos de nata (cream puffs) for afternoon 'merienda'. Or perhaps one of these tasty treats...............

I went for one of each! :-)

Helen @ Lippylicious

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly...

2010-06-28T14:13:00.003+01:00

Another bit of lighthearted fun for a Monday afternoon. Last week I mentioned I would be posting some images that represent 'the good, the bad & the ugly'. So here they are...

THE GOOD

THE BAD

and...

THE UGLY

None of my fellow A Womans Work contributors choose to offer any pics of their projects for this one. Maybe next time!

What other film titles would you like to see in pictures?

______________________________________________________________________________

Who am I?
A mum, girlfriend, taxi driver, cleaner, chef, gardener, house renovator/decorator, friend, school helper and portrait photographer. Juggling life as best as I can.
http://www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk/

Tangled

2010-06-25T15:02:00.004+01:00

Seeing as I'm always in a tangle I thought it would be an appropriate name for my ArtFire studio. It's here if you want a nosey - http://www.artfire.com/users/Tangled
I was going to wait until I had some stock built up but I'd never get round to opening so I figured if the shop/studio's there then I have to get it filled. There is a method to my madness, honest!
I'm planning to list a bit of everything. Nice traditional baby items to multicoloured tea cosies and whatever else takes my fancy. I'll give you a shout when I'm up and running :)

Vicky x

http://www.thewoolshop.co.uk
http://thewoolshop.blogspot.com

Flowers and lots of them.

2010-06-24T20:51:00.006+01:00

Last friday husband had an unexpected day off. We are decorating so I decided it would be a good idea to take the little on out for the day, away from the mess. We ended up in Birmingham at the BBC Gardeners World Live Event at the NEC. I've been before, but not for a couple of years. I liken it to a poor persons Chelsea. Much cheaper to get it and a lot more accessible to us mere mortals.
It was a nice day out with my little girl and provided a wealth of photo opportunities as well as the chance to try out my new toy, a second hand Canon 50D. Lovely. The weather wasn't as good as I'd have liked. It was a bit dull and did rain a bit. The show gardens weren't up to the standard I have seen in previous years and the light just wasn't right to show them off to their full potential.
The floral pavillion held many varieties of flowers and plants of all different types. There was colour everywhere and I managed to get quite a few shots. Below are a selection of my favourites from the day. Enjoy.
Wendy, Mayflower Photography xx

Delivery time :-)

2010-06-23T12:45:00.003+01:00

Apart from taking photographs, there's nothing more exciting for a photograher than receiving a print delivery. My package today contained my new business cards :-).

I'm really happy with them and can't wait to start handing them out. I've also found a few shops who are happy to have them on their counter too.

The printer I use lets you print as many designs as you like on the front of the card so I decided to print up a few different styles. This means I can easily select the most appropriate card for a potential client, based on their requirement (ie the sleeping baby card is ideal for someone with a newborn, the christening girl card is good for someone looking for a christening/party/wedding photographer etc). I'm struggling to decide which are my favourites. Which do you like best?

__________________________________________________________________

http://www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk/

A photographer specialising in natural portraits of children and families, based in East Anglia.

How many chicks can you spot?

2010-06-21T22:32:00.003+01:00

Some more light hearted fun for a Monday afternoon. How many chicks can you spot in this photograph?

Answers on a postcard (no not really - just post them here). And don't worry about the chicks. They were all newly hatched and sleeping huddled together under a heat lamp. Once they grow a little larger they have plenty of room to run around at the open farm where they live.

As well as the usual posts throughout the week, next Monday's fun post will be looking at some of the A Womans Work contributers' most memorable projects. Entitled 'the good, the bad & the ugly!' it won't be one to miss.

___________________________________________________________________

Posted by http://www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk/ . Children's portrait photographer based in the East of England.

If you can't beat them, join them.

2010-06-17T11:38:00.004+01:00

World Cup fever has hit The Wool Shop..........

'Crouch' over here a minute! We've 'Defoe' got a great offer that will leave you 'Fabregas'ted......

Selected shades of Rico Pompon are only £5. To be quite 'Franco', we doubt you'll find it cheaper :)

You'd be 'Wiese' to get in quick before things get 'Messi'. 1 ball knits a 2 metre (approx) long scarf, 'Castro'n 12 stitches and away you go.......

Offer will run for the duration of the World Cup 2010.

Building alliances

2010-06-16T07:00:00.004+01:00

It's hard work building a business on your own, so finding good, solid alliances to work alongside is great for many reasons. In our case this includes working with businesses to supply our products to a wider audience.

The last couple of weeks have been great for building alliances here at Lippylicious Cakes and it's a pleasure to announce a local sandwich shop and outside caterer have placed their first (of many) orders. Le Munch Bunch in Halifax will soon be serving our cupcakes!

Another exciting development has been a partnership with a venue - a 5 Star restored English period house. Crow Hill in Marsden are putting together a selection of activity workshops including landscape photography, rambling and....... cupcake decorating with yours truly!

Spreading the word about your business through another - priceless!

Helen @ Lippylicious x

What do you think he's thinking?

2010-06-14T22:28:00.003+01:00

Another bit of fun for the start of the week. I snapped this little fella just over a week ago at an open farm in Suffolk. He seemed happy to be held and the kids called him spiky.

So, what do you think he's thinking? The best caption will be chosen by the a womans work contributors and will be announced later this week.

__________________________________________________________________

http://www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk/

A photographer based in East Anglia, specialising in natural portraits of children and families.

Spot the difference answers

2010-06-11T13:56:00.004+01:00

Well done to Alice (Bella Luna) and Christina Woolnough, our eagle eyed fans who found 8 differences in this week's spot the difference. Both also correctly guessed the top picture as being the original and so ended on 9 of a possible 10 points. Also to Heather Hine, who found more changes than I made, but guessed the wrong original picture.

The differences were:
1. Remove the sheep from the background (left)
2. remove the blue tag from the sheeps ear
3. clone out writing from tag on sheeps right ear
4. add catchlight to sheeps left eye
5. a virtual facewipe to remove the shine from the sheeps nose
6. Remove the sack from the bottom left of the picture
7. remove the fence post from the bottom left
8. remove the fence post from the bottom right hand corner
and lastly...

9. Add a chick for a bit of fun (my daughter loved this one).

10. Bonus point. The original photograph was the top one.

This was all done using fairly basic tools in Photoshop Elements. If you would like to know more about how photo editing can be used to enhance a photograph naturally then let us know. A number of the photography A Womans Work contributors offer editing services and can quote if you have a photograph you would like to be enhanced or would like advice on trying this sort of thing yourself.

http://www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk/
A photographer specialising in natural looking portraits of children & families (& sheep in this instance!)

2010-06-10T18:15:00.002+01:00

Well I've been blogging here for a while, but yet to do a "Meet the Artist" post.

So here I am, this is me.

What defines you as an artist?

Well, I'm a photographer, what sort, I'm not sure yet. I've dabbled in various different things. A bit of portrait work, event photography, product shots and fine art prints. I think I prefer fine art work and product photography. Basically things that don't move are a lot easier to photograph than things that need direction and have minds of their own, especially small ones ;-)

Where do you live?

I live in a large village about 10 minutes south east of Cambridge.

How does your place of residence influence your creativity?

To be honest I find it restricts me a little. We are a little short of beauty spots and things like public gardens etc where I live. As a major passion is flowers that makes it a little tricky. The M11 corridor is a very urban area and that is not where my passion lies. Cambridge itself is good for the history and beautiful architecture, but is heaving with tourists all year round. My heart is in the hills, which we are little short of around here. My ideal would be to live in Yorkshire (where I lived as a child), Cumbria or Scotland for their beautiful landscapes.

Having said that, there are some places I love. Our nearest National Trust property has some fantastic gardens that are ever changing, as well as the house itself, river, lakes and watermill.

What is the last thing you created?

Technically the last things I photographed were a rainbow which didn't come out very well and some kites at a kite festival, which was on a very dull day so the pictures weren't great. This picture was taken last week at a garden I discovered in Saffron Walden. I had heard friends talk about it, but had never been. A sunny day in half term leant itself well to an explore with the children. There were some beautiful flowers out, but I must go back when the rose garden is at its peak.

How did you get into what you do? Who inspires you?
I've always love photography. I also think I have always been quite artistic, but cannot draw or paint. I see pictures in my head, but am completely incapable of putting them on paper. Photography allows me to "see" things in my head and use the camera to create them.
My biggest inspiration I think is my Dad. He always has a camera in his hand and my love of photography comes directly from him. He is keen on the different and unusual and that is relected in my photography too.

What does the future hold?
The million dollar question. I would love to be able to make a good living from my photography. I would love for people to love my photographs as much as I do. It is such a buzz when someone enthuses about something you have created.
I would like to branch out to investigate other types of photography. At some point I would love to have the opportunity to do some reportage photography. Capturing an event or situation on "film", to record it for the world to see. At the moment that is a long way off. Skills and family commitments mean I am not able to follow this dream yet, but maybe one day. Who knows where my path will lead me!

Wendy Mayflower Photography. xx

Ink on Skin

2010-06-09T22:46:00.003+01:00

There's something about things written on the skin that I just love in photography. Kinda kooky.

By Alice www.bellalunaphotography.co.uk

A bit of fun for a wet Tuesday afternoon...

2010-06-08T12:44:00.003+01:00

Spot the difference!

I thought it would be fun to have a little spot the difference quiz. How many can you find?

Post your answers either on the AWW blog or the blog facebook fanpage. Some are obvious and some are more difficult to find. For a bonus point, say which of the images above you think is the original one.

The answers will be posted in a few days. Go on, have a go! And pass this on to your friends too...

www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk
Photographer specialising in natural portraits of children and families in East Anglia.

Competition - good, bad or ugly?

2010-06-07T07:00:00.004+01:00

Ultimately, the answer is good!

Keeping abreast of what your competition is offering is a great way of making sure you stay up to date with local trends and a good way of checking they're not directly copying your ideas. Competition is also great for keeping you on your toes and making sure your business doesn't stagnate.

Unfortunately, competition gets ugly when rumours and gossip are spread in an effort to discredit a particular business, with the aim of either winning the customer or just simply making sure the customer does not visit said business. Personally I don't get involved. It's not worth it. I really don't see the point in feuds and cliques. I try to get along with everyone and I have a selection of businesses - even a cake business, that I recommend. It's much better to focus on positives not negatives!

Bad competition can come in the form of too many businesses offering similar products in the same locale. Take for instance my visit to a local food (market) festival in Halifax last weekend - in all a great festival (if a little too short on local, homemade burgers etc in my opinion, but then I did go along to get some lunch!). The problem for me was there was just too many cupcakers and I *think* all from out of town but certainly as far as Rotherham & Harrogate. If Lippylicious would have taken part (thankfully I decided against it) we would have been one of six cupcake stands in an area that's really not large enough to take six businesses offering the same product.

But in a way this takes me back to the first point - having a good look at all five competitors made me realise our products are not the same as those seen at the weekend and more importantly to prospective customers, our prices seem to be pretty good!

Hmmm, maybe I should have a price increase... ;-)

Ok, maybe I can do portraits.

2010-06-03T18:19:00.005+01:00

I've always struggled a bit with portraits. I find having a set amount of time to capture someone's most precious memories incredibly stressful. I'll leave that to the experts (SarahLeigh, Airgrace, Bellaluna and Little People)
However, there are times when it goes just right. On this occassion it was a family gathering. Really good natural lighting and relaxed and happy subjects provided some great opportunities. I'm really pleased with this set of pictures. All are straight off the camera and have had nothing done to them.
Maybe I should consider portraits again. Hmmmm.
Wendy - Mayflower Photography xx

Don't give up your day job!

2010-06-01T07:59:00.000+01:00

A dilemma a lot of people in my position face is how to balance setting up a business with other commitments. Family, a day job, relationships, concern that the hobby you enjoy may get boring or creativity stifled, personal insecurities - they all play a part.

It's quite common for new businesses to start up in your spare time. It's reassuring to balance doing something you enjoy with a regular paid 'day job'. This is what I've been doing since setting up my business in 2008. I've had a nice steady stream of portrait work to build my confidence and experience, but never really had the time to devote to building the business further. Well, here's some Exciting news!

As of 1st June Photography will be my only 'work'. How great is that? A 'job' based on something you love so much... This was always part of my 5 year plan, but redundancy has helped me to make the leap now!

So, here's a little introduction for those of you who don't know me.

What defines you as an artist?
That's a difficult one. I guess it's my obsession with capturing the most magical moments in life. I'm rarely without my camera & in my spare time, I'm either photographing, editing photographs, planning days out to photograph or reading about photography.

Where do you live?
East Anglia

How does your place of residence influence your photography?
It's such a beautiful area of the country - surrounded by fields, rivers, beaches...what more could you want?

How did you get into photography?
I've always enjoyed taking photographs, but it wasn't until I got my first DSLR camera around 3 years ago that I got more serious about it. I've also spent the last 10+ years working in marketing where I spent a lot of time briefing photographers & shortlisting the best photographs for our advertisements etc. I think my experience from the client/business side helps me a lot with composition and to visualise not just what I see through the camera lens, but what I want to achieve with the final photograph.

Where did you learn about photography?
So much of this is about trial and error. Developing your own style, not just being taught someone else's way of doing it. Practice, practice & more practice.

In addition to this, I studied photography through the OU and Open College of Arts in my spare time, read a number of photography magazines regularly and spend a lot of time on flickr (where you can get support, advice and critiques whenever you need them).

Where do you get your inspiration from?
A smile on a child's face, the sun glinting through the trees, the sea washing up on the beach, a bird or flower in the garden... any moment of beauty can make me rush for my camera.

But most of all my own children.

What is your most treasured object in your studio?
My camera - A Canon EOS 5D.

What do you like best about your studio?
Plenty of room to develop it into a 'real' studio in the future. It's also quiet as the children rarely come in here.

What would you change about your studio?
It needs clearing out and organising. We moved here a year ago & we still have moving boxes in this room. A proper studio will mean I can take on more product photography work, too.

What role does your family play in your photography?
They are everything. The photography business should enable me to balance spending time with my children and generating an income doing something I love. If it wasn't for them, I would still be sitting in an office 5 days a week craving some sort of a creative outlet.

What other craft would you be interested in learning? Why?
I'm not sure. I've tried painting, drawing, design, jewellery making and don't really have the patience to knit. I'd love to do something with my hands - maybe clay sculpting? I've always wanted to try creating a large mosaic too.

What are your goals in respect to your business?
To make it a success without compromising my creativity.

What has been your most rewarding experience regarding your craft?
The smile on a mums face when I deliver her prints.

Anything else you'd like to add?
This blog entry marks the formal launch of Sarah Leigh Photography. I'm looking forward to the challenges ahead & hope that no-one says 'don't give up your day job', because I already have!

Wish me luck...

http://www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk/ a photographer based in East Anglia specialising in natural portraits of families and children. Feel free to post comments on this blog or contact me via my website. Any feedback about my blogs/website/photographs is gratefully received.

Something to tickle your tastebuds!

2010-05-31T07:00:00.001+01:00

Well, I did mention a while ago about our new summer fruit gateaux, so while we're putting together the images of the new cakes for the website I thought I'd tempt you with a glimpse.

Any one fancy a slice of strawberry gateau?

This particular strawberry gateau is topped with continental chocolate shavings and served with sliced strawberry and a pot of single cream...

I trust you're tempted!

Until next time........ Helen @ Lippylicious Cakes

Ask the women went live

2010-05-30T08:37:00.000+01:00

Were you there?

On Wednesday 26th May we had a live discussion on the blog. We wanted to give our readers a chance to ask us anything they wanted. We went live from 7pm until 9pm with a variety of 'women' available to answer the questions that came in.

Claire asked 'How did you know you were ready to take the step from being a keen amateur to actually charging for your work?'

Julie wanted to know what is currently the biggest inspiration for our work and how has this changed over time?

We discussed the price of hand knitted items and the best way to photograph jewellery.

If you'd like to read our replies to these questions and more, why not have a look at the discussion board and look out for the next time we hold a live 'ask the women' night, where you could have your questions answered too.

Tiny treasures

2010-05-29T10:00:00.002+01:00

I have a love of miniature things. There, I've admitted it. A friend of mine once baffled a waiter while we were having dinner by asking if he could take the tiny jug (which was holding the chocolate sauce for his dessert) because I thought it was cute. So when I have the chance to go in a shop that sells stuff for doll's houses, there's no way I'm coming out empty-handed. My latest shopping trip saw me come out with this lot (ruler shows centimetres):

The scissors have already been made into earrings (which sold):

I also have a tiny tea set which is being made into various items of jewellery.

But I'm not alone in my love of dinky things. Check out this selection of tiny lovelies....

Lovely lemon post earrings by Dirt Road South.

Milton, the tiny plush bat by NightFallTeddies.

Tiny paper hummingbird by Paper Leaves.

Set of Ninja companions by Lilley.

Take my breath away.......

2010-05-28T11:36:00.004+01:00

Every once in a while I capture a moment that just takes my breath away, its more often a case of being in the right place at the right time because you can never stage these beautiful moments.

Today I thought I'd share a couple of my most beautiful moments with you.

Angie ~ Airgrace Photography

Cards, cards, cards.

2010-05-27T21:25:00.003+01:00

Cards was my first outlet for my photographs and my portfolio has grown over the last few years. All my cards are blank inside and can be used for any occasion, however, there are some that are specifically designed for particular events. Some of which can be seen below. For a full range of cards please visit www.mayflowerphotography.co.uk

New Home

New Baby

New baby boy/girl twins

Christening

Wedding

Bon Voyage

Wendy Mayflower Photography. xx

Ask the Women

2010-05-26T17:23:00.002+01:00

Come and join us tonight for a glass of wine and a chat. You bring the wine, we'll be there to chat.

Ask the Women is a chance for you all to ask those burning questions that you're dying to know the answers to. We can answer questions about our work, crafts and just us in general.

So take your opportunity to know the Women better.

See you on the facebook page discussion boards tonight from 7pm until 9pm.

The Women xx

What does a baker do in her spare time?

2010-05-25T07:00:00.001+01:00

I can't remember the last time I had a free weekend and by free weekend I mean NOTHING planned - no orders, no client appointments, no children's parties to take the girls to and no study (I'm in the final year of a psychology degree). But when free weekends come along I try to make the most of them and go somewhere with the family - anywhere!

The last outing we had was to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and these days I go everywhere with my camera. The Park was fabulous - so much to capture and not just the sculptures...

I find photography relaxing and the perfect escape from everything else. I know nothing compared to the AWW professional photographers... I just love taking photos.

I love taking photos of my girls...

and I love close ups...

I love to play around with black & white...

and to edit the photos to make them something completely different...

Thank goodness for digital photography - my relaxation would cost a fortune otherwise!

Helen @ Lippylicious Cakes

My Flashforward

2010-05-24T21:37:00.005+01:00

This'll be me in a few years!

Vicky x

knitmeknitme.blogspot.com
thewoolshop.co.uk

Location, location, location...

2010-05-23T08:04:00.017+01:00

Beautiful beaches, cornfields, meadows and forests. Rather than having a portrait photograph taken in a studio, a growing trend is for people to consider their surroundings and to incorporate this into their portraits. I'm lucky to live in a beautiful area of the country (East Anglia) so most of the time this is what I aim to do.

When you book a remote portrait photographer you need to think a little about what type of photograph you would like to achieve and where might be a suitable location for this. Your photograher will know a few favourite locations in the area, but the odds are that you know your immediate area better than them. You need to consider where your families wil be at ease and well as the look and feel of the location and the photographs you want to achieve.

So, what are your choices? The possibilities are endless really, but here are a few ideas:

Home

The most straight forward location is a home shoot. This way it doesn't matter what the weather is like. Ideal if you like a studio look to your photographs or would like to build some element of your home into the photograph. You need to make sure there's an area that's not cluttered and gives the models & photographer room to move.

Garden

Sometimes the best locations are right on your doorstep. This photograph was taken right outside the front door. A reasonable sized area for children to run around in is ideal. Also, where there are bushes or fences to act as a backdrop, rather than a building or garden toys.

Forest

I LOVE photographing in forests. The children have so much fun, running around, climbing trees, playing in the leaves etc.

The perfect location for any season. Bluebells & daffodills in the spring, autumn colours in the Autumn and shade in the summer.

Seaside

A great location for the spring/summer and I'm lucky enough to have a number of lovely beaches close by. Building sandcastles, paddling in the sea, fishing in rock pools, running along the sand dunes... This is one of those locations where the family have a brilliant day out as well as getting some lovely photographs. Watch out for bright, mid-day sunshine in the summer, though.

Meadows

At this time of year you get some lovely wildflower meadows appearing. What a lovely backdrop. One word of caution - if you do want your photoshoot in a wildflower meadow, make it quick as they have a habit of being mown down

Urban locations

You can get some great photographs with the family on old steps or infront of garages, playing in fountains or in the doorway of a historic building... With a little imagination any urban area can provide a great backdrop.

Other ideas

Zoos and other places of interest can sometimes work too. You do need to be careful if it's publically owned or National Trust, though, as you may need permission to be photographed there.

Where are your favourite places to take photographs of your family? Let us know...

I have some exciting news coming up in my next blog entry, so stay tuned!

Who am I? I am http://www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk/ - creative photographer specialising in natural portraits of children and families in East Anglia. Feel free to post comments or questions about this article.

Self Suspended...

2010-05-21T19:54:00.003+01:00

I had to admit to being a bit of a serial flitter when it comes to subject matter, but occasionally I get so caught up in enthusiasm for a subject I end up doing a little series.

Today I thought I'd blog about the 'Self Suspended' series of paintings I am currently working on...

Back in January this year I'd been in a bit of a post-Christmas creative flunk. I was really struggling to get my painting mojo back.. One evening I was sitting, being miserable, mulling on why I felt unable to go and paint - and suddenly was inspired to jump up, run up to the studio (no mean feat, its two flights of stairs and I've only got little legs!) and paint this abstract...

'Self Suspended in the Universe' 16 x 20". Acrylic on canvas.
Currently on display at Leakys Bookshop, Inverness.

Close up of 'Self Suspended in the Universe'

I had just thought to myself "this is all far too complex", fretting and worriyng, thinking in circles, what would be be like to escape my thoughts for a bit?... To pare things right down. To become just specs of energy, insignificant and free, in a Universe of wide open space and possibility. Free to express myself and just exist, enjoy the beauty around me.

Some days I need to escape out to somewhere beautiful or exciting, that day I was impressed to be able to escape to my imagination.

'Self Suspended II'
8 x 10". Acrylic on canvas.

'Self Suspended II' was a much smaller and more subtle affair - perhaps too subtle I think, but a good experiment in working out the way things would progress...

'Self Suspended III'
20 x 28". Acrylic on canvas.
Currently on display at Leakys Bookshop, Inverness.

By the time I painted 'Self Suspended III' I was far more back into my flow of painting, and decided to go for BIG and BOLD and frankly a bit in your face. I also recorded a little time lapse video of me painting it, start to finish...

And now I find myself working on 'Self Suspended IV'. A long narrow canvas (8 x 20") and something a little different in terms of composition. I'll keep you posted on how this one goes...

Meet the Artist ~ Angie from Airgrace Photography

2010-05-20T17:27:00.003+01:00

What defines you as an artist?

The word 'natural' totally defines my work as an artist. I am passionate about people being depicted in their natural environment and acting natually. I never ask clients to pose, or stand a particular way, infact I never do anything other than turn up to a location that the client has chosen, usually a park, beach or forest, provide a few toys to keep the children amused and then observe them as they play and capture them doing what children do best. Even adult shoots are done naturally with little prompting. (Adults need a little confidence boost to get them going!)

Where do you live?

I live in a lovely small town called Fareham in Hampshire, everything I need and want is literally on my doorstep.

How does your place of residence influence your crafting?

Living centrally to everything means I'm very heavily influenced by my surroundings, its one of the reasons I only photography outdoors. Why stick with a boring white or black background in a studio when we have so much beauty on our doorstep. I am ten minutes drive from the beach and the woods, and a few minutes walk to the local park. I never lack inspiration once I set foot outside the door.

How did you get into your craft?

My dad was a keen photographer, so at 10 years old and wanting to follow in his footsteps, I asked for a camera and it all went from there. I have always loved looking out for a great photo opportunity and have hundreds and hundreds of photographs dating back from 1983!

What role does your family play in your craft?

Unfortunately for them, they're my models! Everywhere we go, my camera goes with us so they always appear in my photos and on my Airgrace Blog

Besides your own craft whatever crafts do you admire?

All of them! I think there are so many talented people out there and I love looking at their work, whether they draw, paint, sew, bake, scrapbook, I can happily spend an afternoon browsing.

What was the last thing you 'created?' Will you show us a picture?

I recently photographed a very lovely family down at the beach. The family specified they wanted photos on the beach and some by the beach huts. I am still in the middle of editing the photographs so the client hasn't seen them yet but here's a sneaky peak.

It seemed like a good idea at the time!

2010-05-19T18:11:00.005+01:00

Last Thursday night, as my husband was sorting out some printing for a night out we were going to on Friday, I had a slightly bonkers idea. We were going to a James Bond Casino night in aid of the two playgroups and Infants school in the village. Some of my friends were organising and husband had agreed to print table plans, menus etc. as he works for a printing company.

"Shall I volunteer to take photos?" I asked him. Great idea he said. So I emailed the organisers, who agreed. Cue me spending the evening printing out cards with information on, charging batteries, clearing memory cards and relearning how to use my flash gun!!!

I was very aprehensive as the only event work I'd done before was my cousin's 21st birthday party two years ago and he went round with me to get photos with everyone, however I did learn valuable lessons from that event.

It took a while to get going. Knowing a lot of the people there made it more difficult. It felt a little like I was intruding and a lot of them don't know that I do photography. I did get a lot of questions, but people were interested which was great.

Getting over my initial fears and reservations I got into the swing of it and really enjoyed myself. I got some nice ones at the tables and people dancing as well as some good ones of people playing games in the casino. There were some nice candid ones too.

I got chatting to the guys who organised the casino and they were very interested and could maybe get me some event work if I decide I want to do it, which was a real confidence booster. They also let me take a few pictures of their kit for my own usage. They may use them for their own advertising too.

All in all it went well and I was pleased with the results. Another potential avenue to explore!

Here are a few pictures from the night.

Wendy Mayflower Photography x

Beads, beads, beads, beads!

2010-05-18T09:00:00.000+01:00

I have been making jewellery for a few years now, and I have developed quite an obsession with beads. If we are going away somewhere, even just a day trip, I will casually check on the internet to see if there are any bead shops nearby.

In these last few years, I have managed to amass quite a large stash of beads:

And as you can see, it's not just beads, it's buttons too. Anything sparkly or brightly coloured, and I'm drawn to it, like a magpie.

Sometimes I will see beads and know exactly what I want to make with them, before I've even bought them. Other times I will just "need" to have the beads, and they may sit in my stash for weeks or even months before inspiration hits me, and I realise what I want to make with them.

I have recently started writing for another blog, which was started by a group of beaders on a message board I use. The idea of the blog is to challenge yourself to use up beads in your stash, and then post photos of the finished items to share with the group. You can find my first post here. However, within a day or two of me writing that post, I received some new beads to add to my stash:

They're blown glass beads, and they're so, so pretty. Most of them look like sweets, it's no wonder I couldn't resist them:

I do have some ideas for them though, so these beads at least won't be hidden away in my stash for long...

National Cupcake Week 2010

2010-05-18T07:15:00.000+01:00

13th - 19th September 2010

Just a quick post to let you know the dates have been set for National Cupcake Week 2010 - a fantastic week-long extravaganza, organised by British Baker magazine to celebrate the nation's favourite bakery product.

The aim of the week is to celebrate the many wonderful recipes and exotic flavours available from bakeries, shops, supermarkets and cafes across the UK.

This year, British Baker is planning a whole series of different initiatives and events for bakeries and cake lovers alike.

Lippylicious Cakes will have something special to celebrate and there'll be more details nearer the time. We'll keep you informed...

ttfn x

http://www.lippyliciouscakes.co.uk/

Childs Play

2010-05-14T16:59:00.000+01:00

Although photography has always been an interest it wasn't until I gave up work to be a full time mum that I decided that I wanted to move my hobby forward and potentially make a bit of money out of it. I figured it was a job that could work easily around the children. "Its easy to take the camera while we're out and about" I thought.

However, what I didn't bank on was the moans from the buggy because we'd stopped moving and the constant "Mummy, look at this!" "Mummy, can we go here" "Come on Mummy, I'm bored!" Spending time setting up a shot, taking multiple angles, trying different settings etc, just doesn't happen when there are two small people in tow. We definately go to enough places where I can photograph things, but sometimes its just too difficult. I much prefer going without the children so I'm not rushed and can do things at my own pace.

Although the children do make it difficult to do things the way I'd ideally like to, they do provide opportunities. We have mountains of brightly coloured things that just cry out to be photographed. It's amazing how many different ways there are of arranging bricks, pencils and other toys.

This teddy was one of the first pictures I took with a view to making cards. It is very popular as a general birthday card for children or a new baby card.

A gift to my eldest on his christening, this cup and cutlery set has provided me with the perfect christening card. Again, it is a very popular design and a little bit different to the usual high street cards.

And finally, sweeties. Always a hit with children of all ages. This one usually makes people smile as they browse through the prints at craft fairs.

All photos are available to buy as prints or cards. Contact me at wendy@mayflowerphotography.co.uk for details.

Wendy - Mayflower Photography xx

What were they thinking?

2010-05-13T20:31:00.000+01:00

Nothing cheers me up more than looking through the masses of patterns I've collected over the years. Some of them were my mum's, some my granny's and some have been handed in from people not able to knit any more. But one question keeps cropping up - What were they thinking?

I've only picked 4 patterns to show you because I could be here all night otherwise :D

The jumpers on this pattern aren't that bad but the girls hair style. Poor love!

Chick chick chick chick chicken, lay a little egg for me!

The cord shorts! The shoes! The cardigan with B's, love hearts and, um, watering cans????? Maybe the girls called Brenda and she really likes gardening!

This one has a special place in my heart! It's the first thing I tried to knit (I must have been about 12 years old). It's a chunky knit so the theory was I wouldn't get bored and the colour changes for those fetching spots would help keep my interest.

I got up to row 21......... out of 120 (it's still scribbled on the pattern "start on row 22"). I was also knitting to fit a 28" chest, those were the days!

Vicky
knitmeknitme.blogspot.com
www.thewoolshop.co.uk

A Photographer's Nightmare

2010-05-12T10:32:00.003+01:00

There's not much worse than the day before a shoot waking up with a banging headache, sore throat and a million and one sneezes; the day of the shoot it then pours with rain and we have to cancel, so by the time you get to the next day, and two shoots to cover and still not feeling right, still grey clouds in the sky, you start to wonder if anything will go your way and then you meet up with the loveliest families that play and laugh and make you feel like you're one of their friends, not just someone that they're employing for the morning and to top it all off you discover a photographer's dream ~ a little girl that loves the camera and the camera loves her and all is right with the world again!

www.airgracephotography.co.uk

Dreams & Ambitions

2010-05-11T07:00:00.004+01:00

I'd originally started to write about the Summer Fruit Gateaux that will be soon making an appearance at Lippylicious Cakes, but to be honest, typing about fresh summer fruit just doesn't seem right at the moment - there's no sunshine and I'm freezing cold!

I'm in a dreamy mood so I thought I'd give you a peek into my mind, well my thoughts to be exact as a trip into my mind would be pretty short. Full of recipes, kids and answers to the next "do you know where my ... is" question!

My thoughts at the moment are on the future but it's a pretty expensive future. I love making cakes & desserts and I love being at home, but I now feel so limited in my home bakery that I'm looking for premises. You don't know how great it would make me feel to be able to display all the cakes & desserts properly! It would be fantastic to actually bake the one's that haven't even made it on to paper yet and are still sat gathering icing sugar in my head!

I get really excited just thinking about having a patisserie of my own but I need someone to keep my feet on the floor as I do get carried away.

The people who have that unenviable task are my Husband and my Mum & Dad. "Too expensive", "you're off running again" and "calm down", just 3 phrases I seem to have heard pretty often just recently.

So for the moment a patisserie is still a dream.

But while it's still a dream I can 'virtually' decorate each shop I find that might suit...

I can plan the layout of the shop and decide what will fill the sparkling mirrored display cabinets...

I can plan my grand opening day with special offers, balloons and streamers...

I can dress the huge shop window with tempting treats...

I can lovingly box individual apple tarte tatin and drizzle thick chocolate fudge sauce over a mountain of fresh profiteroles...

I can smell the delicious aromas of cakes baking in the oven and fresh ground coffee...

And if there's still time, I can dream about customers queing out the door - some new, some returning for more...

Well, I can dream, can't I...?

ps, the photos aren't mine!

http://www.myfabnewpatisserie-comealongandputonafewpounds.com/ ;-)

AKA Lippylicious Cakes.

Frame it!

2010-05-10T10:10:00.007+01:00

One of the wonderful things about digital photography is the ability to take hundreds of photographs without spending a fortune to print them before you can see them. Unfortunalty this also means most are never seen by anyone other than the photographer. Everyone does it – we all snap away enthusiastically and take some lovely photographs, but often don’t get round to doing anything else with them. What a shame.

Take pride in your photographs!

I used to do this myself and it wasn’t until I started photographing other people’s children & seeing how much they valued their framed prints that I started displaying my own. Now I’m forever popping into the local framers, looking for ideas and picking up frames ‘I just can’t live without’. I particularly love this one at the moment as it's so versatile and easily updated, depending on my mood.

There are so many different styles of frames around & the choice of frame is such a personal thing, but there are a few things that can help with the decision:-

Silver or black frames work well with black & white photographs and usually go well in any room
A large print often works best if the frame is chosen with the décor of rest of the room in mind, otherwise it may overpower the room

Framing images together is often a nice way of displaying photographs of siblings

Or for something different look for something quirky and fun, like these love frames

If you’re not sure what style might work with your photograph, visit your local independent framers for advice, or try the virtual framing tool at http://www.eframe.co.uk/ .

And don't be afraid to experiment. Some of the most interesting displays I’ve seen are of a number of photographs hung together in an eclectic mix of frames.

What else is there?

If you don't want a print hanging on your wall, there are lots of other things you can do with your photographs:

1. Set up an online photo album and share your photo’s with friends/family.
2. Buy a really nice, traditional photo album or scrap book and keep it up to date.
3. The quality of photo books is amazing nowadays and people often leave their photo books out for them/friends/family to look through whenever they want.
4. Digital photo frames have come down in price a lot recently and are a good way of displaying lots of photos in one place.
5. Canvas prints are very popular and work well in most homes

6. Photo gifts. Again, these have become really popular over the past couple of years. What about a mug or mouse mat, coaster or notebook with your favourite photograph printed on the front. These and lots more can be purchased through a number of high street photo printers. I've found keyrings are particularly popular and almost all of my clients purchase keyrings for themselves & their family after a shoot. I’m often asked to make these up using people’s own photographs too.

7. Or why not turn your photograph into a fun poster for your childs bedroom, like this one

‘But my photograph isn’t good enough!’
Of course it is or you wouldn’t love it so much. Sometimes photographs come out a little dark or maybe need cropping or would look better in black and white. Maybe your little one has a bruise on his/her head that needs removing or crumbs around their face. Some of the AWW photographers (including me) offer a photo editing service; so if you have a photograph you would like to receive a little TLC, feel free to get in touch.

Don’t leave your favourite photo’s languishing on your hard drive…take pride in them, share them and admire them!

I hope you’ve found this of interest. To see more of my work, please visit www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk . I would love some feedback, so please leave comments/questions on here or via my website.

Sarah Leigh Photography: Creative family photographer based in East Anglia

Follow Friday

2010-05-07T10:00:00.035+01:00

If you're not on Twitter, you may not know about Follow Friday. It's when the people of Twittersphere recommend some people they follow, for others to follow too.

Today I'm going to tell you about some photographers I follow on Flickr. If you're not in the habit of browsing Flickr, you should! If you're a photographer - it's a must - a fantastic resource to learn from others and receive and give comments or constructive criticism. Even as a non-photographer there is plenty to see there to appreciate, but be warned - it can be fairly addictive business!

Before a shoot, I find out the ages of the people I will be shooting. I then go on to Flickr to find some inspiration - something I could take an idea from and transform it to create a new vision.

An example of such work is this photo of mine

which was inspired by this picture I'd seen the day before.

For baby portraits, here are some Flickrites I find awe inspiring, I look up to, and recommend you follow:

1. ::: bear cub :::, 2. Identical Twins, 3. babe in a basket :), 4. a little miracle, 5. grey egg, 6. Piper & Jack, 7. 6 months old. baby photographer., 8. Baby as Art | sharing the love., 9. Hanging around..., 10. Organic., 11. puckered out., 12. Sweet Pea, 13. Simple

By Alice, www.bellalunaphotography.co.uk

Covent Garden Real Food Market

2010-05-06T09:45:00.003+01:00

I went down to London on Saturday, without children, to meet a friend for a trip to the theatre. I decided to make the most of this rare day without the children and made hubby get up early so we could mooch around Covent Garden looking for photo opportunities. Hubby had done a bit of research and found out that there was a real food market going on which provided, not only some fantastic smells, but a whole array of amazingly present food, just crying out to be photographed.

The atmosphere was lovely. Lots of people milling around. Chefs cooking amazing looking dishes. Things to try and things to buy.

Tables spread with sweet stuff, savoury stuff, oils and coffees.

Mushrooms of every shape and size, made into the most beautiful smelling risotto or as they were picked for your own recipe.

Olives of every colour and size, try a few and pick your favourite for that perfect pre dinner snack.

Food from all over the world from goat curry from the Carribean to these Polish snacks and meat. At least I think they were Polish ;-)

And, for when you've tried all that, the perfect pudding mouthful. Delicious puddings in a shot glass. A treat indeed. Now which one to choose, or blow the diet and try them all.

I would highly recommend, if you're around the Covent Garden area on a Saturday, you check out the fair and see what goodies you can find.

Click on any of the pictures to see a larger version. Check out my own blog for more delights of Covent Garden.

Wendy Mayflower Photography xx

Give your favorite snaps the love they deserve!

2010-05-05T10:00:00.000+01:00

I client and fan of my work sent me an email today asking if I would be interested in editing some of her favorite shots from her recent hols. At first I wasn't sure but then I thought......hmmmmm........what a great service to offer my clients. Unless your a Photographer (even then it's not always possible) you don't get to capture and record all those wonderful memories over the years in a way that you'd be proud or happy to put it up on your wall as you may with some "pro shots". Whether its a snap shot your Great Aunt took on your wedding day of a moment your Photographer missed, or your little ones first smile at the camera, or just a snap shot of you and your favorite person which you just love but it just doesn't come up to scratch.

I myself have a few wonderful shots from my wedding day which my photographer missed (he missed quiet a few but lets not go there!!!!) that I love but with my obsessive eye to details and perfection for things to look "perfect" they just weren't tarted up enough for my likeing.

Some examples (PLEASE NOTE THESE PHOTOGRAPHS WHERE NOT TAKEN BY ME JUST EDITED!!:

So if you have a favorite, fabulous shot that you think needs tarting up then drop me a line and we can see what i can do. (Details and prices soon to be on my websites www.littlepeopl-photography.com and www.sophieconnellphotography.com.)

Thanks for reading!!

Sophie xx

Bagsy One!

2010-05-04T17:47:00.003+01:00

I think I uploaded some pics to the A Woman's Work Facebook page some days ago, but just a reminder I have a very limited selection of original, hand painted, one of a kind Art Bags currently available. This is a one off to have fun with some beautiful high quality bags that I already had - once these are gone that's it!

The process of decorating these involves no printing - everything painted with my own fair hands onto brand new high quality, thick woven eco-bags. These have super strong stiching and comfy thick handles, and measure a whopping 19 x 18" (48 x 46 cm) - big and strong enough for a beach bag, library books, or a very roomy shopper!

Paints used are specially mixed for fabric and are very durable. Bags can be washed at 40 degrees with no damage to the design.

You can find out more by clicking through to my Facebook page - all of the designs below are still available as of this evening, but there is only one of each, so be quick and bagsy yours before it goes!

Standing Stones I

Purple Angel

Purple / Red Heart

Russian Doll

Yellow / White Angel

A quilting revelation

2010-05-03T08:00:00.001+01:00

Today I went to the Open European Quilt Championships. Yes, really. It was being held in a venue 10 minutes from my house (the same venue where the Dutch Open Darts Tournament is held), and my friend, Sophie, really wanted to go, so I thought it would be rude to object. I wasn't prepared for the sheer size of the show, and the variety of quilts on display.

I'd always thought of quilting as a very tradtional kind of craft, a real 'home-maker' thing - you know, lots of pastels, country style fabrics, and the occasional goose with a bow round its neck thrown in for good measure. Well, there *were* a few traditional quilts at the show. But there were other amazing pieces of work too - pieces of art, really. I took a load of photos, although the light was poor. Here are a few of my favourites...

The photo does not do this quilt justice at all - it was stunning, with so much detail, and some beautiful sparkling threads:

I love the pattern and the colours in this one - there's some bead detail too, which of course, got my vote:

This is a detail from a quilt with at least a dozen frogs on it. I loved the detail in this one:

And this is more traditional style, but each block used different techniques, stitches etc.

Detail of one block:

And it was this quilt, along with another similar one, which made me wonder if I could make a quilt. Not a full size quilt, I don't have the skills or the patience. But something on a much smaller scale. And then we found a book stall, and I discovered a book about creating miniature works of art, called Inchies. *small pause (see what I did there?) whilst the childish amongst us giggle at the name* :-D

So, Inchies. *snigger* These are, as the name suggests, tiny pieces of art which are 1 inch high by 1 inch wide. And they seem quite popular - there is even a Flickr group devoted to them. Felt seems to be a popular medium to use, and there are lots of beads being liberally sprinkled about, so I'm ahead of the game.

Collaged inchies by Mad Mummy.

I have a few ideas for some collages already, so watch this (quite small) space.

What does a photographer do in their spare time?

2010-05-02T15:54:00.014+01:00

Take more photographs, of course!I, like most other photographers, feel a little lost without my camera by my side. I try to take it with me wherever I go as you can almost always guarantee that some photo opportunity will arise.

I love what I do, love meeting new people, capturing all the different facial expressions and mannerisms unique to each individual but when I'm not photographing people I love capturing animals and wildlife.

There is something so lovely in trying to capture the essence of a furred or feathered friend, it requires a very quick eye, steady hand and tons of patience.

But when you get that one image that melts your heart, you know that its worth all the physical aches, the many minutes spent and the pigs ears you've had to bribe them with to get it!

www.airgracephotography.co.uk

Guns N' Roses N' Knitting Needles

2010-05-01T11:28:00.006+01:00

Hair wax. That's what has been making my hands break out for years! I only twigged when I was about to go for a long overdue hair cut. I'm chuffed to bits because it means I can crack on with some knitting and might even get back to taking customer orders soon.

I realised the other day that my last 2 knits were from the beginning of one of my pattern folders. In a moment of madness I thought "Why not knit them all in the order they're in". I'm not regretting it yet but next time I have a daft idea I might not blog about it!

My next two projects should be these -

Guns N' Roses N' Knitting Needles? I bought Guns N' Roses greatest hits on Monday, £6 at Tesco - I do like a bargain :) and that kind of describes my week!!

Choosing Art for Your Home...

2010-04-29T10:59:00.029+01:00

It's so easy these days to wander into Homebase or Ikea and pick up some factory produced art - photographs, prints, metal wall sculptures - from a varied and very affordable selection, but in this age when we look to our homes as expressions of ourselves, our individuality and personality, it can be far more rewarding to think wider than this and be more creative in how we embellish them...

We're all been there, we've all but finished a room, the walls have been painted, the flooring laid, the furniture carefully arranged, the daily clutter of life already finding its way in and making it feel homely - but there's a nagging thought about the wall being too bare or the room needing 'finishing touches'.

'Shell' by Nicki MacRae. 16 x 16", mixed media on canvas.

When looking for art for your walls of course family photographs can be a great place to start, to celebrate the people who live there (and don't forget the 'Women' of this blog include some very talented photographers!) but if you want something else too where do you start, what do you look for, and how do you choose?

Art to most people will in the first instance think of a painting, drawing or illustration. Original art works can often deliver more than you bargained for - colour which is more ’alive’, little subtleties, 3D qualities or surface texture that you just don’t really get with mass produced reproductions. Original art canvases will often react with the light, giving a different ‘feeling’ in different light conditions on different days… Best of all you know that your original work is unique, crafted with love by one person, rather than just one in a print run of thousands. Most of all though, any art you buy should make your heart sing! From personal experience I know there’s nothing like your heart pounding with excitement as you realise you’re about to buy something that will be *just* yours to enjoy every day of your life from now on!

'Self Suspended in the Universe' by Nicki MacRae. 16 x 20", acrylic on canvas.

Many people assume original works of art are out of their price range. It's true the news is always full of famous works being sold for huge sums, but at the other end of the spectrum but there's now a huge 'Affordable Art' movement. Many fairs and events are now springing up all over the UK (such as the London and Bristol Affordable Art Fairs, the Car Boot Art Fair, and many others regionally) where the selling price of any piece is capped at £2000-3000, and a vast number of works on sale can be bought for just a few hundred pounds or less.

If you really need to stretch your budget there are still many opportunities out there to own attractive, original art. One of the best places to look can be local art shows - many art societies and groups hold annual exhibitions, often in really accessible locations like town halls, churches and shopping centres. In addition, colleges and universities hold regular shows of students work (ask at your local uni now for information about this Summer’s degree shows). I've seen wonderful small works selling at events like this for as little as £40 or £50 - and of course they are a great place to scout out local artists who's work you love and might like to explore further... There are many artists just starting out making beautiful art and offering it gat reat prices at events like these, and I know they really appreciate buyers supporting their career with such purchases.

One of the favourite things I own! A little painting by David Body of the John o'Groats Pottery which hangs on my landing and is one of the last things I look at every night.

Art galleries can often seem a bit intimidating, but you can barely visit the seaside or your local picaresque, touristy village without tripping over friendly, enthusiastic, small galleries that are really welcoming! Gallery staff are usually really knowledgeable about the artists they represent, and have a wealth of advice if you are looking for a particular subject matter, or to fill a certain space. Many artists also open their studios to the passing public, or take part in regional ‘Open Studio’ weeks or fortnights. Have a look at your local picture framing shops too - they often also hang work for sale, and once again can be mines of information if you are looking for something specific.

The Scottish and English Arts Councils both now offer an ‘Own Art’ scheme, which offers interest free loans to people wishing to invest in art from as little as £100, through participating galleries.

Wave I by Nicki MacRae. 16 16" acrylic on Canvas.

It's also possible to buy art online - it's true there's nothing like seeing work in the flesh to fully appreciate it, but the quality of artists websites and selling platforms has increased, in recent years and of course unless you are commissioning work specifically (where slightly different rules apply) art purchases, like other goods bought online, are covered by distance selling regulations for your protection. I’ve been running my own ecommerce-enabled artists website for a couple of years now and on the whole it tends to act as a brochure for my work - I usually correspond with clients about work they are interested in before any purchase is made, often emailing additional photos and further information about a piece. Going though an artists website can be a great way of really getting to know the piece and the person that made it!

'Slow Building srescendo' by Nicki MacRae. 12 x 12" acrylic on canvas.

Don’t discount fine art prints when looking at work by artists you like, but it’s worth understanding the terminology . It can be frankly baffling! Prints such as etching, engravings, screenprints, lino prints and lithographs involve a certain skill and craft to individually produce from the plate the artist has prepared, and if called ‘original’ then the artist themselves should have been involved for the greater part in the printing process. Giclee (pronounced zee-clay) prints are basically a digital print out of a high quality scan or photograph of an original artwork. Any good artist offering these should have had them produced on high quality printers onto quality paper and using archival inks. This isn’t the same as simply running off a print on your home PC printer, and should last considerably longer than such a print (which you would expect to start to degrade after a just a couple of years on display).

Don’t forget art can be so much more than just ‘pictures on walls’. I have a lot of original paintings (my own and by other artists) hanging in my home, but also limited edition prints, lino prints, crafted mirrors, textile wall hangings, ceramics and carved wood sculptures. I’m in the process of looking to acquire / commission a stained glass panel to sit in a favourite window, I’m collating a very interesting display of handcrafted ‘fake food’ in my kitchen, and even artfully displayed kids artwork can look wonderful - try these frames from Cox and Cox!

Childrens Art Frame by Cox and Cox

A beautiful Indian sari fabric wall hanging that hangs in my lounge.

Some things you might want to consider when choosing and hanging art in your home…

* Original paintings are generally durable and require little special care, but do avoid hanging over heat sources such as radiators. Be aware very strong light sources - such as a window or strong spotlights - may deteriorate your artwork over a period of time.

* If you want to really show off your art, let it talk, rather than making it compete with other voices in the room. You don't have to pare things back as far as art galleries do, with white walls and pale flooring, but try not to hang on busy wallpaper or next to strongly patterned furnishings.

* If you have walls that can’t take heavy weights, unframed canvases can be a very good solution (many landlords and developers use this to advantage).

* The frame on any work should compliment and be a continuation of the painting, rather than a contrast.

* If you’re looking for art keep your eyes peeled, carrying the dimensions of the space you have with you when out and about - you never know when you might stumble on some work you really like in a gallery, café or public venue!

* If you have a huge space to fill, hanging a collection of smaller works can be cost effective - try mixing art with photography and found objects for a impressive and interesting display.

* Don’t forget old art doesn’t have to be expensive art - keep your eyes peeled in junk shops, antiques markets and salerooms for interesting local scenes, little watercolours, samplers and embroidery, and old photographs and postcards. You might not find and old master but you might find a little gem you’ll treasure forever.

* You might want to buy original art as an investment, but even if this is the case buy something you really LOVE in case the investment doesn’t work out!

* If you see work by an artist that you really like, but doesn’t quite fit the bill, ask if the artist undertakes commissions - this can be a very special way to get just what you want! Artists are usually very good about being upfront about the potentialcosts and what they will and won’t undertake, and if you don’t ask you’ll just never know…

* Take a photograph of your artwork once purchased, and keep it with the receipt for insurance purposes.

* Don’t forget to ask to be kept up to date with future exhibitions.

* Oh and don't forget, you could always have a go yourself - you might just discover a wonderful new hobby!

THE HISTORY BEHIND LITTLEPEOPLE/SOPHIECONNELL PHOTOGRAPHY

2010-04-28T10:00:00.008+01:00

My passion for Photography goes waaaaaay back to when I was 17, about 12 years ago. I was very fortunate to be sent to a Private College in Notting Hill London called Davies Laing and Dick (DLD) where I continued to follow my passion for Art. As well as Art I decided to take on Photography (but if im honest at the start I think it was because it sounded like an easy option) Don't get me wrong It made sense that I took it as it complimented the Art course well and I was already very interested in Photography as an form of Art, but the clencher was the idea of spending my days drawing and taking photographs was a lot more appealing than sitting in a room studying History or Maths!!

I spent 2 years getting to grips with my film SLR camera and soon became hooked!! I excelled in my course and was told by my teachers that I had "a natural eye" and that I was a talented young lady, who should apply to take a degree in Photography. I met lots of wonderful Photographers over the two years and worked on a couple of high end fashiony photoshoots as an assistant. I then (which could have been a disaster) decided to take "a gap year" hmmm that old chestnut I hear you say ;-). The gap year led to "gap years" and me focussing more on my boyfriend, trying to fun my horse and going out with my friends.

I was then given a digital slr camera by my father (another keen photographer) after my daughter was born. I wasn't too impressed as was one of these old school photographer (like my father!!) who used to say "DIGITAL!!!????NEVER!!!" Hmmm welll, after feeling guilty starring at it for a few weeks, I finally took it out of the box and started clicking away at my beautiful baby girl. Once again I was HOOKED and soon realised that you can't compete with a Digital SLR so i better get to love it, and OOOOHHHHHH I DO ;-).

So the gap year wasn't a disaster as it got me to where I am now (instead of going to Uni I met my hubby, made two gorgeous Little People who gave me the confidence and gave me the inspiration to follow my heart and do what I love doing!)

Here a few of my very first photos I ever took - the quality is shocking due to being old, film prints rather than digital, and scanned in, but I still love them :-)

Sophie

www.littlepeople-photography.com

www.sophieconnellphotography.com

Choose our new flavour!

2010-04-27T07:00:00.002+01:00

Here at Lippylicious Cakes we try to keep things fresh - well our cakes are so why shouldn't our ideas be too..?

We're giving YOU the chance to choose our next flavour cupcake. Now while we appreciate that for some people marmite & cheese is top of your favourite flavours for others it may be on a similar level as the 'food' challenges in Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! So we're not leaving it entirely up to you. We've picked out some favourite options and you get to choose the one you like the most. So here are your choices:

Amaretto - almond sponge with amaretto frosting

Bakewell - almond sponge with raspberry jam and vanilla frosting

Mocha - coffee sponge with a creamy chocolate frosting

Peanut Butter Cup - chocolate chip sponge with peanut butter frosting

Strawberry Shortcake - vanilla sponge with biscuit chunks and a strawberry frosting

Voting starts.................................................. NOW!

You can cast your vote here, but the best place is on our Facebook page - click on the Discussion tab and tell us your favourite!

Seize the moment!

2010-04-26T08:00:00.002+01:00

Planning your activities is all well & good, especially when your time is limited, but sometimes you just have to seize the moment!

My inspiration recently was the lovely sunshine we’ve been having. Forget cleaning the house, I took one look outside, grabbed my camera, and we jumped into the car & headed for the beach.

Very bright sunshine isn’t always good for portrait photography as it sometimes causes very bright areas and dark shadows. If this happens, the trick is to use flash or to hold a piece of white or silver card near the face to reduce the shadows. The light on this particular day, though, had something about it...it was bright, but not too bright...just perfect!

The moral of this story is when the mood takes you - go for it. Don’t let everyday distractions get in your way. It doesn’t matter if your creative ‘urge’ is photography, painting, jewellery making, knitting or whipping up a batch of cupcakes (now I wish I had that skill!).

Sarah leigh Photography is a creative children’s photographer, based in East Anglia. To find out more, visit http://www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk/

And the Winner is...

2010-04-25T21:40:00.004+01:00

Thanks to all who entered our fantastic Grand Opening competition. We were blown away with the efforts some followers of the blog went to to tell their friends about it, and to get themselves extra chances to win!

We're very pleased to announce, after a thoroughly random selection (using a random number generator) from all names who entered (either on the blog or Facebook group)...

THE VERY LUCKY WINNER IS...
Tina Barnes, who posted on the fan page 16th April at 4.49pm
(recommended by Amanda Waters, so thank you too Amanda!)

Thank you SO MUCH from all the Women for all your recent support and kind words - we love what we do, but its even better to share the love! Stay tuned for more loveliness - and perhaps another competition over the Summer!

Lets raise a virtual glass of bubbly (or lemonade) to Tina!!!

Image credit: Sara Hazledine Photography

How to photograph teenagers

2010-04-24T07:50:00.000+01:00

Friday night, 15 years old, my best friend round for a sleepover and my Dad, a keen photographer, decides it's the perfect time for a photography shoot. Out come the lights, the props, the outfit changes and we are told to sit, relax, smile & look happy. Yeah right! What teenager wants to spend their evening doing that? You can imagine the forced smiles and the not very good photographs. Sorry Dad *blush*

Fast forward 20 odd years and its my turn to photograph teenagers. I know as I arrive for the job that I need to remember that these young adults feel awkward, embarrassed, lacking in confidence, and having a camera in their face is the last thing they want during their half term holiday. They certainly don't need to be told to smile, look natural and appear happy. So how do you take good photographs of teenagers that would rather be anywhere than where you are right at that moment?

You remind them what its like to be a child again, by being childlike yourself.
You show them how to play.
You take them to a location where they can completely forget who they are and what they want to stand for, even if only for an hour.
You allow them the space to explore this rediscovered person that's been hiding away for the last couple of years.
You stay well back, say nothing, and be ready because it will happen, if only for a short while, so do make sure you're ready!

Aimee & Sophie (and their pre-teen sister Shannon) are 2 such teenagers, too old to play but too young not to. Once they overcame their initial shyness, they were a photographer's dream and nicely depict how simply wonderful teenagers really are.

Look.........

http://www.airgracephotography.co.uk/

My day - in Paint...

2010-04-23T20:48:00.005+01:00

It's been a funny old week, turned topsy turvy by the arrival of three young visitors for an extended stay - children of a friend who got stranded on a trip to Poland. This volcano thing has seemingly impacted on everyone’s week! If you've not seen them, there are some wonderful pictures here. It's true what they say about a picture painting a thousand words, which brings me back to the point of this post...

I decided today was the day I was planning (after a crazy few days) to get "lots done" in that way that sounds energetic and purposeful, but generally doesn't deliver quite as much as you imagined...

I finally finished off the shell painting, so that’s a big 'yay'! It's mixed media - acrylic, oil pastel, and whatever else came to hand in my frustration! All ready for a proper photograph as soon as the sun does the proper seasonal thing and actually appears (we've had occasional blizzards in the Highlands this week!).

I made a strong start on the long awaited sequel to 'In Meditation'. It's going to be interesting to see how I finish this one off...

And I've just spent the most delightful and interesting hour with my 10 and 11 year old visitors with a pile of paper and huge tin of pastels. I found one of my young companions dithering over what to draw and quaking at the thought of putting pencil to paper, so suggested we roll up our sleeves and make some timed abstract doodles to get is thinking and moving - and what fun we had! I'm very proud of our kitchen wall gallery (themes top row to bottom row were 'cold', 'sleep' and 'fire'), and I think the girls has masses of fun. Even if I did get this dirty!

Web: http://nicki-paints.co.uk/
Blog: http://nickipaints.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nicki-MacRae/54822611086?ref=ts

I love Macro

2010-04-22T10:09:00.004+01:00

Although I love taking a wide range of photos, my weakness is macro, especially of flowers. I have always love taking pictures of flowers, but the detail you can gain from a macro shot is amazing. From the delicacy of an insects wings to delving into the centre of the flower, macro can allow you to see the detail that often passes us by as we rush about our lives.

Sorry for the short text, but I've injured my arm, making typing tricky. Here are some of my favourite macro and close up pictures. Enjoy!

Click on any picture to see a larger size.

Dahlia

Iris after the rain

Dahlia with budChild's windmill Honey bee Damsel fly

I have to learn to say no!

2010-04-21T07:00:00.025+01:00

If I don't learn to say no I'll end up being booked to exhibit at three wedding fayres in one weekend again. Just waaaaay to much to organise, but organise and exhibit we did. Was it successful? Well only time can tell but the feedback was as good as always ;-)

Anywho, before I witter on about the weekend I thought I'd show you wedding cupcake tower. This particular tower has a mix of colours and also displays the cupcake wrappers which are exclusive to our wedding cupcakes.

From the top:

Shimmering, metallic gold, rose-topped cupcakes with delicate white butterfly wrappers,

Fresh green, rose-topped cupcakes with coordinating fresh green wrappers,

Pretty pink, rose-topped cupcakes with sweet pink wrappers,

Shimmering metallic gold, rose- topped cupcakes with chocolate brown wrappers.

This adjustable tower can hold up to 200 cupcakes at full capacity - perfect for large weddings or for anyone with a HUGE appetite! A cupcake tower isn't exactly traditional but if you want to keep a little tradition we can provide a top cake for the cake cutting ceremony - a cake just for the bride & groom YUM!

So on to the weekend we had. A lovely sunny day on Saturday saw us at St Bartholomew's Church. Leroy Cudjoe, Danny Bravo and Danny's brother looked F A B - if only my photography skills were as good as some of the other members of A Woman's Work you'd have some great shots to drool over! They looked positively dashing in their morning suits and having any one of them on your arm would complete any bride's outfit.

The fayre at Gomersal Lodge on Sunday was held inside the bright and airy marquee - another day with no rain, how lucky! I met some lovely propesctive clients and excited brides to be, I hope I see the same faces again when they place an order! As a regular at certain venues it's nice to see familiar faces and companies who I recommend - once such company is Chocolate Steel - a chocolate fountain company who by now know my addiction to chocolate as well as my husband! I still haven't yet re-created that Vicar of Dibley moment (where Dawn French drinks the liquid chocolate whilst leaning in fully clothed), but gosh its soooooo tempting!

Our cupcakes also make great wedding favours. These particular ones were pink themed and tied with a gorgeous pink organza ribbon. The addition of a 'luggage' label means you can have a favour and place card in one - not only a great space saver but it also works out pretty cost effective too.

Eve and Rebecca at Crow Hill in Marsden were over the moon with the fabulous turnout at their wedding fayre and what a gorgeous venue - we had a tour of the house and marquee and I had to be stopped trying to get my suitcases through the door as I tried to move in! Gosh it's lovely inside. An old country house look with a real home from home feel.

This was one of the decorated tables, the Vintage Table - pretty vintage china and beautiful floral arrangements complimented obviously by our vintage favour place cards. These were tied with cream ribbon and pearls.

And do you know what, for what was set to be a pretty challenging weekend - I enjoyed every minute of it. Maybe 3 fayres in 1 weekend isn't so bad after all...

For further information please feel free to visit our website Lippylicious Cakes or why not become a fan of our Facebook page for regular updates.

An Intro to me Sophie Connell (Mrs Campbell-Johnson ;-)

2010-04-19T22:55:00.005+01:00

Hi,

I thought I would start off by introducing myself. Well I'm a 20 something year old married mummy of two INCREDIBLE Little People (;-). Photography has been a passion of mine since I was 17 when I studied it along with Art and Media at college (albeit using film not digital!!)

Having my children has given me the confidence and inspiration that I now have to follow my dream and do what I LOVE doing. I am now finally after years of doing something for the money, following my heart in making a living out of photographing children and family life whether it be a day in the park, a Wedding or a special occasion. I can honestly say my work gives me a HUGE buzz. From taking a booking, meeting my client, doing the shoot, editing my work to getting the feedback from my clients. I'm like an excitable child and get goose bumps when I see my final work and await feedback from my clients. It's the best job in the world!!!(Apart from being a Mummy of course ;-) It enables me to spend more time with my children. I get to meet and spend time with so many wonderful people experiencing their love and the connections they have with their loved ones, children and family. I get to take and create some of the most precious possesions they will ever own, beautiful pictorial memories of their children, family and or special day.

I urge you all to listen to your heart and follow your dreams, we have one life and its so precious so enjoy it :-)!

My websites are:

www.littlepeople-photography.com

and

www.sophieconnellphotography.com

Thanks for reading!

------------------------------------------

My babies, my inspiration! :

Where I go for inspiration

2010-04-19T13:06:00.003+01:00

The internet is an amazing thing for bringing together creative people, as this blog shows!

I find that keeping-up-to-date with blogs and flickr really helps to inspire me, give me ideas and keep the creative spark bright.

I thought I'd share some of my favourite online places to visit...

Firstly some of my favourite Flickr photographers: (the links below the mosaic will take you to the photo pages, have a browse around their streams and soak it in :)

1. Pale Blooms for a Winter's Day, 2. Untitled, 3. You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend. ~Paul Sweeney, 4. Untitled, 5. Untitled, 6. bewitched, 7. Untitled, 8. people say I'm lazy dreaming my life away.., 9. Working Mother :), 10. autumn rain, 11. things known, 12. DSC06895, 13. ., 14. a wind's wild cry..., 15. autumn showers, 16. the scenic route

There is an option on Flickr to create galleries of your favourite images by other photographers - mine are here and are a selection of images that I really enjoy looking at. I hope they inspire you too.

In the future, I am hoping to do a post on the blogs that inspire me, so if you've enjoyed the images linked to here watch this space!

Are you sure I ordered this much?

2010-04-18T15:22:00.005+01:00

This week was delivery week at the shop. I won't mention the 123 packets of buttons again, honest! I had my yarn delivery too so I've been busy trying to find space for some new stock. I'm quite good at ordering new colours and new yarns, it's only when it arrives that I realise I'll have to make room for it.

I got a lot of new patterns too including these two. I'm a sucker for a cute baby :)

I've not had much time to do much knitting this week but I do have this sailor dress on the needles and I reckon it'll keep me going for some time.
You can download the pattern for free from Patons website.

I finished my first ever sewing project - a bean bag for my son's games room.
I used Simplicity pattern no 5105, it's available from Sew Esssential and all Simplicity patterns are half price just now.

Meet the Artist - Nicki MacRae

2010-04-17T19:07:00.006+01:00

This is a regular feature, we're hoping it's an interesting way for followers of the blog to find out more about the 'Women' of A Woman's Work'. Today its my turn to try and define myself in just a few lines, here we go, wish me luck!

What defines you as an artist / craftsperson?

Gosh define's a strong word, and I tend to have a broad and scattered mind, so this will be hard, LOL! I guess if I used one word then perhaps it's 'emotion'. Whilst I greatly admire artists who have huge skill in producing photorealistic works, I really am most concerned with conveying a feeling or emotion - either that the viewer feels this directly, or can identify it within the subject. This often lends me to working more loosely or impressionistically, or take a subject and throw reality out the window and producing something abstract from my feeling about it.

'The Cave II', 16 x16", acrylic on canvas.

Where do you live?

I'm SO lucky! I'm orginally from the South West of England (complete with 'oo arrr' accent), but for the past 6 years I've lived in the beautiful Highlands of Scotland, about 40 miles north of Inverness in Easter Ross, right by the sea. I feel very blessed!

How does your place of residence influence your creativity?
It's a cliche, but it really does inspire and inform my work - you can't help but be touched by the drama, the colours, the light, the people, the culture, the pace of life (even when I'm not directly using the landscapes of the region as subject matter).

'Wave III', 14 x 10", mixed media on paper.

Whats the last thing you 'created'? Will you show us a picture?

Ahh I was not long ago up in the studio - I'm working on a little mixed media painting of some standing stones I visited recently on the Isle of Mull (you can read more about that on my blog). I'm only half way, but I'll share a work in progress snap with you...

How did you get into what you do? Where did you learn about it?

Oh well, I've always loved art. I can clearly remember winning a prize for a drawing competition when I was at Primary School and being over the moon, and as a teen I used to draw Celtic knotwork greetings cards with a dip pen and ink and sell them to friends. A family friend was a huge mentor to me, buying me art materials, encouraging me, even organising work experience in an art shop for a week. Somehow life threw me off on a tangent, bad luck and bad timing, and I didn't go to art college. Instead ended up in clerical and shop jobs. It's only been in the last few years, whilst bring up my kids and running a little online retail business, that I rediscovered painting as a way of relaxing. I've now given up my other work to focus purely on art.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Who's creativity inspires you?

Another cliche, but honestly it's EVERYWHERE! My kids, my friends, my home, random happenings, little soundbites and things people say, the great outdoors, other artists, other craftspeople, fashion and interiors magazines, the work of photographers, the weather, food, music, the news, things I read, dreams... In fact, the fact I have a magpie mind is often my worst enemy, I often find myself flapping and floundering wondering which idea I should start working with next.

'Wishing Fairy, 10 x 14", mixed media on paper.

What other craft or skill would you be interested in learning? Why?

I'm very envious of people who can knit, sew, crochet - all of which I've tried and been very bad at! I guess if I had the right teacher I might do better with at least one of those crafts. I really love yarn and fabric, it would be so satisfying!

'Hoary Old Stones IX', triptych, acrylic on canvas.

What are your creative goals?

They are hard to define. I have certain levels of proficiency in particular artistic media, or with certain subject matter that I aim to achieve. I know when I acheive them though I will push the boundaries further and set new standards to attain. I'm a bit of a terrier with these things and once I get an idea... I'd like also to complete a degree in art - something which I hope to start within the next 12 months.

What has been your most rewarding experience regarding your work?
Oh possibly the first time I had a painting in an actual, proper art gallery! I get rewarded on a daily basis though, I honestly do - everytime I make a mark on a page that I like and smile, everytime someone makes a nice comment about my work, everytime someone is pleased with a purchase - its a very giving profession. Again I feel honestly blessed!

Nicki x

Web: http://nicki-paints.co.uk/
Blog: http://nickipaints.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nicki-MacRae/54822611086?ref=ts

GRAND BLOG LAUNCH COMPETITION!!!

2010-04-16T10:55:00.021+01:00

Well here we are - the official launch of the A Woman’s Work blog! Yippee!!

Thanks so much to everyone who’s already been following us on our journey. We’ve had so much support already it’s kind of overwhelming. Personally I’m over the moon to be involved in such an exciting project with such a bunch of talented and inspiring ladies!

So what’s all this competition stuff then? Well we wanted to make the launch celebrations go with a bang, and asked our contributors to donate a little gift for an opening prize draw. What we weren’t expecting was the amazing prizes we would be offered - you can see the full list bellow… The whole lot, one mega full-to-bursting bag of loveliness will be going to one lucky winner - and that, dear reader , could be YOU!

For a chance to enter all you need to do is…

1) Post a comment on the A Woman’s Work blog (making sure if we can’t contact you via your Blogger profile, you leave us an email or another way of contacting you).

or / and

2) Leave a comment on the competition details post on the A Woman’s Work Facebook group

and

3) Tell all your friends (by email / your own blog / Twitter / the ‘share’ option of Facebook or any other way you can think of!). Make sure your friends mention your name when *they* post to the blog or Facebook (and that we can marry that up with your Facebook name or Blogger user name, otherwise we won’t be able to contact you!)

You see it’s SO devilishly easy - AND you can accrue lots of extra chances to win just by spreading the word about A Woman’s Work!

PRIZE GOODY BAG for one lucky winner : -

* A beautiful pair of blue and green striped glass bead and sterling silver earrings by Kitty Ballistic.
* An original painting ‘Blue Flower II’ by Nicki MacRae (8 x 12” boxed framed canvas with painted sides, ready to hang).
* A pack of five pretty hand-crafted greetings cards by Lippy Creations / Lippylicious Cakes.
* A choice of any 5 x 7” mounted fine art print from Mim Owen's stunning range of fine art photography.
* A super-cute ‘Heart’ or ’Love’ frame customised by Sarah Leigh Photography with photographs of your choice (your home, family, friends, holiday snaps), including all photo editing.
* A 5 x 5” fun framed print of scrummy sweeties from Mayflower Photography.
* 3 Mayflower Photography quirky and fun greetings cards.
* A ball of Rico Pompon Yarn in any colour you choose from The Wool Shop / Knit Me! Knit Me!
* PLUS a free one hour photoshoot with one of our participating photographers, including a disk of images and 10% off prints! Your choice from Bella Luna Photography, Airgrace Photography, Sarah Leigh Photography, Sophie Connell / Little People Photography or Sara Hazledine Photography (some location restrictions apply, please see terms and conditions).

WOW!

You can find all the small print of this amazing competition below, but of course if there’s anything else you need to know please just give The Women a shout!

Now go spread the word and get as many chances to win as you can… Enjoy! :-D

Terms and Conditions of Competition: -
1) One entry to the competition ‘hat’ will be assigned for each of the following activities: -

* Commenting on the competition thread on the A Woman’s Work blog - one entry.

* Commenting on the competition post on the A Woman’s Work Facebook fan page - one entry.

* A friend commenting in one of those places and naming you as referee (using your Facebook name or the user name which appears against your Blogger comments).

2) Additional entries to the draw may be gained for each friend you refer to follow the A Woman’s Work blog, or joins the A Woman’s Work Facebook fan page. Friends must comment, as above, in either place naming you as referee (using your Facebook name or the user name which appears against your Blogger comments).

3) You may receive an unlimited number of entries by referring multiple friends, but any friend may only name you ONCE on each the blog and Facebook.

4) One winner will receive the entire prize ‘goody bag’.

5) The official draw will take place at 21:00hrs on 25/04/2010 and will be conducted by an independent third party.

6) No cash alternative or alternative prize is available. In the event of any advertised competition prize being unavailable we reserve the right to offer an alternative prize of equal or greater value.

7) The competition is only open to EU residents.

8) The prize winner will be notified via Facebook private message or via the email on your Blogger account. If you do not have an email visible on your Blogger profile, and are commenting on the Woman’s Work blog, please leave an email address or another method of contact.

9) The winner will be notified by Wednesday 28/04/2010. There will be no acknowledgement sent to unlucky entrants.

10) The free photographic shoot part of the prize has the following additional terms and conditions: -

* Portrait photography shoot available with ONE of our participating photographers, of your choice.

* Your chosen photographer will travel a maximum of 25 miles radius of their home base to a location of your choice.

* The shoot must be booked within 12 months of the competition closing date, at a time of mutual convenience (date of shoot may occur outwith this period, by arrangement).

* Individual photographers may place some limit on the number of people that may be included in the shoot.

* Shoot duration will be one hour. You will be supplied with a CD-rom of low resolution photos within 28 days after the date of shoot. Prints will be available to purchase direct from the photographer at a 10% discount off their normal prices. Additional services may be negotiated with the photographer at their usual prices. Prize is non-transferable.

11) Other prizes will be sent directly by the various participating artists / photographers / craftspeople direct, in separate packages, within 28 days of the competition closing date, postage free.

12) No responsibility can be accepted for entries that are lost, delayed or damaged.

13) If the competition winner does not claim their prize within 14 days of date of notification then the organisers reserve the right to conduct a second draw, and offer the prize to an alternative participant.

14) The organisers decisions will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

Hello from Mayflower Photography.

2010-04-14T16:36:00.003+01:00

Time for me to introduce myself. Mayflower Photography is a fledgeling photography business specialising in photographic prints and greetings cards.

I started seriously taking photographs about 2.5 years ago, although my interest in photography has been there for a long time. My Dad has always been a keen photographer and I'm afraid I have inherited his penchent for taking bizarre and slightly wacky subjects. Anything from old plant pots to bits of steam engines and planes (commonly known in our family as "cowpat pictures", don't ask!!) Many a time in my youth I heard my Mum saying to Dad "Don't go down there, you're not allowed/it's not safe" or just plain "be careful"

I began by making cards from my photos. I started with childrens birthday cards, exploiting a set of giant foam jigsaw pieces for personalised cards for my son and his friends. This set had letters A-Z and numbers 0-9. Very useful for years to come.

My next subject was flowers. I take a lot of flower pictures. I love visiting gardens and love macro photography too so flowes feature a lot in both my cards and prints.

I also found it was a nightmare finding cards for men, so that spawned a range of cards specifically for men. These included racing cars, steam trains, aeroplanes and the most popular, especially for young men, bottles of beer.

Friends and family were interested in buying my cards to I decided to set up a website and Mayflower Photography was born.

Over the past couple of years I've branched out into prints, both mounted and framed. I will be showcasing some of my prints through this, and my own, blog.

I have just started exhibiting at craft fairs too. This has been a bit hit and miss and I have yet to find the winning formula, but I am plodding away and hope to see some good results soon. If nothing else it gives me a day to myself, with some adult conversation, although I usually end up next to another mum and we spend the day chatting about children. My next fair is on sunday at Plinston Hall in Letchworth. If anyone is in the area, pop along and say Hi.

A weekend with Lippylicious Cakes

2010-04-14T09:00:00.001+01:00

As I've said before I love exhibiting at wedding fayres. They're usually on a Sunday which, although is traditionally thought of as a day of rest, allows time on Saturday to freshly prepare the cupcakes both for the tasters for prospective brides-to be and for the display tower.

This coming weekend is set to be pretty challenging. Lippylicious Cakes is not exhibiting at just one wedding fayre but exhibiting at THREE over the weekend - a logistical nightmare! Anywho, all three venues have something different to offer, which is great. There's nothing worse for a bride-to-be than trailing around fayres that are all the same with a lot of the same exhibitors and the variety is good for me too - keeps me on my toes!

So, Saturday 17th April will have everyone from Lippylicious Cakes at a landmark event. The laws recently changed to allow couples to marry in any church - not just in one where they live, and to mark this change St Bartholomew's Church in Marsden will host its own wedding fayre. This will be the first wedding fayre of its kind in the country and preempts a national project being launched by the Church of England. This fayre has even had a 'good luck' message from The Queen!

I'm excited to have been asked to exhibit at such a unique event anyway, but there'll also be a fashion show where Leroy Cudjoe of the Huddersfield Giants and Danny Bravo of the Leeds Rhinos will be modelling menswear! Remind me to take some step ladders so I can see above everyones heads ;-)

On to Sunday 18th April and two fayres in one day... In no particular order: Gomersal Lodge Hotel in Gomersal will open its doors to invite brides-to-be and their entourage to see their excellent facilities and with free entry, a free glass of bubbly, free entertainment for the kids and the chance to see us here at Lippylicious Cakes, it's certainly worth a visit! http://gomersallodge.co.uk/

Also on the 18th is a wedding fayre at Crow Hill in

Marsden and if there's a bride-to-be reading this who is looking for something extra special for her venue then a visit to this English country house is a must! http://www.crowhillcottages.co.uk/

For more details or directions to any of the fayres, please feel free to send an email to info@lippylicouscakes.co.uk

One of the most exhausting weeks of my life…

2010-04-13T15:38:00.029+01:00

…but also the most fun!

Would you like to help us out they said. We need a photographer & we love the natural photographs that you take... So that was that. One short conversation later & I was to be the nursery photographer that year.

Now I have bought some really awful nursery/school photographs of my own children in the past. Some are fine, but in far too many they look bored or have that fake photograph smile that says I really don’t want to be here, but have been told to smile. I hoped to do something a bit different. To photograph the nursery children in a more natural way.

Easy, I do it all the time (or so I thought)!

So…over 60 children, 2 full days of photography, lots of aches in muscles I didn’t even know I had, bruised knees, grass stains and several hundred photographs later I finished this mammoth task. Sounds horrific? No, it was so much fun! Imagine being able to combine an activity you really love (photography in my case) with playing around with children all day. Exhausting, but I would love to do it again.

So, what did I learn about photographing children from this experience?

1. Be prepared. Make sure your camera & any props/backdrop/location etc are all set up before the children come. Bored children don’t photograph well.

2. Get down on your knees! Children really don’t like to be looked down on and eye level photographs often look far more personal. Aerial views are good for something a little different too!

3. Play games. This is especially good for those children who are shy or just don’t want their photograph taken. Hide & seek, talk about their favourite colour/friends/toys, who can spin the fastest, sing a song, race to the tree. Basically, anything that will get them enthusiastic and energetic. If in doubt, get the bubbles out! Just make sure the camera is ready & snap when they least expect it.
4. Explain what you are doing - take a sample photograph & show it to them on the back of the camera. Children love being involved. I also let children photograph me to break the ice.

5. Some children don’t like flash. Find as much natural light as possible and minimise the use of direct flash. Also, before taking the photograph check for ugly shadows falling across their face.

6. Outdoor photography is great for children, particularly where there's room to run around. Again, check out the location in advance & work out the best areas and the best light for that time of day. Generally the light should be behind you and to one side, but if it’s a very bright sunny day it’s often better to photograph in the shade.

7. Children love interesting props. Nothing too obvious, but the following went down well for me - pine cones, large leaves, building blocks, balls, fairy wings, bright umbrellas, flowers (they each took a little flower or a pine cone home with them).

8. Spend as much time with each child as they need. Every child is different. Some will happily let you snap away for hours, but some get bored very quickly. Some need a good ten minutes to warm to you and others will jump straight in front of the camera with a smile on their face.

9. Don’t forget to thank them. Tell them how well they’ve done & what lovely photographs they’ve allowed you to take. Show them a few of the best ones on camera if you can.

10. Most of all, everyone should have fun!

I’m often asked for advice about photographing children. Although I usually photograph children in their own environment, I decided that talking about the nursery shoot would be a good way of showing you how you can improve your chances of getting a photograph of your little one that you're happy with.

So who am I? Well to quote a 3 year old I saw at the nursery last week ‘look mummy, it’s the funny lady with the camera’. That will do me for now.
To see more of my work, please visit http://www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk/ . Feel free to leave a comment or questions through the feedback section of my website or on here.

"The funny lady with the camera"
(a.k.a. www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk)

Meet the Artist - Lippylicious Cakes

2010-04-12T15:00:00.003+01:00

What defines you as an artist/craftperson?

Tricky first question! Erm, not sure. As a mum of 2 girls I have to be creative most of the day whether it's preparing meals or planning craft activities - I love the arty stuff best but don't tell them!

But when I'm baking I feel a certain connection to the products, every cupcake, handmade sugar rose and batch of chocolate ganache leaves with a piece of me (not literally!). My heart & soul go into everything I make.

Where do you live?

In sunny West Yorkshire!

How does your place of residence influence your creativity?

I don't think it does to be honest. I just need peace & quiet if I'm struggling for inspiration. My 2 girls are there to help influence my creativity if needed!

What was the last thing you created?

2 cakes for Swinton Insurance - one to feed 125 people!

Will you show us a picture?

How did you get into what you do?

OK, long story short: I was made redundant from a purchasing manager position whilst on maternity leave and needed to think of being able to earn money whilst being able to stay at home with a baby & toddler. Cakes seemed to work their way into the thinking and after ignoring them for so long decided to give them a go!

Where did you learn about it?

I was always ok at baking from a school age, but after deciding to make a business of it I seem to have become pretty good! Unfortunately, I'm still not brilliant at cooking - give me a 3 course dinner to prepare and you probably wouldn't ask again!

Where do you get your inspiration from?

To be honest, after a brief from the client I just usually stand in front of the cake and just let the creativity flow!

Who's creativity inspires you?

Well, they're not technically creative, but I admire women in the public eye who are successful yet stay away from the headlines by just being themselves. Louise Rednap is one. Women like Louise inspire me to keep pushing on to bigger and better things.

What other craft or skill would you be interested in learning?

I'd love to learn to be a plumber or electrician. I'm terribly afraid of anything with pipes or wires for fear of blowing something up - I don't even change lightbulbs! Learning those skills would help me to understand what to do.

On a cakes level, I'd love to learn more flower craft and intricate piping skills.

What are your creative goals?

To maintain the standard set for all future orders

To keep coming up with new ideas

To broaden the range of products

What has been your most rewarding experience regarding your work?

It's always rewarding to have a client returning to place another order, but I also love the look of awe on the faces of children who see a tower of cupcakes and I love the look of excitement when a client sees their cake for the first time.

http://www.lippyliciouscakes.co.uk/

Allow me to show you a moment

2010-04-11T06:30:00.002+01:00

Imperfect. Honest. True. Inspiring. Beautiful. Accepting. Perfect.

Airgrace Photography

Self-belief - The most important skill for any creative.

2010-04-10T09:00:00.016+01:00

I found deciding what to write for this blog entry really difficult. What would interest people? Did I really have anything to contribute? And then I thought about my journey into photography, and how I've got to where I am now – working for myself, being creative and learning more and more about a subject I'm passionate about.

The hardest thing to learn on my journey wasn't how the camera works, which f. stop to use or whether or not I needed flash. It was how to believe in myself. Even now, with a regular stream of work and bookings, with clients emailing me to say how delighted they are, I doubt my skills, style and processing ability (and whether or not I have any talent at all, on a really bad day!)

This negativity erodes creativity, and stops us trying, stops us pushing ourselves and our boundaries. It's often the root cause of creative block. Basically, it's the opposite of what we need.

So what can we, as creative souls, do to stop this rot?

I use a variety of techniques and 'rules for living' to help me keep positive about myself and my work, and I'd like to share some of them with you .

Believe the feedback! When people say great things about your work, take it on board. Resist the temptation to invent reasons why they didn't mean it. Remember the praise.. Even write it in a notebook to refer to when you're feeling low and need a boost.
Consider using some cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques if you find yourself stuck in a negative thinking rut. There are several excellent books available about it, and I can recommend the moodgym website for an excellent introduction to the subject in general. CBT has taught me to challenge negative thoughts and assumptions that I previously regarded as fact, and has enabled me to have a much more positive, realistic view of the world.
Avoid the temptation to compare yourself and your creative work with others. They are on an entirely different journey to yours. Try to concentrate on maintaining your integrity, creating images, words or whatever you think is beautiful, because you think it's beautiful. You don't need to be like anyone else, or to be as 'good' as anyone else. That's not what it's about.

For me, this became clearer the minute I stopped trying to do what I thought people wanted. I put myself out there with a 'this is what I do, and this is how I do it...if you like my style I'd be delighted to work for you', rather than trying to emulate a people pleasing style. Since then I've found my photography business has taken off, and I have bookings left, right and centre. And, best of all, I enjoy photography more and more each day.

My name's Vicky and I'm a knitaholic

2010-04-09T12:20:00.006+01:00

Hello there :) I thought I'd better introduce myself properly. My name is Vicky and I'm the owner of The Wool Shop, a small independent shop near Edinburgh.
I'm a busy mum of 2, a rugby widow and a Rainbow leader. Knitting has been a hobby for years but I never thought I'd see myself owning my own shop. One day I decided it would be a good idea and the rest, as they say, is history.
I do a lot of knitting to order at the shop and it does eat into "my" knitting time. My blog, Knit Me! Knit Me!, is my attempt at clawing back some of that me time. I'd get a lot more done if I could make up my mind though!
These are a few bits I've knitted. I'll have a go at most things :)

I enjoyed knitting this until I had to knit 14 flowers!

I won 3rd place in the craft section at the local flower show.

I was asked to knit some teeth for a monkey. Yes you read it right, teeth for a monkey. It was for the nursery and the children were learning about brushing their teeth. The monkey puppet they were using didn't have teeth though so I knitted some and of course, no monkey with knitted teeth would be complete without his knitted toothpaste & toothbrush.
Sometimes I worry about myself!!!

Photoshop Actions

2010-04-07T11:00:00.003+01:00

Hi, I'm Alice and I am a fellow AWW blogger. I am the owner of Bella Luna Photography and shall be here chatting about lots of photography related things of which I hope will be of interest to you, the reader.

I work most weekends and spend my weekday evenings, once the kiddies are in bed, editing my shoots from the weekend. One of the things that enables me to do this efficiently are Photoshop Actions. Without them, the whole process would take me probably doubly as long. Some purist people think of using actions as cheating - but personally, I don't see that as the case - it's you using a tool that helps you to get your job done quicker.

An action is basically a saved set of tasks within Photoshop. I may turn a lot of my images into black and white. Instead of going into the menus and tinkering with all the things I would do to do this to the tone I like - I could go to my actions pallette and click 'black and white' and it will do all of those tasks for me, with the click of one button.

You can write your own actions - so if there is a process you do time and time again, can choose to 'record' yourself doing these tasks and save it so in future you just click one button and Photoshop does the job for you.

There are a variety of places to buy actions from if you don't have the desire to make them yourself. One of my favourite action sets is the Childs Play set. This is my immediate 'go to' when I have a photo open in Photoshop.

Here are some photos I took of my family on Easter which will highlight a few examples of what you can do with a click of a button (click on the pictures to make them bigger):

I used three of the actions found in the Childs Play set on the photo above.

This was done using Nichole Van's 'Essential Outdoor Colour Pop'

This was done using a free 'Pop & Sharpen' action created by Marisa Hugonnett. You can download it and her other actions here.

If you are new to the world of actions and would like to start experimenting without forking out - I highly recommend the CoffeeShop Photography blog - Rita, the creator, puts on loads of free actions as well as tutorials for how to create the same effect the manual way. They are all free, and lots of them work for Photoshop Elements too.

I hope you've enjoyed what I have shared and has given you a little insight on what you can do quite easily if you are a Photoshop owner.

See you next time!

Wedding Fayres - the perfect way to meet your suppliers

2010-04-07T07:00:00.002+01:00

One event I look forward to most is a wedding fayre. For me it's the ideal opportunity to show brides to be (mums, sisters, bridesmaids and best friends) the standard they can expect when ordering from Lippylicious Cakes. It's also the perfect chance to show the possibilities for the wedding 'cake', such as a cupcake tower and how the cupcakes can be made into wedding favours!

It's incredible just how far in advance weddings are now being booked these days, I often speak to brides who are organising their big day as much as 2 or even 3 years in advance! I sometimes even speak to the groom if he makes an appearance ;-)

The next wedding fayre is this coming weekend at The Briar Court Hotel, Huddersfield. If you're reading this, you're thinking of tieing the knot and you're local to Huddersfield why not go out for a drive this Sunday 11th - come along and make yourself known to us!

http://www.lippyliciouscakes.co.uk/

Whats on the Easel...

2010-04-06T10:00:00.000+01:00

I enjoy these little round ups of what I'm currently working on. They help me to focus my mind a bit - and it's fun to share works in progress too, it's a bit like getting to see the machinary and gubbins behind the scenes, isn't it?

I'm currently working on an angel, which is a commission and had a really exciting brief. It's around 85% there I would say - still finishing off the angel itself, and some more work on the foreground and background clouds needed...

I've had this shell sat almost complete for ages. For some reason the final touches, the ones that make it spring to life and 'sing' have eluded me, but I am detirmined to get it finished this month.

I’ve got some lino cutting on the go too. This keeps going to the back of the queue, which is a shame as I adore the smell of lino, and the smooth sensation of carving out the design. I really must make some time for this! I’ll leave you guessing what it is (theres another design underway too) as it’s more fun…

Hello from Airgrace Photography

2010-04-05T08:15:00.005+01:00

First of all, thank you to those that have subscribed to this blog, joined the facebook fanpage and for supporting us in our ventures.
Let me tell you a little about who I am and what I do.

I am Angie, a 36 year old mum to 4 gorgeous children that play a big part in the creation of Airgrace Photography. For years I have had a camera close at hand, ready to capture anything that could happen. I have thousands of images created over the past 20 years, however Airgrace came about by accident!

Becoming bored of always having a camera in their face, my children begged me to stop. Any artist will know thats just not possible so instead I asked friends if I could photograph their families, it quickly grew and brought me to where I am today.

I like my photography to be honest more than anything else, so I never ask my clients to pose for shots. I almost always photograph outdoors and always just leave the families to do what they would normally do in that location, being a beach or a park means that this never creates a problem. They play, laugh, smile, have fun, sometimes they sulk, fight and cry but it all gets captured and each moment recorded for them to appreciate and remember in the future.

I thought I had a style that I could easily define, but I realise that its a work in progress; as I evolve, so does my photography and I really quite like it that way. However I do have a bit of a thing for 'Moments' and I always try to slot photographs into moments that fit the scene, as you will see from my website and my facebook fanpage.

I'm really looking forward to the work I have coming up, I have a lovely family of a mum & three girls , a young couple, a 2 year old boy and his 4 month old brother, and a 90 year old man's birthday celebrations to photograph, to name a few. How lucky I am to be invited into these people's lives and share such wonderful moments. I can't wait and I can't wait to share them all with you.

Keep checking the blog and the facebook fanpage for regular updates.

Hello from Kitty Ballistic!

2010-04-04T10:00:00.001+01:00

Hello and welcome from Kitty Ballistic to our new venture, A Woman's Work.

What can I tell you about me? Well, I'm an ex-pat, living in the Netherlands and I work in IT, which satisfies my need for rules and procedures, but does nothing for my creative side. ;-)
So in my spare time, I make bead jewellery and felt characters/items. Let me show you a couple of my favourite items I've made so far:

Serious Monkey was the first felt item I made and he was a present for my husband. Unfortunately, one of my cats was quite keen on him too:

I continued to make felt characters for friends, and have even made some to sell in my online shop. This next creation, however, is mine....all mine.

When it comes to making jewellery, I am a magpie, and buy beads 'just to have'. I love anything unusual, and bright colours always interest me.

I enjoy other crafts, such as card-making, embroidery, polymer clay work, and I also dabble in knitting and crochet. If you'd like to find out more about the things I make, please have a look at my blog or my Facebook page. You can find items for sale in my Artfire shop too.

Oh, and I suggest you follow the A Woman's Work blog, because there will be lots happening in the coming weeks, and I wouldn't want you to miss out. ;-)

Have a great weekend, and a Happy Easter!

Hello!

2010-04-03T12:00:00.000+01:00

Just a quick message from Lippylicious Cakes to offer everyone a warm welcome to A Woman's Work!

Lippylicious Cakes are a home bakery based in West Yorkshire with a passion for producing fresh cupcakes and celebration cakes. We don't do hydrogenated fats, we don't do preservatives and we certainly don't do packet mixes! Every product we make here at Lippylicious Cakes is fresh, high quality and handcrafted with flair.

We hope you enjoy reading our posts and drooling over our photos, there's always plenty happening here at Lippylicious Cakes so we'll try our best to keep you up to date!

We hope to serve you soon! Happy Easter!

http://www.lippyliciouscakes.co.uk/

A Womans Work Has Just Begun!

2010-04-02T11:29:00.000+01:00

A woman's work is just begun ~ creative souls are never 'done'!

We are ladies who knit, snap, bake, sew, stick, paint and CREATE. Forged in friendship, this blog showcases our talents, shares our joy, and bares our souls.

We hope you enjoy our work as much as we do!

Welcome to the 'A Womans Work' blog - our first ever post, how exciting!

What is A Womans Work I hear you ask? Well of course in these days of equality and endless opportunity for most, it can be absolutely anything! But here we are concerned with the toil of the creative soul - ever making, creating, works of art and love...

The Women of this blog met through a women's networking forum,, and over time made friendships though our creative outlets. Although we work with different materials, and in different ways, we all share a creative passion. We'd like to share that with you too!

We'll be having a full official launch next week (with an exciting competition an d a wonderful, unique and very very big goody bag of prizes), but in the mean time we hope you enjoy reading the posts and hearing what we are up to!