Sea & Sky (Things I Love Thursdays!)

It's been dull and overcast here today and I really didn't have to think too hard - or look to far - to put together my mosaic for today's Things I Love Thursdays! I love the sea; I love the sky; and both together...woah...too much of the good stuff! Every single one of these photographs has been in my Flickr Favourites for quite some time, showing just how long I've been influenced by the sea and the sky.

1. Sunset view from hostel, Moorea, 2. Etosha: Skyscape 2, 3. What is the Light?, 4. on ma roof., 5. Double Rainbow, 6. beach gleam, 7. Etosha: Skyscape 1, 8. head rush, 9. Sossego, 10. Hut by the sea, 11. Missing the Sunset, 12. pensacola beach, 13. Cathedral14. Not available15. Not available16. Not available.

I'm coveting one or two of Susannah Conway's frankly amazing photographs from her Sea Stories collection. Okay, I admit it, I love all of them! I'm also really hoping that I'll be able to participate in one of Susannah's Unravelling photography/self-growth courses at some point in the future.

If you've managed to see Up already then you may already have seen Partly Cloudy but even if you have, it's worth a second look. It's heartwarming on a slightly chilly evening.

There's also a beautiful collection of sky photographs on David Horvitz's project site which are available for download free of charge and free to use. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with them now that I've got them - frame a small sample of them perhaps or print a few and turn them into a mini-album? Any ideas?

Road Trip Love (Things I Love Thursdays!)

I wasn't really planning a theme for my Things I Love Thursdays! mosaic this week. I just opened up my favourites and picked a few at random. Obviously my subconscious was awake well before I had my first cup of tea this morning and knew full well what I would choose to write about today.

My feet have started itching. It's not a fungus, I promise, I just miss travelling. I'm daydreaming of taking a road trip - of long, dusty roads ahead of me; of tea in flasks and campfires blazing in the night. It's an odd feeling. It's a need, rather than a want.

I'm not entirely sure where this wanderlust comes from or why, every so often, I feel the need to leave everything behind for a while, but it's like recharging my soul; my sense of self. It isn't that I want to bugger off into the wild, never to return - though I admit that I have thought about that occasionally. Taking some time away from my comfort zone and away from my routine allows me to see things differently. To put everything in perspective. To feel moments of magic when the only thing that you're thinking about is what could be around the next bend in the road, and the afternoon sunlight hits the leaves in the trees so that you're bathed in a brilliant golden light, and you turn on the radio just in time to catch the first bars of the perfect song, and you breathe in deeply, and everything is alright in the world.

It's those moments that we remember when we head back home and sink ourselves back into our routine. It isn't that our routines aren't welcome - too much excitement and uncertainty probably isn't good for us - but thinking about those magicial moments doesn't just remind us of our summer holidays. Those memories remind us that life isn't just about work, television or laundry; life is about relationships; life is about freedom; life is about living.

1. vw camper van, 2. lonely in the night, 3. beautiful morning sky, 4. Sunrise Surfer (bw), 5. beachwalkers, 6. 'Amarula Sunset' - Masai Mara, 7. Dream road, 8. Double Rainbow, 9. “Is there anything more beautiful than a beautiful, beautiful flamingo, flying across in front of a beautiful sunset? And he's carrying a beautiful rose in his beak, and also he's carrying a very beautiful painting with his feet. And also, you're drunk.”, 10. Bolligton - Sunset Grass, 11. 知床國道 - 鈄里町, 12. 網走 - Route 39, 13. memories of summer 14. Not available 15. Not available 16. Not available.

Inspiration (Things I Love Thursdays!)

I sat up late last night scrapping - or trying to scrap - my mojo seems to have disappeared. So, I thought I'd better take a bit of a break; do something else and come back to it. In the meantime, I had a good trawl through My Flickr Favourites and reminded myself of all the inspiration out there in the big, wide yonder. These are some of my favourite layouts (and minis) from some fabulously talented scrapbookers.

1. 06.24, 2. Dreamer., 3. Always - Pink Paislee, 4. everyday, 5. Untitled, 6. Untitled, 7. Van - Red Velvet GDT, 8. Memories, 9. Untitled, 10. 53Bonheur, 11. My 50s Pots: Work Your Soul Challenge, 12. vanity, 13. Get Away - Red Velvet August Kit

Home Love (Things I Love Thursdays!)

We finally had our kitchen walls and floors tiled this week - it's only taken us a couple of years to get around to it! We'd had some building work done and a new kitchen fitted and couldn't quite stretch the budget far enough to include the tiling. Last year, when we had some spare cash, we decided to go on holiday instead. Not a decision that we regret in the slightest, but it is really nice to have it looking more finished. I'm going to spend some time this week cleaning and re-painting and the kitchen will look brand new again. Hurrah!

Once the kitchen is finished, I'm declaring a war of love on the rest of the house. There's lots of little things we've been meaning to get around to - hanging artwork in the bedroom, re-painting the front door, dusting. (Oh, how I hate dusting!) I also really, really want to overhaul our office space - which is currently a little worse for wear because we throw everything in through the door when we need to tidy the rest of the house in a hurry. I bet we're not the only ones to have a room like that, right?

1. On the vanity, 2. office wall, 3. My kitchen table, 4. , 5. Corner in the kitchen, 6. Craft Central, 7. Untitled, 8. curtain, 9. Untitled, 10. Untitled, 11. corners of my home: a bedroom peek, 12. The Office, 13. downstairs bathroom, 14. our little people collection, 15. Dining Area, 16. Jules investit mon coin...

This week's Things I Love Thursdays! is a small collection of the inspiration I've hunted down on Flickr. I also want to share this tutorial on How To Make An Ottoman From A Coffee Table from Little Green Notebook, this tutorial on Making A Tin Message Board featured on Design*Sponge and this Vintage Printer's Wooden Tray by Kirsty Neale, which you can see more of on The Copy And Paste Project. I'll have an awesome home one day. In the meantime, wish me luck - I'm off to tackle my burgeoning pile of laundry.

Portrait Love (Things I Love Thursdays!)

Just a quick post for today's Things I Love Thursdays! Today I'm loving portraits; honest opinions; blogging friends; other people's flickr favourites; flip flops; skilled craftsmen; chocolate digestives; long overdue conversations with good friends over long distances; well written books; ginger beer; tents; pyjamas; old family photographs; colour; eccentricity; relaxing baths; the kindness of strangers; notebooks; pastel drawings; re-reading old diaries; making mini-albums; painting my toe-nails; country walks; comedy programmes; edit buttons; morning sunlight; oranges; and genuine, happy people.

1. polaroids past, 2. "the doors we open and close each day..., 3. Smile, 4. The Happy Monday Dance., 5. leftovers, 6. Before..., 7. I am Indifferent to your 'Time Outs', 8. week eighteen, 9. Untitled, 10. all dressed up and not a damn place to go, 11. .., 12. Untitled, 13. Bited, 14. Tightly..., 15. The Red Tights, 16. spine

30 Things To Do While I'm 30 (Things I Love Thursdays!)

I love making my lists, checking them twice (!) and the satisfaction that comes from crossing things of them!

Just before my thirtieth birthday, I was inspired by some other list lovers (Elise Blaha - 24 and Hula Seventy - 38 Things To Do Before I Turn 39) to put together a list of things that I want to do before my next birthday.

1. Untitled, 2. the full wall, 3. Great Wheel Apocalypto - The Last Ride, 4. Spirito bollente.., 5. rose cupcakes, 6. japanese autumn, 7. Necklush, 8. sneak peek, 9. we are all giants in the worlds we build, with the powers to create and destroy

Today's Things I Love Thursdays! collection is inspired by all of the things on my own list of 30 Things To Do While I'm 30.

1. Start running again and enter the Liverpool 10k.
2. Complete my photography portfolio for my Beginners Photography course. (Check.)
3. De-clutter, de-stash and stick with the Use What You Have philosophy as far as possible.
4. Drink more water.
5. Start a blog. (I'd already done it. Check.)
6. Throw a big garden party.
7. Spruce up the garden in preparation for the garden party!
8. Go camping and sleep under the stars.
9. Go to the fairground. Yeah baby. (Check.)
10. Make these lovely necklaces, this fantastic skirt and this beautiful bracelet instead of just drooling over the pictures.
11. Build sandcastles on the beach.
12. Spend more time with my parents. (Check.)
13. Have cocktails with some good friends.
14. Plan a weekend away; take a road trip or just go somewhere new. (Check and Check.)
15. Refashion my wardrobe, mend old favourites and donate old clothes to charity.
16. Send a message in a bottle.
17. Dust off my bicycle and get my groove on.
18. Go to the cinema at least once a month. (Check.)
19. Take some craft classes. (Check and Check.
20. Learn a new beading stitch. (Check.)
21. Climb a mountain. (Just a small one to begin with!)
22. Start the family tree.
23. Organise my life and home.
24. Display more photographs - get them off the hard drive.
25. Take some photographs of Me and 'The Steve' - using these fabulous people as inspiration.
26. Learn to make pretty cupcakes.
27. Do something that scares me.
28. Clear out and organise our little shed. (I started, I really did. But the bottom fell off!)
29. Put up an inspiration wire or board.
30. Laugh more. (Check & Check )

(Things I Love Thursdays!) Feeling The Fear And Doing It Anyway

Laura's latest post at I'm An Organising Junkie is all about the things that we put off because we're afraid of failing. Now, Laura has been putting off baking her dream Strawberry & Rhubarb Pie. which might seem like an odd thing to put off for fear of failing. But since I've been putting off getting back to the gym because I'm afraid that I'm not fit enough (I know, I know) I'm not really the right person to be making any judgements!

1. Rock N Run . Sin el suelo, 2. angele, 3. Jump!, 4. freedom, 5. belief 20, 6. Up to the Sky for a Croissant Cloud, 7. Untitled, 8. Ballet, 9. On Rappel

In fact, there are so many things that I've been putting off because I'm afraid that I might fail. Important and life changing decisions, along with small and seemingly insignificant changes. I know that many of these things are achieveable - although not always easy - because I've done them before. I've been fit and healthy; I've been organised and on top off my game; I've done things that have scared me and been okay.

Weirdly, I made a huge decision earlier in the year to leave a steady, well paid job in a time of recession and that decision doesn't bother me at all! (The alternative of staying in a job I hated, and that was destroying my self confidence, was far more scary!) The rest should be simple.

All it takes is a bit of effort and a lot of self belief - having some inspiration and support is an added bonus. If you need some (more) inspiration I recommend the following -

An awesome article by Kelly Rae that I could read every day. It makes me feel happy and free knowing, that step by step, I can achieve my wildest dreams.

Danaan Parry has written a really interesting story on embracing change at The Earthstewards site.

And lastly, I wanted to share this hugely inspirational post by Melody Ross who has written an honest, and extremely brave, post about losing it all and finding what matters.

(Things I Love Thursdays!) Black & White

My photography portfolio for my City & Guilds Certificate in Photography for Beginners is due in just over five weeks!!! I can't believe that a whole academic year has flown by so quickly and, if I'm honest, I'm only just beginning to feel as though I'm getting somewhere with my photography. I'd never used anything but a 'point and shoot camera' before the course and, if I'm honest, I spent the best part of the course being intimidated by all of the buttons and menus. Now that I've stopped feeling scared of it all, I've got so many ideas for future projects - I really want to continue learning and, hopefully, I will.

Now, I also can't believe that a week has gone by since I wrote about the Things I Love Thursdays! Group on Flickr and in honor of one of my bestest friends Dom (kavandje), who advised me to get back to basics and shoot Black and White, here's a collection of Black & Whites that have helped to inspire me to improve.

(Things I Love Thursdays!) Sunshine

The past couple of days have been a little grey and miserable here in my corner of the world. The spring sunshine, which last week I found so uplifting, has tucked itself away and, as a result, I've been feeling a little uninspired. What I needed most was to look at some photographs. It is, and always has been, one of my favourite things to do and browsing Flickr has always been one of my favourite ways to do it. There's so much talent out there - it's untrue.

I love that I can add inspiring photographs to my 'favourites' to look back on another time and I often find myself revisiting a favourite photograph and then checking out the favourites of the person who took it. It's been an excellent way of expanding my own appreciation of photography. Imagine how happy I was to stumble across the Things I Love Thursdays! Group. Small collections of other people's favorites ready and waiting to be discovered.

So, in honour of the group - and for lack of any actual sunshine - my favourites this week all have a spring sunshine feel about them and have kept me inspired through the dull days.

1. r a i n b o w., 2. Picnic Bokeh {HBW!}, 3. dusk and summer., 4. head rush, 5. joanna, 6. White Stars, 7. Forest track, 8. Day 111/365, 9. Joy