I’m continually blown away by the lovely responses to my films of our family life… and I’m very thankful to my family for allowing me to capture their every movement and share it for others to see… without their permission I wouldn’t be able to create this kind of work, and then inspire others to do the same.

Putting out such personal work is huge, and I, by no means find it easy… it’s vulnerable to the core… in a couple of ways.

First, the content… this is our life, who we are, the things we do and love… no it’s not the nitty gritty of dirty laundry, grumpiness, arguments, unclean bathroom, tears… Indeed, we have plenty of that going on here on a daily basis, but I don’t feel the need to capture that, let alone share it publicly. Here lies the beauty of making these films, is that you focus on the good, the details of stuff that mean something to you… the little things that are ordinary now, but will be amazing memory triggers as time fades.

When we focus on the good, the little things to be grateful for, it can have huge power in shifting how we approach all aspects of our life. I know this to be true, having spent 365 days looking for beauty to be grateful for… a project that changed so much of my life.

There is also vulnerability sharing this work because the technical side of shooting and editing can put you up for criticism… I don’t profess to know it all about making films, I only know what works for me, through trial and error, through exploring by myself and I’m learning more everyday… This is what I share in my courses, information I have learnt about what works, that’s all I can do. I want to be better, and each project I start and finish leads me in that direction… and then I share what I know for others to use in their creative lives.

This final part of 12.12.12 was the hardest for me to put together, and I nearly didn’t do it, because technically it drove me crazy!. We had just moved into our new basement flat, and it’s dark here!… really dark, oh so DARK even in the day. SO I really dislike the colour & sharpness of the footage… I’m also limited by only editing iMovie, which doesn’t offer enough in processing, but this is something I’m going to tackle in future projects…

So instead of giving up and leaving the footage to sit on my hard drive, I battled through it, ignoring the demons in my head that it’s not good enough and settling on… THIS IS OUR STORY… hanging out of the sofa watching Masterchef, secret silly dancing to camera when no ones watching, the conversations about wishing, climbing up the walls… it’s the stuff that I want to remember… that’s whats important and that’s what a Time Capsule is for, right?

Thank you to everyone that shared their 12.12.12 with me and the group that gathered… I learnt so much from you… mostly to valve community, and how we can so inspire and support each other to make the work that moves us… and this makes me excited for my new course A JOURNEY, as we’re going to be doing plenty of that!

I’m so happy to announce Monday’s winner of a place on A JOURNEY is Nanette – Please get in touch with me and I’ll sign you up straight away…

For those who didn’t win, the wonderful Karen has a giveaway too… you can comment here till tomorrow…

A JOURNEY starts next week… all the details are here…

I’m signing off for a few days to hang out with family and friends and do very little, other than be present and soak the goodness up.

I’ve been a bit “bah-humbug” of late… the move was exhausting and the de-cluttering made me not want to fill our lives with more stuff. Work projects have been wonderful, but all consuming and kept my head whirling… and then gave me a migraine. Besides, I’d left organising all Christmas stuff to the last minute (as usual)… this is enough to make you want to ignore it all.

Wonderfully our boys don’t see any of that… they only feel the extreme excitement and believe in the sparkly magic, so thank goodness for that!

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Today I’m giving away a spot on Creating Time Capsules – Self paced over at Shutter sisters… pop on over for a chance to win…

A JOURNEY is open for registration… the class starts Jan 22nd… maybe you’ll join us?

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SO I wish Merry Merry to you all… thanks for popping by here, your support and kind words mean so much…

See you on the other side!

One year, one month and one day ago this happened – 11.11.11…

The morning…

During the day…

The evening…

I knew I had to film my 11.11.11, just to tell my story… I had no idea what it would all lead too… and how much this project, would spark so much of what this year has brought me. My “why” approaching this project was I wanted to shoot more video, I’ve been dabbling in it for years & years, doing personal work, but not putting it out there. Now I wanted video to be a bigger part of my art. It moves me, it tells the stories I love.

My other “why” was the memories… however cliché that may be. I believe time moves by quickly and before we’ve acknowledged it, things have changed. It’s the whole reason I love my art, I love storytelling and why I have to keep doing it. And all I want to do is help others to do the same, so they’ll have something to look back on in years to come.

SO let me tell you… in one year, one month and one day…

These things have changed - 

Cosmo’s tooth did fall out.

Kick ups rarely happen any more

There hasn’t been much ice-mining lately

Our home is in a different location

The cats have grown

The leaves have gone

Thing that are the same -

Asterisk addiction

Nutella consumption

Sofa jumping

“Our iGeneration”

My car

We’re all healthy, happy and together

Guitars are played frequently

Who knows what I will capture today, or if it will be any good, but I do know, my passion for shooting & gathering memories is never going to stop. Ever.

I’m going to enjoy indulging my passion all day, and shooting my little butt off!

What are you doing today? Are you capturing 12.12.12?

So…

BIG announcement today… I’ve been formulating, planning and bursting with ideas for a new course… the next step in the Creating Time Capsules Journey.

It’s called A JOURNEY because that’s what I’d like us to go on. A journey of creativity… a journey of discovery… a journey of new habits… a journey of your memories… a journey of your stories.

We often only focus on the end result, but it’s the journey that brings so much more.

If you’re ready to go on a journey to create more films of your photos and video, consider joining me. I’d love to have you be a part of it.

All the details are here and registration will open this Friday as I want to focus on 12.12.12 this week… are you on board?

My new e-course Creating Time Capsules – A Journey is nearly ready to be revealed…

Details coming this Monday! I’m so excited… You can join my mailing list to receive more details. 

I took this photo during the move, it was of the same mirror from these photos… I was mostly drawn to the light coming in as the movers lugged the boxes out of the house.

I hadn’t noticed the other story in this photo, until a couple of friends on instagram commented about the open door… Oh my goodness, how apt was that! here we are closing the door on this chapter, and out through the open door to a new adventure. I love that.

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Wow, thanks so much for your kind words and messages of support for our moving day and my little Time Capsule… You guys are the best! I’m happy to announce the winner picked at random, for a spot on Creating Time Capsules is… Leigh Love - I’ll be in touch later today with all the details you need.

One week to go till 12.12.12… There is quite a wonderful group growing over on Facebook, to take on this project and tell the story of their day in the life… I know not everyone likes Facebook, but I found it can be a great place for people to gather… I’ve been sharing various bits of inspiration over there and we’re counting down the days… “We’re all in this together” – Why don’t you jump on board?

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Today’s the day.

It’s good and sad all rolled into one. This house is the longest space we’ve ever lived in as a couple and a family, it’s going to be hard letting go. Not sure what the next chapter will bring… we’re open to all possibilities.

I made a film for our goodbye, just some simple iphone photos and a little conversation from the boys. Not the finished product I’d hoped for or planned for, but you know what… it’s enough… it’s enough for me… it’s enough for us… I showed it to all the boys last night, and I cried (of course), not because it’s particularly emotional, it’s just the end of a chapter. That’s what a Time Capsule is for, taking your memories, telling your stories and making something you can hold on too.

As a celebration of our move, fresh starts & making Time Capsules… I’m going to do a give-away! One spot on the new self-paced version of Creating Time Capsules… leave a comment here, telling me what you find difficult letting go of, or a moving story or even just say hello. Whatever takes your fancy!

I’ll announce the winner next Wed… when there’s one week to go till 12.12.12… are you on board?

See you on the other side…

Oh my goodness… the move from our current house… the thing we’ve been waiting for… is finally going to happen.

It’s a mixed bag of emotions for sure… lots going on, as we’ve de-cluttered, put things into storage and are now packing the remains of our stuff into boxes and crates.

Amongst all this focused work of the move, I’m weirdly brimming with creativity, and it’s had me pulled in all directions. I have so much to do for the move, yet I’m starting new projects, gathering a community, and shooting portrait sessions – I cannot wait to show the beauty that is Sas… (see above) as part of my Women I Know series and this session from my On my Parent’s Island project. These are Francesca’s gorgeous boys…

I was telling someone about this, and she said often we open ourselves up to creativity when doing the mundane tasks… like washing up, standing in the shower etc… so perhaps all the boring packing has been a blessing and ignited something.

One of the projects I’m working on is a follow up to Creating Time Capsules… running this course all year long, has been an amazing experience. I’ve learnt so much and watched some amazing people create beautiful magic. I’d like to offer a follow-up to what was learnt, take people on a creative journey and a whole lot more… it’s formulating and I’m excited.

It means that the original course is going to run differently from now on, and I’ve switched it to a self-paced version, with access for a whole year to the material… All the goodness is there, but you can work at your speed and join up whenever you like. All the details are here…  and if you’re interested in receiving details about the new offerings for Time Capsules, then sign up to my mailing list, and I’ll be making an annoucement in a couple of weeks… just gotta get this little move out of the way! HA!

I thought I’d share one of the Time Capsules I made at the beginning of the year, as part of the Creating Time Capsules course (I use this as an example during the editing tutorials) – It does contain some of the footage from I love… my kitchen table and even the same song!… I’m so glad I made it… because sat here today, surrounded by boxes and bare walls… it makes me remember all the good times we’ve had in this house, the simple everyday stuff.

This film is a gift to myself.

There will be another nostalgic Time Capsule of our house… yep, another film is in production, I’ll share it towards the end of the week…

Oh, one last thing!… if you’re at all interested in making a Time Capsule as a gift to yourself and your family, why don’t you join in on 12.12.12? A wonderful group of us are recording “our day in a life”… it’s going to be so much fun… all the details are here.

Thanks for being here… now back to the packing I must go… x.

My ecourse Creating Time Capsules starts tomorrow… would you like to join us? All the details are here.

Today I’m carrying on from yesterday & saying goodbye to summer…

Feeling a little better about it all. Sometimes writing it down, sharing it with friends and releasing it can be so positive… I’m over at Shutter sisters today sharing my thoughts on self doubt…

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Trawling through the footage I’ve shot this summer… there are recurring elements that stand out… this is most definitely the summer of our boys – scooting, playing guitars, doing diabolo and generally jumping around like only they know how.

Have you got Summer footage that you’re not sure what to do with?… perhaps taking part in Creating Time Capsules, will be the spark you need to gather up your memories and make a little film like this?… Last chance to sign up as class starts on Monday!… All the details are here.