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…

“The fastest way to bring more wonderful examples of abundance into your personal experience is to take constant notice of the wonderful things that are already there.” - Esther Hicks

I’ve been finding comfort and beauty in the sky lately… Then that quote landed in my inbox and it all made sense.

These are my five favourite views for Five Fact Friday. Happy Friday x.

{All taken with the iphone.}

My passion is gathering memories… it’s probably an addiction too, but hopefully in a good way.

I like to record my life, ever since I was a teenager I have it all collated in books, photos, negatives, films & video. My camera and I soaking it all up, enjoying the process of capturing moments and saving them for years to come.

I re-discovered this clip yesterday (I thought I’d lost it, but that’s a whole other story)… it blew my mind in so many ways, I may have even shed a tear… yes I’m a sentimental at heart.

It’s Ky our eldest at about 16 months and he loved talk. I’m reminded of how he used to repeat the same word over and over till you acknowledged it…. Also, I’m instantly transported back to our garden in Thailand, and this is pretty special.

This is a memory gold. And I’m holding on to it tightly.

{A little cruel I know to leave him that long repeating the same word, but that’s what it was like… and you know what, he’s still the same!}

Record your moments, gather them up and hold on to them… and if you can’t do it, ask someone else to take photos for you and record this time in your life. You see it goes by so fast, and yes, we have the memories in our head, but if you’re anything like me, I can bearly remember what I had for dinner yesterday.

I’ve lately been visualising myself in ten years time, but today I’m grateful to look back 10 years and see all that there is to be thankful for.

So late last night I shared the iphone version of this image on instagram with this -

“Sometimes you see something… like your eldest smiling out of the back window, and it overwhelms you with emotion, so you take a photo to remind you of the now… how far you’ve come and how soon it will all change. This was one such moment”

This is our home… this is our Ky. Both are changing, in transition. Soon we hope to leave this home full of memories (when we find a buyer, of course) and blimey this boy is growing too fast.

It was one of those mama moments… and then lovely Bee in NYC made reference to this song, and of course my eyes filled up. We are on the verge of a big “turn” in so many ways…

My view from instagram this week…  you can find me here.

Prompted by Kristin’s post over at Shutter Sisters, this is me. Right now. In my messy workspace.

I haven’t done any self portraits for ages, other than reflections in bathroom mirrors, which is the easy option. Must get back on the self portrait wagon, and the NOW YOU workshop might be just the thing.

Birthday decorations this year were origami hearts and lotuses… handmade by my lovelies.

I decided towards the end of last year after my camp experience, that I would like to take part in a workshop this year… something just for me, to grow and expand my creativity. There are many photography workshops out there and I’ve been tempted by some, but when Bri of Designlovefest announced that she and Angela were bringing BLOGSHOP to London, I knew this was the experience was for me. Bri’s blog is one of my favourite daily visits… I love her mix of colour, design and style.

I have some photoshop knowledge, enough to work with my photos and some basic skills, but I find it takes me ages to get simple tasks done and I struggle to transfer what is my head into my work. I have ideas of how to layout my photos in blog posts, but usually end up uploading them one by one, taking too much time and lacking creativity.

What felt like months away when my sister and booked it, soon rolled around and last weekend I found myself taking the bus down to the gorgeous space near Brick Lane for BLOGSHOP.

It was a white photographic studio hand chosen by Bri & Angela, with the most fabulous light streaming in.

I have been craving light and colour for a few weeks now… getting little bursts here and there. It feels like it’s been a long old winter, so not only did the workshop bring new skills to me, it also filled me up with bright colours, pretty spring flowers and divine light. I spent any spare time capturing the details and soaking up the colour.

The super lovely Jen Gotch {her gold shoes & red trousers are up there} was hanging around making magic, it was a bonus to meet her, as I loved these amazing wedding photographs she took and she’s one of the Bando girls… many of those accessories have been on my wish list forever.

The adorable Bri & Angela packed the two days with hands on skills. The ladies shared all they use to create exciting blogposts, I learnt so much that my head has been buzzing all week with the endless possibilities of what I can do now. We took some time out for a “field trip” down to Columbia Road Sunday market to take the group photo, mooch around and get inspired. I meet some lovely other bloggers, I didn’t get to chat to as many as I would have liked, as our heads were buried in our laptops. I’m hoping I can build on the few friendships I made via this online world.

The experience of the workshop was all I’d hoped it would be… my camera and I experienced a feast of colour & light and I had learnt so much. It was amazing. I was full. But there was more… there was a mini contest, a surprise “create your own blogpost” and everyone voted for their favourite. And surprising to me, (I wasn’t even paying proper attention when they announced the winner) it was me who won, I got to take home the brand new Photoshop CS5. I cried. Really overwhelmed and so grateful. I work from old version so this was just the gift I needed. Thank you so much to everyone, especially Bri & Angela. Huge thanks!

As I like to make time capsules… here are my memories of BLOGSHOP... not many people shots, in fact hardly any! I felt weird snapping away when I didn’t know anyone yet, so these are the colourful details that warmed my heart and sparked my creativity.

I’ve been working on some time capsule films to remember our home, before we move. One of the films is an example in my ecourse Creating Time Capsules, where I show how I edit the photos and video together. One of the video elements I loved in it, was filming the activity around our kitchen table. It’s the hub of our home… a place where we all gather, so I’ve been setting up the camera and just letting it film (mostly during breakfast, as it’s still dark at dinner time here).

It’s a simple idea and it incorporates the idea behind my Creating Time Capsules course… which is to gather memories, however ordinary, put them together in a small film and you’ve locked up those memories for ever.

My boys are growing up and soon they will be busy doing their own thing and not hanging out round the table with us that much… so I have this. As the summer gets closer (please hurry) I’d like to carry on filming us round the table… maybe even as we eat meals in the garden, I can’t imagine that quite yet!.

If you feel inspired by this “around the table” idea, you can try it too… place your camera on a tripod, set to record video and just leave it running. Then, if you like the speeding up action I’ve created here, (it gives the stop-motion effect, without having to take individual photos)… most editing programs offer an option to speed up your footage… go for it…

If you’re interested in joining the next session of Creating Time Capsules, and having me share how I shoot and edit these films and lots more… all the details are here.

{More films from my i love… series.}

This week whizzed by super quick…wow…

It’s interesting that the colour palette of this weeks instagram shots are so similar, really neutral… gosh I’m craving some colour! Need to remedy that quickly.

Finished the second week of the first round of Creating Time Capsules… such a lovely group of ladies, creating and making real magic, it’s really wonderful… round two has opened for registration if you’d like to join in.

Today I’m over at Shuttersisters, talking about gathering and grounded shots… and getting very excited about gathering with everyone towards the end of the year. Palm Springs! somebody pinch me!